"He's finally retiring, but for medical reasons," Timothy explained. "Now the board is at odds on how to move forward. Some are talking expansion, while others think we need to focus on the offices we have in New Jersey."
Nodding as he followed the conversation, James felt a bit of irritation swelling within him. The man, Timothy, was beating around the bush.
"Anyway, I remembered the first work you did with us when we opened our second location and I thought I'd give you a call to see if you could help out with anything. I know it's a long shot, but the company's pretty vulnerable right now and I'd like our next move to be the one that makes us."
James listened to the man's words, still confused and not certain if he should care or not. He asked, "Are you the new CEO?"
"Yes. Unanimous decision," the man paused, "and I'm the next biggest holder of stock in the company."
Smirking, James bunched his eyebrows together. "So what is it you-" James cut himself off before he could finish the thought. He wasn't a fool. Timothy was looking for advice. He was certain that with a few emails and file swaps, he could point the budding company in the right direction and he could go to sleep and feel good about himself-but what he saw now was golden opportunity.
"Tim, how many offices do you have?"
"Two," Timothy answered back with a sigh. "I want to push over the state border since we're so close but the others think we should probably wait."
"Do you know anyone in the city?"
"Yes, actually. I live there. I know quite a few businesses who probably wouldn't mind considering our services. We just need an office and an image to get in. You know, get closer."
James's grin returned to his face. "Oh yes. I understand everything, Mr. Walters."
"Please, call me Tim, James. You were a great friend to Matt Luke and I'm hoping we can build the same friendship."
James could have laughed at the situation. Nothing better could have dropped into his lap at a better time.
"I'm thinking that sounds great, Tim. Why don't you tell me more about your business, if you can? I've got a little time on my hands right now."
There was a pause on the phone, followed by an excited chuckled. "Okay. I can send you some files we can go over together."
"That'd be great," James encouraged. "I'm in my office right now." He coaxed the gentleman to stay on the line while the files were sent. From there, he relaxed into the seat and forgot all about being tired. This had to mean that someone was looking out for him. The odds were in his favor. He was meant to be with Jennifer Rhodes after all.
With an excited giggle, he reached for his pen and note pad and began to take notes as Tim spoke to him. He didn't need a whole lot of information, but just enough to make his case convincing.
Chapter Five
Midday Fare
With a deep intake of air, Jennifer sighed heavily and lowered the receiver to the phone. She had never been in a position to hire someone before, but that didn't matter before now. She knew what needed to be done and at the very least, had an idea of what was needed.
She needed someone willing to pick up good coffee and breakfast before work. Someone who could work Microsoft Office, Express, and-well, the whole damn Office suite! They'd need to know how to operate a telephone line and they needed to sound attractive and attentive on the phone.
They needed a good phone for receiving emails and intercepting important calls when they were out of the office. Someone who could summarize messages without repeating the whole thing verbatim who could learn how to rate the priority of incoming messages with time (but hopefully not more than two weeks' time).
Also, and this was huge, they needed to have nothing important going on in their life, and nothing likely to be happening within the next six to twelve months. Something like that was reasonable, right? No pregnant chicks, engaged folks, starry-eyed brunettes or blondes. Actually, that last part could be something blanket that applied to whoever filed for the position.
There had been a sprinkle of men that had applied for the position, but only two of them answered the call. One wasn't interested in the position after more information was given, which Jennifer didn't understand why they had even applied to the job to begin with, and the other was suddenly no longer available to accept new work. It had only been a week since the ad went live on LinkedIn and a few job boards, but still, the results were overwhelming.
To help her narrow down the list of applicants, anyone who didn't answer on the second call was simply removed from consideration. Anyone who had more than two years' worth of experienced wasn't called. Answering phones and making appointments wasn't an expert ability. The last thing she wanted to do was have someone demand pay for this simple job. James was offering a generous $16.50 per hour for the job and in Chicago, that could really go far with a roommate, metro rides, and walking.
Her last call marked the first round of telephone interviews. Some she ended early, already knowing they weren't going to make the cut, but by the looks of it, she had managed to hack her huge list down to ten potential people.
She was only going to request about four for an interview within the office, and then perhaps if another run was needed to determine a harsh tie, she'd meet them somewhere for dinner. At this stage, she didn't have the time to play nice. James said he wanted someone picked before the end of the week. That meant they needed to be able to start as soon as possible.
Jennifer stood from her desk and stretched. She was surprised at the yawn that tumbled out of her body. Her morning cup of coffee was keeping her light and on her toes, but after a glance at the time, she knew she'd need to stop and eat if she was going to remain alert.
Pushing back from the desk, Jennifer thought vaguely about Andrew. She was sure he would have landed in Colorado by now. Would it be strictly business while he was there? She wondered if he would take a break to head back to Manitou Springs. "I'll be back Wednesday for lunch … "
She remembered that clearly and wondered if that was a good thing. On the surface, she wanted to say ‘absolutely!' it was a good thing. What man flies back across several states to stop in for lunch?
Well, millionaires did, apparently. She told herself that to them, it really wasn't outside the realm of possibility. With normal men, something like that would be beyond crazy. Regular men just didn't do that type of thing. However, with millionaires, their whole world was different. They didn't live in the same realities. Still, even for a millionaire, flying into town just for her meant something huge right?
Jennifer took a deep breath and reached for the clipboard she had been using to keep her notes. She ran back through the list of ten that she had already selected. Each had a good possibility of getting job. They seemed like people that could start as soon as she gave them the "go ahead".
As she clawed her way back through the list, thoughts of Andrew worked their way into her mind. She thought of the last two weeks. They didn't always have lunch together. He was incredibly professional, which Jennifer was only just now starting to realize that perhaps she always wasn't. It was difficult to set her feelings aside when he had been near to her. Being so close to him throughout the day just felt like an opportunity to feel his lips against hers since he was always just a breath away.
This was where Andrew's focus really made the difference. She wasn't sure how he was capable of remaining so focused on work, but he could. Maybe that was a trick all millionaire men could do.
The more Jennifer thought about the idea, the more she wondered if she might have been on to something. She knew from working alongside Melone that many men often had affairs within the workplace. Even within the Melone group, Jennifer had heard stories and rumors of get togethers and hook ups within their own office. On the surface, you'd never tell.
During meetings and throughout the workday people remained calm and held the upmost level of professionalism. That was the way this type of environment worked. Business and work first, love and pleasure later. She thought for a second about a millionaire's concept of love. As a whole, she wasn't sure she believed if they loved, at least not the way that ordinary men and women identified with the word.
That might seem barbaric. Men with money had appetites for the things they had an affinity for. Jennifer just wasn't sure if she'd used the word ‘love' to describe their attraction. Perhaps obsessed would be a better fit.
Some were obsessed with the power and the freedom that more money could bring. Others were obsessed with the constant supply of women. James wasn't like that, and thankfully, neither was Andrew.