Chapter Thirteen

Nathan

It had been a month since I started dating Ruby seriously. We never had any kind of relationship talk, but everything fell in line like it was supposed to. She was smart, funny, passionate, and I felt like I could talk to her about my life. We had seen each other in one way or another almost every day. Sometimes we would only have time for lunch dates, while the rest of the time she would come stay the night with me at my apartment at The Avalon. We ate out quite a bit, but I was enjoying the fact that Ruby had started getting into grocery shopping and cooking dinner at home. The place almost felt wrong when she wasn’t there, and home was beginning to include Ruby more and more every day. I wanted her to feel comfortable at my place, and though I knew she probably wanted me to come to her house, she never complained or asked, so I went with the flow. She had brought over some clothes, and I gave her space in the closet, so when she stayed the night, she didn’t have to go home before going into work.

Though I knew that I could talk to Ruby about anything, there were several conversations we had that made me feel a bit apprehensive about bringing up the subject of outsourcing. From her other views on things, most of them being views I myself shared with her, I had a feeling I already knew how she would feel about the concept. I still hadn’t made my mind up one way or another, and I could tell that Chris was starting to get anxious. The market was good, better than it had been in years and it was reaching a point where I needed to capitalize on that and make a decision. The last thing we wanted was an expansion overseas when the market was down, it wouldn’t help anyone.

“I’m excited to see you tonight,” Ruby said on the other end of the phone.

“Me too,” I said smiling. “What do you want to do for dinner?”

“I was going to stop at the market and pick up some food,” she said. “I’m feeling like spaghetti with homemade sauce. I have a delicious recipe that my mother and grandmother used when I was growing up. I’ve never made it myself, but I’m sure I can knock it out of the park.”

“I like that idea,” I said. “And I have the perfect Chardonnay to go with it.”

“I thought that afterward we could curl up and watch a movie,” she said. “Your choice.”

“My choice? What’s the special occasion?”

“Nothing butthead,” she laughed. “I just know you are probably tired of watching romantic comedies and movies about politics.”

“You do have strange taste in movies,” I laughed. “But that just makes it easier for me to get in a boob grab while you’re not paying attention.”

“I distinctly remember you getting in more than a boob grab last time,” she laughed.

“You can’t blame a guy for trying,” I laughed.

“Not at all,” she replied chuckling. “In fact, I encourage it.”

“How’s work today?”

“Okay,” she sighed. “It’s quiet. There are several members of the staff in DC for some of the Congressional decisions on issues we handle. I’ve been catching up on paperwork.”

“You didn’t want to go?”

“I’ve been to about fifty,” she laughed. “Besides, we just hired a round of newbies fresh out of college. It’s their turn to go through that hell, especially since the temps in DC are hot this time of year and the places we stay while we are there are not considered high budget. I don’t know why it seems to always be hotter there than here.”

“The hot air from Capitol Hill,” I laughed.

“Ha,” she said. “Very true.”

I glanced up at the doorway and saw Chris making his way into the office. I sighed quietly, not ready to hang up the phone yet. He looked like he was on a mission, though, and I knew that I needed to get to him before he exploded with Ruby on the phone.

“Hey sweetie,” I said. “I have to let you go, I have a meeting walking in.”

“Okay,” she sighed. “I should probably get back to work anyway. I’ll see you tonight. Text me if you think of anything you want from the store.”

“I will, have a good day,” I said before hanging up the phone.

“Ruby?” Chris looked at me smirking.

“Yeah,” I said taking in a deep breath. “Just planning dinner later.”

“You two are adorable,” he said sarcastically.

“Don’t hate,” I said pointing my finger.

“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he said laughing. “So, I have a trip planned for us.”

“A trip?”

“I think that before you can make an educated decision on outsourcing, you should see some of the facilities I have been looking into,” he said. “That way you can see how it’s done first hand instead of going off what you’ve read or heard from the media. I know how you like to explore and educate yourself from the source.”

“Hmm,” I said nodding my head. “Where would we be going.”

“India,” he said. “Hyderabad to be exact. It has a solid infrastructure, city like aspects, and is ranked number three in the top outsourcing destinations in the country, and has some reputable facilities. I can say it might make you feel a bit better because it gives us the cheaper labor while maintaining a modicum of employee rights.”

“Alright,” I said with a deep breath. “Let’s do it. When do we leave?”

“Very early Wednesday morning so we can get there by evening,” he explained.

I liked the idea that Chris brought me, seeing the process with my own eyes. It didn’t take away the fact that I would have to lay off thousands of my own workers, but at least I could see what was happening before making a decision one way or another. This was a very tricky topic for me, and I felt like it was partly emotional as well since I had always seen my company going in a different direction. However, with the market crash a decade before, and the ebb and flow of the financial industry, I had to go with the tides. We were one of the very few financial institutions that had maintained our morality and had never been investigated for any type of crime by the federal government. I took the integrity of my company very seriously, and that was the thing pulling at me the most. I couldn’t quite figure out where outsourcing fell within those lines.

“I promise this is going to help you make the decision that is best for the company,” he said.

I nodded my head as Chris stood up and walked out of the office. I was excited to do this and even felt it could be a bit of a vacation, something I hadn’t taken in a long time. I had been dedicated to my work, building my company, and felt vacations were useless until I met Ruby. She had already started to show me there was another side of life outside of the daily drum of business. I hadn’t worked a weekend since I met her and that alone was a huge step for me. I could tell Chris wasn’t too fond of the idea of me having a girlfriend, but it wasn’t his choice. He had an insatiable need to succeed which was one of the reasons why I hired him in the first place. However, sometimes he tended to forget it was my company, not his. I knew he had nothing personal against Ruby, but my time was taken away, and his eye rolls and snide comments were very telling.

Speaking of Ruby, if I was going to take a vacation there was no way I was going to leave her behind. I figured it would be the perfect time for her and me to shake things up a bit and add some culture to our relationship. I knew she loved to travel, but didn’t get to do it very often. I would ask her to accompany me to India over dinner, I was sure it would be amazing fantastic surprise for her. I picked up the phone and called Chris’s office.

“Yeah boss,” he said answering.

“I am going to bring Ruby along,” I said.

“Alright,” he replied in a monotone voice. “I’ll make the arrangements.”

“Thank you,” I replied. “And Chris, I’d like to keep the reason for our trip between us, I’m not sure how she will react, and I’d like to avoid any awkward conflict.”

“You’re the boss,” he replied before hanging up.

Hopefully, she would be as excited about this as I was.