Bradley
The clock on the wall read two-fifteen. What had started as a twenty- minute rundown of his new promotion had turned in a four conversation about work, life, and the fickleness of women. Bradley had been right, about Ryan not having anyone to talk to. Surely he had friends, but obviously none that he found trustworthy enough to let into struggles.
Through their conversation, Bradley had found out that around the time his daughter, Stella, was two, Ryan’s wife Kelli started acting strange. She’d take off for what she called ‘business trips’ and wouldn’t be heard from for up to a month at a time. Then when she did come home she would immerse herself in Stella’s life so that Ryan wouldn’t have any chance to ask her where she was or what she was doing. Last year he had decided to ask her for a divorce, but she took off again, this time with no promise of coming back. The papers were still unsigned, and Stella was starting to forget that she actually had a mother. It was a whole new life Ryan had to learn how to live and Bradley wasn’t sure at all how he was handling it so well.
“So you see, that’s why I need you to step up your game, Bradley. Cards on the table, I need your help. You’ll get a pay raise, of course, nearly double what you’re making now. But you’ll have more responsibility too. I’ll need you downstairs managing the office half the week and up here with me for the other half.”
It was a lot of work, but he was up for the challenge. He’d need help, and he asked Ryan what he could do to get it.
“Completely up to you,” Ryan replied. “Rachel is going to be swallowed by your department, leaving her open. You can make her an assistant manager if you want to. Or let her go and hire someone else. She seems a little mouthy to me, I’m not sure how well she’d take directions from you.”
“She’s not so bad,” Bradley replied. “Sure, she gets a little riled up every now and then, but she does great work.”
Ryan grunted, but didn’t quite agree. “So, do we have a deal? Shall I have Marcy draw up the paperwork?”
Bradley smiled and nodded his head. “Absolutely. Thank you so much for this opportunity, Sir. I promise I won’t let you down.”
“No you won’t,” Ryan replied, getting up to shake Bradley’s hand.
Bradley left Ryan’s office feeling so much lighter. After such a horrible day yesterday, this was not at all what he had expected out of his meeting with the owner. As he was instructed, he went out to Marcy’s desk and told her that he had accepted the position.
“Congratulations!” She said, smiling at Bradley and giving him a high five. She was a nice looking woman. Older, and in her early forties. Her creamy complexion still looked relatively fresh and wrinkle free, with the only sign of aging appearing in the silver streaks that decorated her otherwise chestnut hair. While Bradley waited, she pulled out the paperwork that Bradley needed to sign to accept his new position, chatting idly about Mr. Miller.
“He is such a nice man,” she gushed, getting the paperwork printed off. “He has had his eye on you for a while now.”
“He has?” Bradley asked, surprised.
“Oh yes. I’m the only other person up on this floor you see. He talks to me often about his ideas. He has a lot of faith in you, young man.” She put the contract in front of him in a neat pile. “Here. Take this down to your office and give it a good lookover, all right? When you’re ready to sign it bring it back up here and do so in front of me. I’ll notarize it and then presto! You’re the new Vice President ofRushIt!”
~
As requested, Bradley took the contract back down to his office and looked over it. It was pretty straightforward, leaving no room for questions. His salary would be raised from fifty-four thousand a year to one hundred and twelve thousand a year. He would be allotted a company phone, keys to the company’s retreat house in the Hamptons, a travel stipend for company purposes, full medical coverage, and two free meals from the cafeteria downstairs a day. It was a pretty sweet deal, but the list of new responsibilities was as long as his arm. Towards the end of the day he took the contract back up to Marcy, signed it, and shook her hand. She told him that the office would have a celebration on Friday at noon, and Mr. Miller would be buying lunch for everyone.
By the time he got back downstairs he found that nearly everyone had left for the day and all the lights had been turned off. Except for one little desk lamp that was glowing from Rachel’s office. Curious, he walked into the office, and peered over her shoulder.
“Can I help you with something?” She asked, not turning around.
Brad smiled at her awareness. “I thought I was the only one left,” he replied. “What’s this you’re working on? It looks interesting.”
Rachel hit the save button and minimized the pages quickly. “It’s not ready yet,” she told him, turning around in her chair to face him. “It’s something I wanted to present to you on Friday.”
Brad pulled up one of the empty rolling chairs and took a seat beside her. “Did you draw that all yourself?” He asked.
A blush rose in Rachel’s cheeks and he found it adorable.
“It’s not finished,” she defended. “There’s a lot more work I have to put into it, and it’s not fair that you just thought you could walk into my office and”-
“Calm down,” Brad said gently, reaching out to put his hand gently on her arm. “It looked good. I was impressed.”
Rachel’s eyebrows went up in surprise. “Oh,” was all she could say.
Brad, getting the hint, nodded his head and stood up. “I’m assuming you were made aware of the changes of your department then, judging by how protective you are of this project?”
Rachel opened her mouth for what he was sure to be a sarcastic comment, but she shut it instead, and nodded her head. Brad was thankful. He didn’t want to argue right now, especially over something that looked to be very promising.
“I’m excited for our meeting on Friday,” he said at last. He wanted to say more, to assure that he wasn’t going to fire her. But the words wouldn’t come out. Instead, he told her goodnight, and left. In his office he picked up his carafe and found that it was once again nearly empty. Odd, since he’d only been able to drink through one cup that day. Yep, he was certain that someone was stealing his coffee.