The Devil and Danielle Webster

"He wasn't even in town on my birthday, the vase was on my desk when I got to work that morning."

"How did it get there then?" I wondered out loud.

"I think Danny brought it in for Tommy," Sandra motioned towards the custodian quietly emptying trash bins. I would have to speak to Danny.

Danny was a shy man with guileless eyes and an open face. When I introduced myself he stammered a hello. To be plain, although Danny worked for a high tech company, the most complicated piece of technology he would ever operate was probably a mop. I was easily able to steer the conversation to Sandra's vase and soon I had confirmation that Danny had acted as Tom's delivery boy. Danny had been eager to help 'Tommy' with the surprise for Sandra.

"Tommy gave me my hat" Danny enthused.

"Your hat?" I looked up at the cap Danny was wearing. "Is that the one?"

Danny looked quite chagrined." Oh no I could never wear that one, it, it, it's signed by Dale Earnhardt, Dale Earnhardt!" Danny let that fact settle in before he informed me that 'the hat' stayed at home in a showcase, nobody was allowed to touch it, not even Danny.

The next day I caught several of the IT guys as they left a staff meeting and they were only too happy to talk to me. I never brought up Tom or Mr. Heart, but they did. There has always been a dislocation between how the creators of technical innovations think their work should be implemented and how the marketers believe the innovations can be adapted into practical and successful products. No surprise here, that is to be expected. There was friction between R&D and S&M, I knew that, but I did not realize the depth of frustration the techies felt about how their ideas were received. Their contempt was expressed by way of cutting barbs and sarcastic comments about S&M in general and Mr. Sullivan in particular. The notable exception to their ire was Tom Fairchild.

They seemed to have great affection for Tom and praised him enthusiastically. My puzzlement grew as they joked about how they coached Tom on every feature and technical specification for whatever product Tom was about to present to a client. Not only did these guys have to drill Tom like an eight year old learning times tables, but there was actual competition over who would get to 'baby sit' Tom at sales meetings. They seemed to have great respect for Tom, a tech peasant, while they felt nothing but derision for the rest of his rather astute colleagues.

Far from feeling exploited by Tom they felt like they owed him. It would seem that 'the whole gang' would get together at a club Friday nights and Tom would introduce the guys to girls that he himself had just met. Tom would build the guys up to be budding geniuses, prize catches that any girl should feel lucky to meet. If you've ever worked with IT guys you know what a challenge it is for these socially inept and wardrobe challenged fellows to meet women. Even so, through Tom, two of these guys had girlfriends and the rest had hope.

Being friends with Tom pays off not only socially but also financially. Tom would share his bonuses with the people that coached him and accompanied him to meetings. I learned afterwards that creating a mechanism to do this drove payroll crazy, but they were happy to do it for 'Tommy'.

I now had a good understanding of 'Tommy' Fairchild's strengths and weaknesses. He was an inspiring sales rep with an amazing knack for developing personal relationships. He however, not only lacked a technical education but even a competent understanding of Macro-Tech's products. Tom compensated for his shortcomings by using the people he worked with to pick up his slack while making them feel grateful for being allowed to do so. He was like the devil, sly and calculating, seemingly kind and generous but actual very manipulative.

Mr. Heart was absolutely the right choice to lead Sales & Marketing and it was be my job to make sure my report made that crystal clear. Tom's sales success was obvious and could be printed out on spreadsheets, the numbers couldn't lie. What was not so apparent on a ledger was how the figures got there in the first place. I would have to make it understood that Tom needed a whole team to manage him and that he couldn't possibly manage a whole team.

I wrote my report and laid out in detail why Mr. Heart was the best of the two candidates. In short I explained how he not only could do the job but was doing the job. I also made it clear that although Tom was a great sales rep he only succeed at that because of all the help he got and that he could never do the job that Mr. Heart did.

Part Three

Miss Hill read my report and complimented me on how I was able to give a true assessment of Tom's abilities without disparaging him. She was also shocked at my discovery that Mr. Sullivan had not been doing the VP job for some time. We agreed that not only was Mr. Heart perfectly suited for the VP spot, he had been proving it for months.

I went home that night feeling good about the work I'd done and even harboured hope that my efforts might not only be praise worthy, but also worthy of a raise. It came as a shock to my system when I was called in for a second meeting in Mr Vinge's office only to be met by faces as grim and stone faced as any head on Easter island.

Mr. Vinge sat quietly but his glower roared. His countenance would have caused the pale horse's rider to change coarse and bolt away in fear.

Miss Hill would not meet my eyes and she found interesting spots to contemplate on the floor.

Mr. Sullivan clenched my report by either side, squeezing and pulling the pages as if he might be able to stretch the pages thinner and make them less substantial. The expression on his face was somewhere between rage and embarrassment.

Mr. Vinge cut his sputtering short, "Danielle we would like you to re-write your report."

I was stunned. "What! Why?"

Miss Hill spoke quietly, soothingly. "We're going to offer Tom Fairchild the job."

This is the moment that I knew Tom Fairchild was the devil in a new guise .He'd seduced everyone from the beginning. First it had been Mr. King who'd hired him, even though he didn't meet the educational requirements. Now it was the three executives around the table in front of me. In between there had been the numerous beguiled thralls who'd been bought with smiles, hats, flowers and even women! Could no one else see through this guy? How could theses people with almost a hundred years of business experience between them even consider Tom Fairchild for a job he couldn't possibly do? How could they reject the perfect candidate my report had recommended? The answer was clear. Tom Fairchild was the devil.

Mr. Vinge sighed deeply and calmed himself before he answered my question. "Although it is not your place to ask I will tell you why. Tom Fairchild is our top sales asset, we can't afford to lose him to the competition. Did you know he's been rebuffing headhunters trying to hire him away?" Mr Vinge continued on and it seemed to me that he was not only explaining to me but also to himself. "As you pointed out, Ross Heart is already doing the job," he paused to silence Mr. Sullivan, "And he will continue to do so. Tom will get the title and the corner office, Ross will stay on with a pay raise and Machro-Tech will continue to grow. Everyone wins."

Not everyone wins. I was pretty sure that I was about to loose rather badly. I had just pissed off all of the current bosses and had probably not made any points with a future one. I left the office without pointing out the two rather large flaws in Mr. Vinge's logic. First, Mr. Heart was going to feel slighted and would probably quit after such an undeserved humiliation. Second, Tom had friends, from the very bottom of the company and now at the very top. He would not spend long as a figure head, he would soon use his skill set to achieve what ever goal he had in mind. My smile was tight as I realized that Mr. Vinge should be worried about his own position. Serves him right.

I had to think about my future with this company. If I just went with the flow I might be okay for now, but then 'Tommy' would be the vice president of sales. How long would the flow continue after that? He was bound to read my report, probably sooner than later. I should just go back to my office and write a new report, one that praised the many virtues of Tom Fairchild. Instead I took a deep breath and walked back into the meeting.

All eyes turned to me when I re-entered the room, none of them were friendly. Miss Hill seemed embarrassed and looked away, Mr. Sullivan seemed to be openly hostile and Mr. Vinge was the worst, he gazed up at me, not with anger but complete and utter indifference.

"Is there something else, Miss Webster?" This was the first time that Mr. Vinge had ever addressed me by my sir-name and it unnerved me, but not enough to stop the words that were about to come tumbling out of my mouth, unfiltered and unvarnished.

"Mr. Vinge do you know the name of the guy that empties your waste paper basket and mops up your floor, or that he loves NASCAR?" He shook his head no and looked puzzled as to why I should ask. "Well Tom knows. Not only that but he knows the names, hobbies, and probably the favourite song of everyone he has ever interacted with in this company. He has made it his mission to cultivate the friendship and admiration of every one he deals with. He has used these 'friends' to pick up his slack in the areas he's weak in, and those weaknesses are many."

Mr. Sullivan looked like his head was about to explode when he interrupted me but he kept it together and spoke calmly. "So what Miss Webster, why should anyone care that Tom is a nice guy?" There it was again, my last name, this was not respect it was the opposite, formal politeness, absolute condescension. At this point in the exercise I just didn't care.

"It matters Jim." Two could play that game. "Because of why he is so nice. Did you know that your assistant, oh excuse me, you refer to her as your secretary, has been typing up Tom's proposals and reports? After all she had nothing else to do while you are out playing golf! She thinks Tom is just doing her a favour, giving her something to do other than Sudoku."

Mr. Vinge was paying attention and was about to speak so I cut him off. "Mr Vinge do you know your assistants birthday? Do you get her thoughtful, no not thoughtful, perfect gifts for her special days? Tom Does!" Mr. Vinge glanced over at his PA who was quietly taking notes at a table to our left. Her deep blush told me I had guessed correctly.

I finally gave Mr Vinge a chance to speak, "Are you finished Miss Webster?"

"Almost Brian" As long as we were playing name games I wouldn't be a poor sport. "To answer Jimbo's question, I almost giggled at the impropriety of using, or perhaps even coining a nickname for Mr. Sullivan, "It matters because of why Tom is such a 'nice guy'." I didn't even look at Mr. Sullivan but continued on knowing with absolute certainty what his expression was. "You see Brian, Tom can't do the job you want to promote him to, he couldn't do the job he has now without the help he gets from his friends I glanced pointedly at Mr. Vinge's PA. I had no idea what she had done for Tom but her deepening blush had to make even Mr. Vinge wonder.

I looked around the table, at each person in the eyes, and spoke so softly that my audience had to lean in to hear me. "Tom can't succeed as the sales VP of Macro-tech. The job he could do, and would be absolutely perfect for is your job Brian and if you give him this chance he will take it."

With that I turned on my heel and left the room to wait for the axe to fall..

Part Four

I sat at my desk waiting, it seemed like days but was only hours before the door opened and Miss Hill returned. She looked at me for a moment and said in an odd tone, "Someone wants to speak to you". The door opened wider and I gaped when Tom Fairchild walked in.

He smiled and said the last thing I would have expected from him. "I just came down to thank you for what you did for me."

Thank me? Why would he thank me? I had just done a hatchet job on him. I said nothing and he continued, ''I never could have done that job, I would have fallen flat on my face. Ross is the best man for the job and I told them so."

I was amazed. "You told them that?"

"Of course I did, in fact I told them if he Ross didn't get the VP spot I would quit!"

It seems that I'd misjudged this guy, not his qualifications but his character. I was dumbfounded. What could I say? After he left Miss Hill gave me some more news. Apparently I hadn't made any friends in the meeting and Tom had stuck up for me too. My job was safe. Mr. Heart would be the new VP and nobody was to ever let on that he hadn't been the first choice. My report was accepted as is!

I thought about things for awhile when it occurred to me that I'd never asked Tom why he'd dropped out of college so close to graduation. When I'd interviewed him his education was a non-issue so I never bothered to ask. Now I wanted to know so I called him up and asked if we could talk. I met him at his desk and got straight to the point. "Tom, why did you quit school so close to graduation? You only had a few months to go before you got your degree?"

Tom looked like he'd been struck when I asked that question and he took a long awkward time to answer. "I had a girlfriend, no not a girlfriend a soulmate. We'd known each other all our lives since our mothers were best friends. We became a couple in high school so when she dropped me to play the field I couldn't handle it. Every time I saw her out with another guy I thought I would die. So I basically just ran away."

That was not the answer I expected. "I saw pictures of you guys online she was beautiful, I'm sure she still is. Why don't you call her? Maybe you guys could get back together."

He looked sad and croaked, "She called me a few times but after her room mate told me what she'd been up to I told her that I never wanted to see or speak to her again. I decided to make a clean break and try to forget about her and move on. I haven't spoken to her since before my move out here."

I felt terrible after my conversation with Tom, so bad in fact that when I left work that night I gave some change to crazy Santa and dropped a few coins into the waifs lap. As I walked away the penny dropped and I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand on end and shivers ran up my spine.

I turned back towards the office just as Tom walked out. "Tom you have to see something." He walked over to me and I reached down and pulled back the hood that hid the waifs head. It was Melisa, Tom's Melisa.

When Melisa saw Tom she murmured, "I didn't want to bother you I just couldn't stand not being able to see you." With that she melted into the sidewalk, dissolving into a ragged puddle.

Tom stood as entranced, frozen and mute. After a moment the spell broke and Tom tried to scoop Melisa up into his arms but she was frozen to the pavement. Tom strained against the icy bonds until the cloth ripped away, freeing Melisa from the sidewalk. In bounds and leaps Tom raced to the street. A taxi screeched to a stop just as Tom reached the curb. The cabi leaned out the window and shouted, "Mr. Tom, Mr. Tom, Do you need a lift?" Tom hauled open the cars door and jumped in with his bundle of half frozen skin and rags.

So the cab driver knows Toms name? I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Who doesn't know him. "To the hospital Ravi, Hurry! Please!" Tom implored.

"Ravi answered excitedly, "No worry Mr. Tom! We get to the hospital very fast! With that our ride broke all the rules of the road, and every notion of common sense. We ran red lights, drove on the sidewalk, around stopped traffic and even took a short cut down a one way street, the wrong way of coarse! Not surprisingly we picked up a train of flashing red and blue lights. "No worry Mr. Tom! We beat them to the hospital first!" The taxi hurtled on to our destination, only slowing down to make the corner into the ER lane.

We skidded to a stop and Tom rushed into the hospital while Ravi waited for the police to catch up. In his inimitable way Tom had a small crowd of medical professionals tending to Melisa almost instantly. I tried to call Miss Hill to tell her what was going on but she'd already left for the day, Mr Heart hadn't, he was still at his desk. I explained the situation to him and he was quite concerned for Tom and by extension Melisa.

I sat beside Tom in the waiting room while Melisa was admitted. She had no hospital card or any other ID so it was up to Tom to give her information to the nurses. The police parade arrived and Tom went out to talk to them, soon they were all chatting like old pals at a high school reunion and they let Ravi off with a stern warning. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but how does he do it?

I would have stayed with Tom longer but my cats would go crazy if I didn't get home to feed them soon, so I wished him well and promised to return the next morning. Tom was going to stay until he was sure that Melisa was okay. So much for forgetting about her and moving on.

The next morning I called Tom, Melisa was recovering and he gave me her room number. Melisa was still asleep when I arrived, Tom had been by her side the whole night, Apparently the nurses made an exception about the visiting hours just for Tom. Surprise. Surprise.

Tom hadn't eaten since lunch yesterday so I dragged him off to the cafeteria to get a bite to eat. Melisa was going to make a full recovery from a combination of malnutrition, hypothermia and exhaustion. The nurses, it seems, had no concerns regarding patient privacy where Tom was concerned. As we ate Tom got a call from a candy striper, Melisa had awoken.

Tom went up to see Melisa, I stayed behind to give them some time to talk privately. After an hour Tom called and asked me to come up to Melisa's room so he could introduce me to her. Melisa was almost skeleton thin and looked slightly jaundiced but she had the same striking green eyes from her pictures, the same eyes that had peered out through the ripped seem of her hoodie.

The story I heard was a tragedy worthy of Shakespeare. Tom and Melisa's mothers had been concerned that their children were too young to be making life long decisions with such little experience, after all neither had ever dated anyone besides the other. When Tom ignored his mothers advice to 'take a break' from each other, to see if maybe there might be someone else 'out there', both women went full court press on Melisa.

Melisa had the same reaction as Tom but the mothers slowly wore her down. Toms mother finally manipulated her into a grudging acceptance by promising her that this was the only way for her to be welcomed into Toms family. Melisa agreed to 'put things on hold' with Tom until graduation at which time there would be a short engagement followed by a dream wedding. So she told Tom they needed to 'take a break', thinking he would get it. Obviously Tom absolutely did not understand.

Melisa planned to go through the motions of dating around and that is what she did, she never did more than talk to other guys. Her roommate, (jealous bitch), thought it would be funny to tell Tom stories of scandalous party-girl antics and wild orgies. In his distressed state Tom bought the lies.

After only a few weeks Melisa had enough of her separation from Tom but when she tried to talk to him he rejected her completely. She kept trying until Tom disappeared totally. No one knew where he was and it took her years and the help of a private detective for her to find him. When she did finally see him in front of Machro-Tech she misunderstood a kiss on some random girls cheek to mean that he'd found someone else and he was lost to her forever. It is my feeling that her mind took a holiday from sanity, considering her actions after that.