The Network

"Would you like my recommendation, Robert." Susan also recognized the futility of asking any more probing questions.

"Of course." I folded my arms across my chest.

"They worked for four days without your knowledge or consent. Last night was the result of their talents. If you measure employability by achieving and surpassing goals, they hit a homerun. It is only logical that their successes will only improve with your consent. If you don't hire them, you take the chance of their talents being used against you. I feel this as a very low possibility. I still question their motivation but, I don't believe their true reasons are nefarious." Susan was checking off her fingers as she emptied her mind. "After last night, I realize I care what happens to you. I have full intention of going to Vasar and strangely, it would give me a sense of comfort if I knew these two were looking out for you. I recommend you hire them." Susan finished while looking me eyes. I had no idea why it touched me that a prostitute cared about my future. Then again she just quit the business. There was really only one resolution to this situation. Sorry Bruce.

"I am not one for second guessing my consultants. Your salary requirements are acceptable ladies. Can I expect you Monday morning?" I smiled to Susan who seemed a little shocked that I allowed her to make such a life changing decision.

"Thank you for your trust. We will be there Monday, Robert." I had no idea who just answered. I was going to have to get them name tags. I will never be able tell them apart.

"Remind me to inform HR of Susan's contribution to the company. I believe twenty percent of the first years salary is the standard finders fee." I was smiling at my brilliance and felt good about adding to Susan's change in fortune."I leave it to you two to gather her vitals." I wanted to give the girls a good reason to check up on Susan.

"That is the standard commission and will be the first thing on our list. We will see you Monday." I suddenly remembered that they will be running around my house. So much for privacy. Then again, my night with Susan didn't seem to phase there sensibilities a bit. Might just have to keep a door closed once in awhile. I canceled the call without saying goodbye. Have to start letting them know who is boss. I turned to Susan whose mouth was hanging open.

"Did you just give me thirty thousand dollars?" She was obviously way out of her comfort zone.

"Actually, it was more like twenty. The government is going to take their cut." I was relishing her shock. She was simply adorable when she didn't know which direction to go.

"That is way too much. We were only on the phone for five minutes. Robert, I really appreciate the gesture but, I can't accept it." She was seriously trying to turn it down. She had already mentally quit her job. There was no way Darla would have passed on the money.

"You can and you will. There is no way I will allow you to enter Vasar without a new wardrobe. Those rich socialites will have to find a different reason to raise their noses. Face it, you now have three benefactors who wish to take pride in your success." I wasn't going to let her not accept my help. "If you think I am going to give you a dime for last night, you are sadly mistaken. It felt like a real date and pleases me to keep it that way. I know it is a trivial distinction but, I will only pay you for your consulting and in truth, it was valuable to me." Susan started to tear up again. Damn, why do I let her affect me.

"It was a wonderful night. Best time I have had in a long time." She leaned over and hugged me placing her head over my shoulder. I think she was hiding her tears. "I mean, I know that there is no 'us' in the future but, last night felt so good." Smart girl. I am mister non-commitment. Last night was our last date. Another date would never measure up.

"This is going to sound a little strange coming from me. When I feel like I have lost control of things, I get a little antsy." Here I was confiding in her again. "There is one thing I do that always returns me to earth." I suddenly felt ridiculous and last part came out less the confident. "Would you like to go with me to the zoo?"

She pulled back from my shoulder beaming. "What a wonderful idea. I haven't been to a zoo in years." She was bouncing as she headed for her overnight bag. "Did you bring a change of clothes?" She asked as she pulled out shorts, tshirt and tennis shoes. "Rebecca mentioned I should drop off a change of clothes when I checked in yesterday.." She slowed as she thought about the preparations. "Damn, they're good".

I couldn't go in my dress clothes and the zoo was not on the way to my house. Didn't matter, what's the point of having all this money if you can't do what you want. The hotel had a small, all be it, expensive clothing store usually reserved for those who forgot their tennis or swimming apparel. I called down to Rick to make sure it was open on Saturday.

"Not until after lunch Mr. Timmins. Samantha had me put an ensemble aside for you yesterday in case you needed it. She assured me it that they were the correct size. Would you like me to bring it up?" Now it was getting scary. I told him that would be fine and hung up the phone. I looked at Susan, "Damn, they're good."

The zoo had been one of my favorite places since childhood. No matter what kind of problems I was having, the animals never failed to entertain. I have always made donations when they called and even ponied up big when they were trying to build new exhibits. Zoo's and prostitutes were my only real indulgences. I had no idea why I was sharing my private joy with Susan, but her enthusiasm was contagious. I kind of felt like a grandfather taking a grandchild to the zoo for the first time. It was to bad the monkey exhibit was closed. They were my favorite to watch. I always thought of them like little people with no moral inhibitions to reign in their freedom. A new facility was under construction and the contributor letters said it wouldn't be open until the residents were given time to acclimate to the new surroundings. Luckily, there was plenty of other animals to gawk at.

We walked up to the ticket booth and I handed my season pass through the window and mentioned I had a guest with me. The attendant glanced at my pass and wheeled his chair back to a phone on the wall. After a brief conversation he returned and pulled a manilla envelope out of drawer and handed it to me.

"Ms. Howard's pass is inside as well as the park maps, train pass and 2 tickets to the sealion show at 1pm." he said all this as if I should know what he was talking about. "If you will wait by the elephant statue," he was pointing to the left just inside the park, "Dr. Franklin will be with you in just a moment." He returned to counting ticket stubs like when I first walked up. I didn't have to ask how they knew Susan's name. I just walked like a zombie to the elephant statue.

"Well hello Mr. Timmins." I stout elderly gentleman with a trimmed white beard was holding out his hand. I shook it. "And you must be Ms. Howard." Susan shook his hand. "I am Dr. Franklin but, please call me Doug. I was so pleased when your assistant called and told me you were planning a visit." He seemed sincerely happy. "Your contributions have been most helpful and I wanted to thank you personally. I seem to have missed you at the donor dinners."

"No offense, I kind of avoid those things." I was trying to avoid admitting I only knew half of what was going on.

"I would avoid them to if I could." He laughed jovial, "I thought you and Ms Howard would like a personal tour of the new monkey house. It won't be open to the public for a few more weeks but, it will allow us to show our gratitude." Susan smiled feeling a bit privileged.

"We would love that." I really meant it. Never thought of calling ahead and leaning on my contributions.

"Well follow me then. We have to take a few back alleys into the bowels of the zoo." He stepped off at a brisk pace toward an employee only sign. I felt like a five year old at Christmas. I grabbed Susan's hand and leaped after Doug. I didn't want to miss a thing.

Susan looked at me and smiled, "Damn, they're good." She, like me, no longer cared how they surmised our destination.

Monday was too soon in coming. I reluctantly said goodbye to Susan Saturday evening and wished her the best at Vasar. I had no desire to be intimate with her again but, we shared enough secrets to make me comfortable around her. I do like my comfort.

At exactly eight AM the door bell chimed. I didn't think I had anything scheduled until that afternoon so I was still in my robe. I opened the door to see Rebecca and Samantha in matching cutoffs and t-shirts, moving clothes. "Good morning Robert." I had absolutely no idea which was which. They both smiled and entered the foyer. "Rebecca is going to open the back door so those gentlemen can move our belongings into our room without disturbing you." Process of elimination, it was Samantha speaking and gesturing to the moving truck in the drive. I didn't remember telling them which room would be theirs. The events this weekend had me quite convinced that they already knew which one I had allocated. Rebecca headed off to the rear of the house ignoring my halted directions.

"I notice a bunch of discarded furniture stacked in the garage." I didn't remember leaving the garage door open. "Would you like these gentleman to haul it away?".

"Well yes, I have been meaning to get rid of it. It was left here by the previous owners when they staged the house." Why did I feel it necessary to explain it's existence?

"There is a resale shop across town, the zoo is having a charity auction this weekend or we can donate it to salvation army." She ticked off the options on her fingers and waited for my guidance.

"If zoo can make use of it, give it to them. Oh, and thank you for Saturday. It was ... special." I admitted hesitantly. I didn't want to admit that it was the best time I had ever had at the zoo.

"We are glad you enjoyed yourself. Dr. Franklin was wonderful. He was genuinely pleased to escort another animal lover around the park." She said this matter of factly as she moved toward the kitchen. I followed closely, wondering how she was going to inform the movers about the furniture from the kitchen. Instead, she opened the third cupboard, bypassed three different types of fancy coffee and grabbed the plastic container of Folgers and the filters next to it. She pulled the coffee maker away from the wall and began making coffee like she had lived here her whole life. I was mesmerized. That fancy crap was the result of gifts over time. I grew up on Folgers and, unless I am on the road, it was all I drank.

"I already spoke with Maggie this morning. You have a conference call at ten with your department heads." Crap, nothing like a nice weekend to make me lose track of my commitments. "She faxed over the agenda and a set of handwritten notes on the subject that you left in the office. They should be waiting in your office here." It would have been a bit embarrassing forgetting my own meeting. Suddenly a bad thought entered my head.

"You two are not thinking that Maggie is redundant are you?" Maggie has been my secretary for ten years. We have gotten very used to each other. She is very loyal to me and in turn, I am loyal to her.

"Oh heavens no. She is our eyes and ears at corporate. We wouldn't be near as effective if we lost her." The pot began to blow steam as it dripped fresh coffee. "She is taking care of Susans processing for you. Pam in HR was hesitant in dealing with us directly until she got word from you." They already have already found their way into my corporate umbrella. How did they convince Maggie? Samantha continued, "It's Maggie's twenty fifth wedding anniversary today. She is really proud of it and in this day and age, who can blame her. She and her husband will be having dinner at Vitolini's tonight. The maitre d has been instructed to surprise them a nice bottle of champagne with a short violin serenade with your compliments." She smiled, "Every woman likes to be the center of attention now and then." I remembered Susan's transformation and her description of walking in the restaurant.

"How thoughtful of you Samantha." I realized I was grinning.

"Well actually, it will come from you." She was grinning back. "That reminds me," She held up her hand in the standard high five position. I complied. "That's from her husband Frank. He hates frilly surprises and wanted to thank you for letting him in on it so he didn't look like a 'dork' as he put it. Sweet guy really." Did I just do some male bonding through a gorgeous redhead? I am going to look like a hero and all I did was sleep in.

She continued to fill me in while pouring me a cup of coffee. "We found Bruce Wilkerson a great position with the Havertons. We couldn't leave such a talented man out in the cold at our expense." These ladies have a talent of leaving everyone they touch a bit better off. "Go ahead and relax, I'll go get you those notes so you can prepare for your ten o'clock." She moved off toward my home office. Why was I not surprised that she knew where it was.

Curiosity got the best of me. "Aren't you going to tell the movers about the furniture in the garage?"

She gave me mischievous smile. "They already know. Now if you would have chosen a different option, then I would had to talk with them." I laughed to myself. They have been in my employe for a total of ten minutes and I already didn't know how I got by without them.

Just before ten, Maggie called. "Are you ready to be put into conference Mr. Timmins."

"One moment Maggie," I valued her opinion, "What is your opinion off Rebecca and Samantha?"

"They are very competent and will be a great asset to you, Mr Timmins." What a line of bull. She was feeding me the corporate line like she felt I wanted to hear.

"Maggie, there is no one else here with me, what are your honest impressions?" I tried to emphasize the word 'honest'. "I don't want you to dress it up."

"Well frankly, Mr Timmins, its about damn time you got some help. They are wonderful. This is the first morning I felt that we were on track together. I am usually frazzled on Monday because I never know what you remember from the week before. It is really difficult when you work from home so much. Today, I think we had your day organized before you even got out of bed." They already had her using the word 'we'. They bonded as a team and have my favorite employee eating out of their hands before the ink in their contract is dry.

"So you think I should keep them?" I was smiling openly playing Mr Obvious.

"Are you playing with me Mr. Timmins?" She wasn't biting.

"Maggie, my name is Robert. All my friends call me Robert and so should you. And yes I was toying with you. I was just making sure you agreed with my decision to hire them since you will be working closely with them." I paused a bit, "Oh, and congratulations on reaching twenty five. Pretty impressive this day and age. Although, I can't imagine any guy ever letting you go."

I could feel the smile beaming across the phone. "Thank you Robert, were hoping for another 25 if we should be so lucky." she paused, "Would you like me to put you through now?" Thank you Samantha.

I added one agenda item to the meeting. I informed all the department heads that Rebecca and Samantha were my personal assistants and I would appreciate all of the departments cooperation. Pam apologized about being hesitant earlier. I hired Pam because she was a stickler for processes and protocol. She was, in a sense, a bitch at her job. Just the sort for HR and I wanted to keep it that way. Payroll was one of my biggest expenses and I needed someone to watch it like a hawk. I thanked her for not to making any changes before she was authorized by me. I also told her she was now authorized to take my direction through Rebecca and Samantha as she does through Maggie. The girls were now full integrated.

The meeting took longer than planned. Some zoning issues had cropped up that were slowing down a development we were working on. My construction folks were concerned we would lose our timing window with the cement company. One thing screws up and it could snowball until we fell months behind schedule instead of days. Unfortunately, we couldn't resolve the issue at this meeting and planned another meeting for tomorrow when we had more facts.

It was time for lunch and since I usually just drink breakfast, I was starved. I headed to the kitchen to make a sandwich and wasn't surprised to see a fresh ham and cheese waiting on the counter. Next to it was mug with and unopened bottle of beer next to it. One of the reason's I like to work from home is I can enjoy a beer in the middle of the day. Wouldn't set a good example if I were to partake at the office. I grabbed the sandwich and lifted the bread. No mayo, perfect. The rest of the world loves mayo, I hate the stuff. I popped the top off the beer, emptied it in the mug and sat back to think about what could be done about the zoning issue.

One of the girls sweep through the kitchen. Grabbed the empty bottle and placed it in the recycle bin under the counter. Weird, before today I didn't have a recycle bin. I guess I am more earth friendly now. "Maggie just sent a bunch of construction project info over. Samantha is doing some additional research and you should have it all by the time you're done with lunch." And off Rebecca went. My mind returned to the zoning issue.

True to her word, the pool table in the rec room was covered in information when I finished lunch. I had the original project schedule, new forecasted schedule and a worse case schedule along the left side. I had the construction plans, maps and zoning issues in the center and pages of the people involved running down the right. I looked like our planned opening in early October will be pushed to the February, March time frame. Worst case was early summer. The cost increases were stiff due to the loss of revenue time.

I glanced through the people on the zoning board and thought briefly about greasing some palms. I let it pass. I had skirted the edge of the law many times, I just refuse to cross the line. Samantha had developed a page of politicians who have a direct interest in the area. Looking over the information, I didn't immediately recognize any of the names so any calls I made would be cold. I wondered if some carefully placed campaign contributions might get me an ear or two. She included tenure information for the offices and I noticed a pattern. The mayor and half the city console was up for re-election in November. There was a note in the margin next to the mayor that he has serious opposition for the election. Thank you Samantha.

I immediately placed a call to the Mayor since Samantha saw fit to include contact information.

"Mayor Donaldson, this Robert Timmins. I am building the Phillmore project downtown." I am sure someone on my staff had spoken with him or his people before. I wasn't sure if he could connect my name to the project.

"Robert, it's good to finally speak with you. I was happy to see someone tearing down that old eyesore and putting the land back into production."

"Good, I am happy to hear you feel that way. I'm calling to try and put together a ribbon cutting in October. We would like to do something in the press to make sure the public is aware and helps to make it successful. My people have forecasted 120 permanent jobs and a sales tax increase to the city of just over a half million. It would really help to have you put together a small speech in support of the project and maybe help cut the ribbon." I know he only heard October, jobs, money and speech. I was baiting the trap. .