Wine Country Girl Ch.05
Alex finally finds what she's been seeking.
Best to read the chapters before this one to get the essence of the backstory!
***
It was the first Wednesday after Thanksgiving that I found myself sitting in the massive office of Georgia Mae Goodnight, Chairwoman and CEO of Mid-America Fine Wine and Spirits Distributors. Since it was my day off, Georgia invited me to have lunch with her and finalize the details for me accepting the newly-formed position as Director of Communications for Mid-America. I was so excited and looking forward to my new challenge but first I'd need to give notice to the TV station where I've been working for the last two and a half years.
As usual, Georgia was dressed to the nines in a beautiful dress that accentuated her toned legs. In fact, most everyone I'd seen since I'd walked through the door was dressed smartly in what seemed like designer fashions. Both women and men. It brought to mind the movie
The Devil Wears Prada
but Georgia was far from the Miranda Priestly character played by Meryl Streep.
Today she was the consummate professional - a far cry from the day I seduced her in her mansion in the tony Mission Hills section of Kansas City...an act that hasn't been mentioned and certainly hasn't been repeated since. Probably a good thing.
"Alex, I totally understand you feel it's the right thing to do to give the station a month's notice that you're leaving," Georgia intoned as she took a sip of the hot tea sitting before her on the conference table.
I nodded my agreement.
"I know the GM over there so perhaps I can see if we can whittle that time down a bit so we can get you started here sooner rather than later," she said in her slightly twangy voice.
"I appreciate that Georgia."
"Either way, let's plan on you starting here after the New Year. When we're done here, I'll show you your new office and then we'll walk over to HR to take care of some paperwork."
"I am so excited Georgia. Thank you again for the opportunity. I won't disappoint you."
"I know you won't honey," Georgia answered in a way that suggested any failure on my part was not an option.
Just then her assistant knocked on her office door and entered pushing a cart with salads, drinks and other accompaniments and parked it next to a wet bar at the back of the room. Georgia thanked her and the assistant quickly left the room.
"I'm famished," Georgia said as she got up and walked over to make herself a salad plate.
"So, you'll be meeting with Jennifer in HR. She'll handle getting you set up with payroll and email. She'll also go over our benefits package, tell you how to go about getting your car and cover off on your clothing allowance."
Georgia looked up in time to see me cock my head slightly at that last item.
"Clothing allowance?" I asked excitedly.
She paused for a minute as I saw her eyes give me the once-over then she smiled.
"Well, you won't be doing the weather report anymore so I figure if you're going to rubbing shoulders with the titans of the beverage industry you'd better start looking the part."
I can pretty easily read between the lines so I knew she was referring to my conservative and plain (and probably frumpy) on-air wardrobe and she pulled it off without coming across as being condescending.
"Thank you! I said with a broad smile on my face.
"We'll set you up an appointment with my fashion consultant at Nordy's to get you started."
As we munched on our salads Georgia changed the subject.
"Alex, hon, there's one thing I'd like you take care of before you start here."
"Sure thing Georgia."
"It's about your ex, Hunter."
I looked over at her anxiously.
"Well, he applied for a position here as a wine curator a while back. We've interviewed him and he comes across as an unpretentious up-and-coming wine sommelier who seems to really know his craft. We're going to give him a shot and hire him."
I gulped and nodded silently. I had known this was a possibility.
"But before we do, I need to get your assurance that you can get along with him in the workplace here. The last thing we need is you kicking the poor guy's ass and causing a huge HR issue for me."
She laughed when she said that last part but I knew deep down she was being deadly serious. I didn't intend to squander this opportunity and cause any sort of problem that might push Georgia to have to decide between keeping me or Hunter.
"We'll be fine," I said in a reassuring tone."
"I'm sure you will be," Georgia responded as she looked me squarely in the eye then turned to look at the laptop in front of her on the table.
She took another bite of her salad as she stared at the screen for a few moments.
"Now, for planning purposes, there are a few things you'll need to put on your schedule for January."
I grabbed my pen and prepared to make notes in my small notebook.
"Let's see," she said as she went through her calendar. "You start on Monday the 2
nd
. On the 14
th
we have a table at the annual Women in Business gala and I want you to be there to help rep our company and start meeting people. Then on the 17