At precisely 6:45 AM on Friday morning the clock radio on the nightstand turned on. As expected, the announcer was going through a list of school and business closings and delayed openings arising from an overnight ice storm. Finally, the announcement that Jack Kent had been waiting for came on.
"At Daniels Chemical, first shift should report on a delayed basis at 10:00 AM. Last night's third shift will stay in place until then, so ladies, if your guy was working third shift last night don't worry if he gets home a little later than usual. The executive offices will also open on a delayed basis at 10:00 AM."
Jack turned off the clock radio and, with the aid of crutches, limped to the window. The cast on his leg was a temporary thing, meant to be removed after a few more days to accelerate the healing of a bad ankle sprain. The ice outside was everywhere, beautiful, in its own terrifying way. There was no sign that the driveway had been salted or scraped, and no sign that maintenance had attempted the slope that would have to be navigated to reach the main highway.
Jack Kent was a youthful 40, a little over 6 feet tall, athletically built, tanned with short dark hair. His good looks were generally mediterranean with the exception of his eyes, which were steely blue-grey. He was also Daniels' newest corporate officer, having accepted appointment as General Counsel only five months before. He previously had a comfortable second-in-charge legal job at a larger company, where it would have been years before he could reasonably expect to take the lead job. When the executive recruiter called, a complete change of geography and the chance to run his own shop was attractive.
Fortified by a cup of instant coffee, he opened his phone and made a call. "Carol, if you get this message at all I am guessing it will be after 10:00. I think it would be silly for me to risk breaking my neck using crutches on the ice, so I am planning to stay home today. If anyone needs to talk to me, I can be reached by phone."
"Also, there are a dozen manila file folders on my back credenza. This would be a perfect weekend for me to go through them - if there is anyone who might be able to drop them off at my apartment on their way home. If it doesn't work, don't worry. And, please do not take it on yourself to deliver them - if there is no one coming this way, it is not a big deal. Give me a call when you get this message. Thanks."
As the youngest corporate officer, Jack felt some guilt about his decision to stay home, even though the logic was impeccable. He had started at Daniels only recently, with great local fanfare. He had previously worked in two different Fortune 500 legal departments and held positions of responsibility in several trade associations important to the Company's business. The Company's press release at the time proclaimed "Jack gives us a seat at the table and a credible voice as the industry faces crucial issues ahead". It was widely expected that Jack would be instrumental in bringing Daniels to the "next level" nationally.
At 10:15 the phone rang. Jack's secretary, Carol, reported that while the Interstate was fine, the side roads, sidewalks and parking lots were a mess. "You made the right decision. As far as I know, no one is looking for our new General Counsel, so you might as well just heal. I found the files on your credenza but have not yet identified a courier. And I promise that if I can't find anyone, I will not attempt to deliver the files myself - I'm a chicken when it comes to driving on ice."
Later in the morning there were truck sounds outside which Jack decided were related to ice removal. Hopefully by late afternoon the warming temperatures and the maintenance crew would combine to make the situation manageable. Jack made sure that the front door was unlocked, then establishing himself comfortably on the end of the sofa, elevating the leg with the cast on the end of the coffee table, Since he would not be going outside and was expecting a possible delivery coming, he had decided on gym shorts and a sweatshirt as the dress code for the day. There was simply no reason to try and wrestle a pair of regular trousers over the cast.
A little after 4:00 that afternoon there was a knock on the front door of the apartment.
"Come in, the door is unlocked." Jack made no attempt to move off the sofa or change the elevation of his leg and cast. As the visitor cleared the entry foyer he recognized his visitor immediately as the woman known at the Company as "Goody". Of course, "Goody" was not her given name. He searched his memory and then came up with it. "Hi, Sarah. Thank you so much for bringing me the files".
She smiled, "My pleasure. How are you doing? Am I mistaken, or did you almost call me 'Goody'?"
"Yes, I have to confess that 'Goody' is the first name that popped into my head."
I am not offended. In fact, I sort of like the fact that people see me that way.
Almost everyone at Daniels Pharma referred to Sarah Roberts as "Goody Two-shoes", although usually not to her face. Although only 34, Sarah was a power within the Company working as the Administrative Assistant to the Vice-president for Human Resources. She was also the wife of a local evangelist minister.
Over the eight years that she had worked at the Company she had developed both supporters and critics. She had once famously berated a young secretary for using the initials "OMG" in a widely disseminated Company e-mail. Sarah taking the opportunity to remind everyone that the use of the Lord's name, even when only in the form of initials, was not simply a slang expression - instead, it was, at least in her mind, blasphemy - and, therefore - offensive to persons of faith.
She had strong support from her boss, the vice-president for human resources and also from the CEO, partially arising from her adept and apparently lasting resolution of a previously long-standing problem with female employees being harassed and sometimes manhandled by visiting salesmen. On the other hand, she was frequently resented as judge and jury where she noted and enforced perceived violations of company dress code, always involving females, and usually involving either visible cleavage or skirt length.
As Sarah approached the sofa where Jack was seated, the files in her arms impaired her vision. As a result, she tripped at the edge of the carpet. She caught herself and did not fall, but twelve folders full of loose paper flew into the air and landed in a mixed pile on the floor at the end of the coffee table. Both Jack and Sarah gasped in horror.
"I am so sorry!"
"That's OK, I can sort this out."
Sarah took off her coat and hung it on a dining room chair. "I made this mess. The least I can do is put it back together".
With her coat off, Jack could see that Sarah was in her 'normal' business clothes: a long-sleeved white blouse with a high neckline, a loose-fitting dark skirt and 'sensible' shoes. No make-up or jewelry. Her long straight brown hair framed a pretty face, now expressing some dismay. And although her wardrobe did nothing to highlight the fact, she seemed to have an athletic, toned body under her loose-fitting clothes.
Sarah knelt walked to the edge of the pile of mixed paper, staring intently at the documents arrayed there and then, without hesitation, knelt on the carpet. Her move caught Jack by surprise because by kneeling at the edge of the pile and adjacent to the coffee table she had placed herself physically very close to him. In fact, she was effectively kneeling only a couple of feet from his open legs, her proximity made even closer as she leaned in to the pile of paper.
Her physical closeness felt immediately intimate to Jack, even though there was no actual physical contact. He worried that his gym shorts and sweatshirt might offend her sensibilities. "I hope you don't mind that I am dressed so informally".
