More Equal? Part 1- A Greenville Story
She thought she was the more equal of the marriage.
I hope by the time you read this the correct follow up to the Cancer series will have been published. Going on almost a month since I first submitted it. It sat for 2 weeks, was sent back resubmitted again and now sitting for another 2 weeks. I submitted Cancer part 2 on 2/06.
This story came to me as I was reading another story and a sentence of "She thought she was more equal." Being equal was the focus of the story but that line caught my eye.
Still no editor, I'm beginning to believe my public school education has let me down.
Jackson's Story
My boss had just left my office, well cubicle really. Again he had some issue with the work I had done for this account I was working on. I work at a marketing company. We handle small and medium size businesses. I'm currently working with a trash company. They just took over a roofing company and want to rebrand it, but of course, not lose the long standing customer base and gain more business. He didn't like any of my idea's. Than again, he hasn't like much I have done lately. Its an important account. They are the largest company we've worked with so far.
I hate my job. I have been here 12 years and hate it more and more every day. Not really doing the work, its the company I hate. I understand we need to make money. That's why people are in business. But they believe money is everything. We do the cheapest job possible with some of the highest rates. The pay sucks and the only things that make it worthwhile are the benefits and not having to work weekends. This lets me have time for my family.
My boss is the biggest asshole I've ever met. Randy Wilkes, scion of the Wilkes empire. Or so he thinks. He's one of those guys that went to a good college, Vanderbilt the so called Harvard of the south, because he's a legacy. Tall at 6 foot, blond hair green eyes. Believes he's God's gift to woman. He thinks he knows the business but doesn't know shit. He's the owners son and has a fucking degree in accounting. He knows nothing about marketing. He likes pretty pictures and catchy jingles. He's a dick.
Me, I'm Jackson Barrett, 36 years old, 5 foot 10 inches tall. A little pudgy because I sit all day and the only exercise I get is doing the yard work and lifting a beer once a night. I've never been a gym rat kind of guy. I was the kid walking around school with a notepad full of drawings. I wasn't a nerd, but I had friends in the nerd group. Heck, I had friends in every group. Not that I was the popular kid in school. I just got along with everyone. That trend continued in college and after. I have a pretty good friend group.
Besides my friend group the most important person in my life is my wife Renee, 36 also, 5 foot 3 inches. Its not polite to talk about a woman's weight. We have 2 kids together, Jackson Jr or,JJ as we call him, 10 years old and Paula 7. So with having the 2 kids she has put on some weight. Renee was a stay at home mom until 2 years ago. We met at college, East Carolina. I was studying Art with a minor in Marketing. She was taking accounting courses. She now works for Apex Accounting.
The last couple of years have been stressful. Besides the job, Renee has been putting more pressure on me to make more money and spend more time with the kids. I do well enough. I took care of all the bills before she went back to work. Now it seems I don't make enough. You only get rich in marketing if you own the company.
Maybe its the fact that she spends most of her money on clothes, jewelry and the new car she had to have. For an accountant she dresses better than most executives. It wasn't always like that. Renee has done very well on her job. She's gone from just doing small business accounts to an account manager for several large companies. She does some travel to cities around the state. She had to work a couple of weekends around tax time. I guess that's to be expected in that business.
