It was late when I got home, but with all the coffee I drank during my ride home I wasn't ready to sleep, so I went to my home office and started to plan for the meetings I would be having the next day. I worked for several hours, then went to bed and slept like a rock until my alarm clock scared the hell out of me. It took a few seconds for me to realize I wasn't in Lakeside and that I had a full day ahead of me.
"I'm so sorry," said my secretary Beth, as soon as she stuck her head in my office. I was there already an hour and a half. She wasn't late; I was just early and ready to get started.
"Don't worry about it, I wasn't doing anything anyway," I lied, and then told her what information I needed for today.
I had several people that work for me in and out of my office for the next hour informing about what was going on with my clients product recall. I was then summoned to the president of my company's office.
"Hi Norm, can't live without me huh?" I said as I walked right into his office and took a seat in front of his desk.
"Oh Hi Carol, I didn't hear you knock," he said. I love his sarcasm.
"So I'm guessing Douglas is going nuts?" Referring to Douglas Meese, who is the CEO of the company we represent.
"Not, going nuts so much as thoroughly pissed off that his company made the product error and it's going to cost them millions to fix the problem and build back customer confidence."
"I've been working on a few ideas last night and this morning. There's nothing we can do about the millions it will cost him to fix the problem, but I have a strategic plan to save their reputation, and perhaps enhances it."
I went over my plan with him and he was impressed, he didn't say as much, but when he said that he would attend the meeting with Douglas, I knew he liked it. If he didn't like it, believe me, I would have to go it alone, which would have been okay with me anyway.
Beth set up the meeting and a company car drove me, Norm and two other associates of ours, across town to their corporate offices.
I'm not going to bore you with the conversations of the meeting. Douglas and I have worked together for years and he likes my ideas and no BS attitude, that's why he requested me to handle this problem.
After some conversation I made my presentation on what we should do. Douglas was with a group of about 20 people from his company sitting at a huge conference table. My group of 4 sat in the middle. I give excellent presentations, but this one went exceedingly well. Right from the start I could see people shaking their heads in agreement and a few smiles started to appear on some faces. Most people can't read what Douglas is thinking, but I was picking up signs that he was starting to feel more confident about how this should be handled.
Long meeting short, we got full support to carry out my plan.
On the ride back to our office, Norm said,"Christ Carol that was great, I guess that's why we pay you the big bucks."
"Glad you mentioned that Norm I've been meaning to talk to you about increasing those big bucks you're talking about."
Norm, groaned, but said," Let's talk about that when we get back in the office." He was smiling so I knew a pay raise or bonus would be worked out.
The remainder of the day was a series of internal meetings getting all department heads that needed to be involved up to date, so they all knew their responsibilities.
I was sitting back thinking what I should do next when it popped in my head that I should tell Kathy that I wasn't at her cabin. I dialed her number.
"Hi Kathy it's me Carol."
"Oh Carol I forgot to call you, is Jack the real estate guy there?"
I was supposed to call you and tell you he was going to stop by and look the place over."
"No, I called to say I had an emergency at work and had to come home. Why does a realtor have to look over the cabin?" I asked.
"We decided that since we don't get there as often as we thought we would, we should try to sell it. Are you planning on going back?"
"I was planning on going back Sunday, but that's not going to happen, looks more like Monday or Tuesday. Give me the guys' number and I'll call him when I get there and I'll show him through the place."
She thanked me and I told her how much I enjoyed being there for the short time I was there, of course I didn't go into the details.
"Hey super star." I heard as I hung up the phone.
"Oh stop it," I said with a smile to my closest work friend, Sarah, who was standing in my office doorway.
Sarah started with our company 5 or 6 years ago and has been on a successful fast track. She's in another area of expertise, but our job requirements keep us in touch in a daily bases. She's in her mid forties.
Sarah is only 5 feet tall, but has an excellent figure that always have to guys turning around to take a second look. She's hot, knows it and flaunts it. She's also a lot of fun to be around.
Oh yes, she's married but that doesn't seem to hinder her from having sexy fun. She's always teasing the guys with suggestive comments, which they seem to enjoy. I have no idea if her husband knows or approves of her teasing; it's something she's never openly discussed with me. I'm also not sure if her teasing goes beyond the teasing stage. She thinks I'm a prude and should have more fun.
"So did you have any fun on your vacation, as short as it was," she asked.
"Yes it was very nice and relaxing."
"Carol I mean did you get laid?" she asked with a laugh.
"Well as a matter of fact I got laid twice by an 18 year old, black, physical trainer," I answered.
"Yeah right, you have to learn how to have fun," she said, not believing a word I just said.
"Okay, I'll keep that in mind when I go back again next week." I wasn't sure if I was disappointed or not, that she didn't believe me.
She said, "it doesn't look like we'll be able to get out of here until late tonight, so do you to grab a bite to eat before out 7:30 meeting?"