"You know I am just a consultant, right, and not even an official one," Frank said.
"Yes Frank, and I know you are just doing your little brother a big favor. But I would really like you to meet the new hires and let me know if they need help. They might talk to you if they think they cannot talk to me."
He took a chair in front of Thomas' desk and said, "ok, tell me what you've rounded up."
"We hired six. Jim has already taken Kurt Collins under his wing as his second in command as he focused on cloud development in school and already has a couple of years' experience. He has also added Kevin Lincoln and Jamal Simms to the DevOps side, both recent graduates. He has tasked Susan Durbin and Vincent Trent with backend development, and both have a few years of experience at it. We are weak on the front-end side as both new hires, Jose Grant and Samantha Reed, are recent graduates. I am extremely hopeful with Sam. She's very sharp and has a fair bit of artistic talent, so she could conceivably take on all aspects of the user experience. But Jim has his hands full with the rest of the team, so the UI is where we lack leadership. Both are going to need to work with more minimal oversight for a bit until either we find someone to lead that side, or one of them proves capable of doing it, so focus on those two if you can."
"Alright. I will be in the office all this week and meet with all of them. I will make it clear I am not an employee and offer myself as a mentor of sorts or something. I am not comfortable presenting myself as a manager when I am not filling that role."
"Fine, fine. Whatever you can do to gives us a fighting chance in the first year will be greatly appreciated Frank. Are you sure you are ok watching the office one day a week too?"
"As long as everyone understands I am just there to lock up at night and keep an eye out for emergencies, it will be fine. I don't have a wife haranguing me to be home at a reasonable hour on Fridays anymore. At least there weren't kids for her to fight over in the divorce. Yes, yes," Frank said and waved his hand in a placating gesture, "I am doing fine, and your concern is appreciated. Founding a company the day after the divorce and selling it off a year later for ten times what she took from me was more than adequate revenge," he said with a smile.
That was Franks introduction to Sam. A single sentence with two complements and a load of implied hope. Little did he know what was in store for both of them. He met the other new hires earlier in the week, but did not finally meet Sam until the end of Friday when they were the last two in the office.
"Samantha Reed," Frank asked as he leaned into the cubicle.
"Yes," she said questioningly removing a pair of glasses.
Samantha was a pretty, young woman in a nerdy sort of way, at least until the glasses came off. She was a mix of accidental highlights and purposeful downplays. Her blonde hair was plain and straight, lacking any styling or curl of any sort. She probably saved such efforts for nights out with the girls or the boyfriend, if there was one. It was probably often tied back in a ponytail at work, but not today. She was perhaps a little on the thin side, but she was wearing yoga pants, which drew attention to a very shapely rear end, or what I could see of it anyway. She was wearing a top that was tight enough to show the outlines of her b-cup bra quite plainly. Her breasts seemed to be a bit on the large side of her cup size and did not go well with her thin frame, giving her an awkward, clumsy look. Surprisingly, her stomach was completely flat, though I expected that might change after a few years of her sedentary office life. Unless she took to a gym as habitually as Frank did. In the right group, with her hair styled and well done make up, she might be the 'hot girl'. But I suspected she was more likely the middle of the road girl in her group, with a few of her friends being on the heavier side and few of them being far more traditionally attractive.
He stepped into the small space and offered his hand, "Frank Madison. I am Thomas' brother."
Samantha was completely spellbound by this man. He was more than a couple of inches past six feet she guessed as she mentally compared her own five-foot nine height to his. His hair was graying at the edges and there were patches of gray in many areas of his short beard, meaning he was probably in his late forties or early fifties. But it was his voice that caught her off balance. It reminded her of Sam Elliot except it was somehow deeper and seemed to reverberate through her entire body. She shook his hand awkwardly from her seated position.
"Oh," she said awkwardly, "I've seen you around the office this past week, but I wasn't aware you were working with your brother."
Frank noticed her eyes would not meet his for very long and she seemed a bit shy or perhaps nervous. Then she squirmed in her chair. It was slight, very slight. She probably didn't even realize she'd done it. He was used to seeing this effect in women thanks to his voice. He forced the inevitable thoughts from his head and smiled at her.
Frank held up his hands defensively. "No, no. I am a consultant of sorts. Just helping my little brother keep his venture afloat long enough to take off so you can all get rich. I also watch the office on Friday afternoon for him so he can make his weekly poker night with his buddies."
Sam glanced quickly back at her computer screen. "Ah, I'm sorry, you are waiting on me to lock up? I didn't realize it was so late, I am very sorry."
Damn this man's voice, Samantha thought to herself. He was beginning to draw a very inappropriate reaction from her, and she was trying desperately to fight any such thing from happening.
"Do not apologize young lady, you are welcome to stay as long as you feel you are being productive," Frank said sternly.
The change in his voice when he spoke firmly caused her stomach to do flip flops. She was feeling an even stronger compulsion to apologize again and comply immediately.
"However," he continued in a conspiratorial tone, "if you ever need to sneak out early some weekend, I promise not to tell my brother."
Sam laughed, smiled, and said "ok then."
"My brother says you have impressed him a great deal. If you are here working this late every week, I can see why. Hopefully his expectations do not cause too much pressure though. All work and no play makes Sam a dull girl," he chided.
At that moment, Sam's phone vibrated, and the sound echoed loudly through the desktop in the quiet office. She looked at it in mild annoyance and picked it up. She read quickly and then rapidly typed out a short response and put the phone back down.
"Sorry, your timing is apparently perfect. The boyfriend is wondering when I will be home," she said in embarrassment. "I need about fifteen minutes to finish what I am in the middle of. Is that ok?"
Why was she being so deferential to this man. No one had ever made her feel this way. She shook her head to clear it.
"That will be fine Ms. Reed. Please flip the lights off and back on when you leave so I will know when you depart."
"Yes sir," she replied immediately.
'Sir? What the hell Sam? What are you doing? Sure, he's older, but he isn't your boss.' She blushed slightly at her own thoughts and turned back to her computer.
Frank saw her blush. But he left quickly so she would think he had not. He would find his thoughts returning to Samantha Reed occasionally all weekend long.
Frank continued to interact with Thomas' six new employees each Friday over the next several weeks and the company seemed to be doing well. Everyone treated him as an informal mentor, but one they could trust not to get them in any work trouble. But then one Friday morning Thomas met with him and voiced a troubling concern.
"Something is wrong with Sam," he said sadly.
"What do you mean?"