Part One: THE OFFICE
"Mary! David! Get in my office - - NOW!" Jim yelled, his face crimson with anger.
David's new to all this tension, but I've worked at the corporate office for years now, so I am used to Jim's end-of-quarter outbursts. He yells, he barks, he drips sweat all over, but in the end he calms down and eventually finishes the financial report and sends it on up the chain. But David hasn't been through this before. He's really young, and only gets to the central office a couple times a year, and this is the first time that Jim has taken a direct aim at him. David works for me, and is a great employee, but he doesn't have the experience to stand up to someone like Jim. We walk briskly to Jim's office, but there's no color left in David's face as we walk through the door.
"Shut the door and sit down." Jim said sternly. "David, what the fuck happened last quarter? How can you go from having 8% growth to a negative 15% in just three months??!! Mary, how come I didn't know about this in time to do something? I could have made changes in the region, or something, and now I'm just screwed. Instead of it just being David's ass, now it's going to be yours and mine as well!" The tension was palpable, and I hoped David was smart enough to stay quiet and let me take the lead. If not, Jim would eat him alive.
"Jim," I said calmly, "I understand why you're upset, and David and I are not going to leave you hanging. One of two things had to happen: either the data's wrong, or there was a mis-timing in order entry for one of our major subscription customers. David's got a strong region, and every daily report and every weekly report indicated that we were on track for a good quarter. Your report's not due at HQ until next Tuesday, so give me 24 hours to get to the bottom of this." I think I sounded confident, but my stomach was a mess, and David had some serious explaining to do.
"24 hours." That's all Jim said. He looked back to his report, rudely indicating that our meeting was over.
"David, I'll have accounting run a full set of new reports that we can work from. There's not much we can do here at the central office, so you and I are going to drive down to Colorado Springs and work on the raw data in your office. The Denver Inverness Park traffic gets pretty tough after 2, so let's try to leave by 1. You can drive. Why don't you go get some lunch, and we'll hit this fresh on the drive down."
David looks at me, still obviously shaken from Jim's scolding. "Mary, I'm so sorry for all this. I just don't understand what happened. But I'll make this right. Thanks for handling Jim. If it's OK with you, I'd like to go for a quick run, since my stomach's too messed up to eat. It'll clear my head, too," David said, his voice still a bit shaky and raspy from his stress-dried throat. Despite being upset with David, it was cute to see him so vulnerable, just like a little puppy that had just gotten spanked.
"Go run," I said. "But I need something to eat. I'll see you a little before 1."
As always, working with the bean counters took way longer than it should have, and I didn't make it to the sandwich shop until almost a quarter to one. I usually don't eat this way, but the hotdogs look so good. I grab a couple to go, alone with a bag of corn chips and a diet soda.
I head back to the office and press the button to call the elevator. These elevators are painfully slow, and the door finally opens. I wait for several people to get off, and then walk in and hit the 34th floor. Just as the door finally starts closing, a hand waves through the almost-closed door, and sends the doors lumbering back open. My annoyance is interrupted when I see the hand belongs to David. He has just come back from his run, and he is still breathing hard and is in his running gear. He's listening to his headphones and seems to be in his own world. I don't even think he recognizes it's me in the elevator. As if by instinct, he reaches up and hits the 34 button, too.
I'm standing a bit behind him, and to his left side. We are both facing forward. He's looking thoughtlessly at the elevator door, but I'm admiring him.
David's probably late twenties, and at least 10 years younger than me. He's maybe 6 feet tall, and has the build of a well-toned athlete. I'd say more like an Olympic swimmer or volleyball player than a body builder. His hair is pretty short for business, but has just enough wave and unruliness to express a youthful, energetic attitude. Although I can't see them now, he has the deepest green eyes I've ever seen, and they sparkle with joy when he talks about skiing or his new 4x4 Jimmy truck. As my eyes work slowly down his body, I can see the sharp muscle definition in his shoulders and back. He's wearing a loose cotton shirt, but it is glued tightly to his torso with sweat. As he stands, his arms and shoulders move slightly as he reacts to his music, and with each motion, a ripple of muscle first reacts and then disappears again. His back slopes from the broadness of his shoulders to a sexy narrowness just above his hips. His stomach is completely flat, and looks like its rock hard, and there are little diagonal lines formed on the side of his stomach from just below his rib cage to his waistband. Even though I can't make out the other ab lines, I believe they must be there!