I could hear the rush of air that came as the front door opened with the storm door closed. If he'd pulled any harder, he would have popped the glass out of both doors. Naturally, I would have been blamed.
"Come back here, you little prick, so I can beat the shit out of you." Dad yelled as I gave him the one finger salute. "You wouldn't know a good school if it bit your dick off."
My little sister was pulling on him to come inside. She was crying and screaming at him to stop. Even Mom couldn't do that. Dee was 'Daddy's Little Girl'. Everyone else was dirt because they didn't go or weren't going to his alma mater. Just to spite him, I'm not even going to mention it here. Fuck off Pop.
Dee has always been ahead of her class by at least two years. Dad refused to let them promote her so she could learn at her own rate. I always thought that it would hurt her scholastically but after a while I saw that it didn't make any difference. I gave her two and a half to three years in a four-year course at...that place. She had to be the one to go because I had refused.
I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I always have. I started telling the old man early on that I wanted to learn all I could about computers and eventually become a consultant with my own firm. I did take a few technical courses but most of what I learned was hands-on stuff. That's the only way to really learn a trade or vocation. He didn't see it that way.
That was six years ago when I huffed out of that house. I had kept in touch with Mom through the mail until he found one of my letters and tore it up right in front of her. Now I keep in touch through my Aunt Gail. The ironic thing is that Gail is Dad's sister and hasn't had anything to do with him for twenty years.
My sister is twenty-two now although I haven't seen her since that day. She was very chubby at sixteen with no prospects of ever having a boyfriend. The snobbish girls she hung around just had her around to make them look better. They all claimed to be her friend but she was never invited to anywhere important. There were times that her self-esteem was in the toilet. I felt sorry for her so I would take her places and sometimes pretend to be her boyfriend. I just ignored the looks we were getting. At least it was making Dee happy.
I kept myself busy learning and planning, learning and planning. I couldn't learn enough. I had everything so planned out that when Jim and I finally got the loan, we went right to the building we had picked out, made a few minor changes and started moving things right in. By the time our ads hit the papers a week later, we looked like we had been there for years.
Jim and I had met while working for Jamerson and Thomson, a firm that had about fifteen good years under their belt. We left on such good terms that the whole office staff and about half of the sales force were there on our opening day to celebrate. We didn't pay for a thing. Jamerson and Thomson paid for it out of their own pockets.
About an hour into the party, the phone rang for the first time during business hours. You could hear a pin drop. I picked up the phone on the second ring.
"Good morning, T & D Consulting, this is Alan, May I help you?" I said nervously. "Yes, sir...no, sir. We can either train your people or supply you with our trained consultants...Yes, sir. We have about sixteen years between us...yes we did. In fact, they are here right now giving us a grand opening party. Yes, sir, you may. Just one moment and I'll get him." I fished around for the hold button and mashed it down. A cheer went up from the crowd. Mr. Jamerson quieted them down as he reached for the phone.
"Jamerson here. Is that you Frank?" He asked. There was a pause. "I would have put him on it if he hadn't jumped ship like he did." Another pause. "If you don't hire these boys to do it for you, don't ever call my office again." Pause. "I have every confidence in the world in these boys. They will do right by you. If they don't, I'll personally kick their asses. These size twelves will kick them both at the same time." Pause. "Ok. Give Pauline my love. Bye." He put down the phone and glared at Jim and I.
"I meant every word I said to Frank." His chin was wrinkling up and his eyes were about to tear. Suddenly he raised a hand, asked for a drink and one appeared. He raised his glass and everyone followed his lead. "To the best damn guys anyone could ever know. Good luck boys. Knock 'em dead."
The party lasted another hour and people started to leave. They all wished us well with kisses from the ladies and firm hand shakes from the men. Of course there were the lighthearted remarks about not forgetting this one or that one when we really make it big.
After the last one left, Jim and I just sat back in our chairs and looked out the window. I was thinking about the enormity of what we were doing.
"Jim." I said, breaking the silence. "What the fuck are we doing? I mean, are we really doing this or am I dreaming?"
"Yes and No." Jim replied. "The...OUR day has arrived. From now on it's make it or break it. It's up to us not to break it."
The phone rang for the second time today. It was Frank's personal secretary wanting to set up a meeting. I was to call back tomorrow with the meeting time and place. I hung up.
"I just spent next months budget." I told Jim. "This party is on us." I stood and started to pace. "Jamerson said that these people are pretty picky."
"Where is their office?" Jim asked.
"Somewhere in upper Minnesota." I said.
"Have you ever been to Chicago?" he asked. "It is mid summer, they are having some pretty good weather and there are some pretty good sights to show them around."
"That's kind of pricey, isn't it?" I asked.
He gave me a look that could kill. "DUUUUHHH! Get on the computer and get prices on some packages." he said in disgust. "Then take out your corporate card and pay for it. No wonder I'm the lead man here. I hope you've had some sales training." We both looked at each other for a moment then and burst out laughing.
I was able to book a room and a suite at the Hilton in downtown Chicago on the following Sunday night through Wednesday afternoon. I was to meet with some guy named D. Miller for brunch and go over some preliminaries. It was up for grabs from there.
I flew into O'Hare Airport on Sunday afternoon, rented a car and drove, with some directions, to the Hilton. I am not really impressed by big names or architecture. I checked in and went right to my suite. After a quick shower, I ordered room service and had a nice leisurely dinner. I had nothing planned for that night so I decided to hit the sack.
I called the front desk to see if Miller had arrived and was assured that he had. I drifted into that wonderful land of nod.
I awoke to the sound of the phone. A very sexy voice said, "Good morning, sir. This is your wake-up call for 7:00 AM. Please have a safe and wonderful day." I mumbled something that may have sounded like thank you but I'm not sure. I pulled myself into a sitting position on the edge of the bed and took a few minutes to figure out where I was.
"Chicago...Hilton...meeting. Ok. Got it." I said to myself. I stood and headed for the shower.
I had picked out a dark blue pinstriped suit and a red tie. I heard somewhere that red showed power. Even Trump has a large collection of red ties. Even though I was meeting Miller in a few hours for brunch, I was famished. I ordered a light breakfast of two eggs, bacon and toast. The room service guy showed me how to work the coffee machine in the room.
