The wood-paneled elevators with their brass fixtures opened on the fourteenth floor and Jake stepped into his father’s world for the first time. An attractive blonde sat at the reception desk, under a formidable “Winthrop Enterprises” sign. She smiled eagerly as Jake approached.
“I’m Jake Patrick. I am here for my first day of work,” he said without pride or pretension.
“Yes, Mr. Patrick. Your father is expecting you,” the blue-eyed babe answered with a level of professionalism foreign to Jake. Another blonde receptionist was summoned and the son of the president and CEO followed his new, and equally attractive, host down the wide hall. The office was immaculate. No cheap carpeting, no cramped cubicles. Every seat had a view and everything was in its place. It looked like a place where serious people did real work.
Jake was handed off again, this time to an older receptionist who rose from her chair to greet Jake with yet another ear-to-ear smile. Dark blonde hair fell to her shoulders, a model’s face with green eyes rested on a toned body. Sure, she was older, but Jake had little doubt that she had been a hottie in her day.
“Hi Jake, I’m Marilyn Ford, your father’s personal assistant.”
“Nice to meet you, Marilyn.”
“Your father had to step out of the office on urgent business. He should be back in the afternoon. Until then, I am here to help you get settled. Your office is this way.”
“I don’t need an office. A desk would be fine.”
“Well, I guess you are getting both—an office with a desk,” Marilyn answered without room for negotiation. “You’ll like it. It has a nice view of McPherson Square.”
Marilyn opened the desk drawer and grabbed a key ring that would make any janitor weak-kneed with envy. A bell attached to the key chain rang with every move she made, as if the sound of the jingling keys alone wasn’t loud enough to wake the dead.
“Quite a set of keys,” Jake said innocently.
“Somebody has to keep duplicates around here,” Marilyn answered. “People lose them and I’m the key master.”
Marilyn backtracked halfway through the office floor that Jake had just covered, took a left and headed toward an isolated corner. The description of the office she gave Jake as they walked didn’t do the room justice. Jake stood at the doorway and watched Marilyn switch on the lights and open the blinds. Sun burst into the room transforming an already brilliant office into a masterpiece.
“Good God,” Jake said.
“Does this mean you like it?”
“It’ll do,” he answered poker-faced. It was far nicer than anything he imagined. The wooden bookcases, handmade desk, and deep leather chairs were overkill for Jake’s ambition. He was looking for a part-time job, not an extended stay in the oval office.
“I thought you might find it acceptable,” Marilyn answered.
“Are you sure this is okay? There must be a few people in the company eyeing this office.”
“Of course there are. But until you leave, they are going to continue eyeing it from a distance.”
Marilyn reached for the desk and picked up a piece of neatly typed paper. “Here are some phone numbers for you. The security desk on the first floor, the main reception desk, and some contact names in our legal, finance, and international departments. Numbers change around here from time to time, so you may get an updated list a couple of times a year. Feel free to move around, meet people, and ask questions. I also have your new email address, user ID, and password. The head of our IT team got here early this morning just for you. I will take you around to formally introduce you to everyone after you get settled in.”
Jake’s small briefcase from Staples wouldn’t take long to unpack. The office was large enough to live in, and the leather binder that held his schedule wouldn’t fill a tenth of the desk space.
“I was sorry to hear about your mother,” Marilyn said.
Jake paused, surprised by the condolences. “Thank you.”
“She was a sweet woman,” Marilyn added, staring out the window at the park below.
“I didn’t know you knew her.”
“I’ve been your father’s secretary for over twenty-five years,” Marilyn replied. “I’ve met just about everyone in your family. I attended your parents’s wedding.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to. I even changed you once, though I’m quite sure you were too young to remember. Your father brought you into work and when you soiled your diapers, my job duties were expanded to cover the crisis. I didn’t mind. You were a little angel.”
“I still am,” Jake replied, trying to cover his embarrassment.
Marilyn smiled. “Well, I’ll leave you to get settled. Stop by if you need anything. I’ll check in with you in an hour or so and give you the complete tour. The men’s room is just beyond the reception desk, on the left-hand side.”
“Thank you,” Jake answered to Marilyn’s departing backside.
“My pleasure,” she replied.
Jake tried not to stare as Marilyn walked away. A definite former hottie.
Peter showed up at work a little after four. Winthrop Enterprises in its entirety snapped to attention as if there were a buzzer on every desk that shocked the employees to life when the boss arrived. Jake noticed the increase in work effort, no small feat for a group that seemed plenty busy already. The more daring employees offered a “good afternoon” to the CEO. The good-looking female employees received a response.
Jake was at his desk in the corner suite alternating glances between the spread of documents on the desk and the crowd that was gathering in Franklin Park across the street. Welcome to Washington. There was never a shortage of protesters, or things to protest, and it looked like the group in the park was preparing to set up camp.
Jake flipped through Winthrop Enterprises’ financial statements and marketing propaganda for the past year. Page by page he learned more about his father and his father’s business than he had ever known. He moved back to the first page of the executive summary and looked at the picture of his father, showing his best used-car-salesman grin, standing in front of a huge Winthrop Enterprise sign in some unknown location.
“Glad to see you made it, son.”
Jake looked up at his father who was wearing the same grin as in the picture. It was a smile Jake himself was known for. With straight white teeth resting between two symmetrical dimples, Jake flashed an identical smile back. The fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree.
“Yeah, I made it. You shouldn’t be surprised. I said I would be here at the start of business and I always keep my word.”
“Of course you do. Just like your mother. The woman never made a promise she didn’t keep. Do you have dinner plans tonight?”
Jake wondered if his father was capable of a real conversation. He wondered if they were going to continue talking as if they had been on speaking terms for the last six years. “Not really. Whatever falls out of the refrigerator, I guess.”
Peter looked at Jake and hoped his son wasn’t speaking literally.
“Son, if you are having problems, I can advance you your first paycheck.”
Jake shook his head. He could use the money, but there was no reason to make himself look like a complete bum. “I’ll pass on the advance, but I will take you up on dinner.”
“Fair enough. We will be having a nice meal with Senator Day from Massachusetts.”
“Oh,” Jake answered, wanting to take back his acceptance to dinner. A meal with his father was daunting enough. Dinner with a senator wasn’t going to make an evening getting to know Dad any easier.
“We’ll talk a little business, a little politics. It should be interesting.”