SETTLING IN... at work (Part 107i)  

When Art called I told him that when the draft of the ad was done that he should discuss it with Bert and JJ. He said he’d arrange for a photographer to take J J’s picture in the morning and as soon as he had them he’d bring all the material over and finalize the ad with them. I breathed a sigh of relief when I heard that since it took me out of the loop... and relieved me of having to deal with Amy.

J J had continued to talk about finding a place to rent as soon as school was out for the Summer. I’d tried to explain that because the area was considered a Summer tourist area he wasn’t going to find anything close to reasonable and the longer he waited the higher the cost would be. But he was undeterred. I didn’t want to get into his personal life, especially after having met his wife, but I was getting the idea he’d had a fairly insulated existence up to now and hadn’t made many critical decisions on his own. He’d ask a question, would seem to pay attention to the answer and then go off in a completely opposite direction. This was one of those situations.

About mid morning, the next day, I saw Amy come through the front door and make an immediate left turn. That meant she was headed upstairs with the ad. For a number of reasons I was glad I was no longer involved in this project... or so I thought. I heard Hobie’s phone ring and then found him standing next to my desk motioning for me to follow him. As I’ve mentioned, the elevator was agonizingly slow so I told Hobie I’d take the stairs. Just like when I’d raced Bret, I beat Hobie without rushing. We headed into Bert’s office and J J was standing there behind him with a big smile on his face. On the desk were about six pictures of J J. Bert asked which one we thought was the best. They were all good as J J was very photogenic. I suggested that we pick one that would fit the copy that was in the body of the ad. While Bert, Hobie and I were doing that I saw J J talking with Amy and I was curious as to what the subject was. Their conversation continued even after the picture decision was made and I already was back at my desk before I saw Amy leave.

Later that day J J stopped by my desk and  told me that Amy had come up with a suggestion for a place for him to rent... a guest house out behind her family’s house. I asked how much the rent was and when he told me I immediately had the feeling that he was one lucky SOB. I don’t remember the exact amount but it was considerably less than the going rate at the time. He was giddy with excitement and I couldn’t resist giving him a “dig” by asking if he thought his wife would like it. I remember the look on his face changed immediately.

What also changed was the subject. He’d spoken with Bert and been given permission to take over the little conference room as his office. J J wanted me to get some people to move the table and his desk. I immediately wanted to know why he was asking me to do it and was surprised by his answer... supposedly, Bert had told him to do it. That puzzled me. I was already doing far more than had been discussed with me at my hiring and had a couple of projects going and now I was asked to be a furniture mover. However, not wanting to “make waves“ I went and found Hank, the custodian/handy man, and recruited Bret telling J J that the four of us could do it. Again, the look on his face changed. It was as if I’d asked him to disrobe but he did follow the rest of us upstairs As we moved the furniture around he mentioned that he’d also gotten permission to have Lynne, young girl that had been hired right before me, to be his secretary. Hearing that I began to wonder just how much influence he had since the President didn’t even have his own secretary.

The ad ran in the Thursday local paper and it had been designed so we’d be able to track responses to it and by the next day there were well over a dozen. That doesn’t seem like a lot but the mortgage loan business was never a high volume one. It was a very good return and J J actually took in a number of applications. When we were leaving that night J J told me that he was bringing his wife out the next day to look at the place Amy had told him about. Truthfully, I don’t remember what I said to him but I’m fairly sure it was a snide comment alluding to my impression of his inability to make a decision on his own. I do remember wishing him ”Good luck“ and that he gave me a puzzled look when I did.

It was probably a bit perverse of me but I couldn’t wait to find out what J J’s wife thought of the house when I saw him the following Monday. I didn’t know him well enough to get a read on his response to know if he was telling me the truth or not. He said it went well and it was a ”go”. He followed that with a bit of a hedge when he said that his wife wanted to have her baby in the city. I asked him what that meant and he kind of danced around without giving me a direct answer. It turned out that he was going to move in as of the first of June but would be going back to the city for the weekends. The baby was due in early July and the plan was he’d move his wife and kids at that time. I didn’t say anything but I wanted to. However, my mind went immediately to the thought of J J living alone in a house right behind where Amy lived for over two months. I couldn’t help but smile... but to myself.

To be continued...