When my phone rings, I can’t keep the smile from forming on my lips. “Can’t get through the day without hearing my voice, huh?” When he doesn’t immediately respond, the curve drops from my mouth. “Ben? Are you there?”
“Uh, yeah.” A heavy sigh explodes out of him.
“What’s wrong?”
“Honestly, I’m not even sure how to begin this conversation.”
The way my heart is hammering, this can’t be good. “Okay, why not try talking for one thing? You’re scaring me.”
“No, no, don’t be scared. I’m sorry. I just hate to bring this up to you, because it’s not good. But I guess I just need to spill it. It was Nick.”
“Nick? What about him?” I ask.
“He was the one who told Karen to come to the party.”
“Wait, what? You’re telling me that Nick called Karen and told her to come?” My face must be a thousand degrees right now because my blood pressure is boiling. “Why the hell would he do something so presumptuous as that? And who gave him the authority?”
“Sam, calm down, baby. You’re yelling.”
“You’re damn right I’m yelling.”
“Do I need to come over there?”
His question stops me in my tracks. “You would do that?”
“Of course I would.”
“Thank you, but no, I can handle this. And Nick.”
His gentle chuckle comes to me over the phone. “I imagine you can and will.”
“And what’s so funny about that?”
“I’d like to be a fly on the wall when you do your handling. I can envision you handing Nick his ass in his hands.”
“Oh, Ben, I’m so screwed though.”
“What do you mean?”
“Other than his meddling in my personal life, he’s a good employee. He does a good job and knows this business. And now I’ll have to find a replacement.” My head is pounding at the thought already. “Do you think I should give him another chance?”
“You don’t want me to answer that, do you?”
“No. You want to beat his ass, don’t you?” I already know his answer.
“He’s intentionally tried to ruin us. He pisses me off to about ten on the Richter scale, so, yeah, I’d like to kick his ass into the next county.”
Ben’s absolutely right. Nick has done some terrible things, and stuck his nose where it never should’ve been. If I’m smart, I’ll do the right thing and fire him. “I don’t blame you. I’m having problems with that myself.”
“Listen, my sister knows a lot of people. Maybe she can help you find someone. Or even knows someone looking for work in your area.”
“Well, if she does, that would be awesome.”
“Unfortunately, I’ve got to get back to work, but let me know if you need me.”
“Ben? Thanks for letting me know. It wasn’t an easy call to make.”
“No. I didn’t want to tell you, but you need to know these things. I’ll call you later. But Sam, I’ll be around, just call.”
This is just great. How am I going to handle this? Nick isn’t here yet, but I won’t give him the opportunity to settle in. As soon as he arrives, I’ll confront him.
As I wait, I open up my work calendar so I can get even more depressed. The schedule is packed and without Nick, how am I supposed to handle everything? I hear Nancy come in, and she pokes in her head to tell me good morning.
“Nancy, can you send Nick in here when he arrives?”
“Sure thing.”
As I continue to inspect the workload, I notice I’ve checked a date off in two weeks. I cross reference it with my personal calendar and it’s the day I’m supposed to get back to my doctor. He’s expecting me to talk to that plastic surgeon. Damn! This is the last thing I need right now. With the business the way it is, I don’t have time for this. Not to mention, do I really want to face this right now? And that would be a big N-O! I’ll do what I can be very good at doing and that’s burying my head in the sand, like the proverbial ostrich. I quickly make a reminder note in my calendar, and push it back for four weeks from now, just so I’m not completely negligent and idiotic.
A few minutes later, I hear Nick come in. This is one conversation I am dreading, but it’s best to move on. I can’t continue to deal with his mothering.
After a knock on my door, he walks in. “You wanted to see me?”
“Yeah. Have a seat.”
This is unusual and his frown lets me know he gets something’s up.
“I may as well get straight to the point. Why did you call Karen Spencer and invite her to the Rhoades Investment Team party?”
It’s always the eyes. His grow into enormous orbs and then his lids shrink them into slits. “What … how?”
“Doesn’t matter. Just answer the question.”
“She’s a client of theirs. She was on their client list.”