The Baby Package

by Sarah J. Brooks

  Edward was silent for nearly thirty seconds as he looked over the list one more time. I watched his chest as his breathing increased, and he appeared to get more and more agitated. His fingers twisted around the corner of the paper, and his jaw clenched as he held his mouth shut tightly. “Fine, but you guys fire them. I’m not doing it,” he said firmly.

  Kevin and I looked at each other a little in disbelief. We hadn’t imagined that Edward or anyone from their company would actually want us to do the firing of their employees. It actually seemed a little disrespectful to the employees and their time with the company.

  “If that’s what you want,” Kevin offered. “But we’d like to do it as soon as possible.”

  “Hell, it’s only one in the afternoon. Why not get it done today?” Edward said as his face started to turn red.

  “I think we could do it next…” I started to say.

  “Yes, today would work well,” Kevin said. “Let me get the severance packages printed up. You two call the employees over here. Set up the meetings every half of an hour starting at two o’clock,” he added as he got up and left the room.

  “Shit,” I mumbled under my breath.

  “There you go. You get to fire six of my longest employees. Enjoy your Friday,” Edward said as he stood up. “This better be the last of the firings. You promised we’d keep these employees and their jobs. I won’t take kindly to another meeting like this,” Edward said firmly and then left the office.

  What had started out pretty pleasant had ended on a sour note. Even though he knew we were going to have to let some people go, seeing the list with the six people’s names on it was where Edward’s mood changed drastically. These were people he knew very well. He probably even knew their spouses and children. I didn’t fault him at all for making us fire their employees. It would be easier on us than it would have been on him.

  “Okay, so we are doing this,” Kevin said as he came in with a stack of papers. “Edward left?”

  “Yep, he’s not interested in being the bad guy. I guess that’s us today.”

  “Shit, okay. Well, take a look at these offers. They are pretty much the same. Most are voluntary retirement offers since four of the six have been with the company twenty years. For the other two, I added a full six months of severance.”

  “Wow, that’s really generous.”

  “These guys are just getting the raw end of this deal. I bet a lot of them were thinking of retiring anyway, and these packages will help. I put them in at full vested amounts and gave them their yearly bonuses too.”

  “Geeze, can I retire too?” I laughed as I looked at the deals. “How are we saving money here? It looks like we are still doling out a million dollars?”

  “Actually, the accounting group said this money can be amortized or something weird. Plus, we won’t be paying the money out beyond this year, so that’s helpful.”

  “Whatever works, I’m fine with it. Are you going to stay for the firing?” I asked as I winced at the idea of having to do it alone.

  “Yeah, let’s do it together and in the big conference room. Where’s your assistant, we could have her bring them into the room one at a time.”

  “I let her go home so she didn’t have to be here when her father came in.”

  “How are you doing? It seems like she’s a really hard worker and getting a lot of stuff done. She’s making me think that I want a personal assistant for myself. But then again, I’ve got my wife,” he joked.

  “Oh, better not let Amy hear you saying that.”

  “I know. Don’t you dare tell her either.”

  We took a few minutes and called each of the employees with a time to show up. It would take us at least three hours to make our way through the list of people, and I couldn’t imagine things would go very smoothly. These people hardly knew who we were, yet we were going to be the ones changing their lives with one short meeting.

  “Someone’s here,” Kevin said as he looked out the conference room window. “Shit, I’m nervous.”

  “Me too,” I said as I moved to the other side of the table to force Kevin to stand at the doorway and motion for Alfred to come this way.

  “Alfred?” Kevin said. “This way, we can meet with you in here.”

  “Hi,” he said.

  “Hi, I’m Kevin, and this is Jason. We are with Industrial Management Brothers and recently bought part of your company.

  “I know who you guys are. So, I’m here to be fired? Is that what this is?”

  “Well, I’d rather use the term retirement,” Kevin said through a shaky voice.

  “I’m sure you would rather use that term. But you’re basically canning me. Right? Because I’d like to hear the truth instead of some caked-over bullshit. After twenty-two years with my company, you’re laying me off? Is that it?”

  The tension in the room was so thick I felt like I was breathing it in. Alfred wouldn’t sit down and instead insisted on standing behind one of the chairs as Kevin went over the details of our offer.

  “It’s more like an early retirement offer,” Kevin said without any confidence in what he was saying at all. “You’ll get fully vested in your retirement and severance pay. Plus, you get to keep your health insurance as long as you want to keep paying your monthly premiums.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes, sir. You can keep your health plan for your entire family at the exact same rate you are paying right now. Plus, the severance package and the retirement money.”

  “So basically, I can tell my family I am retiring early? I don’t have to say I was fired.”

  “Sir, you are not being fired. You’ve served your company for over twenty years, and we are offering you the opportunity to retire early. That’s all this is,” Kevin said as he started to regain his confidence.

  “So, I’m retiring?”

  “Yeah, your record will show you have retired. You’ll have all your benefits, plus the sweet bonus severance money.”

  “This seems a little too good to be true,” Alfred said skeptically. “I thought you guys were firing me.”

  “Here’s the deal, Alfred. The company isn’t doing well, and we will need to release some employees. But you and a few other guys have reached retirement level, and we’d much rather give you the opportunity to take advantage of that. You only live once, so might as well retire early and enjoy life,” I said as I moved in on the conversation.

  We ended up spending the rest of the half of an hour talking about Alfred’s family and his plans for retirement. He was only fifty years old, definitely younger than he wanted to retire, but also young enough to decide if he wanted to get another job or not. With the package we had put together for him, Alfred wouldn’t have to make a decision anytime soon, though.

  One after another, the employees came in for their meetings with us. We gave them the bad news, and some of them didn’t take it as well as Alfred had. A couple threatened to kill us before we had even had the chance to tell them about their package. A couple were happy, like Alfred, but the last two were definitely not happy. Even offering six months of severance wasn’t enough to soothe their agitation over being one of the people let go. But eventually, we made it through all six firings and finally collapsed into our chairs.

  The first two had gone off within the half of an hour range, but the last four had dragged on for well over that time frame. It was nearly eight o’clock when we could finally relax.

  “How’s your daughter?” I asked Kevin.

  “She’s good. Amy finally got off work and met me at the doctor. It’s just an ear infection, nothing to worry about.”

  “Can you grab a drink, or do you need to get home?”

  “I can definitely grab a drink. I’m going to need one to calm all this nervous energy. That was definitely not a job I enjoyed doing. I really hope we don’t have to let anyone else go.”

  “You and me both. I doubt most people are going to be as accepting as these guys were. How do you feel about that
Club Lively place? I’ve heard a few other guys were checking it out the other day and said it was pretty hip.”

  “Then I’m there. You know how hip I am,” Kevin joked as he started doing this horrible dance.

  “Wow, you should do that dance at the club. I bet the ladies would be all over you. They’d probably assume you were a millionaire or something and that was the only way you were comfortable with being such a horrible dancer.” I laughed as I teased him.

  “Can we swing by your house so I can shower? I don’t want to go home; I’m sure I’ll get thrown onto dinner duty.”

  “Sure, let’s get cleaned up and go get me a lady for the night,” I joked. “I do need to make sure Rosie can stay late. Sometimes she has plans.”

  I totally wasn’t going to pick up some random girl and bring her home, although I was pretty sure that was what Kevin thought I did all the time. With Clyde at home, it just wasn’t practical to bring strangers home with me, even if we’d be in my bedroom, and Clyde would be in his.

  “Doesn’t she have a room at your house?”

  “Yes, but she doesn’t stay with us all the time. Only when I need to go out of town or something like that. Normally, she heads home as soon as I get there. I’ve actually not had much time with Clyde the last few weeks, so I’m excited to get to have some time over the weekend.”

  “Are you two doing anything special?” Kevin asked.

  “Yep, going to see the Wiggles in concert.” I laughed.

  “Oh, man I’m sorry. I can’t believe they are still around. I still have nightmares about the time I took my kids there. Totally freaked me out.”

  “The Wiggles? Aren’t they just a children’s singing group?”

  “Yeah, but they are grown men singing children’s songs and dancing around like maniacs. I couldn’t stop thinking about how that would be you and me if we lost our company.”

  “Really? You are such a dork. I would only be Barney, never a member of the Wiggles,” I protested, and we both broke into laughter.

  “Hope it never comes to that,” Kevin said as he turned serious. “This deal is going to work. I just know it is going to work out great for us. I have a feeling it will be a little rough these first few months, but then things are going to turn around.”

  Kevin always had feelings about things, and he was right about half of the time. But I never argued with him. He had his ways of dealing with the pressures we were under, and I had my ways. But in the end, we were both interested in building a brand that others could watch. We wanted integrity to guide us, and that was exactly what we were doing.

  Chapter 6

  Anna

  It was after nine o’clock when we finally walked through the doors to Club Lively. I had a little zip in my step from completing my first full week of work. For many people, this might have seemed something so small, but for me it was huge. I was finally independent and in charge of my own life.

  Even though I hadn’t actually considered going into business, my little lie about going to college to get my MBA was actually starting to feel like an option. I loved being in the office, and I really enjoyed learning about the numbers and business side of everything. There was a lot to learn, though, and I knew it.

  “Are you actually going to party tonight?” Summer asked as if my one week of not partying had been torture for her.

  “I’m down to party all night long,” I exclaimed as I pulled her onto the dance floor.

  “Don’t you want to get some drinks?”

  “Nope, I just want to dance right now. Can we just dance?”

  Summer reluctantly stayed with me, and we danced. The club wasn’t the coolest in town, but it had become ours over the years, and I felt comfortable there. The DJ had the music blasting, and Summer and I danced until we were about to fall over from exhaustion. It was a blast but sort of sad that the other girls hadn’t shown up yet. They had insisted that Club Lively was too boring, and they were only going to come after they finished at the much more popular Club O.

  Of course, I wouldn’t be able to get into Club O because I’d already heard they were sticklers about the IDs. Luckily for me, Summer had agreed to come hang out at Club Lively, so I didn’t have to wait until midnight for everyone else. Patrick had planned on coming too, but he was held up with his work for a bit and wouldn’t be around until later.

  “Drinks, now?” Summer asked as the music paused and a slow song came on.

  “Yeah, good plan.”

  Summer ordered us a few glasses of Vodka Sours, and we grabbed a table near the bar. My feet were already throbbing, and I was seriously dehydrated as I sucked the drink down much faster than I should have.

  “Shit, I’m going to grab some ice waters,” I said as I threw my shoes under the table and stood up much too quickly. I lost my balance, colliding into a man as he walked past me. I wasn’t smashed drunk or anything like that, it was simply the combination of dehydration and drinking my drink too quickly.

  “Are you alright?” the man asked as his hand wrapped around my arm and steadied me. “Where’re your shoes?” he asked with a laugh.

  It took me a minute to steady myself and realize that the man I’d bumped into was Jason. He probably thought I was some sort of alcoholic with the way I’d just stumbled into him like that.

  “Oh, hey, it’s you,” I said as I tried to stand up straight. “I’m okay; I just stood up too quickly.”

  “Yeah, that’s probably it,” he said as he smiled down at me. “Celebrating a week of hard work?”

  “Something like that. This is my friend, Summer,” I said without slurring my words and trying to seem as sober as possible. “I was just heading up to get some ice water.”

  “It’s nice to meet you, Summer,” Jason said as he shook her hand.

  Summer just sort of looked at Jason and laughed a bit before she went back to sipping her drink. I stood there for a minute trying to figure out if there was anything else to say to Jason but then decided it was best to just get away from him. Being this close to him made my knees week and my head spin.

  “Okay, well, I better go. Have a good night,” I said as I walked toward the bar and stood there waiting to order some ice waters.

  “You’re not old enough to be drinking,” Jason said as he slid next to me at the bar.

  His arm pressed up next to mine, and the touch of his skin vibrated throughout my body. My nipples hardened, my center got wet, and every part of my body was on full alert with him touching me.

  “I’m not?” I asked with a questioning look. “Hmm, that’s interesting.” The bartender came up, and I looked over at Jason who was smiling with amusement at me. “I’d like two ice waters,” I said as I raised my eyebrow at Jason.

  “Nice choice.”

  “I’m not drunk,” I protested. “I was out dancing, and I’m just a little dehydrated.”

  “Okay.”

  “Really, I’m not drunk.”

  “Okay,” he said more earnestly. “I’ll be around for a little bit. I’m having a drink with Kevin over there,” Jason said as he pointed to Kevin sitting in the corner. Kevin waved to me. “Come get me if you need a ride home or anything. I mean, if you end up drinking and not being able to drive. Since you’re not drunk right now.” He laughed.

  “I really am not drunk,” I protested.

  Jason just laughed and leaned in close to me. I could smell his cologne, the same cologne that had been driving me crazy throughout the week at work—the same smell that I went home with, thinking about well into the evening. That damn cologne.

  “Just promise you’ll come get me if you need a ride.”

  “Fine, I promise. But I can order an Uber like a normal person.”

  “Enjoy your night,” he said as he pulled away and the bartender handed me two ice waters.

  “You too.”

  I watched as he sat down with Kevin, and the two of them looked over at me. It was weird seeing them outside of the office. Since I wasn’t living at
home any longer, I had only seen Jason in the office, and things had been really professional there. But as he stood next to me, I didn’t feel like things were professional at all between us. There was a desire inside of me that boiled up almost instantly as he stood there. When his muscular arms pressed against mine, I wanted him. At that moment, all my promises to behave myself were slipping away as I sat back down with Summer and imagined what fun it would be to dance with Jason.

  “He’s cute. Who is he again?” Summer asked.

  “My boss and my neighbor. Well, when I lived at home.”

  “Oh, yeah, the guy who you want to take your virginity. I remember. He’s really handsome. Maybe you should dance with him?”

  “Summer, I can’t. He’s my boss now. It’s so complicated. I think I’ll have to find someone else.”

  “That’s ridiculous. You’ve been fantasizing about this guy for years. He’s the one. You just need to make it work.”

  “Ha, if only life was that simple. I’m starting to realize things are a lot more complicated than I thought. But I’m definitely going to keep my eye on him. Maybe when I’m done with my internship thing? Who knows?”

  I wasn’t about to admit to Summer that I wanted Jason even more than I had before. This week I’d gotten to see him in his element and admired the way he worked and how he treated everyone around him. Before this week I’d only known Jason as the hot dad from next door. There wasn’t much substance to my crush at all, but now I’d learned more about who he was, and it drove my desire hotter than before.

  The funny thing was that we didn’t even spend much time together throughout the week. He was really busy, and I’d been trying to prove myself and get the job done. I also didn’t want to be that girl who was throwing herself at him anymore. It had been fun when he was my neighbor only, but now I was going for something totally different. It was exciting having a job and building this life as an adult.

  “Can we please go dance now?” Summer said as she dragged me out of my chair and back to the dance floor.

  The music filled the room, and the bass thumped through my body. Our bodies moved and gyrated to the music as I let go of the stress from the week and had fun with my friend.