Rotting Rage

by Gayle Katz

  I bolt out of the conference room and make my way to the ladies bathroom. For some reason, the bathroom feels hotter than the rest of the building. I pee, wash my hands, and fix myself in the mirror as quickly as possible. When I come out of the bathroom, I’m a little sweaty. Jack is leaning up against the wall. He catches me by surprise.

  “People might get the wrong idea if they notice you hanging around the women’s bathroom,” I point out.

  “Let them. Are you OK? Are you sweating?”

  “Yeah. Yeah. I’m fine. The bathroom is just hot.”

  “That’s it?”

  “And…”

  “And what?”

  “And it’s just that… this car dealership guy has the potential to spend a lot of money with us. Just a little nervous is all.”

  “Everything will be OK,” he says as he puts his hand on my shoulder, “Have I ever lied to you?”

  “No.”

  “And I’m not going to start today. Trust me. Everything will be fine. You got this.”

  “Gotcha. Thanks for the reassurance. We should probably get back to the conference room.”

  Not a second after we return, Jody opens the conference room door with our prospect, Jason Hamilton, behind her along with three other people—two men and a woman.

  Jason is an older man. Maybe in his fifties or sixties, but he looks like he’s in great shape and he’s quite handsome. He also has all of his hair and is wearing some sort of designer suit. He looks like money.

  “Great to meet you,” John welcomes the newcomers as he reaches out to Jason. They shake hands.

  “Same here,” he replies.

  “Thank you for coming down to the station, Mr. Hamilton,” I say as I go over to greet Jason and his entourage.

  “My pleasure, but call me Jason. I’ve been looking forward to it,” Jason turns to Jack, “And you must be Jack from the nightly newscasts. I recognize you.”

  “I am,” Jack acknowledges, smiling.

  “Let me introduce my team: this is James, my marketing wizard, Joseph, my moneyman, and Mallory, my personal assistant,” Jason says.

  I greet them in the order of introduction. The two guys look like twins, at least they dress alike and it’s all business with them. They don’t even smile. It’s like shaking hands with robots. On the flip side, when I shake hands with his personal assistant, the last person he introduced, I get a completely different vibe from her.

  “Nice to meet you, Mallory.”

  “Same here.”

  “Mallory?” I think to myself. There’s something odd about her, but I can’t put my finger on it.

  “Nice to meet all of you.” I turn my attention back to the business at hand, resuming pleasantries. “Please take a seat and we’ll get started with the presentation.”

  Each person takes a nearby chair and a bottle of water.

  “Before we get started, do you have any questions?” I inquire, trying to look them all in the eyes, including Mallory. My mind is racing trying to figure out where I’ve seen her before.

  Jason looks at his team and replies, “No questions. Yet.” He smirks.

  “Great, then why don’t we jump in and get started?” I encourage as I begin to take the group through the prepared material.

  Chapter 5

  ________________________________________

  11:30 a.m.

  Jody knocks on the conference room door, peeks her head in, and then enters.

  “Lunch is here,” she says.

  “Great!” John replies, “Come on in.”

  Jody waves the catering guys into the conference room and they begin to set up.

  “Since we have this break, why don’t we give you that tour of the station we promised?” John mentions.

  “Sounds wonderful,” Jason replies.

  “Jane, you and Jack know the station inside and out. Why don’t you two lead the tour? I need to take care of a few things before we sit down for lunch,” John says.

  “Sure thing, John.” I reply as I get up from the table and start to walk to the door. Jack follows me, and the rest of our guests get to their feet and begin coming towards us.

  As they approach, I turn to Jack, ”Where do you think we should we start the tour?”

  “Ah. Great question. Why don’t we leave the most exciting spots for last? Let’s hit the dressing rooms for hair and makeup, green room, newsroom, master control, and end with a bang at the studio?”

  The station layout is a wheel and spoke pattern, so we can go room-by-room and end up back here at the conference room—a very efficient use of our time.

  I lead our guests out of the conference room and officially start the tour in the changing area.

  “Here’s where our on-air talent get ready for their broadcast. We have a limited selection of clothing they can choose from, or they can use their own. This is also the place where we do hair and makeup,” I say as I walk around the mirrored room, “Feel free to look around if you’d like.”

  Our foursome of guests ambles about the makeup and dressing room area for a bit before losing interest.

  Jack takes the lead. “Next door, we have our green room. The green room is where guests and on-air talent like myself can relax before going in front of the camera. You’ve got your coffeemaker, bottled water, and little snacks as well as a full-length mirror to make sure you like the way you look before you venture out on to the set. I use it to make sure I don’t have anything in my teeth,” Jack jokes. “This is actually one of my favorite rooms. The couch is comfy too,” he says as he takes a moment and plops down on it.

  “I see. You look at home here,” Jason says with a smile.

  “I spend enough time here. It’s practically my second home,” Jack replies.

  We continue to stroll through the tour. Next up? The newsroom.

  “Here’s where all the stories we air originate. Gina over there leads our little news team by taking calls from the public when news happens, monitoring other news sources, and assigning stories as she sees fit.” Jack educates and waves to Gina on the other end of the newsroom. She waves back and smiles.

  “We also have a soundproof editing booth in the far corner where reporters like me can stitch together a story from all the footage we’ve taken while out on assignment. We can also add voice-overs too. It’s not what the big boys have in terms of technology, but it gets the job down.”

  “Interesting. How much news do you get from your news hotline?” Jason questions.

  “More than you'd think,” Jack hints.

  “Moving on to the master control room. This is where the director sits and literally calls the shots,” I say as I walk past all the buttons, lights, and switches on the master control board. “That’s just one of the many reasons why Jack looks so good on camera all the time,” I joke. Jack gives me a playful smirk.

  “You two seem to have a good rapport with one another,” Jason comments as he looks at Mallory.

  “Yes, yes we do,” I say. “It definitely makes work a better place.”

  “Agreed,” Jack says.

  “It’s good to foster healthy relationships at work.” Jason continues to look at Mallory while talking to us. “Sometimes they can lead to more fulfilling relationships outside of work.”

  Jack and I look at each other, perplexed. There’s something odd here. Mallory looks about my age, and Jason is old enough to be her father, yet the old creep is gaga – almost drooling – over her as he stares at his assistant. There’s something sleazy and skeevy in his infatuation. Nevertheless, this isn't the time or place to address it. This is business, and how Jason chooses to run his is irrelevant, at least until we’re further along in the negotiations. I did my best to choke down my own disgust and continue doing my job.

  “Shall we continue? Now we’ve come to the best part of the tour – the studio,” I continue as I lead the way onto the main studio floor. “You can see the cameras and the overhead boom microphones,” I point to each. “In order
to get the best sound quality possible, Jack usually wears a small lavaliere microphone when he’s out and about. He can also have a handheld one if the situation warrants. When he’s on-set, though, we normally use the boom microphone from above. We’re still testing which one works best for us.”

  “Very interesting,” Jason says, “I didn’t realize there’s so much involved in making the news come to life.”

  “I didn’t realize it either, that is until I started working here, of course,” I do my best to parallel Jason's thoughts for the good of the business relationship. “I almost forgot. Here’s the teleprompter that Jack reads from so he sounds as perfect and as polished as possible on-air.”

  As I’m talking, our guests disperse in all directions into the studio touching and exploring everything they can get their hands on. I try to follow them around so they don’t get into trouble or break anything accidentally in the studio. I motion for Jack to follow the two closest to him, and I follow the others.

  “The most impressive aspect of the studio is definitely the lighting setup,” I emphasize the importance of the often-overlooked feature as I walk up to our single anchor desk setup. Pointing to each of the lights, I add, “From this vantage point, you can see the lights in front of the desk by the main camera as well as the lights to each side and the back light behind me. Lighting is extremely important. It helps to make great television. On the flipside, if your lighting isn’t up to par, it can doom a show to failure.”

  Jason turns away from what he’s looking at and starts walking my way. “May I sit in the anchor chair?” he asks.

  “Of course. Why not?” I reply as I watch him approach. As I look around, I see Mallory staring at me. She really looks familiar, but this meeting is too important to stray from our mutual goals, so I again shrug off the odd feeling. I focus on Jason as he steps onto the main studio platform.

  He walks around our one-person anchor setup and slips into Jack’s anchor chair. “Wow,” he comments. “Now I know why you’re always smiling when you’re on the air. This seat is heavenly.”

  “It’s pretty nice,” Jack agrees.

  As Jason delights in his time in the anchor’s chair, I step off the platform to rejoin Jack and see if we can start to round up the rest of our guests. We have lunch waiting for us, and the rest of the presentation to finish. I turn around to watch Jason enjoy spinning around in the anchor’s chair for another minute or so before I realize he’ll need to be more directly coaxed out of it.

  “OK, everybody. Time to head back to the conference room.”

  “Agreed,” Jason says, although his actions don’t follow as he’s still siting in the comfy anchor chair. As I approach him, he leans back and extends his arms in a relaxing stretching motion.

  “Be careful up there.”

  “Sure. Sure.”

  When his arms and hands are outstretched to their maximum limit, his fingers accidentally brush against some exposed wiring in the back light.

  ZAP!

  “Ahhhhh!” Jason screams. The lights flicker for a second or two and then go out. I hear a thud. Darkness envelops the studio. It’s so dark that I can’t even see my hands in front of my face.

  “Jack!” I shout as I grab hold of his arm, frightened.

  But I know I can’t stay here, helpless. I have to help Jason. Despite the lights still being out, I do my best to carefully walk over to the anchor’s chair by memory. My eyes are slow to adjust to the change in lighting.

  Moments later, the backup generator kicks in and some lights come back on. Once I can focus my eyes and see where I’m going, I look over at the anchor’s chair. I don’t see Jason anymore. I run the rest of the way up to the platform, and see Jason lying on the platform floor. Once there, a burning smell penetrates my nostrils. It smells like the last time I tried to cook and almost burned down the kitchen.

  “Oh my gosh! Mr. Hamilton! Jason! Are you OK?!” I begin to panic as I slowly roll him over on his back.

  “Yes. Just give me a minute and I’ll be fine. It was only a little shock,” he tries to downplay the whole event. He’s probably embarrassed by his own recklessness.

  “A little shock? I think it was a little more than that,” I continue to express my concern. “Jack! Call an ambulance! He needs help.”

  “No. No. No.” Jason assures me as he grabs my hand with his, “No need. I’ll be fine. I just need a few minutes to collect myself.”

  I’m still looking in Jack’s direction when Jason grabs my hand. When I turn my full attention back to Jason, I see his fingers around mine. The tips are black, burned to a crisp. “It’s just a precaution, Jason,” I advise him, “we want to make sure you’re OK.”

  “I’m fine. See?” He says as he grabs my hand harder, using his other one to reposition and balance himself. He’s still trying to play the whole thing off, “Help me up and let’s get back to our meeting. I can use something to eat right about now. I remember lunch is on the agenda too.”

  Mallory joins me on the platform. There didn’t seem to be any worry or repulsion on her face as she races to his side. “He doesn’t need an ambulance,” she says, confidently. “He’s tough. He’ll be fine.”

  We both grab onto Jason in order to get him to his feet. As I take one of Jason’s arms and swing it around my neck and back, I look at Jack, who runs over to help.

  Jason’s male colleagues also hurry over. “Finally,” I thought quietly to myself, “It’s the most effort they've expended since they arrived!” I step aside to talk with Jack and let Jason’s marketing manager take my place in order to support him.

  “I’m still calling for help,” Jack speaks to me softly so no others hear. “He just had a surge of electricity run through his body. We have to call. What if he dies from the shock to his system? That would be horrible, not to mention the liability the station would face. Plus, it’s the right thing to do.”

  “OK, call. In the meantime, we’ll get him back to the conference room. Maybe something to eat and drink will help,” I respond, parting ways with Jack temporarily as I lead Jason’s entourage back to the conference room.

  The smell is getting worse. Even when I’ve burned dinner, the smell starts to dissipate after a few minutes. Maybe it’s because there are no windows in the studio, so the smell is concentrated and has nowhere to go?

  I sneak a peek at our guests behind me and Jason isn’t looking any better. He isn’t walking by himself and he’s actually relying on his employees to help him more. It’s like he’s losing the motor functions of his body. I’m happy that Jack decided to call an ambulance. I’m guessing that Jason is going to need some serious medical attention and fast.

  Chapter 6

  ________________________________________

  Back in the conference room, Mallory and his marketing manager, James, help Jason get back into his seat. He falls into the chair like a sack of potatoes. I open a bottle of water and extend my arm to hand it to him.

  “Jason, why don’t you have a drink?” I offer.

  No response.

  “Jason?” I repeat.

  “Oh. OK,” he says as he takes the water from my hands. As soon as I let go of the bottle, Jason drops it. Water splashes all over the conference table.

  “Sorry,” he mumbles.

  “No problem,” I wipe up the spill with some napkins and pick up the bottle. Instead of handing it to him again, I just place it upright on the table in front of him in case he wants any. I look at him and it seems as if he’s looking right through me. It’s like I’m not even there. He’s probably in shock. He just sits there.

  “Why don’t you eat something, Jason?” Mallory says.

  No response.

  “I’ll make him a plate,” she decides aloud. “He might not be hungry just yet, but just wait until he gets started. He eats like an animal sometimes.”

  “I can’t really picture him like that,” I respond to Mallory if for no other reason than to avoid a very uncomfortable silence. Mallory
grabs a few sandwiches and some salad on a plate and places it in front of Jason. He doesn’t seem to notice.

  After that, I watch his entourage just go about their business like nothing happened. I can understand if they don’t like their jobs or their boss, but what about plain human compassion for someone who’s hurt? They begin reviewing the rest of the presentation. Eating lunch. Checking their mobile devices. And Jason is still just sitting there. Staring.

  I get up from the table and walk to the doorway as Jack enters the conference room. I gently push him right outside the room.

  “Jack, it’s weird in there,” I report.

  “Weird? How do you mean?” he seeks further explanation.

  “It’s like that shock to his system turned off his brain,” I clarify. “And his team is just going about business as usual, even though Jason is far from whatever his usual self is, unless he’s usually staring at nothing in particular.”

  “Why don’t we go back in and see if we can get him back into the groove? The ambulance said they’d be here in five minutes or so to check him out. I also told Jody to bring them to the conference room as soon as they arrive,” Jack advises.

  “OK,” I reply, “It couldn’t hurt to keep him company until help arrives, right?”

  When Jack and I return to the conference room, nothing had changed. Everyone is still going about his or her business and Jason is still sitting and staring. As we take our seats, my boss comes back into the room.

  “How was the tour?” John asks as he looks at Jason, anticipating a response. “Jason?”

  Nothing.

  “It was good,” Mallory tries to fill in, “Very informative and exciting. Right guys?”

  The Yes men Jason brought with him nodded their heads, concurring with Mallory.

  I guess they hate their jobs, their boss, or both, I think to myself. Someone you work with is hurt and all you can do is play with your phone? Geez.

  “OK,” John did not buy it, “What happened? How was it really? Jane?”