The Boss

by Rick Bennette

  “Did you know I’d be in Seattle”?

  “No clue. I’m on a tour of the west coast from Alaska to California. This is my midway point.”

  “Erika didn’t tell you I’d be here?”

  “No, she didn’t.”

  “What did she say?”

  “That you missed me.”

  “I never told her that.”

  “I know. She saw it herself and knew. I figured you would have thought Erika and I would have been with each other.”

  “I would have, until she told me why not.”

  “That was the only reason. She’s a great friend in every way. I hope you can see that.”

  “I do. I’m glad you have a friend like her.”

  “She can be a friend like that to you, if you’d let her.”

  “One thing at a time, Jake.”

  “That’s fair. I imagine you’re already a little easier on everyone at work.”

  “She noticed that, too.”

  “I’m sure everyone did.”

  “You think so?”

  “I do. When you make a change this big, Abbey, people notice.”

  “Would you ever want to come back? To the office, I mean?”

  “No, I don’t think so.”

  “New job that good?”

  “It is. But that’s not why.”

  “Why not, then?”

  “Because of tonight.”

  “Tonight?”

  “What we have right now, this moment. I would never want to jeopardize this by coming back to work for you. It wouldn’t be worth the loss if you got mad at me again for somethin’ stupid like coming in at noon or squirtin’ someone in the ass with water.”

  “I understand. But someday I wish you’d consider it.”

  “Now if you made me an equal partner -”

  “- Oh, here it comes. I knew it.”

  “Abbey, I’m in love with you. Head over heels in love.”

  “God, Jake. I don’t know if I can process all this in one night.”

  “You don’t have to, Abbey. We have a lifetime for you to catch up.”

  “How can you feel this way so fast?”

  “I already know what I want. I just have to wait until the day you do.”

  “I don’t know when that day might be.”

  “Whenever it is, Abbey, it is. I’ll be here when you’re ready.”

  “You’re really willing to wait?”

  “Long as I know you’re headed in this direction, yes. All I ask is if you don’t want this, tell me. I’ll understand.”

  “What did I ever do to deserve this?”

  “See, that’s the thing. It isn’t what you did or didn’t do. It’s who you are at the core of your heart. I can see it in your eyes, and that’s what makes it worth waiting for.”

  “My being bossy for seven years, that didn’t ruin it?”

  “Just slowed it down, Abbey, that’s all. Believe me, if that’s all I thought you were, I wouldn’t be here right now.”

  “What do you say we have those crabs now. Here they come.”

  “It’s about time. This has to be the slowest service I’ve seen anywhere.”

  Abbey and Jake enjoy their meal together, sharing casual conversation and laughs like old friends. The meal is finished, and Jake picks up the tab. They leave the restaurant and head down to the lobby together.

  “What’s the rest of your evening look like, Jake?”

  “Dark with a chance of daylight in the morning.”

  “OK, let me rephrase that. What are you going to be doing in the next few hours?”

  “Going back to my room, looking over the pictures I shot and emailing the best ones back to the office servers.”

  “Ohhh, sounds exciting. Can I watch?”

  “That would mean you’d have to come to my room. You sure you wanna do that?”

  “To witness you working, yes.”

  “Don’t get too excited. This doesn’t take all that much time, really.”

  “Is this the way you worked for me when I wasn’t watching you?”

  “I worked harder for you. I wanted to impress you so you’d like me.”

  “Did it work?”

  “No. That’s why I had to wait six years for the Bimini adventure.”

  “So let’s go take a look at those great shots of yours.”

  Abbey follows Jake to his hotel room a few blocks away. He’s staying in a four star hotel, a far cry from the accommodations he was forced to endure when Abbey was footing the bill.

  “This is quite a suite for a photographer.”

  “See, that’s the thing. You see me as a photographer. The company sees me as a revenue producer. It isn’t just pictures. Anyone could do that. It’s waiting for the right lighting that shows the viewer the same old places in a brand new look they won’t see anywhere else.”

  “How is it you can do this?”

  “That’s my trade secret, Abbey. If I revealed that, then I couldn’t have the job I have because anyone could do it. Think Ansel Adams. He wasn’t just a photographer, even though all he did to the casual observer was take pictures with a camera. What I do sells dreams to thousands of job weary people looking for an escape to some place they don’t see in the everyday lives they live.”

  “You have such an eloquent way of describing simple things. That or you’re a top notch bullshitter.”

  “Its a magical combination of both, really. But it works. So you ready to see some magic?”

  “Show me the magic.”

  Jake shows Abbey the photos on his laptop. She watches as he works his magic with the software to create some truly spectacular images from his already great photos. He sets them to music and plays the picture show for her.

  “Jake, you’re amazing. It makes me wanna come back here, and I’ve already seen this place.”

  “Now you know what I can do.”

  “Thanks for the show. But I have to check in to my hotel. You know, the one with half as many stars.”

  “You’re welcome to stay here if you like. Save a couple hundred bucks, Abbey.”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Why not?”

  “I’m afraid of what might happen.”

  “We’ve already been there, and we’re both single, so there’s really nothing to be afraid of.”

  “I’m not ready for that.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Do you want to understand, Jake?”

  “I do, Abbey.”

  “You know how you say you’re in love with me?”

  “Of course.”

  “I want to feel the same way. And the only way I can convince myself it’s real if I convince myself that this isn’t a relationship based on lust.”

  “I get it. Now let me make you an offer.”

  “OK.”

  “There’s two beds in here. You take whatever one you want. I’ll take the other. You can have the bathroom first. We’ll talk into the wee hours of the morning, and I promise I won’t leave the bed. Except to pee, of course.”

  “You can do that?”

  “It’ll be my way of proving to you that I value your company more than, you know, getting lucky.”

  “You’re on. But any hanky panky, and I’m out of here.”

  “Under one condition.”

  “What’s that?”

  “You don’t sneak over to my bed and start tempting me. That’s entrapment, and then all bets are off.”

  “Don’t worry, that won’t happen. You got a deal.”

  “OK, then. You get ready first. I’ll wait till you’re under the covers before I get ready.”

  They both get ready for bed as promised, and finally they are under the covers in separate beds as agreed. They talk into the wee hours of the morning, sharing details of their lives and their families. Finally, with not a hint of lust between them, they drift off into slumber.

  Chapter 11

  As the night sky begins to lose it’s darknes
s, slowly and quietly, Jake climbs out of bed and into the bathroom to ready himself for another day’s work. He must catch the morning sun coming up on the Space Needle. He quietly leaves the room without stirring his room mate.

  After getting the shots he needs, he returns to the room. Abbey is still sleeping. He lies down on his bedspread, staying fully dressed. The morning sun shines in through the window. Diffused by the curtains, it casts it’s soft yellow glow on Abbey’s face. Like a newlywed admiring his pretty new wife, Jake watches her sleeping peacefully with such joy in his heart. It was a challenge for him not to break their agreement, but now he’s glad he was able to prove himself worthy. She smiles at him as she awakens to greet the new day.

  “Good morning, sleepy head.”

  “What are you doing dressed already?”

  “I went to work this morning.”

  “Where?”

  “Sunrise shots of the needle and the downtown.”

  “Wow, you are the industrious one, aren’t you?”

  “Have to be. Sun don’t wait for no one.”

  “My meeting isn’t till after noon. Can we have breakfast together?”

  “I was counting on it.”

  “OK, close your eyes while I get up.”

  “What? And spoil my entertainment?”

  “Yes. Now be a gentlemen and turn the other way, please.”

  “OK, but only cause you said please.”

  Abbey gets ready, and an hour later the two of them go for breakfast.

  “How come it only takes a man half the time as a woman to get ready?”

  “A man is only half what a woman is.”

  “Oh, there’s some sexual harassment in there somewhere.”

  “You asked.”

  “And you sure answered. But my answer is the right one.”

  “OK, let’s hear it.”

  “Men only need half the time to do what a woman does.”

  “Talk about sexist.”

  “Hey, you asked.”

  “You know a good place for breakfast?”

  “Not yet. But I bet it won’t take long to find one here. Seattle’s loaded with coffee shops.”

  “I could go for something on a croissant.”

  “Figures. Girly breakfast.”

  “Well I’m a girl. So there.”

  “Point taken. Whatever you want, I can eat anything.”

  “You have a busy day?”

  “Nope. As a matter of fact, I’ve gotta figure out what I’m gonna do till the golden hour before sunset. Pictures in midday light look horrible.”

  “Come with me.”

  “Where?”

  “To my meeting. It’ll be like old times.”

  “I don’t quite recall the old times being all that endearing, Abbey.”

  “Right. Good point. Will you come anyway?”

  “Maybe. Do I get paid?”

  “I’ll buy you lunch.”

  “Now who can resist a deal like that? You’re on.”

  They finish breakfast, take a little walk around town and head toward Abbey’s meeting. Abbey is trying to pitch a client into using her publishing company, but the client seems to feel that traditional printed books might not be profitable enough as they once were. The online market is changing the book world on a daily basis, and it’s getting easier for authors to manage their own publishing. Still, even with online publishing, there’s a need to market the service effectively.

  Jake, sitting there listening to the pitch and seeing the less than enthusiastic response, is hatching a new plan in his mind. He wants to see if Abbey is receptive, and if so, they can pitch it together. He motions to Abbey for a private moment. The two of them leave the room. He explains the idea to her and the two of them head back into the conference room to pitch it.

  “Mr. Foster, my partner and I have a revolutionary idea for your books. Jake, why don’t you explain the idea to Mr Foster?”

  “Sure, partner. OK, here’s the basic idea. We all know books are losing market share, eBooks are taking over, blah, blah, blah. Old hat. But what if we were to set up mini libraries in all these expensive coffee shops?”

  “What would that do for me?”

  “I’m getting to that. Sure, clients come in for coffee, but what they really want is a little down time from their busy days. We set up a small library loaded with a hundred or so books from up and coming authors. Short stories, an hour at most. On the cover of the book, we put the word count or reading time so a customer coming in for say, thirty minutes, can pick a book to read that’s thirty minutes long.”

  “And how do we get paid for that?”

  “He borrows the book for half a buck, or a dollar, whatever. Haven’t worked the price thing out yet. But it’s still cheaper than an eBook. And the guy doesn’t have to pay twenty bucks for a printed book, either. He reads the whole thing in one sitting and turns it in. Saves him money, and saves space that he doesn’t have to store fifty of these in his apartment.”

  “Brilliant. I like it.”

  “Now here’s the best part. We keep the rights to the concept. When it becomes big, we open up our own chain of coffee shops, sell only the big profit makers and keep it simple and profitable. We get seven years, maybe, before the next trend hits.”

  “I like it. Abbey, you devil, you didn’t tell me you had such a brilliant partner.”

  “Oh, yeah. Jake and I go back over seven years.”

  “Well then, as long as you and Jake are together on this, let’s do this thing.”

  “I’ll get the papers drawn up and have them by end of day tomorrow.”

  “Great. I look forward to it.”

  Jake and Abbey leave Foster’s office. In the lobby, Abbey pulls Jake aside.

  “When did you come up with this? It’s not half bad.”

  “At breakfast.”

  “You mean just before? And you had all those details?”

  “Yup.”

  “That’s brilliant. I mean, it’s incredible the way you think of stuff so fast.”

  “That’s why I get the big bucks, Abbey. Partner. By the way, what’s this partner stuff?”

  “I had to tell him something.”

  “So are we really partners? Or going to be?”

  “I thought you didn’t want to work for me?”

  “Right. I’ll never work for you, but I will work with you.”

  “What about your job?”

  “For now, having use of the jet will make travel easier for us while we get this thing off the ground. That is, if you can schedule the client meetings around my shooting schedule. At least until we can make enough to buy our own jet.”

  “I like the sound of that, but I just don’t see those kind of profits.”

  “I do. Down the road some, and I think it’s gonna work out better than I thought. But we gotta set some ground rules.”

  “Like what?”

  “First one is we’re equal partners. Fifty - fifty all the way. You’re not my boss and I’m not yours.”

  “I’ll go along with that. But if you make me fifty one percent, we get special benefits for a woman owned business.”

  “True, but that sways the influence. It isn’t worth the benefit. Fifty-fifty or I’m on my own with it.”

  “But it’s my company.”

  “It’s my concept. I’m willing to share it, but you have to be willing to share what you have, too. Deal?”

  I have to think about it.

  “Think about it? Think about what? You can’t lose.”

  “OK, it’s a deal.”

  “Shake on it. We’ll do the legal stuff later.”

  “So what do we call this new venture?”

  “A.J. Lenders.”

  “Where’d you come up with that name?”

  “Really, come on. A for Abbey, J for Jake and lenders because we -”

  “- OK, I get it.”

  “It’s about time.”

  “Has a nice ring to it.”

  �
�Figures. Guess you like the A being first.”

  “Of course.”

  “Just sounds better that way. That’s the only reason.”

  “Whatever you say, partner.”

  “So what’s on the agenda the rest of the day?”

  “Gotta draw up the papers for Foster. A little rest, and then the red-eye home tonight.”

  “The red-eye? You’re kiddin’ me. No, I guess I’m not surprised. You prob’ly saved a bundle on air fare.”

  “Think you could give me a lift to the airport later?”

  “So early?”

  “I don’t have a room, remember?”

  “How about we take a drive to Puget Sound first. There’s some great little stores you might like. We can find a coffee shop to sit and do the paperwork.”

  “That’d be nice.”

  Jake takes Abbey to a few of the stores in one of the small towns on the east side of Puget sound. Abbey is enjoying window shopping while Jake just admires the fact Abbey admires him. This is his dream come true. The one he thought he would only live out somewhere in his own mind. All the years of past office problems melt away as this new era of Abbey and Jake takes root for the future. Jake makes sure he takes lots of pictures of Abbey everywhere they go.

  A few hours later, they are pulling up to SeaTac airport in plenty of time for Abbey to catch her flight. Jake is scheduled to fly on to Portland, Oregon, Sacramento, California and then San Francisco for more photography.

  “Abbey, come with me to Portland.”

  “I can’t, Jake. I’m due back tomorrow.”

  “What do you have back home that can’t wait a few days? The office will still be there. Erika will see to that.”

  “You know how hard it is to change a flight, especially this late?”

  “Forget the flights. Come back with me on the private jet. It’ll be a real treat.”

  “You know, if you had planned this out ahead of time, I might of said yes. But I really just need to get back. You know me well enough to know once I set my mind to something, that’s it.”

  “You’ll be missing a rare opportunity to see lot’s of great places. Multnomah Falls, Canon Beach, the Redwood Forrest, Lake Tahoe. These are some of the most beautiful places in the country.”