“Janalyn, upstairs, now,” Marcus said, his tone, as ever, clipped, condescending, and just plain rude. I was old enough to be his mother and would have loved reminding him to wipe his nose and watch his tone or there’d be consequences, but knew better than to piss him off. Never an explanation, permission, or pleasantry was uttered from his lips. I’d put up with him since he’d finished his MBA—most probably in Dictatorship—for over two years now.
“Janalyn!”
“Excuse me, sir? Where?” To his face, I called him “sir”. On bad days, Debs and I called him Mucous behind his back.
“Follow me.”
I wiped my damp palms on my trousers and steadied my knees as I stood. Upstairs was where senior employees had their appraisals, were written up, or were fired. Oh shit, now what?
“You too, Deborah. Both of you bring your things. You won’t be coming back to your desks after the meeting.”
Debs and I exchanged puzzled, bordering on worried, glances before grabbing our bags and suit jackets. I was sure we were going to face the firing squad and wondered if we’d at least be offered a last meal or statement. We signed off our computers, locked our desks, all as usual, but in complete, foreboding silence.
Marcus uncharacteristically opened the heavy door to a conference room, and shockeroo, he held it, allowing Debs and I to enter first. His crooked smile was as close to pleased as I think it ever got. There were three remaining seats at a huge mahogany table, where the man himself, Scott Spencer, sat discussing something with another executive.
Debs and I looked at each other. Senior Spencer rarely came into work unless something important was happening. What did this mean? We then returned our attention to the entire executive board. This did not look like a disciplinary hearing but rather a department head convergence. What was going on? Not letting them see me sweat, I kept my jacket on.
Despite over two decades at the same company, including more than a few promotions, I had never been in the main boardroom throughout my total employ. I sat in the firm but comfy chair and glanced down at my suit, thankful for having worn the tweed jacket and dress slacks. I looked sharp, if I did say so myself. Debs had on a dark jacket and matching skirt that hugged her figure in all the right places, but then, she was the kind of woman who would look great in a shopping bag. She was truly a stunning woman, but thankfully, without airs. An amazing combination in my humble opinion. But none of this would help us if we were about to be fired.
It was still too soon to relax and enjoy the invite. Deep in prayer for something good on the horizon, I had to remember to breathe. The buzz in the boardroom thrummed through my veins. Excited murmurs from the people in the room ricocheted off thick paneled walls and onto the floor-to-ceiling windows, only to be absorbed in the plush carpeting. I couldn’t make out what anyone was saying, and I didn’t have much time to appreciate views of Manhattan rivaling the Empire State Building observatory before all noise instantly ceased, as the senior Mr. Spencer signaled Junior Spencer to begin.
“We’re assembling a team for our first world health initiative,” Marcus said in a measured style, as if weighing each word and paying per syllable. “As some of you may know, the healthcare crisis is clearly out of hand, costing billions, where demand has far exceeded supply of practitioners, hospitals, nursing care facilities, and home healthcare agencies, and has left too many without medical care at all.” He rattled off figures I knew by heart, since I was the one who provided them.
“Here at Scott Spencer Enterprises, our aim has always been to work within a specific target population—the needs of employed adults and their employers. Our new vision is to expand to a larger demographic. There’s a healthcare crisis, people. I won’t belabor a point of which we are all too well aware, but poor lifestyle choices have greatly increased the incidence of morbity and premature mortality, which has burdened an already overwhelmed industry. Private and public healthcare systems simply cannot cope with the glut. Let’s take obesity, for example: the incidence is at epidemic proportions—and in areas of the world where it was hardly a concern before.
“Our figures show we have the expertise to set up programs that attack the problem at the ground level, and that there’s much to be gained by joining forces with European firms. We’ve been reorganizing our workforce to accommodate a shift in responsibilities. Six of you have been invited here to work together on the project, but only two candidates have been selected to travel to a pilot conference we’re arranging in the United Kingdom this summer. In front of you, you’ll find packets with all the information you’ll need to get started.”
I fingered the thick, sealed manila envelope, itching to rip it open.
“You’ll all be expected to network with our new international colleagues via e-mails, but the two attendees will speak and chair at least one panel discussion in your area of expertise. If the project meets with success as projected, more man-hours will be allocated abroad. Dim the lights, please, Cynthia. Now, I ask you all to give your undivided attention to the short slide presentation on what we hope to accomplish in the coming years.”
As the lights dimmed, Marcus was downright chatty for once. “As I’ve already mentioned, the board has already selected two out of the six people I’ve invited here today and pending the agreement of those candidates, we’ll move forward,” he said.
My mind wandered, despite efforts to stay focused. It was so good to thrum for a good reason for a change. A two-out-of-six chance that either Debs or I would get a trip to the UK—those odds weren’t dreadful. And even the one-in-fifteen odds that both of us would get to go together were pretty decent.
I glanced around the room to size up the competition, half men and half women. Debs and I stole excited glances and mouthed, “Cool!” before returning our attention to the screen.
A question-and-answer session followed the presentation. At five o’clock sharp, we were dismissed with a huge information packet to commit to memory. Marcus looked directly at me. It was odd, but rather than shrink, I lengthened my spine, gave him my commanding pose, and thought I detected a spark of interest in his eyes.
“Go home, think about it and I’d like your decisions regarding participation. The deadline is Friday, I’m afraid, as we would like to get started as early as the following Monday. Goodnight ladies and gentlemen. You have a lot to mull over. We’ve chosen you for a reason. You won’t let us down. Thank you. Dismissed.”
I was still in shock about being invited, but who had been selected to travel remained a mystery.
“I don’t want to open it here, do you?” Debs put an arm around mine for moral support.
I had a hysterical giggle in my throat ready to erupt with embarrassing consequences, so I held onto Debs for dear life and she to me as we headed out of the building arm-in-arm. First, the relief of not being fired, then the possibility of representing our company across the pond was almost more than my nervous system could bear. I was too scared to find out which two lucky souls should pack their bags.
At one point, during the supersonic elevator trip down to the lobby, Debs laced her fingers through mine and tightly squeezed them until I smiled at her. I weighed the possibilities in my mind: The Spencers had to pick us to fly to the UK. Debs and I would be their very best bet; I had no doubt about that! Two unattached career-minded women who knew how to get the job done was just what they needed at this convention.
Once we hit the crowded, and I mean jam-packed streets of Midtown, Debs’s bubble of excitement exploded: “O-M-F-G, England!”
“I am so on the same page, Debs!”
“Unbelievable.” She squeezed the envelope until her fingers visibly blanched. “We have to open it, but I’m too scared.”
“Let’s get somewhere private first, just in case.” I looked around. Manhattan was teeming with commuters in the midst of Midtown rush hou
r. “Not here, but where?”
“I have no idea but we’ll figure it out,” she said. “We are so going to England, right?”
“Damn right.”
“You know, Debs,” I said, dodging speed-walkers like a steel ball in a pinball machine, “I just realized I haven’t left the office during rush hour in five years. I can’t get over the number of people per square mile.”
“You mean per square inch! It’s worse now than during lunchtime.” Debs zigzagged as she walked.
“Speaking of…Get a load of the aroma of Manhattan’s finest cuisine: hot dogs, fried onions and sauerkraut, giant pretzels, and, oh God, I’ve got to resist those candied nuts that’s making my mouth water.”
“You know what I’m realizing?” Debs said. “I can’t remember you this elated in a long time, nor this ravenous that you’d care for food from a street van. It’s such a relief.”
We were soon lost in our own thoughts. In general, New Yorkers spent a lot of time trying to steer clear of the irate speed-walker to avoid being knocked down. Ignoring the incessant beggar was another art. The same with not falling prey to the street seller, or refusing to gather up umpteen useless leaflets being shoved in faces.
“There’s a lot to be said for working late,” Debs said, stepping over the paw of a guide dog while his owner was fingering a bunch of loose change in his hat.
“True,” I said. “Less congestion, anyway, but you know, Debs? Something has just occurred to me.”
“Yeah, what’s that?”
“I never minded working late, and I have never been a fan of jostling crowds. But I actually love the sights, smells, sounds, and the hustle and bustle of New York City, I really do.”
It was an epiphany of sorts. I hadn’t known until that moment how much I took living in Manhattan for granted. I liked my apartment. It was in walking distance to Midtown, but not in the thick of it. While I enjoyed living on Long Island, New York City felt closer to home than I’d come in a long time. I had to get out and enjoy the city more often, take in more shows, picnic in the park, visit museums all over again, shop until I dropped.
After we had sold the property and gone our separate ways, I often wondered if it was the house or Faith that I missed most. I did miss a lot of things about not living there any longer, but there were many advantages to living in the city: There were more interesting restaurants, more cultural pursuits, more shopping, and every amenity one could imagine, all easily accessible. And the incessant sirens outside my windows at all hours of the day and night actually helped me forget the memories that taunted me in the night. Not to mention my current address beat the commute into the city, because I was already there.
Are you listening to me at all, Janalyn?”
“Huh?”
“I’ll get to see David Beckham,” she said.
“David Beckham? Urm…” I stalled to catch up with her conversation. “I think he lives in LA, doesn’t he?”
She shrugged. “I have no idea.”
“Some fan you are.” I laughed at her enthusiasm, but actually, I was a closet starstruck girl too, with an arsenal of idols—surprisingly many of them British. I wouldn’t mind meeting Cate Blanchett, Emma Thompson, Helen Mirren and Kate Winslet. Heck, I’d go nuts meeting Judi Dench. I loved her in Skyfall and Casino Royale. And these were just the women, but Debs interrupted me before my brain could get to the male ones.
“Who do you think they picked?”
“Your guess is as good as mine, but I would say we’re the ones that they want.”
“How do you figure that?”
“We dress sharp.” I held up my thumb and began ticking off our attributes. “We’re smart, we’re goal oriented, outspoken, and we’re single. We make a solid team. Noooooooooo distractions.”
“You forgot to mention super-duper at multitasking.”
“Multitasking?” I asked, but already knew the answer. Debs’s sly smile gave her away every time.
“Mixing business with pleasure. We get the job done and celebrate afterwards.”
“You are a talented multitasker. If we’re chosen, I plan to see things through. You can have your own parties.”
“Don’t be such a spoil sport.”
“Oh God, I’m dying to know already.”
“Me too.” I shook the packet as if it would give us a clue to the contents, which of course it didn’t. “Want to grab some dinner before we look, so we don’t spoil my appetite? It’s amazing to desire food for a change.”
“Good idea. We eat, then we rip open the envelopes, and come what may, everything is going to be okay. I’m sure you’ll miss me plenty if I go without you.”
“Excuse me—who said anything about them choosing you instead of moi? It could be the other way around, you know.”
“I know, I hope we both get it. Please let us be the chosen ones, please.”
“Amen.”
“Dinner first sounds like a plan. Lead on.”
We picked up the pace, quickly shopping for a few groceries to cook up for supper. The second we stepped into Debs’s apartment, the temptation to find out what those envelopes contained bowled us over. Unable to resist a second longer, we sat on the sofa together and ripped open the envelopes on the count of three. Debs held her eyes shut. I peered inside my packet first.
Skipping over Dear Miss Jacobs, I immediately zoned in on Congratulations before the meaning of the word registered in my brain. Was I being congratulated on being selected to just work on the project or was I going to England as well? That was the question.
“What does yours say? Give it here!” Debs took the papers right out of my hands, quickly scanned them, dropping pages as she digested them. I sat motionless. It seemed an eternity but then she dropped the whole damn packet as she grabbed me in a boa-constricting hug.
“We’re both going to bloomin’ England!” she said in an exaggerated British accent if ever I heard one.
I laughed so hard, I couldn’t stop until we were jumping, hugging and crying all at once.
“We’re going out to celebrate,” I said.
“You’ve got that right.” Debs raised her palm for a high five. “Let’s go.”
The next day at work, it was like Debs and I were walking on air. I couldn’t say who was beaming brighter. Of course, the first thing we did was accept the positions as lead ambassadors of the global healthcare initiative. I loved the sound of our new titles and found Marcus as pleased for us as we were for ourselves. We both left his office that day with a spring in our step. We skipped lunch, too excited to eat, and delved into calling a team meeting for that afternoon.
There was so much to do, excitement was all the fuel we needed. I swiftly placed a fresh cup of coffee on Debs’s desk fifteen minutes before our meeting. She mumbled thanks, but didn’t look up.
The plans I mapped out that morning were shaping up nicely. “How’s it going on your end?” I asked Debs. “Have you typed up the tentative schedule and assignments we talked about last night?”
“Sure did. Let’s get everyone together.” She gathered up the loose papers that were littering her desk, tapped them twice to straighten the pages, and was ready to go.
As we walked down the hall to find an empty meeting room, Debs and I chatted. “I’ve never been off the continental United States, except for Hawaii, which doesn’t count,” I said, as my brainwaves fired every which way.
“Canada doesn’t count as going abroad and I’ve been there lots of times. So me neither,” she said.
“Any clue why they chose to hold the pilot conference in, of all places, Southwest Devon rather than London?”
“My guess, cost. They don’t want to spend more in case it doesn’t pan out. Venues in major cities charge a fortune to hold conferences.”
“That’s what I thought. After I got home last night, I was too excited to sleep, so I did an intensive Devon search. I’ve already decided we’re going to delve right in and see as many sights as possible.”
“Funnily enough, I too looked it up. I wouldn’t mind hitting a few National Trust or English Heritage properties. Besides all that, the history alone could keep me endlessly amused.”
“I’m most definitely hiking the moors. I might go bird watching if I have time. Whoever chose Devon gets high praise from me.” I opened and held the door for Debs.
We entered the room to find the whole gang already there, including Patrick, who I could tell was gearing up to give a formal and highly unnecessary opening speech to our meeting.
“I’d like to extend heartfelt congratulations on behalf of all gathered here today to Janalyn and Debs for being selected to represent the firm,” said Patrick. “I have no doubt they are very well suited for the job—”
“Congratulations to us all,” I interjected, before Patrick got too carried away. The man loved the sound of his own voice. I hadn’t overlooked the fact that Debs and I were chosen instead of him, seeing how he was the employee with the longest work record, but there was no time to belabor the thought. I had a lot of points to cover.
“We have six months to prepare, which sounds like enough time, but in fact, with all our other duties, fitting in extra responsibilities will take finagling.” I glanced around the room, suddenly aware that I was standing, and promptly sat down, preferring to maintain level eye contact.
“As your leader, I want to stress that this is a team effort, and we are all on equal footing. If anything needs addressing, it’s up to all of us to bring it up. I’ve put together a tentative list I know you’ll all want to fine-tune. On a personal note, Debs and I wish you were all invited to the convention, but know that your presence will be with us every step of the way.”
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