Tyler smiled at her new friend. While she suspected Georgie was close to ten years older than she was, she guessed Zoe was a good ten years younger. It was easy to remember university and how she didn’t get serious about her studies until her junior year. Maybe Zoe had been in the same place. Making a decision opposite to what Tyler had when the time came to buckle down. “Can I ask you an inappropriate question?”
Zoe practically squealed in delight. “Now we’re talking. What terrible indiscretion can I share with you?”
Tyler bumped her briefcase against her knees, not sure if she should even ask. “Did she name that dog after her girlfriend?”
“What, Maggie? No, she came from the service academy with that name, but there was some painful overlap.”
“How so?”
Zoe puffed her cheeks and let out a low, slow whistle. “When Georgie got back from the veterans hospital, Margaret was all in our face about how she wanted to care for her and so on and so forth. You know, wanting to be in charge. That probably wouldn’t have been a big deal, if it wasn’t for the fact that Georgie had no idea who she was.”
“Oh my God!”
“Yeah, I know. Can you imagine? Anyway, Margaret didn’t take it well. Actually, she was a bitch on wheels and it wasn’t long until we realized she was battering Georgie over it.”
“She was beating her?”
“No, sorry. I mean battering her emotionally. She was always trying to wear her down. It wasn’t what Georgie needed. Not that we knew what to do for her, but the way Margaret behaved was unforgivable. About a month after Georgie was back with us, in the home she and Margaret built, Georgie asked to be moved. The minute we did, Margaret filed for separation and sued for damages from emotional abuse. The funny thing was, Georgie’s memory around Margaret came flooding back in soon afterward.”
“I take it Margaret wasn’t pleased her memory was returning?”
“Not at all. As a matter of fact, in her witness statement, she said that Georgie’s returning memories were causing her more emotional anxiety than relief. I can’t say I believed it. I always thought that bitch was after more than Georgie’s loving affection.”
“Wow! How did Georgie handle things?”
“Oh, she was a mess. By the time things progressed to where the court date was set, Georgie remembered everything and was overwhelmed with pain over Margaret’s betrayal. The thing is, she was already gutted from the loss of her crew. Then Margaret walking out, which was bound to happen, was more than she could bear. Margaret was always interested in the fastest and easiest way to get ahead. I guess having to take care of Georgie was more than she was willing to invest.”
“How did the court case go? Sorry,” Tyler said with regret. “I know it’s none of my business.”
“Not at all. Certainly not if you’re going to help us with my eldest aunt. It never got to court. The whole thing was taking such a toll on Georgie, she was at a point where she never wanted to see or hear a single word from Margaret. So, she asked Marnie to make an offer. Margaret got to keep their house and all their belongings, plus a financial settlement, a rather handsome one I might add, in exchange for never coming near Georgie again. Since then, Georgie has really retreated emotionally. If it wasn’t for my granddad and that bloody dog, which came with the name Maggie, I don’t think we would’ve ever gotten her to reconnect with her life at all. I think that’s why Marnie’s being so generous with her offer. You’re the first person she’s taken an interest in since coming home. I’m not saying that to pressure you. I like you and have a feeling you’d be good for her. Who knows, in a way, she might be good for you too.”
Tyler shook her head in puzzlement. “How’s that?”
“Well, you’re a professor. Don’t all you academic types like to write gads and gads of books about some such garbley-goop?”
“Garbley-goop! Well put; and yes, I’ve been looking for time to do some writing. Do you really think Georgie would allow me time to do that?”
“If it fits in with what she has planned and I know she has plans. She believes your education can be put to good use. If you’re truly concerned with the day-to-day demands of the job, why don’t you talk to her? She’s really quite accommodating, if you can be patient enough to communicate your needs.”
“I guess that’s the part I’m worried about. Maybe I should’ve paid more attention during psychology one-oh-one.”
“Really? That was one of my faves. Tell you what, you take the job and I’ll do all the psychology one-oh-oneing, while you help Georgie with her new project.”
“You know what the new project’s about?”
“Hardly,” Zoe retorted, turning for the main entrance. “I don’t understand the projects she’s finished, much less anything she’s just starting.” She backtracked to where Tyler stood, retrieving the visitor’s badge pinned to her jacket. “I hope you take the job, Tyler. I think we’ll be great friends.” With that, she moved as fast as her stilettos would take her, waving her goodbye as she slipped through the lobby door.
Tyler slid into her Chevy, tossing her briefcase on the passenger seat. She crossed her fingers, turned the ignition key and listened to the starter grind until the engine finally turned over. As much as she hated the car, she did want to thank the good people at Chevrolet for the industrial heaters they built. Once her hands began to warm again and she could feel the circulation returning, she pulled out the single sheet of paper that described the job she’d been offered.
Executive and Personal Assistant to the Chief Innovation Officer.
EA Duties: Performs administrative duties for the CIO. Responsibilities may include screening calls; managing calendars; making travel, meeting and event arrangements; preparing reports and financial data; training and supervising other support staff; customer relations. Requires strong computer and Internet research skills, experience writing technical reports, flexibility, excellent interpersonal skills, project coordination experience, and the ability to work well with all levels of internal management and staff, as well as outside clients and vendors. Sensitivity to confidential matters is required.
PA Duties: Supervise the daily activities of the assigned executive. Responsibilities may include: setting and maintaining a personal schedule; booking personal and medical appointments; shopping, including wardrobe, prescription medications, etc; driving the executive to appointments and events; accompanying the executive to conferences and on all business travel. Complete confidentiality in all matters relating to the executive is required. The PA may on occasion be called on to represent the executive at meetings, conferences, or corporate events.
The EPA position requires significant travel, irregular work hours, and advanced project leadership skills. The standard benefits in the remuneration package include medical; dental; hearing and vision care; along with a company matching retirement plan. A company vehicle will be made available when needed. Additionally, a wardrobe stipend is available for those occasions when the EPA must accompany or represent the executive at conferences or corporate events.
Tyler wasn’t sure which startled her more, the fact that they were offering her use of a car and expenses just to babysit Georgie DiNamico, or the number Marnie had scrawled at the bottom: 94k.
Who the hell pays a secretary ninety-four thousand dollars a year just to babysit a crazy, hit in the head savant?
Tyler pulled out her cell phone, and happy to get a signal, she speed-dialed her most called number. When the line picked up, she smiled. “Hi Dad. Are you free for lunch?”
Chapter Two
Tyler pushed her eggs around her plate, not really interested in the meal in front of her. Across from her, in their regular booth at her dad’s favorite greasy spoon, her father sat studying his daughter.
“Come on Tyler. Tell the old man. What’s got you so troubled?”
“I had my final interview today.” She gave up the pretense of eating and dropped her fork on her plate, retrieving the folded job d
escription from her pocket. She tossed it unceremoniously across the table to her dad. “Read that and tell me what you think?”
Carl Marsh unfolded the printout. “Executive assistant? Tyler! Is it that bad out there? Jesus girl, I would rather see you come work for me.”
“What am I gonna do at a body shop, Dad?”
He shrugged. “You’re damn good with spot touch-ups. Maybe we could promote custom paint work or you could find some officie stuff to do.”
“Officie stuff? Thank God Mom manages the business, or you would’ve been out of it years ago.”
“You don’t think I know that? Pumpkin, there isn’t a day goes by I don’t thank God for your mother!” He picked up the folded page and read through it again, this time much more carefully. “I’m under the impression you want me to notice something? Maybe the 94K scribbled at the bottom?” he asked.
“That’s what they’re offering me, salary-wise.”
Her father blew out a long, loud whistle, accidentally attracting the attention of the nearby waitress. He waved her off with his schoolboy charm, “Sorry Gale,” before returning his attention to the job description. “That’s a lot of money to play secretary. Let me guess. This guy’s some sort of troublemaker who needs reining in?”
“Yes. No. Well…First off, he’s a she. Georgina DiNamico and she’s in charge of innovation over at DME.”
Dressed, as always, in jeans and the heavy blue work shirt she knew her mother still ironed for him, he gazed at her, his big blue eyes dancing with interest. “DME? As in Dynamic Marine? Down at the Irvine boatyard?”
“Well it’s just DME now. Evidently they concentrate on engineering, even though they still take orders for the boatyard but that’s not where I’d be working. I’d be downtown in the old DiNamico building.”
“And this DiNamico woman? I assume she’s related to old man DiNamico?”
“Daughter,” she added simply, crossing her arms and slumping down in her seat. “I met her this morning. She’s very smart, but…” Tyler struggled, at a loss for words to describe her feelings. “This is the best job offer I’ve had in over year. Actually, it’s pretty much the only real job offer I’ve had. Teaching college students for ten bucks an hour, part-time, is not my idea of a real job, but this…this makes me feel like I’m at a critical turning point in my life and I’m not sure if I should make the turn. God, help me out here,” she begged.
“Pumpkin, you’ve got to stop beating yourself up. First of all, the economy tanked and for once most of the schools around here took a hard hit too. That’s not your fault. The university canceling your program was a matter of funding, nothing else.”
“Yes, but I should’ve been able to bring in my own funding or raise some grant money. That’s what professors do.”
“For your whole department? Come on pumpkin, give yourself a break here. Two years as a junior professor does not make you responsible for an entire department. If anything, I’d say the Dean of Economics and his buddies let you and your cohorts down.”
Tyler sat up a little straighter. “I know you’re right. It’s still hard though.”
“That’s not what’s bothering you about this new job offer. Are you worried how it will look on your résumé?”
“No! Yes. Maybe? Sorry.”
“Tyler, your mother and I have never known you to worry about what others think. You’ve been telling us how much research and writing you want to do on your own. How’s that going?”
She wilted slightly before picking up her fork, pushing her eggs around her plate.
“Tyler Ann, don’t make me tell your mother you’re behaving like a child. Tell me what’s really going on,” he demanded.
“Dad, I feel like I’m lost. I’ve never been so…without focus. I haven’t been able to settle on a subject I want to dig into. Everything I start, I lose interest in. It all seems so lame.” As much as she detested complainers she did feel a need to voice her frustrations and there was no better listener in her family than her dad. Oh, he wasn’t short of suggestions but unlike her mom who saw every problem as an opportunity she could solve, and her twin sister who saw through everything she said, her dad was the one she could count on to just listen.
A gentle giant of a man, Carl Marsh had played pro football before starting his own auto body shop with his young wife and twin baby daughters. Now he had three daughters to fuss over and a wife he loved and adored. Tyler loved him for that, loved his gentleness with each of them but more so, she appreciated the way he adapted to their varying needs and personalities.
“Do you miss teaching, or is it really just the money?” he asked.
Contemplating his question, she was honestly surprised by her response. “No, I don’t miss teaching at all. And I certainly don’t miss dealing with undergrads and their crap.”
“So it’s the money?”
“Yes and no. The truth is, I’m hating myself for having to live with you and mom. Not because you’re there, I love that part. It’s just that I feel like I’m not carrying my own weight. I’ll be thirty-four in three months! It’s not right that I have to live off my mom and dad. Hell, I can’t afford my own car anymore. If it wasn’t for Mom’s beat-up old Chevy, I’d be riding the bus.”
“Is that what’s got you down, that old beater?”
“No Dad, that’s not it. I’m grateful for the loan of the Chevy, I really am. It just makes me feel like a failure to have to borrow my mom’s car to go to an interview for a crappy job that pays three times what it should.”
“So it’s the job again. Tell me about it. About this DiNamico woman and Dynamic Marine. You know, back in the day, they made a hell of an engine. You might not remember this but your grandfather used to have one of their outboard motors on his ski boat. Remember that little bow rider you used to love so much?”
Tyler smiled for the first time since joining her father. His vibrant blue eyes sparkled at the memory, a match to the mischievous smile he always had for her and her twin. “I didn’t know they made outboards. I thought they just made custom yachts.”
Laughing good-heartedly, he chastised gently, “Now I know you weren’t serious about this job or you would’ve researched them to death. So, I’ve never actually seen one of their yachts but I’ve read a couple of articles. I’ll admit I’ve always been a fan of their engines. I hear their diesel inboard is very impressive. Hey, I bet your grandpa’s still got his old DynaCraft outboard sitting in the cottage shed.”
Tyler sat up a little straighter, taking an interest in her father’s knowledge. “So they made different kinds of engines for different kinds of boats? You know they only make sailboats now?”
“Yeah, they started out just making the engines, at least that’s the way I seem to remember it. I think they only got into boatbuilding in the sixties. I think they still build some engines, but not under their own name anymore.”
“They’re into marine technology now. I did learn about one product. Some sort of safety system to track someone if they fall overboard. It looked interesting, Georgie seemed pretty proud of her design.”
“Georgie?”
“Georgina DiNamico.”
Carl Marsh was a big man. A onetime linebacker, his intimidating size was softened by the laugh lines in his face and a caring smile. “So you interviewed with the big boss and she offered you a job?”
“I had several interviews. The last one was with Georgie,” she said, trying to decide how much to share. Unlike that of his wife or daughters, Carl’s hair was sandy blond which worked well to hide the gray just starting to make itself known. He wore it a bit shaggy and she often teased, accusing him of fronting some sixties’ boy band.
“And?” he pushed.
“And…God, it’s complicated.”
“Too complicated for an auto body mechanic?” The hurt in his eyes was easy to see.
“Dad! No, it’s not that. It’s just…” She hesitated, unsure what to share. “Georgie’s an air force vet. She suf
fered some serious injuries over there and she needs more than an assistant.”
He studied her for a long moment, as if trying to read between the lines of what she’d said. “So, your concern is what? That she’ll need more attention than you want to waste? Or being an assistant just plain sucks?”
Tyler grabbed the job description, shoving it back in her pocket. “I have two words for you!”
He laughed so hard his belly shook. That he was a big man explained where she got her height, but her lean, long form could only be attributed to her mother’s slender physique. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re actually intrigued by this job, but it’s going to take you in a whole new direction you aren’t prepared for. I’ve never known you to turn your back on a challenge.”
“Okay, okay,” she groaned in response. “When I was considering the private sector, I was thinking more of an economics think tank or someplace where I might spend my days writing white papers on ethics, not a babysitting job!”
“Dynamic Marine is into all this new tech stuff, and you say DiNamico herself is leading the department that creates all that technology. Wouldn’t it follow that there would be ethical issues involved in some of that or at least in the direction the company might be heading?”
“Perhaps, but—” She knew he was right even if she was in the mood for an argument or at least some debate.
“You didn’t do a lot of research on the company. Is it possible there’s a way you could take this crappy job, help out a veteran, and put your skills to use?”
“When I was waiting for you to arrive, I went on the Internet to look over their website. I didn’t realize they’d been operating without a CEO or president since Mr. DiNamico died two years ago. From the few articles I skimmed through, it looked like Georgie had been groomed to take over. After meeting her, I’m pretty sure that will never happen.” At her dad’s raised eyebrow, she explained, “Dad, I signed a gag order but basically between you and me, she suffered a serious head injury over there. I mean, she’s still brilliant at her work but evidently that’s it. I do feel like this is someone I might be able to help but I’m not sure that’s any basis for a career decision.”
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