"Are you sure you want a way out?" said Alex, "I mean everything is always tough in the beginning."
"Yeah. But I work at a different company than before. It's not the same Key Way."
"It's still Key Way," said Alex, "I think Honolulu Magazine ranked them like the no. 4 best employer in the city last year--3 or 4."
"Does anyone at that magazine work at Key Way?"
"Probably not," said Alex.
"At least we agree on that."
"OK, well at Silk Passenger we're like the Silk Road for products based outside Hawai'i," said Alex, "The good news is we're always looking for new people. The bad news is it's not like working in the marketing department at Key Way."
"What's the difference?"
"We're a lot more indie," said Alex, "We don't work with big companies like Olgivy. We're kind of a grassroots organization."
"Can you give me an example of what you mean?"
"Well if you come work with us, as a new employee, we might have you out on the street handing out flyers or doing a demonstration of a new product at a shopping mall," said Alex.
"OK."
"I mean, we don't sell insurance," said Alex, "Insurance sells itself in a lot of ways. If people need it, they come asking for it."
"But we still have to create a market for our new products."
"True," said Alex, "But if you're talking about some new tech gadget out of Taiwan. The question is why do I need it?"
"Why do you need it?"
"Generally we try to show that it will make people's lives easier by saving them time or money, which is essentially the same thing," said Alex.
"Well, you give up your time to work for money."
"True," said Alex, "You've got to make them see that. It's not like marketing at the corporate level."
"How so?"
"You can't always plan your way through corporate marketing,” said Alex, “You've gotta think on your feet when you’re grassroots.
"I get that."
"Ok," I'll tell you what. Tomorrow, I'm gonna be at Barnes & Nobles in Ala Moana Mall. Just drop by at 9:30 in the morning."
"What time does the place open?"
"Nine in the morning," said Alex, "We start our demonstrations early because research shows customers are more likely to buy in the morning."
"Really?"
"Sure," said Alex, "That's the Blue Period."
"What's that?"
"Like Blue states and Red states," said Alex, "Blue is liberal. Red is conservative. From 6 am to 10 am is the blue period. People are more liberal with their cash during the early morning because they usually have something else to do. So they have to make a quick decision and you can get them to make a snap judgment. Later in the day, 6 pm to 10 pm is red--more conservative. Usually people have spent some of their loose change in the morning so they're not so willing to give it up in the evening."
"What about online shoppers?"
"That's a different animal," said Alex, "Come by tomorrow and see us work. Then tell me what you think. Deal?"
"Deal."
"Are you ready to head?" asked Alex.
"Sure. Thanks for being upfront."
"Yup," said Alex, "Just check it out. It might be something you might like. I just want to let you know our style of marketing is different."
"And I appreciate that." I gave Alex a friend hug. I wasn't with anyone officially. But I hadn't cleared that with him. He could've been engaged for all I knew. But I felt for his fiance if that was the case. He was willing to drive to Hawai'i Kai to meet a girl he met at a club. If he was really hooked up, he wasn't that hooked up. I didn't know how that would play out. But I made a mental note of it.
I went back home and did something a bit self-defeating. I called Stefen. I hadn't heard from him in almost a week. There might have been some guilt. I was kinda crushing on Alex. So to dispell that guilt, I made the call.
"Hey."
"Hey," said Stefen, "How are you?"
"Thinking about making a career move actually."
"You seemed pretty happy with getting the job as office manager," said Stefen, "At least from outward appearances."
"I've got a marketing background. Everything is about outward appearances. Plus, you wouldn't have been into me acting like some depressed/stressed chick."
"Haha," said Stefen, "You might be surprised. I like real women. If she's stressed, she’s not faking."
"Ha, that's funny."
"Where would you go if you quit Key Way?" asked Stefen.
"I don't know. But I'm feeling out some options."
"I'm a bit older than you," said Stefen "One thing I've learned is you gotta keep your options open. In Alabama, we say you gotta have an ace in the hole. Have you got one?"
"Honestly, no."
"It's ok. When I say ace in the hole, it doesn't always mean a complete back up plan like an Ace of Spades. You can have an Ace of Clubs. Like studying for a certificate or something, you feel me?"
"Like I felt you last weekend."
"That deep huh?" said Stefen.
"Oh yeah, real deep. But I don't know what I'd get a certificate in."
"That was just an example. You could play guitar in a band like I did. I did some bartending just to make rent while I was gigging. I was also fixing people's cars on the side. I just made sure I had more than one thing going on at any given time," said Stefen.
"I didn't know you knew how to work on cars."
"I'm from Alabama," said Stefen.
"I'm from Hawaii."
"That's good cuz I like Hawaii girls," said Stefen, "But what I'm saying is that you don't have to have that attitude that you need to be just the office manager at Key Way. You could create a website and sell beaded jewelry to surfers on the side. Something."
"If I was gonna do that, I should have done it when I was just a marketing assistant."
"What? You got less time now?" asked Stefen.
"I mean, it feels like it."
"But is it true though?" said Stefen, "You had time to come out with me last weekend."
"Yeah, but I had to try. I was working all day on my presentation before you came to pick me up."
"So you got the spunk," said Stefen, "You can make it work if you really want to."
"I guess that's true."
"No it is true," said Stefen, "I think you're just dealing with adjustment jitters."
"You think it's the transition? I just moved from a cubicle to an office of my own. Would that really rattle my cage that much?"
"Sometimes these things affect us more than we think," said Stefen.
"I guess so. When will you be back in Honolulu?"
"Can I get three weeks?" asked Stefen, "You are busy after all."
"I can pencil you in three weeks from now."
"You're sounding like an office manager already," said Stefen.
"I am an office manager, Bama."
"Touché," said Stefen, "touché."
"I'll see you in three weeks."
"See you then," said Stefen.
"Bye."
"Bye," said Stefen.
Calling Stephen made me feel good and bad. It was good to talk to him. He was older so he had a different, perhaps better, perspecitve. The bad part was I had to initiate contact. It was almost a week since we saw each other and the silence could have busted my ear drums. It was that much. I didn’t feel right about calling him, without at least a text. He was older. In my mind that meant he was old enough to know what he wanted. Weird.
On Sunday, I went to Alex’s presentation at the Ala Moana Shopping Center. They weren’t doing a demo of a gadget. It was an app. It was a unique word search app that looked for unique words in e-books to help e-book readers find better books to read. It didn’t seem like anything new. But Alex and the girl partnered with him knew how to sell it. There was a crowd of less than twenty people watching their demo. I didn’t know if I should feel sorry for them. I didn’t know if that was typical for that type
of grassroots marketing. I waited around afte the demo was over. Alex and his partner invited me for coffee. I told them I was game for the Honolulu Coffee Co. that was in the shopping center. I was hungry because I didn't have time for breakfast. I just had a protein bar in my system. Coffee always worked as an appetite suppressant for me. So I got my coffee straight black. I listened to that Alex’s partner, Delynn, talk to me a little more about Silk Bridge and their marketing. I tried to be nice about it. But there was this weird vibe to her. It took me a few minutes to realize what was going on. She had a crush on Alex. He was good-looking. I guess he told her he had a friend who was looking at maybe joining the company. She obviously felt that would be an impediment to her jumping his bone. I played it cool. I can deal with a jealous bitch. Because I'm a jealous bitch myself. I just left them both with Let's keep in touch. I had Alex's card. Delynn gave me hers. No hugs, no hand shakes I drank my coffee and said I had to drop in on my grandma. It wasn't true. But no one, no matter how rude they wanna be in life, would not let me go check on my grandma. That was it. I was out.
I actually thought about going to see my grandmother. But she lived all the way out in Miliani Town. That was about a forty minute drive. I called her instead. She was playing cards with friends. I asked her when I could come visit. She said anytime. I told her I would drop in next weekend. It was great. I didn't have to worry about her, she always had company. When I lived with her, I had my own room. When her peeps came over, I just shut the door. If I emerged to use the bathroom they would give me the third degree. They asked about school, boys, the whole nine. It annoyed me at first but I grew to appreciate the fact that they were so interested. Grandma couldn't talk and play cards at the same time. So I called Jessie.
"What's up girl?"
"The sky," said Jessie.
"That's proof that I'm the funny one."
"You go ahead and tell yourself that," said Jessie.
"So I haven't called. I'm like a bird on a wire at work."
"What wrong?" asked Jessie.
"Just politics. I called a meeting cuz I'm responsible for explaining the new changes to our company 401(k). Then I get burned by all the management staff cuz I'm not supposed to just call a meeting like that. Even though, this is 100% my responsibility to explain these changes to the staff."
"So what were you supposed to do then?" asked Jessie.
"I'm supposed to ask all the senior managers if my suggested meeting time would be good, so they can see if their staff can actually fit in that time slot."
"I guess if you're talking about pulling people away from their desks then other managers would want to know about it before hand," said Jessie.
"True. The only problem is I haven't had any training. I moved into my office the week before we went to Kaua'i. Since I've been back, I've been trying to conquer everything and I got no consigliere. So I'm just doing stuff, without anyone to run to to ask about stuff. And now they're accusing me of trying to usurp the CEO's role."
"You mean Hank?" said Jessie.
"Yep."
"Well we both know that's not you," said Jessie, "Cuz if you wanted to be CEO of something, you'd start that thing yourself."
"Y'know, that's the second time in as many days that someone said something to me about starting my own thing."
"Maybe you should," said Jessie.
"Hmmm..."
"Where is Hank anyway?" asked Jessie, "Did he ever show up?"
"Not at all."
"What do you plan on doing about the little Paris Hilton thing?" said Jessie.
"The Paris Hilton thing? What the fuck?"
"Y'know, the Kim Kardashian thing?" said Jessie.
"KK? Tha fuck? I should be banging an asshole like Kanye West?"
"The sex tape," said Jessie, "The footage of you and Hank getting busy on his desk."
"Aw fuck. Yeah, that. I've been trying to focus up and do my job, so's I can pay my rent. But I don't know nothing about Kim Kardashian."
"Maybe start looking," said Jessie.
"How?"
"Go into Hank's office and see if you can find a camera," said Jessie.
"Can't. His office is locked and it's got one of those combo deals on it."
"Ok, I'll think of something else," said Jessie.
"Nice to know you're on the case."
"I gotcha girl," said Jessie.
“I had no idea what you were talking about with that Kim Kardashian stuff.”
“Well I couldn’t have been talking about your backside cuz Kim’s got you beat by far,” said Jessie.
“Damn. Taking the gloves off on a Sunday. Well, you did mention Paris Hilton.”
“Paris has got you beat in the ass department as well,” said Jessie.
“Geez zus.”
“You know I love you,” said Jessie.
“How’s everything going with chica?”
“She’s ok,” said Jessie.
“Do you see her much?”
“We hung out a few times,” said Jessie, “No big deal.”
“OK. When we meetin’ up?”
“Let’s do Friday happy hour,” said Jessie.
“Where we doing it?”
“Where we always do it,” said Jessie.
“Ginger Snap? Oh, wait…I’m sorry it’s actually called The Ginger Snap.”
“Look at you,” said Jessie, “You should work in our industry. That’s what we do, make sure people get the names right. We’re hospitality, we’re all about our brand name.”
“Yes you are. So I’ll see you there.”
“Till Friday, kiddo,” said Jessie.
“See ya.” I actually made it my intention to pass out on the couch. I went to the closet and got my girly-girl blanket. It was light purple with a Rainbow Brite logo on it. I had it since six and still enjoyed it as much. It was great couch-wear. Falling asleep on the couch always felt like a kid’s sleepover. Adults always went to bed, except for the alcoholics. I had a lot of anxiety about Monday. Sleeping on the couch with Rainbow Brite did wonders for me. It always felt like hitting the reset button. Let’s go back to first grade—do everything over again. I could wake up with those feelings I had as a kid. I repossessed the idea that I could conquer anything. I even started thinking I would figure out a way to fly. That hadn’t crossed my mind since I was a kid. It must’ve been the blanket—the blanket and the smell of it. Time does heal wounds. But it heals better when it moves backwards. I went back to being a marketing assistant; back to college at Manoa; back to high school with my girls; back to Saturday morning cartoons—pajamas and Lucky Charms. It was what I needed. But I woke up.
It felt early. It was early. I could feel it. I was under attack, well, my sleep pattern. I set the alarm on my phone for 6:15 am. When I grabbed the phone it was 3:28 am. But then it was ringing. My alarm wasn’t going off. Jessie was blowing up my phone. First thought, she had a fight with that girl she was seeing and wanted to talk. Nope. It was about a girl but not that girl.
“Turn on KHON,” said Jessie.
“Wha-Why?”
“You really need to see this,” said Jessie.
“Are you calling me from the hotel?”
“Yeah,” said Jessie, “I’m the early morning shift. And I’m looking right at the flat screen against the wall. You really need to be watching this.”
“OK.” It took me a minute to find the remote. You look everywhere but it’s always in the same place, wedge between two cushions beneath your butt. Why I never learned to look there first, I don’t know. I turned on the TV and caught footage of an Asian face with a perfect perm. The picture was clear. My vision wasn't. The woman spoke of a shooting in Waikiki. There was a warning that viewer discretion was advised. The Rainbow Brite blanket took me out of it. I had to remind myself of my age. The woman said she was reporting from the 18th floor of a condo high-rise. There was police tape behind her. She said she wasn't allowed passed the tape. Plain-clothes officers with police jackets were stationed in front
of the door. The door was open. The reporter went on to say that a woman living in the condo had been shot multiple times in the chest and neck. She went on to say that the woman had not been identified by police. But sources were saying the woman was believed to be the occupant of the apartment, 28 year-old, Malia Kamealoha. KHON News investigators confirmed through bank records that Malia Kamealoha was the owner of the condo.
The feeling was eerie. It felt like my subconscious playing itself out. If I lived in a world with no reprocussions, I would have gotten violent with Malia. And I'm not even a violent person. She had access to video of me being railed by my boss on his desk. She didn't even seem sympathetic. She didn't say what she would do with the AVI files she had. The last time I saw her was on the beach at the resort. She just walked off. You're knocking boots with a billionaire and all you care about is getting a promotion? She was so smug when she said it. She was right but smug. Like I was some kind of kid. I watched the lady on the screen and all I could think of was Malia's pay rate. How the fuck could she afford a condo in Waikiki? Off the top of my head it would take me five more years before I could think about that. That was assuming she got paid the same as me. But she was blackmailing Longboard. So maybe that's where she got the money from. And she did talk about Longboard using his influence to have her taken out. She said that was why she had Longboard pay her in installments, to keep the deal going. As long as the deal was on, she didn't have to worry about Longboard trying to get her killed. That's what she thought.
I didn't know what that meant for me. I didn't know what I owed her. She was dead. I told myself it didn't affect me. She wasn't at the office anymore. Maybe her death was connected to Longboard and the blackmail. Maybe it wasn't. I turned the TV off. I just didn't want to hear that message about coming forward with any information to the police. Maybe I had information, maybe I didn't. I thought it best to let things play forward. It was a violent murder. The cops would be on the case. I sat there in the dark with the TV off. Thoughts sped through my head because there was nothing else to look at. My living room was dark. I was just among shade and shadows. It felt like a graveyard. It made me feel some empathy for Malia. There was one objective thing that came to mind. I cancelled the rest of my planned sleep and fired up my laptop. I wrote a page and a half memo to all Key Way employees. Then I edited it down to about a page. I looked at the clock on my laptop. I had forty-five minutes left before my alarm was scheduled to go off. I didn't do the stupid thing. I didn't try to get forty-five minutes of sleep in--too much anxiety for that. I started my coffee. And I double brewed it. That's what the fuck you do when you've gotta get up in forty-five minutes and you're already up. You accept it! You woman up! Get that coffee going and get something in your stomach. I had frozen waffles in the freezer. I took them from the freezer to the menu. I ate four waffles. I emailed my memo to myself and all of the other people on the Key Way senior management team. I asked for permission to disseminate it to the Key Way staff. Yehuda wrote back in about fifteen minutes. I saw it on my phone. He was cool with it. He didn't even know about what happened to Malia. I guess that meant he got a good night's sleep.
Choppy (Desk Surfing Series Book 2) Page 6