Evil Intent

by Robert Olsen

  “It’s not for Dr. Marks, Thelma, it’s for you. I just so happen to have two tickets to a Broadway musical next weekend, and I thought you might like to go see the play,” Kathryn said watching Thelma break out into the biggest smile.

  “Oh, Lord, bless this lovely child standing here before me. How does she know how much me and my Melvin love musicals? What did I do to deserve this, woman?”

  “Just being your wonderful self, Thelma. Every now and then my company purchases some wonderful little presents for our clients and you have just been so kind to us, for so many years, I thought it was time for us to thank you for your graciousness.”

  “Thank you so much, Ms. Becker. Me and Mr. Melvin will have the greatest time, I promise you. Now you just come yonder, dear, and I’ll let you in.” Thelma said as she opened a doorway and proceeded to walk Kathryn down the hallway.

  Kathryn Becker was a sales executive for Rockne Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Physician Associates Medical Group was a long-time client that purchased Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostic Equipment from Rockne.

  “Second right honey, and you know where you can put your products. Come see me at the desk when you’re finished, ok?”

  “Thank you, Thelma. I won’t be long.”

  Kathryn immediately spotted shelves containing popular brands of medication but she was searching out the medical devices. She specifically knew Physician Associates stocked their Gemini One-Step diabetic pumps and today she had brought with her several of those devices for restocking, as well as spare component parts that the office typically carried. She could not help but notice one of the competitor brands on the shelf, that somewhat displaced from view her company’s device, and quickly placed her brand in front.

  Further down the hallway, Dr. Richard Marks just happened to step out of his office and was looking down reading a chart, when out of the corner of his eye he noticed someone standing a few doors away. Kathryn did not notice him standing there with his head cocked in an unusual position. He had removed his glasses and was staring in her direction, not immediately recognizing her face. Although Dr. Marks was familiar with her company, he rarely, if at all, engaged directly with Kathryn, at least from what he could remember. Dr. Marks most likely would have looked familiar to Kathryn, had she noticed him staring, from the numerous pictures in medical journals, articles, or the like, even though she had only seen him in person on few occasions.

  Kathryn was aware of the renowned doctor and would definitely have recognized him. After all, he was considered the number one diabetes specialist in the country and she was proud to serve him as her client. Kathryn personally met Dr. Marks once in the office and again during a presentation he gave at a local university. She also had, more than once, engaged in conversation with the ladies, typically discussing openly, how attractive and wealthy Dr. Marks appeared to be. He was a tall, man, slim and athletic looking, with broad shoulders, who appeared to be in his late thirties or early forties. With glasses, and hair that had already started turning grey at the edges, he had a very distinguished look about him. Of course, being single, rich, and looking that hot, he would definitely receive attention and inspire conversation among the ladies, more than usual.

  Kathryn knew of his academic credentials, too. Dr. Marks had a reputation of being one of the most highly regarded surgeons in the city. His reputation was impeccable, graduating from Columbia University with honors, which, of course, is among the top ten medical schools in the country. Marks was also a current adjunct visiting professor at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York, an active board member of several associations, as well as a board member of a leading NY Hospital.

  “Excuse me, miss. What are you doing back here, may I ask?” the doctor, who owned Physician Associates said, staring at the stranger in the hallway.

  “Good morning Dr. Marks, I’m Kathryn Becker, Rockne Pharmaceuticals,” I was just restocking your Gemini One-Step diabetic pumps. Thelma signed the order. I have it here.” Wow, he looks a hell of a lot better than I remember.

  “THELMA?” Marks cried out loud. “Do you know this young lady, who should not be back here without someone on my staff accompanying her?”

  “Doctor, Thelma was trying to find you, sir. I was also hoping to update you on the latest new device we’re getting from Diage Labs, too,” Kathryn blurted out, feeling intimidated by the good doctor, and not realizing what she had just revealed.

  Kathryn didn’t think of the confidentiality required with any new development because her thoughts were still preoccupied by her personal attraction to Dr. Marks.

  “Oh I see, and I suppose Thelma suggested we go downstairs and have a little coffee and cake as we chat about the latest advances in medical practices?” Dr. Marks said with his eyebrows raised, still holding his glasses in one hand.

  Kathryn hesitated thinking she blew it, as her sub-conscience whispered in her ear.

  Oh no, you blew it. And this guy is so cute too! Hell, what am I thinking, this man is incredibly sexy and adorable, and very attractive when he gets worked up over something. You need to do something NOW! Don’t let him slip away. You’ll only make matters worse!

  Now, completely mortified, Kathryn scrambled to apologize.

  “I’m sorry, sir,” was all that emerged from her voice.

  Oh brother!

  “You need to leave this area at once or I’ll have to call security!” The doctor shouted at Kathryn.

  Kathryn suddenly turned a deep shade of pink, and, leaving the alcove immediately, headed back into the lobby to get Thelma.

  “I don’t know what I did Thelma, but Dr. Marks seems furious with me. Maybe I better just leave the products with you.”

  That’s a cop-out girl. This has never happened before. Just forget it. He’s going to forget the entire ordeal and you’ll have another chance to talk with him.

  “Don’t you worry about the doctor yelling like that. Lordy, he acts like he owns this place.”

  “Doesn’t he?” Kathryn asked looking up at Thelma still cringing with embarrassment.

  “What’d ya say, honey?”

  “Oh, nothing Thelma. I best be going. I hope you enjoy the musical.”

  “Most definitely, dearie. Me and Melvin gonna luv it! Thanks again, honey. You take care, ya hear? And don’t you worry ‘bout your products. Thelma’ll take care of everything.”

  Kathryn tried to smile as she left the office feeling discombobulated.

  Once back in her own office, Kathryn told her secretary what had happened and how embarrassed she became when Dr. Marks started yelling at her.

  “I can’t believe I just let him yell at me like that. After all, it wasn’t my fault. I was told I could go back there.”

  “I’d just forget it if I were you.”

  “All I could think of is the doctor canceling our orders. I did see our competitor’s products on the shelf. Actually, they really don’t need us.” She went on, rambling a bit too much.

  “Yes they do,” the secretary interjected. “Just forget it, Kathryn.”

  Not even hearing her secretary’s words, Kathryn continued. “That would just be ducky if I lost the account. I can hear what the guys will say about this.

  Smarty pants Vice President goes in the field to show us all how it should be done and she loses the entire account.

  Our salesmen would just have a field day laughing at me over this one. It’s bad enough knowing they resent a woman in this position.”

  “Fine. I give up, I think you’re right, Kathryn. If I were you, I’d head back over there tomorrow and apologize to Dr. Marks. On second thought, call that Thelma gal and find out when Marks goes to lunch, or leaves the office. You could catch him on his way out the door and tell him then. Drop down, kiss his feet and beg forgiveness!”

  Kathryn heard her wise crack but liked what her secretary Barbara said.


  “Excellent idea Barbara. That’s exactly what I’m going to do. Thank you. I’m really glad we had this discussion,” she told her secretary, marching into her office and closing the door behind her. She sat down at her desk and immediately called Thelma just to gather a little information.

  Kathryn was in her office, quietly working for about an hour, before Ted Duncan appeared, wanting to see her immediately.

  “She’s in her office sir,” Barbara told the Senior Executive. “Go on in, she’s alone.”

  “Thank you, Barbara.”

  “Good morning Kathryn. By any chance do you have lunch plans?”

  “Why, no sir. Do you want to go somewhere?”

  “Yes, can you be at my office at noon? I need you to attend a meeting at 1 PM this afternoon. I can brief you right before the meeting.”

  “Certainly, I’ll be at your office shortly. Is everything ok sir?”

  “Of course, no problem. You’ll do fine. See you then.”

  Duncan turned and left her office before she could even contemplate what he was referring to. As expected, she was pissed over another last minute surprise. Kathryn walked out to her secretary’s desk.

  “Do you have any idea what that was all about? He always does that to me, damn it! Did I have a meeting on my calendar?”

  “No, there’s nothing at all on your calendar. But, I know a couple of technical guys that I’m friendly with, and they told me yesterday that some big training lecture was supposed to occur this afternoon - mandatory that everyone in their department attend. I think they said it’s a talk from that new scientist we hired. Maybe Ted’s urgency is related to that.”

  “Oh shit, I think you’re right. I did hear something. It’s Dr. Andreyushkin. He is presenting something about this new device we introduced. Damn it Barbara. Why the hell would Duncan have me go to that?”

  At 11:55 she promptly headed to his office, stopping at his secretary’s desk.

  “Go on in, he’s expecting you.”

  “Hello sir, should I close the door?”

  “No, it’s alright, take a seat, please.” Ted Duncan got up from behind his desk, walked around closing the door as he passed, then sat down on a small sofa adjacent to two chairs. Kathryn had sat down in one of the chairs, rolling her eyes over the door remark.

  “By any chance, did you hear that Dr. Andreyushkin is planning to give several technical lectures about one of our newest medical devices?”

  “Yes sir, I did hear that.”

  “As you know, Dr. Andreyushkin is the inventor of a programmable diabetic pump that is being manufactured by our Diage Labs division. We are the sole distributor of the Diage Diabetic Pumps or DDPs. And, this could be just the thing our company has been looking for to generate a sales increase. Dr. Andreyushkin’s expertise in the field and his proven creativity on medical computerized and programmable devices, are exactly why we hired him to lead our GPMD Division. He’s responsible for all research and development of the Global Programmable Medical Devices. I am asking you to attend the first of his lectures, this afternoon, because we want you, Kathryn, to lead the Sales Division training efforts for this device. We believe sales will be stronger than ever, and we need our top sales person to stay on top of the training. That person would be you.”

  “I’m honored sir, but my technical and computer background is not that strong. Wouldn’t a technical person be better suited for the job?”

  “Not at all Kathryn. The technical folks are needed to build it. We need folks like you to understand the basics, sell it, and turn this development into profits. We have all the confidence in the world that you can do that. As you know Kathryn, we have had a few bad years recently and with Dr. Andreyushkin joining the company the successful development of this new diabetic insulin pump, well, you understand, we have a hell of a lot riding on this device and I need our best to sell it and bring in the profits we desperately need.”

  “Well, ok if you believe I’m the right person, I’ll give it my all.”

  “Wonderful. We know you will. Just one more thing, Kathryn. Attending these lectures is designed to build your knowledge of how the device works. Everything we are discussing, and I mean everything, is highly confidential. Be careful about mentioning Diage or discussing this product with anyone. We have not distributed the press release, as yet.”

  “I understand, sir. Thank you.” Kathryn said, leaving Ted Duncan’s office. Returning to her office, she worried about her conversation with doctor Richard Marks.

  Chapter 3

  Kathryn was sitting in her office looking out the window thinking of how much she despised going to the technical lectures Ted assigned her to. She spun around in her chair and suddenly picked up her telephone. “Hi Suki, its Kathryn. Do you have any plans this evening? If not, I thought perhaps we could have dinner.”

  “Of course, Kate. That’s more exciting than what I had in mind. You know, fixing another salad when I get home tends to get so boring. Do you have any special place in mind?”

  “Depends. Are you still at the office? Great, me too. Why don’t I meet you in the lobby, say 5:30?”

  Suki and Kathryn were best friends for several years, now. As one of Rockne’s top sales directors, Suki worked directly for Kathryn on many of the pharmaceutical company’s top clients. Fortunately, the two had so many similarities they worked together really well and their personal friendship never became an issue. They had such a strong trust relationship they could share anything at all, and keep it just to themselves, when necessary.

  Later that afternoon, Suki walked out of her office a few minutes before 5:30 and was downstairs in the lobby waiting for Kathryn. As soon as the elevator doors opened, Kathryn intentionally walked around the corner directly to the niche where Suki was sitting, as if she knew exactly where Suki would be. “Hi honey, how’d your day go?”

  “The usual, which just means I need a good stiff drink!”

  “I’ll drink to that comment!” Kathryn chuckled. “I guess that says a lot about what we think of the business.”

  “That’s for sure. Want to run over to 55th and grab that drink at the St. Regis before it gets too busy? Then, we can decide where to eat dinner from there,” Suki suggested, knowing Kathryn liked the King Cole Bar.

  “Good idea. I can get my Bloody Mary. I love that place!”

  “Why not. If you’re going to have a Bloody Mary, you might as well go to the place that invented them, right? Hey, I like that pant suit. I don’t think I’ve seen that before. You really look great in grey,” she said as the girls walked off.

  The St. Regis was still quiet by the time they arrived. The typical after work crowd that visited the St. Regis tended to be professionals that rarely got out of the office at five. The two ladies were lucky to get away at this hour and had no trouble finding a quiet table. They ordered their drinks and immediately began chatting.

  “So, have you heard about Dr. Andreyushkin’s pow-wows, Suki?”

  “I didn’t think they started yet.”

  “Yep, started this afternoon, and yours truly was told in no uncertain terms that I had to be there.”

  “What? You mean Ted called you in? Why do you need to be there? All the techies are going, so I heard. He’s a scientist, for gosh sake. We certainly don’t need to listen to all that technical crap!”

  “Well, Duncan thinks otherwise, and said I need to understand it all so I can head up training for the Sales Division. Ugh. I already hate this after just one session. Maybe it’s me, Suki, but I can’t even understand Dr. Andreyushkin. His Russian accent is just too much! And honestly, I shouldn’t say this, but I was not in favor of hiring him for that role.”

  “I understand how you feel, and I can tell you you’re not alone there. Have you seen Gingrich lately? He’s pissed.”

  “Who? Oh, I know, you’re talking about Donald Gingrich, the
Director of the Technical Support Group.”

  “Yeah. Poor guy is fuming over the hiring of Dr. Andreyushkin. He’s going around saying it’s a big mistake, probably just because he thought he deserved that position.”

  “I know. Strange fellow, but brilliant! Everyone seems to hate the poor guy, but I have to say, he is always extremely nice to me. Seems to even go out of his way to try and be nice.”

  That’s odd, why is Donald so nice to me?

  “He is? That’s unusual. He’s definitely a strange duck, and a loner, I thought. People say he’s a real crab ass and can be mean, too. I know a couple guys that don’t want to work with him, simply because he’s so weird.”

  “Talk about mean? Dr. Andreyushkin can be down-right obnoxious and rude, too. At least, most of the time, in my opinion. Frankly, I’m already sick and tired of hearing him say, but, of course, in my country, I would have done... “

  “You’re a hoot girl!”

  “Seriously, I don’t give a rat’s ass what he did or what his country did, or whatever. Hello, I’m not planning to go to Moscow any time soon, so why do I give a shit what goes on over there?”

  Suki started laughing as Kathryn took off on a roll.

  “What,” said Kathryn, giving Suki a confused look?

  “Nothing, I just love how opinionated you are. You sure know how to speak your mind!”

  “Ted Duncan didn’t care how I felt, and now look, I’m stuck in these damn meetings.”

  “It’ll get better I’m sure. Say, when was the last time we went down to the West Village? Remember that Mexican place over on 12th? Tortilla Flats? How would you like to go there?”