The Story of Charlie Mullins

by Jim Wygand

  “It doesn’t bother you that his family is Irish, Uncle Carlo? He does like Italian food.” Gina said innocently.

  “Everybody likes Italian food, Gina. Besides, the Irish flag has a green stripe and a white stripe in it, just like the Italian flag so what the hell, he’s two-thirds Italian. If you get serious about this guy, bring him around.”

  “Thank you, Uncle Carlo. We’re still a long way from that. So far it’s just a nice easy relationship that makes me comfortable. But, yes, if it were to develop, I would certainly bring him around to meet you. You’re my father, right?”

  “You bet, sweetheart. Now, forget about this for a while and enjoy your meal, OK?”

  They finished their brunch while Gina told her uncle about her volunteer work and they made small talk. She felt good that she had told her uncle about Charlie and even better that he seemed to approve of their friendship. He was a doting uncle and protective of her but he always gave her the freedom she needed to be independent. He trusted her and the upbringing he had given her. She never gave him a reason to mistrust her and she did not want to hide her relationship with Charlie from him. If he found out from anyone else but her, he would have been disappointed.

  After their brunch, Gina went home, relieved and anxious to see Charlie again. She too, was confused by her feelings. The word “love” had not entered her thoughts but she had to admit to herself that Charlie was a special person and that she wanted to see him again, and soon.

  VI

  Exceptionally light traffic allowed Charlie to arrive early to his office Monday morning. He bought a cup of coffee from a street vendor and made his way to his office. Since no one was around, he put his feet up on his desk, allowed himself a few moments of reverie and thought about his career at Shaw and his life before meeting Gina.

  When he joined the Shaw Corporation immediately after mustering out of the Army, Fred Perkins was Charlie’s first boss. One day, after Charlie had been in the company for about a month, Perkins started on him about a financial report that had not been folded properly. He told Charlie that the spreadsheets were not folded the way they were supposed to be in the Treasurer’s Department of the Shaw Corporation. Taken aback at first Charlie just stood there while Fred appeared to be ready to start foaming at the mouth. However, unlike the other employees who would tense up and get stiff as a board when Fred Perkins started into them, Charlie relaxed his body and looked Perkins straight in the eye. Perkins was suddenly shaken by Charlie’s reaction. Here was a guy who would not be bullied. Perkins did not know how to react and his voice immediately began to lower. Charlie said, “Sorry, Fred. I’m new to the company. If you just give me the report I will fold the spreadsheets properly and get it right back to you. It won’t happen again and I thank you for calling my attention to my mistake.”

  A number of other employees were watching the incident and they were amazed at Charlie’s cool. No one had ever dealt with Perkins that way. Everybody else just lowered their eyes and took the verbal beating.

  Perkins shoved the report at Charlie who took it gently and stood there until Perkins said “Get it back to me quick. I need that report in a hurry!” Charlie knew that was bullshit, but Perkins needed a closing statement. As soon as Perkins did an about face and stormed off to his office, Charlie went into his cubicle, folded the spreadsheets the way Perkins wanted them folded, and almost followed Perkins to his office. Perkins was knocking back a couple of Maalox pills when Charlie knocked on his door. “Here’s the report, Fred. I think you will find it appropriately folded. And, thanks again for the constructive criticism.”

  Perkins wasn’t sure if Charlie was mocking him or if he really did consider the criticism as constructive. Providing constructive criticism, of course, was not Perkins’ intent. He wanted the new employee terrified of him and that didn’t happen. Perkins would try again in the future, but Charlie never caved in. Moreover, Charlie made a special effort to make sure that Perkins never again had a legitimate reason to jump down his throat.

  It wasn’t long before the word got out that Charlie Mullins had stood his ground against the irascible, terrible Fred Perkins. Perkins’ reputation as an unpleasant person was legion in the company. Operating department heads who had to go through budget reviews and project approval with Perkins hated the experience. Perkins always thought it his obligation to say no to every initiative. It was his authoritarian personality and not his zeal for the Shaw Corporation that marked his encounters. He wanted to make sure that everyone was afraid of him. Everyone agreed that Perkins’ nitpicking often pointed to problems or risks that made their budgets or projects better, but they despised Perkins for the way he went about voicing his criticisms. More than one department head had come back from a meeting with Perkins to say, “God that man is unpleasant! I wonder if he beats his kids! Jeez what a bastard!”

  It wasn’t long before those who lived in mortal fear of Perkins started informally consulting Charlie before submitting their work to Perkins for approval. Charlie seemed to always be able to figure out where Perkins would find fault and he helped the operating guys prepare arguments to get their projects approved. Perkins suspected that Charlie was helping the operating guys but he never had an opportunity to catch Charlie at what he considered a usurpation of his power. Charlie was not really going over his head to senior management, but he was, in Perkins’ narrow view of things, reducing Perkins’ power. He watched Charlie like a hawk but was never able to catch him. Charlie knew from the operating guys that Perkins was suspicious of him. They would tell him that Perkins would fume when they came back with strong financial reasons for backing their budgets and projects and how he would reluctantly give in while cursing and muttering. They would laugh to themselves every time Perkins popped another antacid pill just before signing off on their proposals.

  Charlie’s colleagues were also impressed. Many wanted to know his “secret” and tried to imitate him when dealing with Perkins. But Perkins had the sadist’s sixth sense for weakness and he would bellow and berate the employee until the poor guy finally gave in. Charlie would tell his colleagues that he did not have a “secret”. He told them of his father’s advice to always just do your job as best you could and be able to defend your views. That was it as far as he was concerned. Charlie said, “You know, most people start out on an assignment worrying about Fred’s reaction. I don’t do that. I just research my work and make sure that it is well-documented. I say no when I think I should say no and yes when I think I should say yes. When you think about the reaction instead of the job, you will always miss something and that’s where Fred catches you. You lose your focus and Fred is a smart professional. He will pick up even on a misplaced comma if you are not careful. When you try to compensate for his attitude, you risk making mistakes. It’s a lot like playing ball. If you take your eyes off the ball when going out for a pass and you are watching for the guy who is going to hit you, you won’t catch the pass. Get your hands firmly on the ball first, and then worry about the hit. And don’t start running for the goal line before you have a firm grip on the ball.”

  But Charlie’s colleagues never got over their fear of Fred Perkins and over time Charlie’s work drew the attention of senior management. While that irritated Perkins’ stomach lining even more, he was not about to tell his superiors that Charlie had failings. Fred Perkins was little more than a groveling quivering mass of jelly when dealing with his superiors. He was the typical court sycophant and if someone higher up praised Charlie, he would too – even if it meant more antacid pills. He made sure that his performance evaluations of Charlie were a study in “sucking up”. He would try to be as neutral as possible and praise Charlie only to the extent that he thought would satisfy senior management and Charlie’s performance would seem to be the result of his excellent leadership. Consequently, Charlie’s star was rising in the Shaw Corporation.

  He let his mind wander to his ruined marriage and eventual divorce. A few months after joining Shaw, Charl
ie married Mary Jo. He had a job and now he wanted a family. The small Shoreville church was packed with well-wishers and friends and more than a few senior people at Shaw who had come from Wilmington for the wedding. Mary Jo was impressed and was sure than she had made an excellent “catch”. This was not your average Shoreville wedding. Charlie had attracted a lot of important corporate people from Shaw. After a short honeymoon in the Poconos, Charlie went back to work and Mary Jo settled in to managing his career. It wasn’t long before she was telling Charlie that his chances for promotion would improve if they moved to Wilmington and, who knows, maybe joined a country club. In the beginning Charlie just laughed it off. “C’mon, Mary Jo, you really wouldn’t like those people outside the office. They’re never really outside the office. They’re always manipulating and looking for an angle. It’s boring.”

  “Charlie, how can you say that? You know you have to play politics in a corporation. You can’t just wait for things to happen. You have to blow your own horn.”

  “Look Mary Jo, Dad died of a heart attack because he lived his job. I’m not gonna do that. I am well thought of in the company. I have plenty of power and I like my job. You saw who came to the wedding. I’ll be moving up, don’t worry about it.”

  “But that’s what I am talking about Charlie!” Mary Jo’s voice would turn to a whine, “those people from Shaw who came to the wedding can help your career. You need to court them, Charlie. You need to be around them socially, not just in the office. You need to go out to dinner and the theater with them. Play tennis with them on weekends. See them at church.”

  “Jesus, Mary Jo, I see those people all day, five days a week. Most of them are good professionals and I like them, but God Almighty, getting into their personal lives really doesn’t interest me. Why should I pretend to be interested in someone in whom I am not interested? Pretty soon you’ll tell me to start playing golf instead of softball.”

  “God yes, Charlie! Golf is an executive game. Softball isn’t. And bowling – jeez, Charlie, executives don’t go bowling except when they take their kids out!”

  “Mary Jo, I hate golf. I thoroughly despise the game. I tried it in college and I thought it was the dumbest game I ever played. It’s certainly not a sport and it sure as hell was not recreational for me. I wasn’t even that bad at it – I just hated it.”

  “Charlie” Mary Jo whined, “You don’t have to like golf to play it. It’s a chance to be around the ‘right people’. A lot of business gets done on a golf……”

  Charlie interrupted her, “I know Mary Jo, but let’s just drop it. I am not going to play something I hate and waste a Saturday or Sunday doing it. Change the channel. I am not going to do it and I have no interest in living in Wilmington either. My friends and my life are here. I play softball to be with my friends. I go bowling to be with my friends. I like those people, Mary Jo, and I don’t want to leave Shoreville, at least not now. So, let’s just drop it, OK?”

  “Well, Charlie Mullins, if this is all you want from life, I guess I don’t have much choice do I?” her tone was unpleasant so Charlie just ignored her comment.

  But Mary Jo never let up on her pressure. Her protestations became more frequent and more aggressive. Charlie tried to persuade her that his career was right on track, thank you, but Mary Jo simply did not see it that way.

  After a year, Charlie had simply given up on talking to Mary Jo about his career and lifestyle. He was disappointed and thought that as a local girl, Mary Jo would have been content to be around her friends. He was wrong. Mary Jo started talking to her friends and anyone who would listen about how important Charlie was at Shaw. She made herself unpopular with her bragging. When Charlie got a couple of promotions she would tell the whole town and say that someday she would be moving away to a “better neighborhood”. That did not settle well with Shoreville’s residents. Charlie was a popular guy and people felt bad that his wife was such an ambitious shrew. Mary Jo took to spending money as fast as Charlie made it to try to impress others. She succeeded only in making herself the object of derision. People starting avoiding her. At community events sponsored by the Shaw Corporation she would ignore her neighbors and try to cozy up to any Shaw executives who were present. She was not helping Charlie’s career and she might eventually hurt it with her unbridled ambition. Charlie dealt with it stoically. He was not a confrontational person and he would simply tell Mary Jo that she was not helping herself or him with her attitudes. Mary Jo would go off like a firecracker and start complaining that Charlie had no ambition, that his friends were boring and ignorant, that Shoreville was no place to live, and on and on. One day Charlie had finally had enough. He looked at her and said, “Enough, dammit! Look Mary Jo, why in the hell did you marry me? You have known me since high-school. You knew my parents. You know all these people in Shoreville just like I do. You must have known I had no intention to leave this place just to suck up to a bunch of people I don’t know. If I had a good reason to move to Wilmington, I would do it. But I don’t think being around what you call the ‘right people’ is a good reason for moving and I can tell you right now that I am not, read my lips, not going to do it. So quit the nagging. I’ve tried to understand your ambition. I’m ambitious too, but I have limits. You don’t Mary Jo. You want to use people to satisfy some sick need to lord over others. That is not my bag now and it never has been and you, of all people, should know it.” He calmed down and continued, “Look Mary Jo, I’m doing just fine at Shaw. I’ve been promoted twice. I’m perfectly satisfied with the pace of my career. Nobody is telling me I should ‘show up’ more and change my lifestyle. You’re making enemies for yourself, Mary Jo, and unnecessarily. We’re not competing with anyone here. Relax.” Charlie was being as accommodating as he felt like being and his patience had worn thin.

  Mary Jo responded to Charlie by simply saying “Humph” and stomping off to bed. Charlie stayed up and watched TV for a while and when he got to bed, Mary Jo was either sound asleep or pretending to be.

  After that evening, Mary Jo started going over to Wilmington to go shopping as often as she could. She ran up credit card bills that after pleading with her to “cool it” Charlie would pay with reluctant chagrin. She took bridge lessons and joined a woman’s bridge club in Wilmington. She joined a gym in Wilmington and started hanging around with some of the wives who went there. She was trying to advance Charlie’s career in spite of him and she was not succeeding. The corporate wives she met were more interested in their own husbands’ careers. They sniped at Mary Jo behind her back and began to avoid her.

  The inevitable happened when Mary Jo met a recently divorced attorney at a Wilmington restaurant. It was just what she thought she wanted – an ambitious successful husband and she started an affair. The lawyer, none too smart, fell for Mary Jo’s ambitious plans for her life. She went home one evening and told Charlie she wanted a divorce. Charlie was shocked and asked her if she had found somebody else. She denied it but Charlie thought otherwise. He said they could talk about it the next evening after she had a chance to think it through. He never got the chance. While he was at work the next day, Mary Jo packed up and left. The divorce papers arrived the next day. He didn’t have to pay alimony because Mary Jo thought she had found financial security with her new victim. She wanted out as quickly as possible so Charlie gave her the divorce and started a new life in Shoreville as the community’s newest bachelor.

  Charlie stoically endured the outpouring of sympathy, both genuine and feigned. He refrained from speaking ill of Mary Jo in spite of his anger and disappointment. In retrospect, he knew the marriage was over even before it had really got started when Mary Jo had begun to voice her ambition. He had tried to placate her more from a sense of obligation than from agreement. But he saw the clouds on the horizon and knew that the storm would eventually hit. The rest of Shoreville, however, would have liked to have crucified Mary Jo.

  As Charlie refused to attack Mary Jo and feed the gossip mill, people eventually stopp
ed talking to him about her perfidy. But the wives of Shoreville started trying to get Charlie married again. He was suddenly deluged with dinner invitations and at each dinner there was some single or divorced woman who had been invited for Charlie’s “inspection”. Since everyone in Shoreville knew Mary Jo, he was not comfortable dating her old friends and neighbors. At one of the regular softball games he appealed to his male friends, “Hey guys, how ‘bout talking to your wives and telling them that I am not interested in getting married again right now? I appreciate the concern, but I am OK, really. I know the ladies in this town and if I want a date I can arrange it myself. I know your wives mean well but I really am not interested in another marriage right now. I’m fine just the way I am for the time being. Know what I mean?”

  “Yeah Charlie” said Bob Simms, “I’ll tell Diane to lay off the cupid stuff. She’s been trying to get you married ever since Mary Jo left. She talks about it all the time at home. I’m getting a bit tired of it myself.”

  “Thanks, Bob, I appreciate the concern, I really do, but I’d kind of like to chill out a bit, you know?”

  Charlie’s buddies agreed that they would talk to their wives. The dinner invitations didn’t stop, but they slowed a good bit. To make sure he was not around on weekends when he would be invited to meet Shoreville’s “availables” he started going up to Philly to see some of his old college friends. That’s when he had looked up Joey Esposito and went to the trattoria where Joey had introduced him to Gina.