Chapter 45

Jerry stepped out of the lobby of the hotel and looked at the building across the street. He had a meeting with the executives of the company in twenty minutes. It would take five minutes at most to cross the street and go up to the third floor. Sighing, he decided that it wouldn’t hurt to be fifteen minutes early. He went to the crosswalk and waited for the light to change.

While waiting, he fidgeted with his new suit. Jenny had insisted buying it for him. Upon selling the house, she had money to spend on him but no idea what to get for him. Right after closing on the house, she had taken him shopping. After hours at the mall, she gave up and settled for getting him a new suit. He had resisted, but she had argued that he was going to be talking to the executives of his company. She was proud of the way he looked and wanted him to impress them.

The light had just changed when he heard the unmistakable flap-flaping sound of a flat tire. He started across the street while watching an elderly woman turn into the drive of the office building. Her car was the one from which the sound originated. Reaching the other side of the street, he could see the passenger side rear tire was flat as a pancake.

As he approached the car, the woman stepped out and asked, “Could you help me, young man?”

Jerry froze as his mind raced through his options. He glanced at his watch and saw that he still had fifteen minutes. He knew could change the tire without being late to his meeting, but he was wearing the new suit. The odds were good that he’d get it dirty.

The elderly woman repeated, “Could you help me, young man?”

Knowing that Jenny would understand if he got his suit dirty helping out a little old lady, Jerry came to a decision and answered, “Yes, Ma’am. Could you pop the trunk so I can get your spare tire?”

“Thank you,” replied the woman as she walked over to the trunk. It took her almost a full minute to get her key in the keyhole and the trunk open. While she had fiddled with the key, Jerry removed his suit coat and laid it on the grass where it would stand a reasonable chance of remaining clean.

Going over to the trunk, Jerry removed the spare tire, the jack, and the lug wrench. The older car used one of the classic bumper jacks. Jerry set the jack down and fitted the lip under the bumper. Looking up, he asked, “Could you set the parking brake, Ma’am?”

“Oh, of course,” exclaimed the woman. Flustered, she headed to the door of the car.

Jerry worked the jack until it was tight against the bumper. Rather than lifting the car, he went around to the flat tire and removed the hubcap. It was filthy and his hands turned black. Shaking his head, he loosened the lug nuts using his strength to power the lug wrench to break their tight hold. Once all were loosened, he used the jack to raise the back end of the car.

Ten minutes later, he lifted the flat tire into the trunk and closed the lid. His hands were filthy and his new shirt had a smear of dirt on it. Frowning, he looked down at his shirt and thought to himself that Jenny would kill him if she saw him in that state. She took such pride in his appearance.

Looking over at the elderly woman, he said, “It’s fixed. You can go on now.”

“Let me pay you something, young man,” replied the woman.

“No, that’s okay,” said Jerry holding up his hands in an obvious gesture of refusal.

“Come now. All young men tend to be short of money. Lord knows that was true when I was young,” replied the woman.

“No, Ma’am. I don’t need your money,” said Jerry as he bent down and carefully wiped his hands on the grass in the minuscule hope of removing some of the dirt. It didn’t help much. He picked up his suit coat by holding the label between his thumb and forefinger. Checking his watch, he saw that he still had two minutes to make his meeting. He knew that he’d be late by the time he washed his hands and made it up to the office.

The woman approached holding out a five-dollar bill in a hand that trembled from age. Jerry shook his head and said, “Ma’am. Give it to your grandkids.”

“You’re such a nice boy,” said the old woman as she nodded and put up her money.

Jerry smiled at being called a boy and imagined the reaction Henry would have when he told him the story. He headed towards the door of the office building with a grin on his face. He glanced at his watch and swore. The short exchange with the woman had eaten up more of his time and he was now late. After washing his hands and putting on his suit coat, Jerry headed towards the office.

Jerry stepped into the office and found a receptionist behind a simple desk. An older gentleman, who Jerry estimated was in his early sixties, was seated in one of the chairs in the waiting area. Putting on a weak smile, Jerry said, “I’m Jerry Smith. I have an appointment with...”

Interrupting him, the old man exploded, “You’re late.”

Jerry turned to face the man and noticed that he bore a strong resemblance to the picture of the CEO of the company. He stuttered and answered, “Yes, Sir.”

“You’re clothes are dirty.”

“I know.”

“What’s your excuse?” asked the man watching Jerry. His eyes narrowed as though he were judging the big man.

Jerry didn’t want to use changing the tire as an excuse, since it wasn’t really an excuse. He had stopped to help the old lady knowing that it was likely going to make him late and mess up his clothes. If the CEO was the type who wanted him to take care of business first and people second, then Jerry didn’t think he’d care. Looking back at the man, Jerry answered, “Excuses don’t change things. I was late and my clothes are dirty. I apologize for making you wait.”

The old man looked at Jerry finding it hard to get over how big Jerry was. He shook his head incredulous at the answer given by the large man. Breaking into a smile, he said, “I owe Al three lunches this week because of you.”

“Pardon.”

“We noticed you crossing the street and saw the woman with the flat tire. I bet Al that you wouldn’t stop to help the old woman. He won that bet. Then I bet that you’d take the money rather than argue her out of it. He won that bet. Then I bet you’d use it as an excuse for being late. He won that bet,” explained the old man shaking his head at the idea that such men still existed in this world. Years ago he had given up hope on the younger generations. It seemed to him that they were all self-involved. Extending a hand, he said, “I’m Mike Harrington. I’m pleased to meet you, Jerry Smith.”

Jerry shook the man’s hand and replied, “It’s nice to meet you and I’m sorry for being late.”

“Come onto the conference room. The rest of the executive team is waiting to meet you,” said Mike.

The elderly man led the way through a pair of polished wooden double doors. As he headed towards the double doors, Jerry noticed an interior waterfall hanging on the wall of the lobby. He smiled as he remembered working on that one. They had created it a couple of months before he had gotten married. Amazed at the co-incidence of finding his own work in the lobby, he followed Mike down a hallway to a conference room. Entering the room, Jerry looked at everyone and saw how they were seated on one side of the conference table. Al winked at him while Mike pointed to a chair and said, “Have a seat.”

Jerry pulled out his chair and waited to sit down until after Mike went to the end of the table and took his place at the head of the table. Al broke the silence and asked, “So how many lunches do you owe me?”

“Three,” replied the old man with a smile.

“Good.”

Jerry sat down and faced everyone across a table feeling a little intimidated by the arrangement. He recognized everyone from pictures that had appeared in the company newsletter that he received every month. For the next few minutes, they went through the process of introducing themselves. At the end of the table was Mike Huntington, CEO of the company. To his right sat Mike Huntington Junior, the CFO of the company. His role was an artifact of the history of the company as a family owned enterprise. Seated next to him was Catherine Demmings, the Vice-President of Personnel. Albert Sinclair was to her right in his role as Vice-President of Sales. Seated next to Albert was the corporate lawyer, Jacob Meyers.

Mike asked, “Where’s your lawyer?”

“I didn’t bring one,” answered Jerry noticing the look of surprise that crossed everyone’s faces. He smiled to cover his nervousness.

“Al did tell you to bring one, didn’t he?” asked Mike concerned.

“Yes, he did. I figured I didn’t need one, Sir,” replied Jerry. He suppressed the urge to shrug.

A look of concern crossed Jacob’s face as he said, “I doubt that you can handle the legal aspects of the contract. I’d suggest you get one.”

“I don’t need one,” replied Jerry. He turned to face Mike at the head of the table. Biting his lower lip, he struggled to put his thoughts in order. He said, “I came here because I want to do what is right for the company and me. You’re trying to get the wrong man to do the job. I’m not a CIO, Sir.”

“You’re turning us down?” asked Mike incredulous.

“Well, in a way,” said Jerry.

Al frowned and leaned forward. He asked, “What do you mean?”

“Look. I hired Karen and she put together the system for us. I don’t know how to put this, but I don’t know anything about computers or modernization. I’d suggest hiring her, but she’s not ready for such a position,” said Jerry.

Mike sat back in his seat and stared off into space for several minutes. Everyone else around the table waited to hear what he had to say. Finally, he leaned forward and said, “You could have called us on the phone and told us that. I believe that you came here because you have an idea. What do you have in mind?”

“Give the job to Al and his district to me. Bring Karen here to work for him and transfer Mike to one of the local stores,” answered Jerry, the words tumbled over themselves on their way out of his mouth.

“Why Al?” asked Mike Junior.

“He knows what is required to do the job. Al watched over the whole process of exporting the system to the other stores,” answered Jerry wondering if he had stumbled into some sort of corporate politics. The fact was that Jerry had been too busy as a new husband to follow what Mike and Karen had been doing in rolling out the computer systems to the other stores. All he had done was cover their absences in the store.

Al raised an eyebrow at Jerry at the idea of giving up his district. He used that district to test sales ideas for the rest of the company. Being the district manager put him closer to the action and he wasn’t sure that he wanted to give it up.

He declared, “You want my district.”

“Yes, Sir,” answered Jerry. He knew that district managers in this company stayed at their stores. It was the only promotion he could find that wouldn’t require him to move. The money wouldn’t be as great as becoming an executive, but he had decided the money wasn’t as important as losing the life he had created.

Catherine Demmings replied, “It’s a fair proposal although your district is the smallest one in the company. What is it, one and a half states?”

“Yeah,” replied Al wondering if he had just lost his district.

Mike Harrington looked at Al for a moment and then asked, “What do you know of these people he wants us to promote?”

“I’ve been having Karen do the installations and Mike training the other managers on how to use them. They are both good hard workers,” answered Al.

“What position does Mike have?”

“He’s my assistant manager,” answered Jerry.

“You’ve had an assistant manager training managers on how to run their stores?” asked Mike looking at Al with a raised eyebrow.

“He’s familiar with the software, understands the business, and I felt it was better that he and his wife travel together,” replied Al wondering suddenly why he was trying to justify a business decision that had been successful.

“Now, don’t get upset. I was just wondering how an assistant manager knows enough to explain the business value of the program,” said Mike.

Jerry leaned forward and in his deep rolling voice said, “All of my people are trained to take over the positions of the person above them. Mike can take over the store at a moment’s notice. I’ve been taking him on sales calls and I’ve included him in all of my meetings with vendors.”

“What about the rest of your staff?” asked Mike.

“Martin and Carlos can take over as Assistant Managers, even though they are two-thirds time employees. Sue has just about finished learning inventory control. Abe could move into sales full time as soon as he graduates high school. Leo has mastered his stock boy job and I’m thinking about training him to do a little part time sales,” answered Jerry.

“Let me understand this, you could leave the store today and there wouldn’t be any problems with continuity. Your assistant manager would take over your position, you’ve got two part-time employees that could take over as assistant manager,” asked Mike.

“That’s right. Learned that was important when I was shot,” answered Jerry.

Mike sat back and stared at the big man sitting at the conference table. He recalled discussions about the manager who had been shot while breaking up some sort of drug ring. It wasn’t until Jerry mentioned getting shot that he had connected him with the incident. At the time, he had expected Al to spend several months at the store covering for the manager, but he’d been there for less than a week.

The room quieted down while Mike considered what Jerry had told him about his staff. Catherine shifted nervously in her seat while she tried to read the expression on Mike’s face. After a minute, she turned her attention to Jerry. Little things about his operation came back to mind. She hadn’t heard anything about his training program for his employees, but knew that his store had no turnover in the past couple of years. She recalled that his store had the best minority representation of the entire chain. She also recalled that he had instituted the employee college program.