The Staircase of Dragon Jerico
Chapter Seventeen
“CONGRATULATIONS, MY MAN. This project looks absolutely great! Just tell me that Ms. Scott didn’t blow smoke up our asses. This is for real, right?” Gene asked Preston as they sat in a quiet corner of a neighborhood bar. Preston never came into the place except with Gene. No one ever bothered him when he was with Gene.
“If I could speak in front of people, that is what I would have said,” Preston said, shaking his head. “It’s like she read my mind. It worries me.”
“What bothers you?”
“She knew things that I didn’t even know,” he said. “G-Pop and I have been trying to figure a way to crack this consortium that owns the 160 acres that we haven’t been able to get hold of. She identified it, said Duval is a part owner, and said the consortium plans to develop it into a golf course. And to think Duval has held all that back from us! How’d she get him to talk about it? Is she spreading information about me to him?”
“Don’t get paranoid on me, brother. Nothing she said leads me to believe any of that was told to her in confidence. You know Duval. He probably bragged about it, hoping to get her in bed,” Gene laughed.
“You don’t think it worked, do you? I’m such a bad judge of women’s intent. If she was in bed with Duval, I’d need to dismiss her,” Preston said. “I can’t stand the thought of that.”
“It would be the dumbest thing you’ve ever done. Man, you’ve landed a real treasure as your personal assistant. I know you’ve read her resume. Where else are you going to find someone with those credentials as a personal assistant? You’re the chief executive officer and she’s your chief of staff. She’s got your back on everything,” Gene continued enthusiastically. “If I were you, I’d marry her!”
“I can’t do that. She’s an employee. It wouldn’t be right.”
“Don’t get so hung up on what’s right that you miss what’s good.” Gene looked over at him. “You’re both smart people. It was obvious in every word she said today that she admires and respects you. Didn’t you hear how she handled Reinholdt in the meeting when he suggested that they needed Duval’s stamp of approval? She didn’t tear Duval down, but she made it clear that Duval had your approval and that was all he needed.”
“What if it’s all a fake? Duval’s wife came charging into my home Saturday and told me Ms. Scott was out seducing her husband. Then she proceeded to ruin my dinner and the rest of my day with her prattle. It was all I could do to get rid of her!”
“That’s the real problem, isn’t it? Shannon Duval started a rumor and you can’t shake it. Preston, you know the kind of person she is! How could you fall for a pack of lies she tells to get you upset?”
“Is that all it is, Gene? I need to get myself past this.”
Preston was still in a mood when he left Gene and went to Jerico House for dinner. There was nothing he wanted more than to believe Erin Scott was all he imagined her to be. He’d really fallen for the waitress Maizie and knew they were the same person, but the decisive executive he saw as his assistant frightened him a little.
“Did she do okay with the presentation today?” Lawrence asked.
“Flawless,” Jacqueline chimed in.
“I’m wondering if Duval had any idea how she would show him up in the meeting today,” Preston snorted. “I wouldn’t put it past him to set her up for the meeting thinking he could come in later and save the day. His wife showed up at the apartment Saturday and accused Ms. Scott of trying to seduce her husband and go away for the weekend with him. She ruined my meal Saturday.”
“Well, she didn’t go for the weekend,” Lawrence laughed. “As far as I can tell, the only time she spent with him was on the drive to Cloudhaven. He let her off and abandoned her. Then he went off and fell in a creek. I picked Ms. Scott up on my way home from the cabin. Found her walking out the access road.”
“Why would she go with Duval at all? Surely, she knows by now what kind of person he is,” Preston insisted.
“Preston, love, not everything has an ulterior motive,” Jacqueline said, patting his hand.
“It was so much easier when she was my waitress,” Preston sighed. “It was simple then.”
“What waitress?” Lawrence asked.
“I… um… sometimes… the past few months… I started going out to lunch on Thursdays, so I wouldn’t be inside the penthouse all the time. I wore a hoodie and dark glasses. Went to the diner. Maizie waited on me and we… sort of… became friends. She went through a divorce and was alone and applying for jobs. Then I went back to the diner and she was gone. The owner said she got a new job, but wouldn’t say anything else. I was going to… It doesn’t make a difference. She must have figured out who I was and applied for the job as my assistant to get access to me.” Preston was scarcely making sense, but his mother shook her head.
“No. Ellen told me she applied for a job in marketing—which didn’t exist. After her initial interview, we put our heads together and worked out a deal where… Oh, Preston, you know you’re hard on assistants. We told Erin Scott that if she could put up with you for six months, we’d find a place in marketing for her. She didn’t come to us applying for your job.”
“She was perfect from the very start. Even her coffee tastes better than what I had before. And the way she goes around the room with disinfectant wipes and makes sure my puzzles are reset. I’ve never had an assistant who was such a help. She handled all my correspondence with Duval because I really can’t stand the man. I keep thinking the other shoe is going to drop and my vision of perfection will disintegrate.”
“Maybe you should think about marrying her,” Lawrence said. “I could see when I was in your office working on the proposal and presentation that she was a natural fit with you. She could practically complete your sentences for you.”
“It was that Thursday when I figured it out,” Preston said. “She went out to get lunch for us and then set the table exactly like it’s set at the diner. Arranged the food on all three plates just like it would be served at the diner. She had the table wiped down and silverware set exactly the same. Later that night, I looked up her resume and saw that she’d been at the diner.”
“And?” Jacqueline asked.
“She’s more qualified for my job than I am! Is that it? She was an executive for Allard Holding Company. Do you suppose they’re planning a take-over bid? Is that why she took a position she was so overqualified for?” Preston asked.
“Hmm. Things could be worse than being bought out by Allard. They’re a good company,” Lawrence said. “I haven’t heard of them being interested in real estate development before, though.”
“The board authorized the executives to negotiate a partnership with Interlake Land Holdings. And did Mom tell you what she said about the 160 acres that are held out? Royce Duval is part of the consortium that holds the property. They want to develop a golf course there when the resort is finished.”
“Hmm. That could be beneficial to all of us. She didn’t mention that when we were talking on the way back to Jerico City. I’d guess she assumed we—or I, at least—knew. That doesn’t sound like an idea that Duval would come up with, let alone him forming a consortium to buy and develop the land.”
“Sounds more like Shannon Duval,” Jacqueline said. “Now there is a devious woman. If you accused her of trying to become your assistant and seduce you to take over the company, I’d believe you.”
“I… She… That bitch!” Preston exclaimed. “She brought a lunch and wine to the apartment Saturday. I want her keycard revoked and reissued so it won’t unlock the elevator. She completely ruined my dinner. I was making an Italian roulade—a braciole—with fresh pasta. She tried to give me wine and just took over the kitchen. She ruined everything. After I sent her away, I spent the rest of the weekend cleaning my space. It was violated.”
“Ah. And it was Shannon Duval who told you your assistant was spending the weekend with Royce,” Lawrence said. “You know, if she wasn’t so good at her job in the finance department, I’d suggest you get rid of her, but she’s likely to be the one who raises the funds we need for Cloudhaven. I understand she had an affair with another employee over the holiday. Duval arranged to have him fired in the cutbacks.”
“Affair over the holiday. Fired,” Preston said. “Maizie said her husband had an affair and lost his job. They divorced.”
“You need to figure out where your head is when it comes to your assistant,” Jacqueline said.
“I need more details.”
“You’ve often talked about working remotely. Stay here this week,” Lawrence said. “A week or so alone in the office will tell you how she’s doing and who she’s loyal to.”
“Yeah. Good idea.”
The office was quiet when Erin went to work. Everything was exactly like she’d left it the night before. She made coffee and circulated around the office checking cubes, to find none had been solved. When Mr. Carver did not appear to make breakfast, Erin crept up the stairs and saw his room was pristine. The bed had not been slept in. There was no sign Preston had come home the night before.
She returned to her desk and began the daily routine of sorting email and getting the day organized. She sent a couple of urgent items to Mr. Carver, including a reminder that they needed to start negotiating a partnership with Interlake Land Holdings.
About half an hour later, she received a reply from Preston.
“I’m working remotely for the rest of the week to focus on the partnership and process. Please respond to all correspondence and tell Duval to open negotiations with Interlake. Thank you.”
Erin had no difficulty handling most items. She knew what Carver would say, but forwarded messages of a certain level to him. He always responded directly to members of the board, Mr. Duval, the CFO and the CEOs of other companies. Anything below that level was shuffled back to her. She supposed that, in some ways, she exercised as much authority as the president of the company did.
She wrote to Duval, using her notes compiled in meetings with Preston and Lawrence regarding what the partnership should look like. She added her own notes regarding how to integrate the golf course consortium into the mix. She blind-copied all her correspondence to Mr. Carver, knowing he was unlikely to even read it.
Since she was on her own in the office, she began compiling a list of tasks to be accomplished before actual development could begin. Now that the project was approved, relationships with the County Commission needed to be established, with the necessary paperwork for environmental impact. Duval was going to be a busy man in the next two months, just getting the processes in place for Cloudhaven. She suggested that if he felt he needed one, he should hire an assistant to help with the increased work load. She’d see how that panned out.
The project management software on the corporate server was different than what she’d used in Cleveland at Allard, but after a quick tutorial, she grasped what needed to be done. She created a new project and began entering the tasks and mileposts for the development. She found Mr. Carver had also begun a project plan, but Erin’s started earlier in the process and had soon passed the point Mr. Carver had reached.
The drawings for each part of the development were completed and marked ‘in review,’ so it was fairly easy to link from tasks to plans. Erin was tired when she looked up at the window to the rooftop patio and saw it was dark.
She cleaned the kitchen and made sure everything was put away as Mr. Carver liked it. Erin shared his pride in a clean space and was glad she was working with a man who cared about his environment. After double-checking the entire apartment, she left for the day.
Friday was a near duplicate of the previous day. She got the same email message from Carver and discharged all the correspondence and urgent messages. She requested an update from Duval on the status of the partnership and reminded him that he was on the hook for contacting the cell companies to make sure the site had adequate coverage.
She sat for a few minutes in the kitchen to have a cup of coffee while she made notes regarding what needed to be put on the project plan. After she’d washed her cup and put it away, she returned to her desk and began working on the project plan again. She sent several requests to people in the architecture review department for updates on different phases, and to the land development department for information regarding the timing of installing infrastructure.
When it was time to leave at the end of the day, she realized she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. She let the cleaning service in and went out to eat at a family restaurant near the waterfront.
“It’s been an incredible week,” Erin said when she and Dolores met for their weekly glass of wine on Sunday afternoon. “I feel like I’ve been cut loose to just make this project go. When I started, Mrs. Carver told me I had signing authority of up to $5,000. I found that hard to believe, but this week, I’ve authorized others to make deals over $100,000. I mean, I didn’t sign the PO, but I told the person who could sign it to make it happen. I even told the president of the company to hire an assistant!”
“Erin, you’re not being set up, are you?” Dolores asked in alarm.
“What do you mean? How could I be set up?”
“You make a major presentation to the board of directors and convince them to authorize the project. Then your boss deserts you and leaves you to authorize all the pieces. Could they be planning to dump the project and you with it?” Dolores asked.
“I don’t think so. If it were up to Duval, I’d be suspicious, but not with Carver. I had a position with a fair amount of authority in Cleveland, and I think I could spot a setup like that. You need to know my boss to understand how he works. I’m getting a lot of input from him on the plan. He merged his project plan with mine and is just sending me the mileposts and timing to enter. We’ve had a couple of good conversations—brief but good. He wouldn’t set me up for failure. He’s too decent a guy for that.”
“Speaking of decent guys, guess who came into the diner Friday. Your old friend Jerry,” Dolores said.
“Oh! How is he? I really miss seeing him each week.”
“Still nice, quiet, shy, generous. He asked if I’d heard from you and if you were happy.”
“I hope you said yes.”
“Mmmhmm. But not too enthusiastically. I think he wanted to know you miss him like he misses you. I assured him you were being successful in your job, but there were things about the diner you missed—like him.”
“That’s true enough. Mr. Carver reminds me of Jerry’s simple joy in life and disdain for excess. You know, most days, we are the only ones we see in the office. I usually go out for a bite of lunch and see other people, but he doesn’t leave his little abode. His grandfather joined us there most of the past two weeks. And then President Slimy was in for several afternoons, but otherwise, he doesn’t really see many people at all. I tell you, after the president was in the office, I wiped down everything with disinfectant wipes twice. Then I stayed Friday night until the cleaning crew was finished.”
“Well, here’s a phone number for you. He said if you ever wanted to have lunch together to text him.”
“Oh, wow! Do you think he means a date? I have to really think about that. I’ve only been divorced three months. I don’t want to act rashly. Right now, I don’t have time for a relationship outside of my job. I’ll tuck it away. It would be nice to see him.”
“Four a.m. comes earlier every Monday, I swear. I need to head home and get what sleep I can before the work week starts again. You be careful now, okay? I’m really happy you’re experiencing such success, but I don’t want to see you hurt.”
“Thanks, Dolores. You’re the best ever.”
Monday morning, there was no sign the apartment had been occupied over the weekend. Erin made coffee and sat with a cup before she started on the daily tasks. She absently worked the 3x3x3 cube in the kitchen as she mentally prepared her agenda for the week.
She handled the email and correspondence, picked up the laundry delivered to the elevator, and put it all away. Then she turned to her project file to continue inputting the tasks.
Carver had merged his project plan with hers and it was filled with notes. He’d obviously been busy working remotely over the weekend. He pointed out places where she needed to add time for tasks and filled in several tasks that she had missed. A note directed her to work on the power grid critical path next. He wasn’t in the office, but he obviously kept track of what was going on. She focused on the tasks and filling in the chart.
There were several portions of the project she was unfamiliar with, but the software led her through the bulk of the tasks. She forwarded her specs to the Land Development Department for cleanup and detail work. She looked through the rest of the notes and determined she’d need to focus on the sewer and water infrastructure tomorrow, including the water treatment system Mr. Carver designed.
Tuesday afternoon, after another busy day of data entry and coordination of tasks with other departments, Erin sat back to contemplate what was going on. She was getting a lot done, and apparently Mr. Carver was, too. He’d been at Cloudhaven meeting with the contractors and with the utility people this week. His grandfather had been at the jobsite, as well, and even Mr. Duval had been summoned out there.
She was feeling a little lonely. Since the board meeting on Wednesday, the only person she’d seen was Dolores on Sunday. She pulled Jerry’s phone number out of her purse and contemplated whether to call the shy man she used to wait on. No. Dolores had specifically said ‘text.’ She tapped in a message, erased it, and started over. Was she really suggesting a get-together with Jerry?
“It’s Maizie. Drinks after work today or tomorrow?”
She sent the text, expecting an immediate answer. Nothing came back. She did the ritual wipe-down of the office and apartment even though she’d scarcely been anywhere but her desk and the kitchen. Then she went home.
About seven that evening, her phone vibrated and she saw a message from Jerry.
“Out of town. Lunch at diner Thursday?”
Erin breathed a sigh of relief that she wasn’t just being ignored. She wondered what he was doing out of town.
“See you at noon,” she texted back.
Well, that was done. Meeting for lunch at the diner was far more sensible. People met for lunch all the time. Meeting for drinks after work was too much like a date and she wasn’t really sure she was ready to date yet. She missed her weekly encounter with Jerry, though, and this would be perfect.
It helped Wednesday go by more quickly.
Comments
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
