Corporate Affair (20 page)

Jordan laughed. The elevator stopped, and the door slid silently open. They stepped out into an ante-office. A trim, gray-haired woman sat behind a desk in front of a bank of windows that looked out onto the wharves. When she saw them, she stood, walking forward to greet them.

“Aiden! You’re back!”

“Hi, Mrs. Barnes. Yes, I’m back. And may I introduce the CEO of our new partner in northern New England, Jordan Fitzgerald. Oh, and I can’t forget Grace.”

“How lovely to meet you, Ms. Fitzgerald.” Mrs. Barnes held out a finger to Grace, who wrapped her tiny fingers around it. “And you, too, Miss Grace. What an adorable child!”

“Oh, thank you,” said Jordan politely. “It’s a pleasure to meet you also.”

“Is my father in?” asked Aiden.

“He’s in his office,” said Mrs. Barnes. “I’ll get him.”

They heard a door open behind them. “No, I’m not! I’m not in my office,” boomed the old man, striding forward. “I’m right here.” He made straight for Jordan with his hand extended. She was struck by how his energy reminded her so much of Gene Palmer before he became ill. She gripped Grace extra tight, for moral support, and put out her hand.

“My father, Gordon Stewart,” said Aiden. “Dad, this is Jordan Fitzgerald, our new partner.”

Gordon took her small hand in his big one in a firm clasp. “Pleased to have you on board,” he said, smiling widely. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. Gene Palmer is an old friend and adversary of mine. You have to be pretty special to have his trust.”

“I’m very pleased to meet you,” said Jordan sincerely. “I’m eager to work with Trade Winds, Mr. Stewart. I know our companies will be stronger together than they ever were separately.”

“I think you’re right,” said the old man, putting his hand on her elbow. “Come along with me, Ms. Fitzgerald. We’ll go into the office and sign this thing.”

Jordan let him guide her into his office. She glanced back once, quickly, just to make sure Aiden was coming too. He winked at her, and it bolstered her courage.

“Here, here, have a seat on the sofa,” said Gordon.

“Thank you,” said Jordan, gratefully sitting down. Gordon Stewart acted as though all of his business cronies brought babies to their meetings. She was thankful for that. She settled Grace on her lap and waited. Gordon went to the door and spoke to Mrs. Barnes.

“I’d like to you bring in the documentation, if you would, Betsy,” he said. He turned to Jordan. “The lawyers have been over it with a fine-toothed comb,” he said. “They started nit-picking, but I put my foot down finally. We’re ready to sign it. You know, the lawyers have to keep the dialogue and the conflict going or they don’t make any money.” He chuckled as he took the papers from Mrs. Barnes and sat next to Jordan on the sofa. He laid open the folder on the coffee table and took a gold pen from his pocket, handing it to Jordan. “Ladies first,” he said. She smiled at him and, feeling strangely at ease, signed the document. She set the pen down. Gordon Stewart picked it up and signed his name under hers. The deed was done.

“Welcome aboard,” he said, holding out his hand. “This is something to celebrate.”

Jordan shook his hand. “I feel good about this,” she said. “I do.” She caught Aiden’s eye across the room and smiled at him. Grace wiggled.

“Go ahead,” said Gordon. “Set her down. When my grandchildren were that age, I had toys in here, but they’re teenagers now!”

Jordan set Grace down on the carpeted floor. She teetered a bit, and then seeing Aiden smiling from across the room at her, she began her baby Frankenstein-ish walk toward him. Gordon turned to Jordan. “Tell me about Gene,” he said seriously. “How’s he doing?”

Jordan drew a deep breath. “You know, he’s doing okay,” she answered. “Emotionally, anyway. Physically, he’s frail. He gets tired easily. I usually have a daily meeting with him, but sometimes he can’t sit through it. I hate seeing him that way. When I think of the way he was when…when we first started to work together…” Her voice trailed off.

“I’m sorry,” said Gordon sincerely. “I’m sorry about it, but you’ve done him proud. I’m sure it makes this whole situation easier for him. Congratulations on our merger.”

It could have been his honest manner, or it could have been his perceptive assessment of how she felt, but two tears, beyond her control, slid down her cheeks. Flustered, she quickly brushed them away.

“I’m sorry,” said Gordon. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Oh no, no,” Jordan tried to reassured him. “It’s me. I guess I’m just being emotional. I’m usually a lot more hard-boiled than this, but this is an emotional time for everybody at Chat, and while we welcome this merger, it’s the end of an era too.” Aiden, Grace in his arms, crossed the room.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“Please, please,” said Jordan, embarrassed. “I’m fine. Just an overflow of emotion, I guess. Really, I apologize. I’m being such a girl right now.”

Gordon laughed outright, lightening the mood. “There’s nothing wrong with that.” He chuckled. “Now, let’s drive back to the house and have some lunch. Aiden can show you where he grew up. My wife, Nell, is expecting us.”

Jordan reached out and took Grace from Aiden. Gordon motioned to the door, and the three of them walked into the elevator.

Once outside, Jordan turned and looked back at the building. “It’s a beautiful old building,” she said. “You know, Chat’s offices are in a restored factory building as well.”

“Too much good space to waste,” said Gordon. “We got a good deal on it two years ago. Restoring and re-doing it to our specifications took a little time, but we moved in earlier this year. And it’s a great commute for Aiden!”

Jordan laughed, “So he told me.”

Gordon waved to them. “I’ll see you at home.” He crossed the parking lot and got behind the wheel of a big Mercedes. Jordan buckled Grace into her baby seat and then belted herself into the front passenger seat.

As Aiden followed his father out onto the road, Jordan’s cell phone rang. It was her mother.

“Hello?”

“Jordan, are you there? You didn’t call.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Mom. Yes. We’ve had our meeting, everything is signed, and we’re going out to Mr. Stewart’s house for a late lunch.”

“How is Grace doing? Is she fussy?”

“Oh, no, Mom, she’s doing great.”

“Well, I have really good news.”

“You do?”

“Yes. Your father’s been hired by the Mountain to oversee the construction of a whole group of new condominiums!”

“Mom, that’s wonderful! That’s so wonderful!”

“He’s thrilled, Jordan. He’s thrilled because it means we won’t have to tie you down anymore. The money is really good, and the work will be steady. He’ll work as an independent contractor directly with Mountain. I guess they saw his work around town, and, you know, the Mountain was sold last year, and the guy who bought it is young and progressive. He liked your father.”

“Mom, that’s just the best, but you never tied me down. You’re my mother and my father. I was pleased to help. You helped me, too. How else would I have managed with Grace?”

“Well, you enjoy your time there, honey. You deserve it. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Bye, Mom. I love you.” Jordan clicked off.

“What’s so great?” asked Aiden.

“Oh, Aiden, my father got a job. A wonderful job. He’s supervising the construction of new condos at the ski mountain. Some guy just bought it and is expanding it. It’s amazing!”

“I’m happy for all of you,” said Aiden. “Your family reminds me of mine. They stick together.”

“We do,” confirmed Jordan. Her mind began to wander as a surreal feeling settled around her. Such circumstances had occurred to bring her to this point! It all seemed a whirlwind now. Her mind drifted back in time to when she was a student at the University of Vermont. Her father had lost his job. She’d been desperate for tuition money. She remembered it as clearly as though it had happened yesterday how she went to her adviser, explaining the situation to her and asking for help. As it was, Jordan held a number of student loans, to be paid back after graduation. The adviser had taken the bureaucratically correct steps, applying for more financial aid, but troubles had run deeper in the family. The cost of just keeping the house up was astronomical enough when the only money coming in was a weekly paycheck her mother received from working part time at the town offices and an unemployment check to her father. Her father also managed to do some odd jobs around town, but these were not steady, and the price of gasoline he had to pay just to get to the job sometimes was more than the job paid. Fuel oil and electricity expenses continued, to say nothing of health insurance for the family.

Jordan’s parents remained optimistic, at least to the outside world. “It’ll turn around,” said her mother confidently. “Don’t worry. You just stay in school. We’ll find a way. Derek has one more year of high school, and by the time he’s at the University, we’ll be back on our feet. Don’t you worry.”

Jordan did worry, though. At the end of the spring semester, she went to the dean of students and asked about a leave of absence from the fall term. Wisely, the dean tried to persuade her to return in the fall. If it turned out she couldn’t stay, well, then they would cross that bridge when they came to it. Jordan didn’t tell anyone about her talk with the dean. She spent the last warm days of school trying to behave as though nothing was wrong. She went to parties with her friends, crammed for finals, and tried to find comfort casually dating. At the end of the semester, she packed her things and returned home. The next day, she went looking for a job. For a week, she filled out applications in every available place of employment within commuting distance. Time was of the essence. Jordan needed to make the most of her time off from school. She needed to make money as quickly as possible in order to help her parents, in order to save for the fall semester which was a mere three months away.

She began revisiting the hospital, the restaurants, and one particularly depressing day, she revisited ChatDotCom. Ashley, whom she had known peripherally in high school, was sitting at the big marble desk in the foyer.

“Hi, Jordan,” Ashley had said pleasantly as Jordan approached.

“Hi, Ashley.” Jordan tried not to seem too desperate. “Is there any word on my résumé yet?” She had applied for a web manager position. She knew she was qualified, even over qualified for the job.

“No, I’m sorry, I haven’t heard, but I could call into personnel and find out for you.”

“Oh, please, could you do that?”

Ashley had nodded and picked up the phone. “Carol, this is Ashley at the desk. Jordan Fitzgerald is here. Have you reviewed her résumé yet?”

“Ask her if I can please just talk to her.” Jordan leaned over the desk, whispering to Ashley.

“Oh, really? Oh, I’ll tell her—”

“Please, Ashley, ask if I can talk to her.”

“Oh, Carol, she’s asking if she might speak with you. Oh, okay. Fine, I’ll tell her.” Ashley hung up the phone. “She says she doesn’t have time today.”

Jordan would never forget her reaction to the news. She slammed her hand down on the marble. It made a loud slapping sound and bruised her fingers. “Damn!” she said, louder than she should have. “Damn! I have to get a job doing something somewhere. And I’m qualified for this job! I can do this!”

Ashley never lost her poise; she sat quietly looking straight at her with her heavily made up eyes. Suddenly, the big door behind Ashley opened, and a man peered out. “What’s going on here, Ashley?”

It was Gene Palmer. Jordan recognized him. She had seen him around town and in the newspaper. Immediately, she regretted her outburst, but she kept her dignity. “I’m sorry I disturbed you, Mr. Palmer. I just lost my temper for a minute. I applied for a job, and nobody has reviewed my résumé yet.”

“Really? What position did you apply for?”

“I applied for the web manager’s position.”

Gene Palmer walked out of his office and stood beside Ashley. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Jordan Fitzgerald,” she answered. She thought she detected something like a smile forming around the corner of his eyes.

He held out his hand. “I’m Gene Palmer,” he said. “Why don’t you come into my office. If Carol is too busy to see you, you can talk to me.”

And that was it. She started the next day. She never understood what had caught his attention, but she never questioned it. She was too grateful.

Jordan recalled vividly how, as fall and her return to school approached, Mr. Palmer had taken her into his office, alone.

“I just want you to know that a job exists for you here at Chat, whenever you want it. I know you have to finish school, but I am very sorry to…to lose you. I wish I could make you sign a contract to come back, but you’ll probably need to see the whole wide world before you return to our little company in Clark’s Corner. I’ll miss you, personally and professionally.”

She was overcome at this admission of feeling from him, and she blushed. At that moment, Ashley walked into the room, a sheaf of paper in her hands. “Mr. Palmer,” she began, but then intuitively felt the tension of the situation. She looked quickly from one to other and then said smoothly, “I have the insurance papers ready for your signature. Is this a good time?”