Page 23 of Electric Blue Love
“Good morning, Court. Sorry to catch you just as you’re getting in, but I wanted to tell you Allen Sterling wrote a nice email on the good work you’re doing for him.
I dropped my laptop bag onto my desk and took a seat. “That’s great to hear. I sent travel directions to Mindy last night actually, he wants me back next month for another check in.”
“Actually, that’s partly why I’m here.”
“Oh?” I raised my eyebrows as I searched his face for some indication of the news.
Teddy ran a hand over his grayed moustache. “I’d like you to go back to Connecticut next week.”
“But Allen won’t have anything for at least another three.”
“Not for him, for us. Harrison and Mac wants to have a presence on campus this year. We got a last-minute invite to the career fair and we’d like you to go and do some head hunting for us.”
“Why me?” I tried to keep the note of disappointment from my voice. This was not something a senior risk analyst should be doing. We had an entire HR division for this sort of thing.
“I know it’s more of a human resources thing, but I’d like you to start leading your own team. You can pick them from the career fair, plus I’ll have some local candidates brought in for you to interview. It’s time for you to start mentoring a new crop of hungry kids.”
I laughed.
“Plus, you’re familiar with the area and the type of people there.”
By people I was sure he meant snooty rich people or, more specifically, their offspring.
“Wow, thank you. I don’t know what to say.”
“Say you’re getting on a flight to Connecticut next week.”
“I’m not sure I’ll be very good at conducting interviews.”
“Nonsense, you’re a top employee. Just talk to them about your career – how you got started, how you’ve risen in the company, things you like about working for Harrison and Mac. Far better for this to come from someone like you than one of us old people. It hasn’t been so long for you. I can still remember you walking in fresh out of college.”
“That feels like a million years ago,” I told him truthfully.
Mr. Harrison chuckled and moved toward the door. “You’re still young. Thank you for doing this, Court, and try and have some fun while you’re there, eh? Some day you really will be old.” A sad sort of look passed over his face before he left me alone in my office.
As if it’d been a sure thing, which of course it was, the travel details were already in my inbox. I guess that explained why he was waiting in my office first thing.
I ran a hand through my hair as I contemplated jumping on a plane so soon after getting back. There wasn’t really anything holding me in NYC. My circle was small. I had an assorted variety of friends, or acquaintances, that I really only saw in one aspect of my life. Aside from Leika, they didn’t cross over.
I had a guy at the gym who I worked out with. Not because we were friends exactly, but because our schedules and lifting styles were the same. We shared a small part of ourselves with each other. For an hour, three to five days a week, depending on my travel schedule, we shot the breeze, keeping our conversation to stock prices, the news, and weights.
I had a group of guys at the office that were good for an occasional lunch out or happy hour after a shitty day. Most of us had been with the company since college and years of familiarity, more than friendship, made our conversations deeper. Questions about how the wife or kids were, for those that had them, updates on new apartments or homes, vacations, and, of course, work. These people probably knew the details of what was happening in my day-to-day life better than anyone – even Leika, but it was a shallow understanding.
Then the college buddies who’d known the me I was fifteen years ago – wild and reckless and still coming to terms with an anger about my life that threatened to consume me. I think they were all surprised to see how well I was doing now. They probably chalked it up to luck that out of our crew, I had the most stable and lucrative career. They didn’t see the hours they spent doting on wives or girlfriends the way I did – as an expensive distraction from work.
I didn’t resent their lives. I even envied them a bit, but when I’d vowed not to let the past dictate my future I’d settled into a controlled life where my time was spent deliberately. This went hand in hand with my decision to date casually and keep people at arm’s length.
I was second-guessing the way I’d siloed myself from meaningful relationships when I got a text from Bianca.
Bianca: Good Morning, handsome. Hope you have a great day.
I smiled. It was a great text. It made me wish she’d meant it specifically for me.
Me: You too sweetheart (Great text – probably only appropriate after you’re officially dating so you don’t come across as a stage five clinger, but the message itself is perfect)
I waited a full minute for a response, but when I didn’t get one I put my phone away and got to work. The day moved at a hurried pace filled with meetings and client calls and lunch at my desk. When I checked my phone at five-thirty, I was excited to see another text from Bianca.
Bianca: Aced the test. Thanks for helping me study.
