Page 6 of The Grizzly Situation
“Tell me your name,” he kind of demanded. Well, not so much demanded, maybe. I mean he spoke softly, but there was the order of a man who was used to getting his way.
“Ulysses,” I replied. “People call me Uly.”
“Very well.” He turned toward the other men. “Gentlemen, can you give us a few minutes? I need to speak to Uly.”
They moved out of the door so fast, I couldn’t believe it. What the hell was happening here?
“Uly? I asked you a question, so please answer me.”
A real man would tell him to fuck off. A real man would get up and storm out, ignoring the guy’s insistence. Me? I stared down at my hands which I couldn’t seem to stop from twisting together.
“I got fired. Well, to be fair, I quit before I got fired.”
“Why?”
I shook my head. I really didn’t want to do this.
“Tell me why, Uly. I can sit here all day if I have to.”
And after what I’d seen, something in me believed he would. The story started slowly, and I paused at different points, trying to think of something to say that wouldn’t sound ridiculous.Through it all, he sat and stared at me. My nerves continued to ratchet up as I bared the highlights of all my clumsy little secrets to him. I often thought that having people see me when I had a mishap was the worst thing possible, but I was wrong. Telling this man everything that was messed up in my life? That was infinitely worse.
“I see,” he said finally. “Tell me something, Uly. Is there anything keeping you in Milwaukee?”
Well, there had been, but now that I was jobless? “Not anymore.”
“Very well.” He reached into his suit, fiddled for a moment, then withdrew a business card, that he then passed over to me.
I took it and turned it in my hand. It was far heavier than any other card I’d ever held, not that there were a lot of them. This one was gunmetal gray and the name Brent Lockhart was prominent, and beneath that a company name and logo had been etched into it. As I stared, I realized it was actual metal.
“Ursine Incorporated?”
He nodded. “We have businesses across the globe, some specializing in things only found on those continents. We’ve got different divisions that sell a variety of things, such as high end computer equipment, crystalware, and the like. We have bakeries and restaurants in many towns. That’s only a small fraction of what we do, though.”
“Okay....”
He smiled, and it was oddly warming. “I want you to come work for me.”
I had to have misheard him. No way did he say what I thought he did. “Wait. You want what?”
“I want you to come work for me.”
“But you don’t even know me. I could be.... I don’t know. A psychopath or something.”
“Oh, I have little doubt of that.” He grinned. “I’m a good judge of character. I don’t vacillate on whether I want to do something. When we arrived, you were pleasant, courteous, considerate, and kind.”
Sure, for all of thirty seconds. Who the hell did things like that? And why was I looking a gift horse in the mouth? He was offering me a job, and it was something I needed desperately.
“What would I be doing?”
“Well, that’s up to you. The choice is yours. If you’d like, you can tell me about your strengths, and I can make some recommendations.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. The question was so ludicrous. “I’m great at sweeping up the messes that I make. Well, except for when I make them worse.” It sounded pathetic, and I was aware of that, but it was the truth. “I don’t have any,” I admitted.
“Nonsense. Everyone has strengths. One of the best things about our company is we help people to bring theirs to the surface. That is, if you want it.”
I glanced at the card in my hand. This man was offering me something I’d never really had. A chance to make myself better. The problem? I knew who I was. “I’m clumsy. And that’s putting it mildly.”
“So don’t put you somewhere working with crystal. Got it.”
