Longboard (Desk Surfing Series Book 1) (12 page)

              I felt like laughing.  I was sure to everyone else it would read like a surprise.  To me it read like comedy.  I left Longboard's suite in a rush and got promoted to office manager.  And apparently he wasn't that upset about it.  Maybe he just needed time to think about it because he wasn't coming into the office for the foreseeable future.  I don't know if it was the best Monday-morning memo or the worst.  Not that I didn't want the job, I just never fully imagined how it would play out.  I guess I always thought it would be the kind of thing he would announce on a Friday at 4 pm and I could just hear congratulations for an hour before we went and did a happy hour somewhere.  It didn't make business sense to announce a promotion at happy hour, you did that kind of stuff in the office.  But it would've been great to have that casual atmosphere to absorb the shock of the blow--no such luck.

              I sat at my desk thinking of how I was going to handle the thing.  I had about two hours before the memo dropped and then there was about an hour and fifteen minute gossip pipeline around the office before everyone knew what everyone else knew.  So around lunchtime everyone would know I was now the third highest-ranking person on both sides of the suite.  The VP of Actuarial Services was technically above me, but she was on the other side with the bean-counters.  I would rarely see her.  And then there was Longboard.  He was officially stylized as the President and CEO of
Key Way
and the VP of Marketing and Development, which made him my direct manager.  He was still my direct manager, even though I was under him as an assistant marketing manager, he being the VP of Marketing and Development.  Now, I was under him because he was the President and CEO.  It was all formalities I guess but the thing I was most wondering about was Brianna's empty office. 
Should I just move into it at ten-thirty when the memo dropped?  Should I stay late and do it or do it at the end of the week? 
I really liked the idea of doing it over the weekend because no one would have to notice me doing it.  That way it could be like, one day I'm not the office manager and the next day I am.

              I couldn't ignore all the thoughts flooding my skull so I basically just sipped coffee for the next two hours, with an open
Excel
sheet on my screen.   Then the bomb dropped at ten-thirty and people I had met like three times were coming over to tell me congratulations.  Some of them I'm sure had to ask other colleagues who I was.  It felt like the whole actuarial team came over and then the customer service people, who had their own collective office on the side with the actuary department.  Through the whole thing, I had a lot of respect for Romy because even though she saw the memo first, she kept mum about the whole thing.  She treated everyone, even me, like it was just another Monday.  But I decided to stay late, which doesn't feel right on a Monday.  You gotta ease into the week.  But I decided it would be the best way to tip my hat to Longboard, where ever he was.  He made me office manager, so I had to put on the big girl pants and move into the role of office manager.  The biggest question was whether I should call him.  If he was on self-imposed leave, he might have already planned a destination and be halfway there.  That's how he worked.  He planned his way through everything. 

              The office manager's office was big, the same size as Longboard's.  All the stuff from my little quad, barely made an impression.  And I had walls now.  I guess I would have to call building maintenance to get them to hang my degree on the wall.  And while I was thinking about it, I had an employee of the month award sitting around someplace.  I'd have that framed and hung too.  There weren't too many people sitting late on Monday, so moving my stuff didn't feel that awkward.  It's always awkward when people see the effects of your promotion.  Just seeing it written in a memo could always make you think it's a typo.  But when you see the change regarding those typed words, there's that
eureka
moment.  You realize words have meaning, then you know. 

              When I got home, the first thing I did was the first thing you do.  I called my girl Jessie and told her.

              "They just hired some cocky bitch as the new office manager."

              "But Babe, you're really not that cocky," said Jessie.

              "I am now!"

              "You've got reason to be now," said Jessie.

              "So you're saying I didn't have reason to be before?"

              "Well, I mean let's be honest," said Jessie, "In high school you weren't all that.  You were ok but Mallory was the one everyone was after.  She was the better athlete.  You were fast but she was faster.  And you were pretty flat before you went under the knife.  I'm Chinese and I didn't even envy your chest.  And you surfed but you know you weren't that good. So..."

              "Geez, tell me how you really feel."

              "Hey," said Jessie, "You asked."

              "Ok, well now I got boobs and I'm an office manager."

              "That much we can agree on," said Jessie.

              "Well we gotta celebrate this, so happy hour on Friday?"

              "You know what?" said Jessie.

              "What?"

              "I think this is bigger than a happy hour," said Jessie.

              "Bigger how?"

              "Bigger than the Island," said Jessie.

              "What do you mean?" 

              "I mean we should go island hopping," said Jessie.

              "I'm down."

              "There's this great resort hotel on Kaua'i Island.  And it has this restaurant called
Pomodori Verdi
.  It's Mediterranean and it's off the chain," said Jessie.

              "Is it pricey?"

              "Don't worry about that," said Jessie, "My dad's company did the development of the grounds and the golf course so we can get comped.  I actually have a platinum club card for the place and I can bring two guests."

              "You are the bomb!"

              "I think I am," said Jessie.

              "Ok, so how do you want to do?"

              "What time do you leave work on Friday?" asked Jessie, "Can you leave early?"

              "I don't know about that.  I just got a promotion."

              "Ok, then just leave the same time as everyone else," said Jessie, "You can invite that Malia girl if you want, she seemed ok, kinda flaky though."

              "Well she left the company."

              "You serious?" said Jessie, "Just like that?"

"Apparently she got sick or something.  It was in the same memo that dropped today saying I got promoted."

              "Really?" said Jessie.

              "That's what happened.  And Hank, my boss, is gone as well on extended vacation."

              "That's so weird," said Jessie.

              "Well, I need to tell you what happened at the club on Friday."

              "What happened?" asked Jessie.

              "I talked to Hank and it was ok, friendly and what not.  But he suggests meeting me outside
Osmi
because we've got co-workers around and so..."

              "Stop," said Jessie.

              "But that's not even half of it."

              "I know," said Jessie, "But this sounds like the kind of convo we should be sharing face-to-face over drinks at
Ile Grove
."

              "What's
Ile Grove
?"

              "It's the resort hotel I just told you about," said Jessie, "Sorry the name just came to me."

              "Ok, so I'll save it for then."

              "Can't wait to hear this," said Jessie.

              "I can't wait to tell it."

              "I bet," said Jessie, "How should we do though?"

              "Actually, you know what?"

              "What?" asked Jessie.

              "I think the office manager gets her own parking spot."

              "No one told you about that," said Jessie.

              "Well, Hank is on extended vacation and the old office manager has been gone for months.  But I remember that she used to have her own space."

              "You should look into that," said Jessie.

              "You should be more obvious."

              "I couldn't if I tried," said Jessie.               

              "Ok.  Here's my thinking.  Let me find out about that parking spot and then we'll do it like this.  I leave my car in my spot at work and you can come pick me up, since you know where we're going."

              "Ok," said Jessie.

              "And I'll have all my stuff with me so we can just depart right at five o'clock for the airport."

              "Ok," said Jessie.

              "Can you get the plane tix together and I'll just reimburse you?"

              "Yeah," said Jessie, "I'm doing it now on my phone while we talk.  Ok, window or aisle?"

              "Can we get two aisles across from each other?"

              "Sure," said Jessie, "But it's like a forty minute flight from O'ahu to Kaua'i."

              "But maybe we wanna get started with the drinks on the plane.  And we can cheers across the aisle."

              "Party girl," said Jessie.

              "I am the party."

              "Ok, we've got two
Hawaiian Airlines
flights leaving
Honolulu International
," said Jessie, "One leaves at 6:26 pm and lands at
Lihue Airport
at 7:06 and then there's one from 7:43 pm and lands at 8:23.  We've also got one from 5:25 pm landing at 6:05 but that might be a little early if you're getting off at five.  But if you could leave earlier so we can make that one, that would be awesome because remember it takes like forty-five minutes to drive from the airport to the resort in Princeville."

              "You know what?  Screw it.  I'll leave early so we can make the 5:25."

              "You sure?" asked Jessie.

              "Hell yeah.  I'm now the office manager and Hank isn't even around."

              "Ok," said Jessie, "I'm gonna click
buy
."

              "Do it."

              "Done," said Jessie.

              "Awesome.  I'll leave at four.  If you can be there right at four and then we go to the airport it should take fifteen minutes max and we don't need to check anything cuz it's just for the weekend.  We park and hop on the plane."

              "That works for me," said Jessie.

              "Me too.  What about the return flight?"

              "We're on Flight HA 211 leaving
Lihue Airport
at 10:05 pm on Sunday and we land at
Honolulu International
at 10:52 pm," said Jessie.

              "Ok, I'm making a mental note of that."

              "You're gonna love the hotel," said Jessie.

              "I know I will."

              "I'll call you Friday noon," said Jessie.

              "
Danke
."

              "You bet," said Jessie.

              "Talk to you."

              "Talk to you," said Jessie. 

Chapter 7

             
My first week as office manager reminded me of an email I received several years before when I was still in regular contact with my high school friend, Mallory.  She said that after she got commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force, she felt like some of the enlisted people had to show her the ropes.  The odd thing was that she literally out-ranked them.  But she was a fast-learner.  I was an ok-learner.  I wasn't necessarily a slow-learner but I didn't feel like I was learning so fast either.  The one thing I really tried to focus on was the corporate structure.  Longboard was a majority owner but he also had two silent partners that were actually partnerships.  The two partnerships had taken an early stake in
Key Way
and as
Key Way
grew, so did the wealth and interest of the partnerships.  Being accountable to the partnerships was the main thing I had to know.  I also had to organize quarterly reports for both the partners and FINRA.  There was really no one around to teach me, so I had to look at prior year
Key Way
filings and guidelines on the FINRA website.  I felt a bit a mess when I jumped in Jessie's
Lexus
coupe, Friday afternoon.  But it was a classy Hawaiian afternoon with almost no clouds and Jessie, being Jessie, let the top down for the ten minute drive to the airport.  My weekender bag was packed and I wasn't planning on thinking about
Key Way
until I came back.  When Jessie asked me how my first week as office manager ended up, I told her let me tell her how my first
weekend
ended up.

              The flight from O'ahu to Kanu'a was actually thirty-nine minutes.  Some tailwind something, low wind shear or something the captain said, but the end result was a nice smooth ride to
Lihue Airport
.  I had a chardonnay on the plane.  Jessie had a
Bailey's
but she wasn't a lightweight.  She was sober enough to drive our rented
Camry
from Lihue to Princeville, which was on the other side of the island.  You had to drive the circumference of Kaun'a Island because the middle part of the island was all nature parks.  I was interested in nature parks but not this trip.  Time was too short.  And I didn't bring bug repellent, only sun repellent and bullshit repellent.  That was what the getaway was all about.  No bullshit, I just wanted some time with my home girl.  It was a two-day life strategy session.

              We checked into our hotel at 7:40 pm.  It helped our timeline that we didn't have to wait for baggage claim.  We dropped our stuff in our room and I changed into my bikini with cargo pants and flip-flops.  Jessie was dressed similarly but not the same, which highlighted the difference between me and her.  She was more posh.  She had a shawl on instead of cargo pants and she wore a fedora as an accent.  The sun was already too low for a hat.  But she looked good in it.  I told her I had to try the
Pomodori Verdi
restaurant she was talking so much about.  So we went straight to the restaurant.  The cool thing about the restaurant was the atmosphere.  The hotel was definitely high-brow but
Pomodori Verdi
was chill.  You actually had to go outside to get to it and it was nestled in a palm grove.  The palm grove looked almost too perfect given its location next to the hotel.  I assumed it was man-made but in Hawaii you could never be sure.  Somethings really were too good to believe in Hawaii.  There was a cobbled-brick porch leading to the restaurant and there were dim lights strung through the palm leaves that guarded both sides of the restaurant.  It had an old-world feel to it but I didn't realize why until we got to the door.  The windows weren't tinted.  It wasn't one of those ultra-modern establishments that said come inside to come and see.  It had some Italian charm.  They wanted you to see patrons enjoying themselves, which was more inviting than a no-see tinted window.  It was more European. 

              It was nice to feel a taste of Italy in the mid-Pacific.  As we walked inside, the first thing that registered was the ceiling.  It was very high.  Maybe twenty-five to thirty feet high.  But there was no lighting in the upper scaffolding.  You could see conduits for the air conditioning system, but there were no lights.  All the lights were strung overhead like Christmas lights.  They were maybe twelve feet from the ground and there were rows and rows of them.  It gave the effect of feeling like we were outside.  And you could feel it immediately.  The restaurant was busy but not packed.  We found a table for two and started with long-neck beers.  The tables were carved out of driftwood, which brought Hawaii to Italy.  It was nice.  Before our food arrived, I told Jessie everything about Friday night the week before.  She laughed a long time.  It became infectious.  I couldn't help but laugh as well.  As the booze took effect, we both realized we had been having lazy-girl conversations for half our lives.  We met freshman year of high school, when we were both fourteen.  Now we were both twenty-eight.  It was a frozen moment to realize we had known each other 50% of the time we were breathing on our own. 

              The waiter delivering our food broke the frozen moment.  I had zucchini pasta to keep my girlish figure.  Jessie said she wanted more curves, so she ordered eggplant lasagna--just for skinny bitches.  I ate fairly quickly because my food was light.  I ordered another beer and watched Jessie finish her plate.  Jessie joined me with a beer and we paid up but stayed to finish our brews.

              "C'mon," said Jessie.

              "Where we goin'?"

              "There's a groovy outdoor/indoor bar just across the way," said Jessie.

              "Ok, let's do it."

              "It's part of the hotel so I'll just charge our drinks to our room and my platinum account will cover it," said Jessie.

              "Fuck you.  I love you but fuck you."

              "What?  You're an operational manager now," said Jessie, "You're gonna get an expense account."

              "I don't want an expense account.  I want a platinum account."

              "That's only because I showed it to you," said Jessie, "A week ago you didn't know what it was."

              "True.  But now that I know, I want me one."

              "Ok we'll get you hooked up," said Jessie, "The bar is down the beach.  And they have a nice little dance floor made of smooth stone and then it's filled in with lacquer or something."

              "Sounds interesting."

              "It's made to simulate dancing on the ocean floor," said Jessie.

              "Why would they want to simulate that?"

              "Look up," said Jessie, "Over there, that's the place.  See the sign."

              "
Ocean Floor Club
."

              "Now do you see why they have that dance floor?" said Jessie.

              "I see why they have that dance floor."  You could hear the music playing from twenty yards down the beach.  It was reggae, which always meant a relaxed atmosphere.  Of course with alcohol mixed in you never really knew. 

              There were people in the bar but we sat at the bar for some cocktails until the dance floor got a little more busy.  I had a
Talladega Sunrise
and Jessie had
Sex on the Beach
. 

              "So what are you gonna do about Hank?" asked Jessie.

              "You know what?"

              "What?" said Jessie.

              "I think he's the smartest dude I've ever been involved with."

              "What makes you say that?" asked Jessie.

              "This is just something that hit me while we were walking on the beach."

              "That I'm your best friend and the coolest girl in the world," said Jessie.

              "Hawaii, not the world."

              "Burn," said Jessie.

              "But I'm thinking Hank is strategic as fuck."

              "Why?" asked Jessie.

              "Cuz he, like, locked me in.  I mean he dropped that promotion on me in a memo, so now I'm locked in.  Why would I try to move around?  I guess I spooked him by talking to that Alex guy from that other company."

              "So he promoted you so you won't go anywhere," said Jessie.

              "If he can't keep me on the line, at least he can keep me on the hook.  Where else can I go and be office manager?"

              "Nowhere," said Jessie, "Unless you wanna ride another wave, start desk surfing all over again."

              "Since when is the point of anything to start again from the beginning?"

              "I don't know," said Jessie, "But who's that rich guy who said the only way to prove your success isn't luck is to start from scratch all over again.  That's how you really know you're good, to build one thing up.  And then you start with nothing and build something entirely new.  It can be a business, a building, a sports team.  It applies to everything."

              "Maybe."

              "No," said Jessie, "Definitely."

              "Ok."

              "Let's get another round," said Jessie.

              "Let's."

              "Just tell the bartender.  He already has my platinum number," said Jessie.

              "There you go with that again."

              "What?" said Jessie.

              "Nothing, I'm just working you."

              "Wait..." said Jessie.

              "What?"

              "Isn't that that girl we went to
Ginger Snap
with?" said Jessie, "The one from your work."  I turned around and looked through the amassing crowed to see three girls coming up the beach toward the bar.  They were pre-loaded by how loud they were and the beer bottles in their hand.  The club allowed beer bottles to be brought in because they were undoubtedly bought at another establishment that was part of the resort.  As the three girls walked into the light of the bar, I could see Jessie was right.  It was Malia.

              "That's weird."

              "You said she was sick," said Jessie, "That's why she quit."

              "The memo said she was sick."

              "What?" said Jessie, "Alcohol poisoning?"

              "She looks like she's over it now."

              "I'd say," said Jessie, "But why would she give up her job to get over that."

              "She wouldn't.  As much as I know, she liked her job."

              "Maybe there's some details out at sea," said Jessie.

              "You think I should go fishing for them?"

              "Well," said Jessie, "I'm starting to see a triangle.  Hank is on extended leave.  This girl is gone for good.  And you're now the new office manager.  If they're both out of the office and you're still left.  There might be something they know that you don't."

              "I need to know what I'm into."

              "You do indeed," said Jessie.

              "Watch my drink."

              "Aye, Aye," said Jessie.  I slid off my barstool and made my way through some tall Samoan-looking guys toward Malia and her can't-dance girlfriends.

              "Malia."  She seemed a bit boozed up.

              "Malia."  Her eyes rolled up, slowed by the alcohol.  She stared at me for what seemed like the rest of the night.

              "Hey," said Malia.

              "What are you doing in Kanu'a?  We got a memo that said you were real sick."  She started to laugh like it was the first time she laughed and hadn't learn to control it.  She cocked her head back and turned around 360-degrees.  She was laughing so loud her girlfriends tried to usher her off the dance floor and back onto the sand. 

              "No, that's my friend," said Malia.  They pulled her back to the sand.

              "Wait," said Malia, "That's my friend.  I wanna talk to my friend."  It took me a few seconds to realize
friend
meant me.  So I followed Malia and the two girls onto the sand. 

              "It's ok we work together.  I just wanted to catch up."

              "She's had a few," said one of the girls.

              "So have I.  Let me talk to her right quick."

              "Yes," said Malia, "I want to talk to this girl."  Malia reached over and grabbed my hand.

              "Let's take a walk," said Malia.  Malia began to lead me down the beach.  She suddenly seemed more sober.

              "How are you?" asked Malia.

              "Good."

              "You like your new promotion?" asked Malia.

              "How did you know about that?"

              "Sweetheart," said Malia, "I'm the reason you got it."