Remember Me (36 page)

other night. She hasn’t had much luck in landing a job yet.”

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“That’s too bad,” I replied.

“Yah, she’s kind of stressed out about it. Jobs in her field are hard to find around here. I was thinking, and I even ran it by her…”

“You aren’t thinking about leaving are you?” I asked trying to put as much dread and concern into my voice as possible.

“…Ah no…that’s not it. I mean…would you really consider hiring her here to help you. It could be only temporary if you wanted…just until…”

“Absolutely,” I interrupted, feigning joy at not losing Tom and gaining Amy into the E.M.J. family. “If you are okay with it then so am I. I’d be grateful to have her.” Tom was on top of the world. I could already see him spending and investing her wages. Having her here was also a way for him to keep her under control, and we both knew it. I played to his latent desires. “I don’t want to cause any friction between the two of you. I know how hard it can be for couples to work in the same environment.”

“Don’t worry about it. Amy and I have talked it through

already, and we both agree it would be a great opportunity for her. We see much more upside than negatives. It the end it would certainly make our lives easier.”

“Consider it done! Have Amy give me a call tomorrow,

and we’ll set up a time to talk about the position and all the trimmings,” I said to him, letting a smirky kind of smile play across my face. Tom caught its meaning and smiled back like two old friends who just schemed up the perfect crime. He rose and left me alone in the trailer. I wasn’t sure what I was going to gain in the long-run by bringing Amy on-board. She would be working close with me…that was good and also the most painful thing I could think of. I would need to play the game better than ever. I would have to make sure to keep my inner-feelings in check.

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Amy showed up at two-thirty the next day dressed to perfection in a black business suit and a light colored pink blouse.

She had her hair pulled back in a bun. A simple opal pendant hung around her slender neck. I realized I was holding my breath as she walked towards me. I was standing by Stebben’s office in the warehouse. I knew Tom’s eyes would be judging this moment, so I tried to remember who I was supposed to be. “Good afternoon Mr. Warren,” Amy said in her most serious, business-like tone. “I believe we have an appointment scheduled for two-thirty?”

“Right you are Miss Martin. Let’s meet in the conference room,” I said. I gestured with my hand towards the conference room at the far side of the warehouse. Amy turned in the direction I’d indicated, and I followed a respectable distance behind her. Once in the conference room, I shut the door behind us. There were blinds on the window that I could also close, but I left them open…everything “above board.”

Even before Amy sat down, she asked, “How did you do it?’

“I’m only going to say that I understand guys like Tom,

what drives them…motivates them.”

“It’s the money, that’s it, isn’t it,” she solemnly inquired?

“No, not entirely,” I felt compelled to reply to her in a reassuring tone. “We both know Tom is money guided, but I think he also liked the idea of having you close to him.” I said this with a smile. I hoped she wouldn’t see through the patronizing lie I was trying to present. I was doing my best to convince her that Tom’s wishes had been for positive reasons.

She blushed slightly and then said, “Oh.”

I gave her a couple of moments to situate herself in her chair. She was absolutely stunning, and she looked so young and full of life. I remembered the day that Samantha came home, dressed so similarly, excited by the job interview she’d S 271 S

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just had. “A dream job,” she’d told us. I suddenly felt uneasy about the deceit, and the role I was playing in everyone’s lives.

What right did I have to impact others the way that I was?

Amy could tell I’d gone off, “Pete is something wrong?”

she asked

“No, just one of those nostalgic moments us old people

have,” I answered—though the smile I produced for her felt more like a grimace. “Anyway, let’s get down to the nitty-grit-ty. It would do my heart good to pay you more than Tom…but we both know that would be bad.”

“Just a little,” Amy said and she diverted her eyes from mine to look out the window to see if Tom was watching us. It was a habit she retained even long after her divorce from him, and after she married me. Whenever she said his name, she looked over her shoulder, so to speak.

“So, here’s the deal. You can start at seventy-two, company car, three weeks paid vacation and a discretionary bonus package.” I couldn’t help myself. I chuckled out-loud. “Should things really click, it will be the one area where I can grossly over-compensate you!”

This time Amy had the mischievous grin, “I think I

understand.”

“All of this is just a starting point. I’m sure it will need to be adapted as we go along. You’ll have an office and access to the clerical secretary that has yet to be hired. I’m sure down the road a you’ll need a full staff at your discretion. I know it is going to be needed—when is the only consideration yet to be determined.”

“That’s a really nice offer, but I want four weeks of vacation or no deal.”

I raised an eyebrow in puzzlement and tried to read her

face. She remained very still, and I could tell she was serious.

I was at a loss.

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“Tom has four weeks,” was all she said.

I think I understood her motive, but I didn’t want to address it, “If that is all it takes, then absolutely…take five if you need it.”

Amy laughed and we shook hands across the table for the

benefit of all the unseen prying eyes.

We spent the next half-hour talking about probabilities and the pitfalls of the road ahead. She’d come prepared. From out of her portfolio case, she pulled a pre-assessment marketing plan for E.M.J. To be truthful, her plan was very good, given the current time that we lived in. But because I knew what she didn’t, it wouldn’t come close to sufficing over the long term. I wanted to reinforce what she had presented as worthwhile, so I told her so. I also dropped a few timely comments about what I envisioned happening in the future over the longer-term. I tried to be as subtle as I could. I only wanted to generally expand her current level of thinking. I shouldn’t have worried. She picked-up my train of thought, and like the Amy I knew, made it shine in her own special way.

Tom interrupted us around three forty-five, “Hey is it ok if I have a moment to discuss the materials shipment?”

“Sure, we’re done…just going over some marketing strategies,” I answered back to him. “Amy thanks for accepting the job, and I’ll see you the day after graduation…no…make it the Tuesday after graduation.”

“Thank you again Mr. Warren for the fantastic opportunity.”

“Don’t worry, you’ll be earning your keep, of that I have no doubt,” I said, rising to escort her out the door. After she walked away, Tom closed the door behind her.

“Pete, I appreciate you giving her a chance.”

“Don’t worry; I believe she is more than up to handling

the task.”

“That’s good to know. Um…if there is ever any problem

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you let me know and I’ll handle it.”

I wanted to punch him in the nose. Instead, I winked and said, “You’ll be the first to know!”

When I finally made it home, Emma was waiting for me,

her squeeze ball in her mouth. She dropped at my feet so I could throw it for her. It was coated in saliva. I tossed it as far as I could throw it and wiped my hand on the grass. A dog was the perfect way to wind down. She was a friend without questions, a companion without complaints. We sat together on the couch, and I told her about the plans I had for her new house. Emma listened to me with her head cocked to one side and an ear slightly raised, as if to hear me better. After a while we made supper, or at least I did, but occasionally I tossed her a bite, which she would catch in midair.

I’d bought a modest home in Des Moines to stay at while

the company was growing. Eventually, I would start building on the land my Amy and I once called home. It was a different time and the house would be too. One thing would most certainly be as close to the same as I could make it, the junk pile out back. I’m not sure if it had anything to do with the wormhole or not, but I didn’t want to take any chances. I believed it would be there either way, I don’t know why I felt this. Even Thurington was beginning to think it would be as well. We didn’t talk as much these days. When we did he always wanted to know if anything had changed. It didn’t matter if it was big or small, he wanted to know. I shared a lot with him, but in truth, I held some things back—like the dream Amy had about me and the dog. He shared very little with me. He was close-mouthed on his new conclusions, and I didn’t bother asking him for his opinions either.

I purchased the dilapidated house where I had first arrived at in this time. I hoped to God I’d be able to live in it when it was finished. My mind could not let rest the notion I was S 274 S

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living on borrowed time, even if it was the second time around for me. A price would have to be paid, and I felt it would be better if I could pay it sooner rather than later. There was one project that Stacy was hard at work on. It was risky, but if we executed it “to a T,” it would potentially free me from the Chicago “Family.” It was an unorthodox insurance policy to say the least. It all rested on Stacy, and thus far, she’d never let me down. Time was our only enemy, and I hoped we could finish before the company began to take off.

Amy started work on a high note. Her presence instantly

lifted the spirits of everyone around her. Her first order of business was to develop a marketing strategy for our computer chip. In layman’s terms the E.M.J. chip would crash the current market and force the competition to play catch-up. I already knew who we should target for our first customer. It was perfect, and I believed an easy sell. It was also close-by to boot. What we could offer him was an even bigger edge than he ended up making for himself.

I wasn’t under any delusions. I knew my company was

going to change the technology landscape from what it had once been. I spent many restless nights pondering the outcome. When I prayed, I asked for God’s guidance to improve the world. It was the only way I could keep going. There were many things I wanted to prevent…if I could. A few of the technology companies of my day were going to take a hit. Some of them, I hoped, would only suffer slightly. I planned on not over-stepping my own preset boundaries. Too many people’s livelihoods were at stake for me to completely alter the landscape. In the end, I believed the stronger companies would remain dominant, and E.M.J. would find its ultimate niche in the gaming world.

I had Stebben working on a separate chip, about halfway

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the actual chip from my phone. This was also a part of my insurance policy. Stebben only had one condition on development, and I knew he was up to the task. The chip had to be distinctive in its own right, a must if mine and Stacy’s plan was to work without flaw. I left it in Stebben’s capable hands to make it so.

The fifteenth of June was circled on Amy’s calendar. This was the date she planned on securing an appointment with our first client. She sent him four letters, precisely spaced apart, and then called him on June eighth. He took her call and readily agreed to an informal meeting. I took Amy and Stebben with me. Tom was not happy, and I wondered if it was a mistake to not include him. I tried to placate him by telling him the next meeting after we secured the go ahead for negotiation, would have to be with him. His expertise on production quotas and process systems would be vital to establishing timetables, costs, and in all likelihood, our eventual profitability.

Being from the Midwest gave us an advantage. Our prospective client was smart. Only I knew him better than he knew himself. I had read his autobiography in two thousand and eight. After Amy had elaborated on our mission, I took the initiative and played to his dreams and aspirations. I made sure every comment included how E.M.J. would get him there

quicker and with undeniable quality and precision. He was more than interested; analyzing the possibilities as we spoke.

When Stebben demonstrated our chip’s power on the computer he’d setup in the meeting room, I knew he was on-board.

At this juncture I sat back and let the two professionals go at it. They were still going strong, so I suggested that we could take a break and go out for lunch after nearly two hours had passed. As I suspected, neither of them was excited by the idea. Instead he had his assistant order takeout, and then she personally drove to pick it up. I tried to pay, but to no avail.

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pulled out the confidentiality form, the exclusive contract to do business, and the “non-compete” agreement. By this time the two of them had the computer apart, and Stebben was

about to show him the actual motherboard and chip. We’d

talked this scenario through, and I played my part without a hitch. It really didn’t matter; I believe our first client was sold five minutes into our presentation.

He signed the confidentiality form without hesitation,

and grimaced as he signed the non-compete. He knew both of them needed to be done, and he was accepting of the necessity to do so. He laid the contract aside as I expected him to do. Two more hours passed while he and Stebben examined

the chip under a magnifying glass. Stebben had the perfect answers for all his questions. At five o’clock exactly, E.M.J. had officially became a producing company when he signed the contract form. It was an agreement to procure the chip from us, but without clarity on units or price. He understood where we were in the process of being able to mass produce the chip.