ROBYN
I was in the middle of a brainstorming session with Gary when HR called and said they needed me to sign some slips to authorize a couple of employee’s vacation time. I’d only recently been promoted to Assistant Manager of the Marketing department at Winters Inc. I didn’t have all the ins and outs of it quite down yet and I’d signed them in the wrong place. Normally, a person might find it tedious to be pulled from what they were doing to sign a few forms. I didn’t today, however, for two reasons: One, Gary was completely infatuated with me so it was uncomfortable when we had to work alone together. It’s not that he’s a bad guy; he’s just not the guy for me. I feel no attraction to him whatsoever at all, and I don’t want to put myself in a situation where I have to tell him that and hurt his feelings. Since I started at Winters nine months earlier he’s been asking me out. I told a white lie…that I was seeing someone the first time he asked, so now he “check’s in” on it periodically. I always tell him that same fib, one of these days I’m sure it’s going to run out of steam. I looked upon the call as a gift and I hurried right out to take care of my obligations.
The other reason I was happier than I should have been about getting interrupted was that when the elevator doors opened, I’d come face to face with the most beautiful man that I’ve ever seen. He looked a little distracted and stood still when the doors opened for a few minutes, like he wasn’t sure if this was the right floor. It gave me several seconds to notice his dark eyes and perfectly tailored suit. It fit him like a glove and when he had his back to me as he stepped off; I noticed how nicely it fit his broad shoulders and rippled across the muscles in his back. His hair was as dark as his eyes and when he finally smiled at me it was the slow, easy smile of a confident man. My hormones were practically raging like a teenager just from that one delicious look. By the time the doors closed, my mouth was as dry as a desert.
I forced myself to tuck away the vision of him for now as I stepped off the elevator on the first floor and made my way to the HR department. I’m sure I’d be calling it back up later. When I pushed in the door of the office I saw Mary, the HR manager for the company.
“Hi Robyn! I’m sorry to have the girls pull you away from your work, but with the holidays coming up, we have so much paperwork in for these day off requests.”
“It’s okay; I apologize for signing them in the wrong place.” I didn’t tell her how much I appreciated her timing.
Mary waved a hand at me and said, “They’re not that user friendly. We’re working on re-designing them. We should have new ones out by the New Year. By the way, did you sign up for the auction yet? You can do that here if you like? I’m volunteering and I think Max is too, isn’t he?” I had no idea what she was talking about.
“Volunteering for what?” I asked her.
“To be sold at the auction?” My face must have been blank because she said, “For the children’s Charity?”
“I’m sorry Mary. I’ve been a little bit overwhelmed with my new management duties so if I did hear about that, I didn’t process it. I got my invitation for the Christmas party yesterday. I’m super-excited about that.” I loved Christmas. It was literally my favorite time of year and I savored every part of it. My last job had been at a bank and the administration there had been so concerned that they may offend someone they had cancelled the “Holiday” party all-together. That was the reason they gave us anyways. I’d always been suspicious that it was just about saving the money it cost them. From what I heard about this party, Mr. Winter’s spared no expense. The expense wasn’t what I looked forward to though; it was just that festive spirit of sharing the holidays with other people that was irreplaceable.
“Yes, the party is a lot of fun,” Mary said. “I look forward to it every year. The auction though is kind of a company tradition too. That will be held on the fourteenth, it’s a Thursday evening. Two members of management from each department are auctioned off to the highest bidder and in doing that they agree to be “ordered around” by their purchaser for an entire day. We do that the next day on Friday since most of the managers normally have that day off anyways. The money from that goes to a children’s charity Mr. Winter’s supports.”
“What sorts of things do they order you to do?” I asked her.
“It’s all in fun. Last year I had to sit by the fire, drink hot chocolate and eat homemade cookies while watching a marathon of old black and white Christmas movies with Lance in the production department.”
I laughed, “That actually sounds like my kind of day.”
“Right? Me too. It’s fun, you should volunteer. It’s for a good cause too. Mr. Winter’s not only gives all the money earned to the Children’s foundation but he matches it as well.”
“I’d love to do it,” I told her. It really did sound like a lot of fun. My boss sounded like a really generous man too. I liked that. I came from a family where generosity was looked upon fondly. “I’m looking forward to finally meeting Mr. Winters at the Christmas party,” I told her.
“Oh, you haven’t met him yet?”
“No, the day that I was hired, it was one of your girls who interviewed me…Lucy? I think that was her name. Then the promotion was just inter-departmental so Max handled that. I could have passed him in the hallway I guess and just didn’t know who he was.”
“Maybe,” Mary said. “But I guarantee you wouldn’t forget him if you saw him.”
“Why’s that?” I asked her. Mary smiled a naughty smile and said, “You’ll see at the party. Here, there are the forms for you to sign as well as the sign up forms for the auction.”
Smiling I said, “Thanks. You’re not going to tell me what it is about Mr. Winters that is so unforgettable?” It seemed from the look on her face that he was as attractive as he was generous. But, I guess it could have been the opposite as well.
“He’s just hard to describe,” she said. “You’ll see him soon.” I left there wondering if the man had two heads or something. Either way, I was looking forward to finding out. What I’d read about him was all good. He was lauded as one of the most brilliant business minds of the century. He’d invested his life savings…which according to Forbes was a paltry sum and eight years later he was a billionaire running a multi-national company. Money didn’t interest me much, but I was fascinated by intelligent, driven people.