Angels and Guardians Pt. 06

"Yes, ma'am. I'll be sure to be there on that Monday, if not sooner."

"Very well. I'm glad you two are safe, and I hope you have a safe return. Take care." The beeps announced that she left the call.

"That goes double for us, Ashley. I'm glad to hear you're safe."

"Thanks Mom. The last few hours have sucked, is all."

"You sound tired, kitten."

"Yes, Dad. We haven't stopped since we ran out of class this morning."

Her mom said, "Well, we won't keep you."

Joe answered, "Mr. and Mrs. Roberts, there's nothing we're gonna say that you shouldn't hear. You can stay on and listen in if you like."

Kim asked, "How you holding up, Joe?"

"I'm okay. I feel like I want to hit something, but I assume that will pass with time."

"You sound tired, too."

"Well, I'm still awake. It's only a little after 8 here. How'd your game go?"

Kim answered, "I know how Ashley felt. The snow sucks. The game's ending now...riiiight now. Yup, we lost again. Our team isn't very good here. What about you, Jill or Jasmine. Y'all won, right?"

Jill answered, "no, we're losing."

"Losing? The game should almost be over there," said Joe.

"We just entered halftime. Bonifay allowed us to start the game at 8, out of respect for your parents. And, Kim? It's 62 degrees here."

"You suck, Jill!" Kim and Ashley shot playfully. The group laughed. Even hundreds of miles apart, the two new friends still thought alike.

"Well, if it's halftime, Jill can you get to the locker room and put me on speaker?"

"Yeah, I'm not far away."

While Jill headed for the locker room, Jasmine said, "This is cool! All of us able to talk together."

Ashley answered, "Yeah. I was telling Cindy that I wished there was like a 10-way calling. Then she said she could set up a conference for us. It's way easier than having to repeat the same stuff to everyone. No offense to any of you, but I'd still be on the phone at 2 in the morning relaying information."

Jasmine said, "We understand, honey."

Jill's voice was muffled a bit, then she said, "Okay, Joe's on speaker, guys."

Coach Mike said, "Hey Joe. The team is sorry to hear about your parents." The group could hear a chorus of guys saying things like, "Yeah, man. Sorry Joe."

"Thanks. All of y'all. What's the score?"

Coach Mike said, "We're down 3 to 10."

"What defense they running?"

A bunch of guys said at the same time, "Man on man."

"Who's running the ball? 22 or 34?"

Practically the whole team said, "34!"

"Okay, judging by that, I'd say he's beating y'all up."

The coach said, "Yeah, he's kicking our ass."

"He likes to cock his knees in the direction he's running. Left knee slightly bent, he's running left, etc. It's hard to see, you gotta look for it. If they're straight, it's either pass or he'll wait to see the where a hole opens when he gets the ball. At that point, blitz around the ends. You should be able to get to the QB or catch 34 behind the line. Now, if he bends a knee, then straightens it after an audible, it's pass all the way. If they start figuring out he can't run against you any more, they might put in 22. He's easy. Just contain the ends, since he's too scared to run up the middle."

Coach Mike said, "Wow, thanks Joe. I bet you're fun to play poker with."

"If you still scratch your tit when you have a good hand, I'll play with you anytime." They could hear the players laugh. "Guys? I didn't come back from the dead just to have you lose now. I didn't win those games, y'all did. You know how to block, you know how to open holes. Just get out there and freaking do it! I better hear someone call me in an hour to tell me you won, got it?"

A solid chorus replied, "YES SIR!"

The cheering died away, then Jill said, "Okay, I'm back. What are y'all doing now? Or should I ask?"

Ashley groaned.

Kim said, "Gees, Jill...parentals?"

Ashley's dad spoke up, "That's okay, Kim. Her mom and I were 18 once, too."

Jill felt like a heel. "Sorry, Ash."

Ashley sounded a bit upset. "Well, it's out there, now. Thanks, Jill! Yeah, Mom and Dad, we're screwing like deprived bunnies right now."

Jasmine was shocked. "Oh shit, really?"

Ashley replied, "I'd so slap you if I were there. NO! We're in a restaurant, sipping soda."

Kim jumped in, "Well, since it's out there...yeah right you are."

Ashley said, "Grrr, Kim! Our shadows are two tables over, you want me to have them confirm what I said? Just a second...Miss? I'm sorry I don't know your name...Lieutenant Murphy. You've been watching me for what, two hours?...Two and a half hours. Would you tell my friends what I'm doing right now?"

Murphy said into Ashley's phone, "sipping soda at a table in a restaurant, talking on your phone."

"And what am I wearing?"

"You're wearing a Bronco sweatshirt, jeans, and a military clearance badge."

"Thanks!" Ashley went back to sit with Joe. "You satisfied, guys?" While she waited for an answer, Ashley tucked her badge inside her shirt at the reminder. Lieutenant Murphy smiled at her.

Finally her mom answered, "You didn't have to go to a stranger's table. I think we know you're crazy enough to do that."

Joe spoke up, "Not exactly strangers, Mrs. Roberts."

Jasmine said, "You're really being followed?"

He answered, "Yeah, they're still investigating the wreck. Besides, I also fired 7 high-level trouble makers in the company today."

Ashley's dad said, "That explains the comment you made about the employees job statuses having already changed if they were going to."

"Yes, Commander."

"Did Lieutenant say you're wearing a badge?"

"Yes, Mom. It's my ID, since I don't have my wallet or my license with me. And, the only way I was allowed to stay with Joe when he met with the generals his parents were supposed to today."

"What was that about?"

Kim broke in, "easy Ashley."

Ashley knew what Kim meant. "I didn't understand a lot of it, but basically, Joe asked for their business."

Ashley went on to give the group a play-by-play of their day, starting with the unusual PA announcement that morning. When she finished, the group could hear Kim chattering.

"For God's sakes, Kim. Get on the bus if your game's done," Joe told her.

"I'm in my dad's car. It's still freaking cold, though. I think Ashley knows what I'm talking about. Anyway, my phone's about dead. I'll call you later, Ash." She signed off.

Her mom asked, "Ashley, did you bring anything warm?"

"Mom! I left school and came straight here. It's game night, and was supposed to be a low of 58. What do you think I brought?"

"So, you bought something, then?"

"No...my wallet and stuff is still in my locker. Joe just took me shopping."

Jill said, "I have your keys and wallet with me in the car."

"Oh, thanks!"

Her dad said, "Joe we'll pay you back for her clothes."

"Not necessary. I was happy to do it."

Ashley said, "Yeah, I already offered. Jill, can you and Jasmine pick up my car from the airport? I don't want it scratched."

"Sure. We'll do that tomorrow. You want me or Jasmine to drive it?"

"Flip for it," Ashley said with a grin.

"Fuck! Jasmine, you can drive. You're mean, Ashley."

Her mom said, "Why'd you say Ashley's mean?"

Joe answered, "Ashley knows Jasmine can out back flip Jill any day of the week."

Jill and Jasmine said at the same time, "game's about to start."

Joe told them, "Good luck guys. Get the crowd behind the team, eh?"

Jill answered, "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, Sister K chartered two buses. There's a big crowd here."

"Great! Get 'em fired up for me, okay?"

"Will do. I'll call with the final score."

"Bye, hon."

"Later sweetie." Two sets of beeps said that Jill and Jasmine hung up.

"Well, Ashley, take care of yourself and Joe, okay?"

"I will, Mom. Don't worry, we'll be fine. I'll let you all know tomorrow about arrangements. Cindy has an appointment set up with a funeral home here in the morning."

"Joe? If you or Ashley need anything, or whatever, just give us a call."

"Thanks, Mr. Roberts. I'll keep the offer in mind. See y'all later."

"Bye."

Ashley ended the call. "So what now?"

Joe told her, "let's just head to the hotel. I don't feel like anything else right now." He called the limo driver, settled the bill, and they headed toward the front entrance.

In the car, they put their bags from the store inside two carry-on suitcases Joe had bought. They wheeled the bags with them to the front desk of the hotel, where Joe checked in and handed the clerk his card for incidentals.

Their room was a large plush suite, complete with kitchenette, small wet bar, a decent sized sitting room/work area with two desks, a spacious bedroom with a king size bed, and a bathroom that could fit a dozen people comfortably. Ashley hung up their purchases and coats, and stashed the suitcases in the closet. She asked Joe if he wanted anything, but he declined, lying on the bed and flipping on the TV. Ashley took off her shoes, and padded barefoot to the door joining the room next door. Instinctively, she thought she should see Cindy.

Cindy answered the soft knock in a robe, and invited Ashley in. Ashley looked around the much smaller room and said, "I'd have thought it would be the same as ours." Cindy answered that it was all she needed, and added that most hotels are set up in this manner. "Why did you get us such a big room?"

Cindy replied, "That's the standard that we use."

Something dawned on Ashley. "It's not his...or is it?"

"No, it's not their room. Joe's parents stayed at a hotel a few miles from here. I called there to settle up the bill, but the hotel told me they checked out this morning."

"So, where's their things? I mean, a four day trip, there's got to be clothes, and the like."

Cindy half-laughed, being impressed. "Boy am I glad I found this job before you did! Here, sit with me for a while." Ashley surprised Cindy by crawling on the bed and sitting with her back against the headboard. She was accustomed to visitors grabbing a chair, but then, Ashley was different, and Cindy liked her more and more.

Once settling with a pillow behind her, and Cindy taking a similar position next to Ashley on the bed, Ashley asked, "Why did you say that?"

"Say what? Oh, about the finding job bit? You think of things most people wouldn't. That's what this job is all about. An executive assistant is expected to prepare for the unexpected. And it's what separates us from ordinary secretaries."

Ashley nodded. "You're awesome, so I'm sure you thought of what I just did."

Cindy smiled. "Yes, their things are in the trunk of the car they were in. And the car is at the impound. The police department said once the investigation was over, they would ship the Smiths' personal effects to me."

"Why to you and not Joe?"

"Because, I'd rather not have Joe receive a box full of his parents' things in two weeks or later, with a label that just blares 'here's yer shit.' I'll go through the box, remove the valuables and sentimental things and present them with respect to Joe. The meaningless stuff, like clothes and perfume, I'll donate to charity. It's what his parents would have wanted." Ashley yawned, and Cindy paused. "You've had a long day, and I don't want to keep you."

Ashley started taking what she perceived to be a hint. "Oh, I'm sorry. You wanted to go to bed. I'll leave you be, then."

"Oh, Ashley, it's not that. I didn't want to keep you up. You can stay if you like, but I do think I'll have a drink. You want one?"

"Uh...something easy? I don't want to put you through any trouble..."

"Two rum 'n cokes it is." Cindy went to Ashley and Joe's suite and fixed the drinks. She came back with them and dialed the front desk. "Yes, suite 1905 will have used some drinks from the bar. Please put them on my tab, they're for me...okay, thank you."

Ashley sipped her drink, and it was strong enough for her to think "Dr. Pepper, Dr. Pepper" to keep from coughing. "Wow, that's strong."

"I'm sorry," Cindy apologized. "I should have asked. I figured, since I'm paying, why water it down?"

"Yeah...about that. What was that call about?"

"To the desk? Oh, I'd have invited you to the bar downstairs, but you're not 21 yet. I didn't want you two to get in trouble for being underage and having a bill for liquor."

That lead to Ashley asking Cindy's age (21 last month) and then about whether she dated. Cindy told her she never had a chance to, and really had too much fun working for Joe's parents to want the hassle of a boyfriend.

Joe walked in and said, "You two look cozy."

Ashley was starting to get affected by the drink and giggled, "We're just getting to know each other." She slid over close to Cindy. "You want to have a drink with us?"

He smiled at her. "No thanks. But enjoy yourselves. I just came over to tell you that Jill just called and said that we won 23-20. Barry nailed a 49 yard field goal as time expired to keep the game from going into overtime."

"That's great!" Ashley beamed.

"Yeah, it is," Joe sighed.

Ashley fretted. "You want me to come over there?" She started to get up.

"No, no. I'll leave you two to it. I just wish I could have been there."

"Aww, I know. I'll finish my drink and be back over soon."

"Take your time, Ash. I won't be going to sleep for a while." He closed the partition door softly behind him.

Ashley said to Cindy, "I'm worried about him. How long do you think he can keep running the company and do everything else?"

"Oh, knowing Joe, probably forever. But, he doesn't want that life. I think that's why he's going to get rid of it, mostly."

Ashley asked what Cindy meant, and she was given a short education on how incorporation worked. Cindy explained that by selling shares, Joe was in effect selling pieces of the company's title. He stood to gain a lot of money by selling the shares. Cindy said Joe indicated that he would hang onto enough shares so that he would get the final say in who ran the company, etc.

"Is this a good thing?" Ashley asked.

"Personally, I secretly hoped his dad did this a year ago. Joe won't have to be as involved if he didn't want to, and the company can become self reliant without any detriment to the owners, except the value of their stock in the company."

Ashley was about to change the subject to lighter things when Cindy's phone rang. She could only hear Cindy's side of the conversation.

"Yes, sir. What can I do for you?...No, he's still up...well, I'd rather not, his parents just...yes...I know, but...I'll see if he'll take your call." She turned to Ashley, putting her hand over the phone's mic. "Fucking asshole Labor Union president," she said as she got up and walked over to Joe in the suite.

Joe was watching preview shows for the college games tomorrow when Cindy walked in. "Yes?" he asked.

"I'm sorry. The union president is demanding to talk to you."

"Alright, give it here. Hello?"

"Hello, Joe. I'm sorry to hear about your parents."

"You can call me Mr. Smith. What can I do for you?" Joe said, ignoring the faked sentiment.

"Very well. Mr. Smith, I've received a grievance from seven managers who claim they were terminated unfairly. I am hoping this was just a misunderstanding, and that I don't have to get lawyers to change your mind."

"No misunderstanding. They were fired for undermining the stability of my company."

"Maybe you aren't as familiar in dealing with a union as your parents were. An employee cannot be fired without notification to the union. That is so we can have a chance to mediate any differences."

"Well, maybe you aren't familiar with your geography. The seven in question resided and worked in an office inside the state of Florida. That state has at-will labor laws. It means they can quit or I can fire at any time and without explanation or notice. Send your lawyer after me, if you like. I'll win that argument every day and twice on Sunday."

The president sounded flustered, "well, union contract says..."

"Says squat about termination inside Florida," interrupted Joe. "Now, is there anything else I can help clear up for you?"

"Well, actually, there is a complaint that you are making my workers take some days off?"

"Gee, forgive me not spelling everything out in a soundbite. Every worker, regardless where they work for me, will have a four day paid grieving leave, whether they were scheduled to work or not. The critical personnel who I need to keep working to babysit the facilities for security and other reasons will be granted four days paid leave as their schedule rotations allow. Does that seem fair to you?"

"I suppose we can work with that."

"Damn right you can. A four-day paid weekend off. If they can't deal with it, the door is wide open in front of them. Good luck finding that generosity anywhere else. What other childish complaint can you come up with to bother me so late the night my parents died?"

"Uh, thank you for your time."

"No problem." Joe slapped the phone shut and lightly tossed it to Cindy. "Fucking moron!" he hissed. "How many of our total employees are unionized?"

"About 1200, sir. 300 are management." Cindy said.

Joe closed his eyes and took a deep breath through his nose. "How many managers at the top were union?"

"Including the ones terminated today, six. The next highest union manager is at region level, sir."

"Cindy, when we're alone, please call me Joe. I'm younger than you, for crying out loud."

"Yes, sir."

"Alright, out of...how many total employees?"

"Including myself, 251,309."

"So, out of 251,000, this guy has contracts with us for 1200 of them."

"Yes."

"Any other unions the company has contracts with?"

"No sir."

"Alright, if I break a contract, like fire without permission, what would the penalty be?"

"They would strike until the dispute is solved or a new agreement was made."

Joe looked at her and said sarcastically, "Oh no...what would we do? Not a very strong position, they have."

Cindy answered, "Stronger than you might think. They account for nearly the entire workforce located at two of our 'special order' plants."

"Let me guess, the six managers were promoted from those plants?"

"Yes, all the ones you fired, minus Bob."

"Alright, that gives me an idea of what we're facing. Thank you, Cindy."

"You're welcome, sir."

"Oh, Cindy? If any more morons happen to call you tonight, you have my permission to hang up on their ass."

"Yes, sir. Anything else for me tonight?"

"No, thank you. Good night, Cindy."

"Good night, Joe," she said.

Joe knew she set the parameters for their friendship just then. When talking business, he would be "sir." When outside of work, he would be "Joe." He smiled to himself, "Dad was right. She's damn good."

Shortly after Cindy left to give Joe the phone call, Ashley received one from Kim. They consoled each other about Joe's parents, and then were talking about various subjects at random. Topics flew from Cindy to the football games that night, to Joe's new responsibilities. Ashley saw Cindy return, still in her robe, and broke the conversation off. "Well, she's back, so I better go."

"Alright, Ashley. Take care," Kim said.

"You too. I'll let you know what I find out tomorrow about everything."

Kim said thanks and they hung up.

Ashley looked at Cindy and asked, "what happened?"

"Oh, Joe chewed him a new one and then held a mirror up, so the idiot could see the handiwork."

"It went that well, huh?"

Cindy smiled. "Yeah, I'm impressed. Joe knows his shit." She downed the last of her drink, and then said, "I'm sorry. It must be the liquor talking. I meant to say Joe knows his stuff."

Ashley patted her arm. "That's ok. I'd like to think of you as my friend. You don't have to hold back when you talk with me."

Cindy gave her a quick hug. "Aww, you're sweet. But, I think you might better go over there and calm your boyfriend down, so he can get some sleep."