Chapter 3 #2
If I thought my question would throw him, I was wrong.
He set his plate on the table and leaned forward, elbows on his knees.
“You were the only one who wasn’t worried about upsetting me and put forth the right question earlier.
It was something I hadn’t even considered.
I never thought one of my people would steal from the company.
As soon as you asked, it all made perfect sense.
It wasn’t our people, though. It was the accountant this company was using.
He fudged the books to make it look like we were losing money, while he pocketed it.
It started out small, a few bucks here and there, but as he got complacent, the amounts got bigger.
I had our in-house team do a forensic audit, and we discovered he gave us back a different set of documents than the ones we gave him.
It started out brilliant, but then he got sloppy.
No one caught on, because we trusted their company to handle our needs.
Going forward, all of our sectors will be using an internal bookkeeping system we’re building instead of outside agencies. ”
“So I was wrong.”
“No,” he replied, chuckling. “You asked the right question to kickstart my brain. I’m going to be honest with you, I’d never thought of it myself, and he probably would have gotten away with it and put hundreds of people out of work. Every one of those folks owes you their job, Uly.”
Warmth rushed through me at the thought I’d done something right for a change. I shrugged. “You’d have caught it eventually.”
“Don’t sell yourself short,” Mr. Lockhart insisted.
“What you said was nothing less than brilliant, and to show my appreciation….” He pulled out his wallet, opened it, and drew out a different card than before.
“This is the direct number for my cellphone. When you decide what you want to do, call me. Not only will we have a job for you, but if it requires you to move, we’ll cover the expense. ”
He stood and shook hands with Deb and Jamie again.
“Thank you for the cake.” He nodded at Jamie. “Which one of you is the baker?”
Jamie’s eyes widened. “How did you—?”
“Homemade is far superior to anything you’d find in a store. We have a bakery division where we do small batch, doing our best to create things like this. If you’re in the market for a job, I’ve no doubt your talents would be welcome there.” Then he smiled at Deb. “And what do you do, Debra?”
She sucked in a breath. “Please, call me Deb. I work in HR.”
He gave a wide smile. “Excellent. With a company as large as Ursine, we would gladly welcome someone with your background into the fold. I make the same offer as I did to Uly. Should you need—or desire—to move, we will cover the costs.”
They both sat, obviously dumbfounded. Mr. Lockhart made his way to the door, and I followed behind him. When we got there, he stared down into my eyes and gave me a smile that showed off perfectly white teeth, except for a bit of chocolate in between a couple.
“Uly, I can’t thank you enough for what you did; not only for me, but for the people in my company. I truly hope you’ll decide to work with us. We could use someone who thinks outside the box like that.”
And with that, he stepped into the hall, and headed toward the exit. I stood there and watched him go, blood still rushing through my ears at his praise. When I closed the door and turned around, Deb and Jamie were in hushed conversation with the words flying rapid-fire from both of them.
Jamie popped up from the huddle and noticed me watching them. “Dude, what did you do?”
“Nothing. He’s just being nice.”
Deb held out her phone and showed me what was on the screen. “Nice nothing. Ursine is one of the top companies and has their fingers in all kinds of pies. Their worker retention is ninety six percent. It says here that Brent Lockhart is, like, a multibillionaire.”
That kind of soured me a little. “So he’s one of those gasbags like Bezos and the rest?”
“No way, dude. He donates money worldwide to help buy millions of acres of rainforest to preserve nature and land for the indigenous people. His companies are on the greenest lists around, and everything they do is scrutinized by independent contractors to ensure they’re up to code.
Hell, they exceed the code, then challenge others to do the same.
And he pays his people an insane amount.
The lowest starting wage is forty seven dollars an hour, and that’s for janitorial help.
The highest I found so far was eighty six, and that was for—”
“Let me guess. Management.”
“Um, no. It was for those in specialized fields, like computer programmer. Anyone who wants to go to school has that option, paid for by the company. Every employee can buy stock, and that pays them dividends out the ass. Inside their offices they have a full service cafeteria where anyone can eat for free. Place an order with the servers—who make nearly fifty an hour—and they’ll bring it to you.
No tipping allowed. The list of perks goes on and on.
” He looked up from her phone, eyes wide.
“Dude, people who work for Ursine got it made.”
“And what would you be making?” I asked, a little peeved, and I didn’t know why.
“If I was to work in the bakery, I’d be starting at fifty two bucks an hour. That’s more than double what I make now in the office after ten years, and it’s doing something I love. Deb says she’s thrilled with the idea of trying something new, and we’re thinking about doing it.”
Of course they were. Why wouldn’t they? It sounded like a great opportunity.
“What will you do, Uly?” Deb asked, as she slipped her phone back into her pocket.
What would I do? That was the question of the hour. I had no job, and I won’t deny I liked the praise he’d given me, but that wouldn’t last. My first screwup would have him regretting hiring me. With my luck, I’d be in the same position I was with Uncle Dom, and out on my ass with no safety net.
“I don’t think I’m going to do it,” I said, wheezing a bit as the realization I was making a decision like this was a weight that pressed down on my lungs, squeezing every last breath from me.
“What? Why?”
I thew my hands in the air. “I swear to God, it’s like you don’t know me.
You’ve told me my whole life how clumsy I am.
Hell, you and your friends used to laugh about it.
So now, I’m supposed to pack up and move somewhere I won’t know anyone, and into a company that, by your words, is amazing.
How long do you think it’ll be before they realize I’m nothing special, and they toss me out? Then what?”
Anger simmered down deep, but I wasn’t sure who I was madder at. Mr. Lockhart for dangling the carrot in front of me, or me for pushing it away. The only thing I could be certain of, was I was pissed off.
Jamie got up and put a hand on my bicep, digging in gently.
“Uly, listen to me. When we were kids, me and the other guys were assholes, and I will never deny that. I’m sorry that we hurt you.
You’re my brother, and I should have had your back.
Don’t let my stupidity keep you from trying something new.
Maybe all you need is to find your niche. ”
“I found my niche. It’s staying in the house, and never going outside where I can do stupid things.”
“Look, I didn’t know you when you were kids, but be honest with me. Did you never once do anything to get back at Jamie?”
“No! I would never—“
He gaped. “Excuse me? What about the glue in my socks?”
That memory bounced back. I’d heard one of Jamie’s friends talking about his brother having a stiff sock under his bed.
I didn’t know what it was about, but I thought it was hilarious.
I went to Dad’s workshop and grabbed a container of Gorilla Glue, then proceeded to pour it in several of the animal paw socks he’d begged Mom for.
When Jamie found them, he’d screamed at me, then ran from the room crying.
He told Mom, and she wasn’t at all pleased, which resulted in me being grounded for a week.
I admit, after seeing his anguish, I’d never felt so guilty.
“So one thing!” I barked. “How many times did you make my life hell?”
“And how many times would you like me to apologize? Because if what I did played a part in your anxiety, I deserve you being mad at me and I am more than willing to get on my knees to beg forgiveness.”
Was I mad at him? Not really, no. Sure, he was, on occasion, a dick to me when I was a kid, but he also helped me to learn to fly a kite, let me work with him on a couple models he built, and never complained when I dropped one.
Which happened more than I wanted to admit.
Plus, he let me crawl into bed with him when thunder shook the house so hard the windows rattled, and never told Mom I was a baby about it.
“No,” I said, “I’m not mad at you. You were… are… a great brother, and I’m lucky to have you.”
“Then listen to me. Take a chance. If it doesn’t work out, you can come live with us until you’re able to get a different job.”
“What he said. We’re your family, kid, and we’re always going to have your back.”
And those words calmed a lot of the nervousness inside me.