2. Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Jenna
I hung up the phone and let out the breath that I didn’t realize that I had been holding. For as long as I had worked there, I had heard tales of the frightening Mr. Jackson. Although I met him a few times and had never had a bad interaction with him, everyone had warned me against crossing him. It had amazed me how one person could have such control over people's thoughts and emotions, and I shook my head as I thought about how everyone had described him as not mean enough to hate, but not nice enough to like.
And now I would be working with him four days a week.
I looked out my office window and knew that I had to let the other agents and staff members know that Mr. Jackson - Ryan - was going to be working from here for the foreseeable future.
I didn’t know exactly how they would react, but I knew it wouldn’t be positive. I figured the sooner they knew it better.
I decided to tell the senior agent first. I figured that he would have known Ryan the longest, and he was bound to have the best reaction.
I knocked on his door and waited for him to tell me it was okay to enter. I couldn’t help but smirk as I thought about how my mom had been upset when I told her this was my protocol at work. She had insisted that it was placing myself second to them, or acting as if they were somehow better than me, but I didn’t see it that way. I figured that it was just a form of respect. You don’t go into someone’s personal space without asking permission, no matter where it is. I did the same thing when I approached the reception desk. It has nothing to do with power or status, but simply respect.
I heard a voice tell me to come on in, and I opened the door as Ed Johnson looked at me with a kind smile. I had been working with Ed for the past five years, and he was always so friendly and supportive. He was one of the main reasons I actually took this job because he assured me that I would be able to have the flexible schedule that I need to spend time with my son.
“What’s going on Jenna?”
“Well, we are going to be getting a new office mate. It will only be four days a week, but it’s bound to be a pretty big change.”
Ed tilted his head to the side with a perplexed expression.
“I just got off the phone with Ryan Jackson. Starting next Monday, he will be working out of this office four days a week.”
I saw the color drain from Ed’s face, and I realized I may have been wrong about him having the best reaction. And I also realized that if this was the best reaction, I was not looking forward to seeing the others.
“Did he say why?” Ed asked, sounding more unsettled and nervous than I had ever heard him.
“Not really,” I said.” He said that he simply wanted a change in his own life and that was all. He reassured me that there was nothing wrong with the way things were going down here. He just has a home in town and knew there was an office available, and he wants to work out of here.”
I couldn’t understand why Ed was so nervous. He was an excellent agent, and I knew that our office was one of the top performers in the company. I also knew enough of Mr. Jackson’s reputation to know that if he was unhappy with what was going on here, we would have heard about it.
Ed nodded slowly. “Well, okay,” he said. “That is quite a change. I’m sure he gave you a hefty list of things to take care of before he moves here.”
I nodded. “Yes, he absolutely did.”
“Then I’ll let you get to it. Have you told anyone else?”
“No. I came here as soon as I got off the phone with him.”
“Okay,” Ed said. “I will tell everyone else. You go ahead and get started on making sure that everything goes smoothly for this transition.”
I went back to the office and pulled out the list of things that I had jotted down while I was on the phone with Ryan. It was a lot to do, but it wasn’t overwhelming. The first thing I was going to do was schedule a special cleaning of his office to make sure that everything was in pristine condition.
The rest of the day was a blur of activity, and I could feel the nervous tension in the air.
Before I knew it, it was time for me to go and pick Tyler up from school.
My mood immediately lifted, and all thoughts of work left my mind as I walked out of the office and got into my car. Tyler had his first practice with his new baseball team that night, and he was so excited. My son absolutely loved baseball, and the night before he had not been able to talk about anything other than what his new team was going to be like. Although at seven years old he was younger than the rest of his teammates, he truly was a gifted ballplayer, and he had been moved up in the leagues a year early.
I smiled as I remembered a comment that he had made about getting to pitch with the big kids. He had been throwing pitches and hitting pitches since he was three years old, and I knew that he would have no trouble making the transition.
Three minutes later I pulled into the school parking lot and joined the line of cars with the other parents whose children were in the after school clubs. Four days a week Tyler had the opportunity to participate in after school enrichment clubs. That day’s activity was science club, but he also took art lessons, music lessons, and computer coding classes. He liked having extra time with his friends and learning more, and I liked the fact that it allowed me to work at the office a little bit longer without having to put him into childcare.
I couldn’t help but smile as I watched Tyler burst out of the doors and run towards my car. His blonde hair glistened in the sun, and his big brown eyes were full of excitement. His eyes seemed to be the only trait that he had gotten from his father, as in every other way he resembled me. He would sometimes look in the mirror and try to convince himself that he saw green in those eyes, since my eyes were green, but they were clearly a beautiful, pale brown.
Every once in a while I would feel a surge of anger as I thought about Tyler‘s dad and the fact that he packed up and left the minute I told him that I was pregnant.
On my wedding day I could never have imagined that I would be single before our first anniversary. I had gotten married young, having only graduated from college a month before the wedding. I had seen glimpses of things with him that concerned me, and although he was five years older than me he seemed to be really immature, I convinced myself that everything would be okay. I figured that we would learn and grow together, and, although I knew it wouldn’t be easy, I was convinced we would have a happy and successful marriage.
We both had talked about wanting children, but neither one of us thought it would happen as quickly as it did. The day I found out I was pregnant I told him, and he didn’t say a word. The next day I went to work, when I came home, all of his stuff was gone. From that point forward, he only communicated through his divorce attorneys and then the family law attorney notifying me he was surrendering his parental rights. I had not heard from him since.
It had not been easy going about it alone, but now, despite the occasional feelings of anger, I mostly just felt pity for him. He was missing out on being part of Tyler‘s life.
Tyler was a sweet, energetic, and fun child, and he always had been. He loved to learn, was very inquisitive, and was just a joy to be around.
I giggled as Tyler excitedly opened the back door and jumped in.
“Hey Mama!” he said.
“Hey Bubba! How was school?”
“It was super good! I got to learn about acids and bases, and we got to do this experiment thing where we made stuff bubble. It was really fun. Science is really cool.”
“Yes, it is!”
“But that wasn’t the best thing. Try to guess what the best thing was,” he said. “It was really, really great.”
I had no idea where to even begin to guess since Tyler loved every part of school.
“Can you give me a hint?”
“It happened in PE,” Tyler said.
“Hmmmm… Did you get to be the exercise leader again?” I knew that Tyler loved being able to lead the class through warm-ups and exercises.
“No, not today. Matthew is the exercise leader this week and today he missed three of the exercises. I did them anyway, because I know what to do.”
“Gotcha. So then what was the best part of the day in PE?”
“We’re going to start learning about baseball! Mr. Hicks told us today. He said he was going to teach us all the rules and then we’re going to get to play it. I told him that I already play baseball and I know all the rules, and if he wants me to help him I can. He said that he would keep that in mind. Can you believe that? We get to do my favorite sport and he’s going to keep it in mind if he needs my help.”
“Oh, I love that!” I said. I loved the fact that Tyler was going to get to learn about his favorite sport, but I also liked the fact that his PE teacher had made him feel so important. I knew that there was no way that Tyler would be able to tell the PE teacher anything he didn’t already know, but I appreciated the fact he didn’t just dismiss Tyler’s enthusiasm.
“Did you have anything exciting in your day, Mama?”
“You know, I actually did," I said. “I got a phone call from the boss of our entire company and he said that he is going to be coming to work in my office four days a week.”
“Wait,” Tyler said, his voice full of confusion. “Why doesn’t he work there now? If he’s the big boss of your office, why doesn’t he work in your office?”
“Because he’s the big boss of all the offices, and his building, where he normally works, is in New York City.”
“Do you think he’s ever seen the Yankees play?”
I laughed. Tyler loved everything about baseball. His current favorite team was the Yankees, but that was just because that was what was on the TV last night. When the Red Sox are on, he loves the Red Sox, and the rare times we get the California games, he alternates between loving the Giants and the Dodgers. Whenever anyone asks him who his favorite team is he says he just can’t choose because there are too many good players he doesn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.
“I think he has seen the Yankees play,” I said. I thought I had remembered hearing something about Ryan having played baseball when he was in college, but I couldn’t be certain. I didn’t want to misspeak and get my son’s hopes up. However, if I did find out that it was true, Tyler would be very excited to know that I worked for a baseball player.
“How much longer till my practice?
“Two hours,” I said. “Do you have any homework?”
“Nope.”
“Okay, good. Well, how about we head home and we’ll eat dinner real quick and then we can head down to the ballpark early. You and I can play catch until your practice starts. How does that sound?”
“Yay!” he said. “I’m glad you know how to play catch, Mama, and that you know how to play baseball even though you played softball when you were a kid.”
“Me too,” I said. I had grown up playing softball, and had even played when I was in college. Although it had been eight years since I hung up my cleats, I was so happy to be able to share my love of the game with my son.
We got home and rushed inside, both of us equally excited to eat a quick meal, and then get to the ballpark.