A Trade For Good (4 page)

Jeff threw his arms up into the air
and turned around to leave wondering if the three stooges in his
office would ever forgive him for getting rid of their only source
of enjoyment on this murky Monday. There was nothing else he could
do. He’d run out of options. He didn’t want to leave her there, but
she gave him no choice. His only option was to go back and face the
clowns he worked with; he didn’t like that option
either.

He had started to storm off when he
heard the car door click, open, and then shut. He turned again and
saw Sera get out of the car stretching her lovely body to a mere
five feet, if that, and walk right past him towards his office
building.

With her back straight, chin up, she
marched quickly, looking proud and as if the last ten minutes never
happened.

She was ahead of Jeff when he saw Todd
and Alan open the door to let her in. The look they gave him said
he was still the villain. He flipped them again and decided this
could easily become his new Monday greeting.

Sera was stepping out of his office
when Jeff stormed in. She was trying to get out, as he was trying
to get in and the next thing he knew they were sidestepping each
other in an effort to go where they wanted, trying really hard to
not make bodily contact. Finally, Jeff raised his hands in the air
and stepped aside pointing her in the right direction.

Her back was still to him when he
broke the silent dance they had just performed.

“I blew my top. I’m sorry." Then
looking down and putting his hands deep into his jean pockets,
"Please stay for a minute. I'd really appreciate it."

Sera froze where she was and turned
around to look at Jeff.

Jeff was caught off guard. Those were
some of the saddest and prettiest eyes he had ever seen.

"Sera, come in, because if you don’t
come out of this office smiling, those three jackasses I employ
will never let me live this down, and for the record, you didn’t
mess up my desk, I did. I can't make heads or tails of some of that
paperwork sometimes. I'm lousy at the business part of this job, I
don't know how to keep an office organized, I didn't know that file
cabinet could actually hold anything in it, and more than
anything," Jeff paused and smiled, "I’m really lousy at customer
service."

Sera was looking down at the floor and
didn't say a word, but Jeff wasn't done.

“I do some of the best landscaping and
stonescaping in town, I just wish I didn’t have to do it to earn a
living because it really takes all the fun out of it.

“What I’m trying to say is I’m sorry.
Here," Jeff pulled his desk chair out and pointed for her to sit
down. “Why don’t we pretend you just walked in and let’s try to
settle our differences once and for all, unless you want to see me
in the headlines: Landscaping boss buried alive by his three
employees.”

“You’re too nice.” Sera answered.
“That’s your problem. You have to look at your clients as a name on
a contract, not as people with lives or families with personal
problems like mine. You should have a secretary dealing with this.
Being the bad guy, and then you could focus on what you like, what
you really enjoy, giving you a chance to be creative and have fun
doing it. What’s the use in owning your own business if you’re not
even having fun? Money isn't everything." Sera looked up at him and
pointedly added, "Even when you don't have it. Your secretary could
organize your office allowing you to get more prospects and new
jobs. You'd be able to take on new jobs and still enjoy some free
time with your family, or your wife and kids, whoever is important
in your life, and even then..."

Sera stopped abruptly and suddenly
turned a very bright red. When she looked up at Jeff, he was
standing with his back against the wall, arms crossed over his
chest, and had a very big if somewhat wicked smile on his
face.

“Snap! I did it
again,
didn’t I?
”
Sera told him in a rush.

“You knew exactly how to
apologize. That was really well done by the way.
And what did I just do?
I
tell you what I think you’re doing wrong and let you know how you
should live your life.

“I should go. Call me up and tell me
what I owe and somehow, I’ll find a way to pay you back. I'm sorry
I wasted your time.” And as an afterthought, "By the way, you're
pretty good at the customer service stuff," she added with a weak
smile as she turned to leave.

Jeff put his hands up in the air in a
motion to stop her in her tracks. “Oh no you don't. You’re not
getting off that easy. I may look like a moron, but I can’t simply
let you go without leaving me a deposit or some type of legal
document stating that you will make good on your account. Can you
type?”

“On a computer?”

Jeff motioned her to stay and started
toward Mitch's office as he overheard some shuffling of feet walk
away in different directions. As expected, they were eavesdropping
again. She was right, he had to get the office in shape, but first
he had to point out to his employees that there were at least half
a dozen jobs needing overseeing and all these morons were doing was
standing around and listening in to his conversation.

“Hey Sera, come here. Mitch has a PC
in his office that I’m sure has a word processing program on it. I
don’t know how good it is, all I ever see Mitch do is play
solitaire or minesweeper.”

Jeff heard Mitch's deep voice say
“Ouch, that hurt” as they made sure Sera found her way to Mitch's
office. Jeff held the chair back for Sera to sit down and she
immediately exited a FreeCell game that was on the screen as proof
of what Jeff had just said. She accessed My Documents, and opened a
blank document to start typing.

“What exactly is it that you want me
to type? Do you want me to create a new contract or a pay schedule
for the money I owe? I can probably do that better on
Excel.”

“If you don't mind," Jeff
told her with a smile, "I’ll dictate and you write.
Okay?”

Sera uncomfortably adjusted her bottom
on the chair’s seat and focused on the keyboard. Placing her
fingers on it just so, she was ready to start.

She actually looked like she knew what
she was doing, but Jeff's two index fingers were all he ever used,
so he wasn't sure how fingers were supposed to be
positioned.

When Jeff finally began dictating, her
fingers started flying over the keys as words were spat out onto
the monitor, leaving little time for him to think up words fast
enough for her to type.

“Okay, I think that's it." He had only
seen her falter where he knew she probably would, but she had
regained speed immediately after.

"Please read it back to me,” he said
in his most professional voice.

“I, Sera Henderson
Sinclair,
" Sera cleared her throat and
looked up at him before continuing,
will
pay back the debt incurred by Mr. Jeff Mason in the amount of
$5,768.00 (see attached), for materials purchased for the purpose
of landscaping my home at 134 Hillcrest Ln.

I understand the debt will
increase to its full amount of $14,000.00 if the project outlined
on the estimate sheet is indeed completed by Mason
Landscaping.

Full debt must be paid by
March 15, 2014, or matters will be pursued by legal action taken
against me."

Sera looked imploringly at her newest
legal threat and then to the words on screen before her.

“That’s only six months away. I’m not
sure if I can pay it all back by then no matter how hard I
try.”

Dismissing her comment he motioned for
her to keep typing.

“Where were we? Oh yeah,”
he cleared his throat.
"Jeffrey Mason,
owner/manager of Mason Landscaping accepts payment of said debt in
the form of employment by Sera Henderson Sinclair.

“A portion of Ms.
Sinclair’s salary, not to exceed 20% and in accordance with current
employment rates, will be deducted every month, for six months,
until said debt of $5,768.00 is fulfilled."

“Go ahead and put the signature and
date lines on the bottom to make this legal. I can get one of the
three stooges to witness or someone else.”

Sera didn’t do as she was told, and
instead asked, “You’re offering me a job?”

“No, I'm not sure ‘offering’ is the
word I’d use. I want my money's worth one way or another and unless
you win the lottery it doesn’t look like I’ll get paid any other
way.”

Jeff was caught off guard as Sera
jumped into his arms and gave him a hug.

“When do I start?”

“I believe you just did.”

“So what are my hours?” The look of
excitement on her face was priceless, as was Jeff's look of
confusion. He faltered for a second while trying to shake off the
warmth of the quick hug and respond in his most professional
voice.

"I’ll expect you here at 7:30 every
morning, you’ll get an hour off for lunch, two fifteen minute
breaks, and you can leave at 4:00.I don’t consider it unethical or
think it’s harassment to expect to find coffee ready for me when I
come in to work at 8:00 every morning. Your duties will include
answering phones, filing, taking care of the billing, payroll,
ordering materials when I ask you to, and dealing with the clients
on financial matters I need you to take care of."

“I think that about does it. Today I’d
like you to continue with what you’ve already started. Jeff’s lips
moved slightly as he made an effort not to smile before he
continued, “But before you do, I like my coffee strong and black
with no sugar or cream.”

As he turned, Jeff saw his business
partner and his two employees had gone back to their offices and
back to their work. He might be wrong, but he thought he noticed a
look of respect when they looked his way. Sometimes it paid to lay
the law and let them know who was boss in this place. Nope, this
Monday hadn't been as horrible as he thought it would be after
all.

Feeling quite proud of himself, he
decided to take off for a bite to eat and let everyone cool down a
bit before he began training Sera. He was about to leave and
suddenly remembered something. A little hesitantly, he went back to
where Sera was stacking up papers and separating them in
piles.

"One more thing, before I go," he
added while trying to keep his voice down so the others wouldn't
hear, “I forgot about your kids. Does this work for you? If not let
me know if we need to make some other arrangements." Mitch had just
walked in and rolled his eyes, and Todd and Alan could be heard
chuckling from the other rooms.

So much for gaining their
respect.

C
hapter 4

Sera waited until it was almost noon
before she called her sister-in- law Deb. In the two hours that
followed from the time Sera was hired to her new job, to finally
sitting down to make the call, Sera had already filled an entire
cabinet drawer with alphabetized statements and was starting
another. Right now however, her number one priority was to call Deb
and let her know what was going on.

Sera punched in the number from memory
and waited several rings with no success. They could be outside,
but she knew Deb had to be home unless there had been an accident.
Another possibility was that Deb hadn't heard the phone ring. Sera
looked at her watch and shook her head. Emma's colic attacks hit
pretty much on target every day, but she still had some time left
before she slept it off and re-energized for another screeching
fit.

The doctor's had explained that colic
was still a mystery in many ways, but the good news is that
children outgrow it, the bad news is that Emma should have outgrown
it by now, so now she qualified as one of those 'special' cases.
UGH!

Emma's colic had started at exactly
two weeks of age, which was pretty typical. Her episodes were
predictable in length and times, as most cases are, and at this
point, Sera had it down to a science. Mothers of colicky children
plan their lives around these times, they know when to sleep, when
to make a phone call, and when to go out without putting all within
listening distance at risk. For the past six and a half months,
Sera’s life had revolved around Emma’s screeching schedule and
trying to keep the family finances from completely
disappearing.

When the colic had first started, Sera
had been terrified. P.D. had been such a quiet, calm and smiley
little boy. Melle had been a little more active, but still, a very
easy baby over all, and Charlie was incredibly sweet and giggly,
but none of them had ever wailed like this or thrown fits. Emma on
the other hand, let’s just say she wasn’t the type of baby most
people wanted anywhere near them.

Emma was beautiful, and
would have been the perfect poster child for all the reasons to
encourage birth control. Sera had had her checked out by more than
one pediatrician, and they all concluded it was colic, a pretty
nasty Colic, but simply
colic
. The best they could do for her
– for the mother, that is - was to give her a mild sedative to calm
her nerves when things got out of hand, but with four kids, who
could afford to take a sedative no matter how tempting it
was.