Joe's Boss
Joe had been sitting in the small conference room for about five minutes when his boss was finally able to join him. He stood up and they shook hands, each taking measure of the other and exchanging social pleasantries. As they sat back down across from each other, his boss looked at him expectantly.
Joe took a deep breath and began. "Thank you for agreeing to see me today. I know you have a busy schedule."
His boss gave him a terse smile and impatiently motioned for Joe to get on with the business at hand.
"First, let me say I love my job and this isn't about a raise." Joe smiled sheepishly at his own attempt at a joke. This wasn't his first-line supervisor, this was the big kahuna, the one who could make him dance at the end of puppet strings.
"I've appreciated the opportunities this job has afforded me. The chance to work with other law enforcement departments, especially the federal agencies, has been particularly rewarding. Some of the cases have given me statewide and even national exposure highlighting my skills and abilities as a detective, an important factor for an ambitious man like myself."
Joe wanted to make sure his boss knew he was looking for career advancement, but thought it wouldn't hurt to add a more personal touch too.
"I'd also like to thank you for allowing members of my family to participate from time to time. My brother and sister and my cousin have helped out a couple of times, and my mother and grandmother have really enjoyed it when they've been able to be a part of it all. They get recognized around the Burg now, kind of like mini-celebrities."
His boss interrupted, "Joe, I've got another meeting starting in a few minutes, so if you could get to the point…"
"Right. Well, I've been doing this job for several years now, and like I said, I've really enjoyed it. I've changed quite a bit from the time I started to now, and I've grown a lot…matured, you might say."
"And that's part of why I wanted to talk to you. I'm now in my late thirties and I'm still not married, don't have any kids and usually come home to an empty house, except for the occasional week or two when Stephanie and I are getting along and she agrees to move in with me. I guess I expected us to be further along in our relationship by now."
His boss just stared at him, fingers drumming along the tabletop. Joe plunged ahead.
"It's just that we seem to be stagnating. We start to get closer, Steph moves in with me, we've even gotten engaged, but then something always happens and we have a big fight and she moves back to that damned apartment of hers. I've made it abundantly clear to her that I want to marry her and start a family. That's supposed to be every woman's dream, isn't it?" There was a pained look on Joe's face as he related this personal information to his superior.
"I make enough money to be able to support her so she wouldn't have to work. She could concentrate on being a housewife and mother, but if she's insistent that she be able to work, I'd even be willing to let her work part-time, as long as it wasn't bounty hunting. I can't stand the thought of her throwing herself into one dangerous situation after another, all for a few measly bucks. Maybe if she'd agree to get some training, improve her skills. I don't know, I think I'd still be on pins and needles every day."
"Look, I hate to get into this, but I've got bad genetics…a family history of alcoholism and anger issues. I don't need an additional reason to start drinking, but if I'm constantly worrying about my girlfriend getting herself injured or killed, I'll eventually break down and become a drunk like all the rest of the men in my family. I've been able to hold it together so far, but with the constant worry of this other man in her life, it's only a matter of time."
Joe watched as his boss' eyes rolled, obviously not happy he'd brought up that particular subject.
"Yeah, I'm talking about Ranger Mañoso. You told me years ago when all this started he was just going to be a bit player in all this, but now, we're in this constant triangle and there doesn't seem to be any way out. He's always around, interfering between Steph and me. I know he's been poaching kisses and copping feels from Steph and she allows it, dammit!"
"It's even worse when she moves in with Ranger, which she's done several times when we have a particularly bad blow-up or when some stalker is trying to kill her. She keeps telling me their relationship is platonic, but I'm having a harder and harder time believing it. Steph's a passionate woman and I wouldn't trust Ranger with her as far as I could throw him. And believe me, I'd love the opportunity to throw him as far as I could. But I don't even get that satisfaction. We just dance around each other, sharing one woman, passing her back and forth between us like a hot potato. Something's gotta give and soon. I can't keep on sharing Steph with that black-clad thug."
"Don't get me wrong. I love all the 'balls to wall' sex Stephanie and I have, but it's this constant 'on again-off again' shit that's wearing thin. My 'boys' are even complaining about our feast or famine lifestyle. Before Steph came into our lives, my boys and I were getting it regularly. I was a virtual Don Juan, hooking up with a new lady every night, sometimes more than one a night. At least that's what I remember. It's getting a bit vague in my memories, like something I read in a book, but can no longer remember actually experiencing. Strange, I know I was once this badass who drank, caroused and brawled all the time, but it seems like a distant memory now, one I can barely remember."
"I've been this upstanding, sober, monogamous member of polite society for years now, but I still don't feel like I've made much progress." Joe let out a big sigh.
"So I'm asking you to please make a decision. Make Stephanie choose! She needs to choose between Ranger and me. Or even, God forbid, choose neither of us, but just have her make a decision." Joe pushed his chair back and stood up, laying his hands flat on the table, looking directly at his boss.
With a slight shake of his head, he dropped the bombshell, "And as much as it pains me to say this, I think you should have her choose Ranger."
With a sharp intake of air, his boss' eyes narrowed and a coldness filled the room.
Joe stepped back a little from the table, but continued, "It's what most of the fans want and I think it's what Steph really wants too, deep down in her heart. I know she loves me, but I think it's mostly because of our history together. I'm comfortable, I'm what's expected, and it's what her mother wants." Joe started pacing, back and forth.
"You have to realize Steph's a good Catholic girl from the Burg. She'll always be that girl, even if she moves far away from here and never goes to Mass again. The strong hold of the Burg and the Catholic guilt can be mind numbing, especially for a woman. It can dominate all her thoughts and decisions."
"I think her mixed-up feelings for me and the Burg/Catholic guilt are the only things keeping her from being with Ranger. I know I've accused Ranger of just wanting her for sex, but, c'mon on, he's always there for her, he's gotta be spending a fortune replacing the cars she destroys and footing the bill for hundreds of man-hours for his staff to follow her around and protect her from all the crazies she attracts."
"No sex, no matter how hot it is, is worth all the bullshit he puts up from her. He has to be in love. It's the only thing that makes sense. Plus, have you seen the way they look at each other? She never looks at me that way, like I'm a Pino's meatball sub with extra sauce and she's been stuck on a deserted island for years. When they're together, you can cut the sexual tension between them with a knife, it's that thick."
"So, what I'm trying to say is, it's time to put an end to all this back and forth stuff. Let me get on with my life, my job as a detective for the Trenton Police Department and let me find some nice, attractive, fun-loving girl from the Burg who wants to settle down and raise a passel of kids with a good-looking, sexy, great-in-bed, Italian cop."
"And let Stephanie go to Ranger and finally admit she's in love with him. That should be a whopper of a best seller. I want Cupcake to be happy and I'm obviously not making her happy. If I was the one for her, we'd be happily married already and have at least one kid with another on the way."
"Give her a chance at happiness, give all of us a chance. It's in your hands. Well, I've said what I came here to say. I appreciate you listening to me. I hope some of what I've said will make a difference. Again, thank you for your time." Joe reached across the table to shake hands, but was met with a stony glare. He turned and walked out of the room toward the bank of elevators as a pretty receptionist entered the conference room.
"Excuse me, ma'am. Your publisher has arrived. He and his assistant are waiting for you in the third floor conference room. They have the mock-ups for your next book cover ready for your approval."