Chapter 2: On the same page
"Where's the report?" Billy asked without looking up from the file open in his hands.
"The thing is…" Lee started nervously.
Closing the file and placing it at the bottom of the stack of budget reports, Billy leaned back in his black leather desk chair. Steepling his figures together, he waited patiently for Lee to continue. Lee was pacing back and forth in front of Billy's desk, obviously searching for the right words.
Billy knew that look all too well. Lee was going to make some demand, and from his years of experience and knowing Lee, he knew exactly what that request was going to be.
"Ah, look, Billy, I haven't finished the report yet. I could really use…" Lee was stopped in his tracks as Billy raised a hand to silence him.
"Amanda?" Billy asked, finishing his thought and trying to hide the smile that wanted to spread across his face.
"Well, yeah. Look, she has no job now, and I was the one who got her into this business in the first place. I think we at least owe it to her to give her her old job back."
"She left of her own free will. And the Agency has to make budget cuts somewhere." Billy lifted his hands off the expense reports waiting to be signed in front of him. "You can write your own reports and run your own copies from now on. Besides, I thought you didn't like working with partners or have you changed your mind?" he challenged Lee.
Lee leaned in, resting both his hands on top of the expense reports on Billy's desk, and blurted out the first thing that came into his head. "I need her." Seeing Billy's raised eyebrows, Lee straightened up and began to backtrack, trying to sound professional. "What I mean is that she has become a valuable asset to the Agency in the work that she does." He then began enumerating on his fingers, "She is efficient, thoughtful, detailed, observant, calm under pressure, and logical. She is right more often than not. Billy, she is worth every penny," Lee concluded.
"I am glad you see it that way, Scarecrow. Because so do I." Billy now pulled out the folder he had placed at the bottom of the pile of expense reports. He ceremoniously handed it over to Lee.
"What's this?"
"Read it," Billy commanded.
Lee opened the folder, glanced down and began chuckling loudly, "You've already reinstated Amanda?" He looked up incredulously. "This is her job offer letter?" He felt the relief flood through him before another thought quickly occurred to him. "But what about a raise?"
"Lee, this is the best we can do for her for now. Unless you have another idea."
"What if I took a pay cut?" Lee said without hesitation.
Surprise flew across Billy's face. Quickly composing himself, he asked, "But what about your nightclubs, fancy candlelight dinners, expensive bottles of wine, and tailored suits?"
Without realizing what he was revealing to Billy, Lee coldly stated, "I have no family to support. She does."
