Chapter 3 - The New Manager
Amanda was so excited that Billy had given her the agency tapes so she could begin learning. She waited until her family left and then popped the first one into her cassette player. It was one that explained about taking good notes especially before an assignment and how important it was to understand what your assignment was. Since Amanda had taken shorthand in college, she could write notes pretty quickly so she was sure this would be one of the easier things to master. After the tape completed, she sat thinking about the case. She felt bad that those men would be sent away to prison for their whole life. She couldn't imagine how their loved ones would feel. Then it dawned on her; Dirk's son Paul. How was he handling all of this? Amanda gathered her purse and headed out the door to her car. She quickly drove to Burrito World and found Paul standing at the counter while staring out the window. She entered the restaurant and walked up to him. He finally shifted his gaze to her and looked surprised to see her there.
"What do you want? Haven't you done enough damage already?"
"Paul, I know you are probably angry with me but I'm not sure you know what you father did and why he had to go to jail."
"I know what he did. He betrayed this country. He told me that he isn't from here. That he came here just before I was born and that he has hated it here this whole time. Look lady, I'm not really mad at you, I'm mad at him. How could he do all those things and not care about what would happen to me?"
"Paul, I think he did care and that is why he got you this job. Sure it was convenient for him to have you here but he could have worked something else out. Instead he got you full time employment and Jerry to look after you. He did the best he could under the circumstances."
Jerry walked in the room at that moment and said "I agree with Mrs. King. Paul, you are not your father. You will always have a spot here and I will continue to try to take care of you the best I can. I know you aren't my son and I can only imagine what you are feeling right now. You've been a loyal employee. I want to reward you for that and hope that by making you the manager of this location; that it will give you the incentive to make this the best place ever. It will come with a raise, a place to live and a decent car to drive. As long as you do the best job you can, it will be yours. What do you say? Do we have a deal?"
"Wow, I don't know what to say. Thank you Jerry. I accept. Mrs. King, thank you for your kindness and kind words too. Please give your partner my thanks also, okay?"
"I will Paul. I'm going to check back now and then to make sure you are doing a good job too. I want to see this place soar in profits."
"It will, I promise" Paul said. Amanda gave him a quick hug and then hugged Jerry and quietly slipped out the door while smiling. She always loved when things had a happy ending. The world needed more happy endings.
TBC