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Chapter 4
At 4:30 AM, I was up, preparing my questions for Rei. Strange that I already think of her on those terms of endearment.
I pushed those thoughts from my head. The pencil dropped from my hand and I got up to get coffee. I had found an old fashioned percolator and filled it with good Colombian coffee. I left it on and returned to the pencil and pad. 'Miss Hino, why do you want to work for this company'
'How would you solve this problem'
'Briefly tell me what skills you would bring to this company'
I crumpled the piece of paper up and banged my head down on the desk. This was not going to work.
'Screw it'
I walked back into the kitchen and poured myself a cup of black. The bitter taste and high caffeine content brought me back to reasonable coherence. I blinked a bit at the sudden rush of awareness that the dark liquid brought me and then looked at the clock. 7:00 already. Damn.
I had completely lost track of time and now had to scramble. My first interviews would start at 9:00 AM with Rei's being the last at eleven o'clock. Glancing into the mirror, a disheveled man in great need of a shave stared back. I wondered how much of a resemblance I would bear to her. My hair was shorter than seven years ago, my body a bit slimmer, and my face a good deal older. The timeless smooth skin of a Dark Kingdom youth had been replaced with worry wrinkles across a furrowed forehead. The soft curves had hardened, more angular than ever.
But most importantly, the palpable aura of evil that surrounded my every being had disappeared.
And if I was lucky, she wouldn't even recognize me.
'Right, I'm never that lucky.'
Half and hour later, my hair was combed and gelled back into something semi-professional looking. It was a bit spiky, but it wasn;t obnoxious. I worked my tie around. Black shirt and black tie. Black suit too.
'No. Too severe'
I tossed them aside and began to search through my closet again. Blue and red? Too presidential. Matching dark burgundy? Too Regis Philbin. Silver on white? That might work.
The tie was a silver, with a black threads interwoven through it at regular intervals. It gave it a muted coloration. I tied it quickly and added a white handkerchief to my pocket. 'Ready.'
"You're looking very patrician today, Mr. Kaitou. The chairman might think you're replacing him."
"Thanks Dana." I looked at the clock. I had another forty five minutes before my first interviews and I sat down in front. "You'll be there with me right?"
"Observing only. You've done this many times."
"I've done this once. And I managed to get you out of the deal. What does that say about my taste in employees?"
Dana smiled beautifully, "Mr. Kaitou, I have complete confidence in your ability to choose employees."
"Right. I hate you."
The first two interviews went reasonably well. The two applicants were well suited for the job, but something had not clicked with me. The largest business is built on the strength of individual people and I did not feel that I could work with these people regularly. They possessed none of the drive, no creative spark that they needed to fit the complex and demanding job. I rolled up my sleeves and dribbled water down my forehead.
That left a single candidate that I really didn;t want to hire. Of course, I abhorred inefficiency even more. It was a tough decision.
However, it was still something I had to face. And so, I prepared to meet her like I would have any opponent on the field of battle. I straightened my tie and blocked all emotion from my mind. Looking into the mirror, I saw my own face, unrecognizable, impassive, and yet self assured at the same time. Perhaps a hint of the old arrogance...and I smiled. Just a bit.
I exited the executive washroom, then proceeded to unbutton my suit jacket. I didn't really need to look that put together. My cellular phone vibrated suddenly and I flipped it open.
"Hello?"
"Sir, this is Chalmers in the San Jose office, we've got a situation at one of the manufacturing plants."
Steve Chalmers was the general production manager and executive vice president for West Coast operations. A weird blend of business sense and practical knowledge, he held two degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, an undergraduate degree in electrial engineering and a degree from the Wharton Business School. He was slightly older than my constructed age, at a venerable thirty five. He was an old school businessman, trained in the conservative ideals of the East Coast, providing a good complement to the Stanford and Berkeley dominated corporation. Chalmers also possessed a wonderfully sense of reserve, not letting his emotions override his logic and rationale. That's why his call worried me, "What's going on?"
"Well, we have strike concerns among workers. With the economic downturn a lot of workers are afraid of losing their jobs. They haven't managed to unionize them yet, but they want assurances. I've managed to stave off the intial concerns, but they want to speak to you directly and have your personal assurance that they won't be fired."
I laughed, "Fired? We've had the most productive year in our history. We're expanding incredibly. The final round of VC money just came in and we're expanding, not shrinking. If anything, we need more references to find employees. We're relying on subcontractors because we can't handle the supply ourselves."
"That coming from you in person would be enough to calm a lot of nerves around here."
"I'll catch a plane flight into San Francisco sometime this afternoon. Can someone pick me up?"
Chalmers chuckled dryly, "I'll be there myself with the car. And thanks."
I shut the phone off then called United Airlines. Although I had flown JAL over, I had thousands of frequent flyer miles in my United accounts from my continous traveling across the United States. No better time to use them.
In a moment, I had set up a round trip back across the pacific. I would spend the night in my California home, then fly back the next day. The jet lag would kill me, but that was a small matter when compared to the financial troubles that a strike could cause.
'I'm turning into a crisis manager. This is NOT good'
But as the former COO, I had dealt with most of these problems personally, in order to better understand the problems facing us. Until a new COO could be found, I would have to deal with these problems myself. Several managers in my company looked ready to step up, but I wondered if a search to the outside might yield someone I hadn't seen before.
At any rate, I was already running very late on my interview with Rei. Might as well make the best of it.
As I entered the room, Dana and Rei both stared at me. I was nearly fifteen minutes late. I coughed and smiled, "Sorry business emergency."
As I remembered her, Rei was a cute teenage girl, at the cusp of maturity. The vaunted Sailor Mars had stunned me with her beauty, and ultimately defeated me.
Age had ripened that formidable beauty. Grown from a girl, into a mature and sexy woman, she probably turned heads as she walked down the street.
However, very little of that was on my mind as I began to formulate my plan to avoid giving any hints to my identity.
"Kaitou-san," she said with a wonderful Japanese lilt, "You look familiar. Have I seen you before?"
And there went that plan. I smiled charmingly as a ruse, "Probably not, I haven't been in Japan for over nine years."
"Ah, then, Konnichi-wa Kaitou-san!"
I replied in Japanese, "Konnichi-wa, Hino-san. It's been a while since I've used Japanese in normal conversation. Please forgive my grammar. It must be atrocious."
She laughed gaily, "Not at all, Kaitou-san! You speak it remarkably well!"
"That's very reassuring." I switched back to english, "Hino-san, I apologize, but I have to test your English skills."
"That is not a problem at all. I attended a Catholic school until University. Most of the nuns were not particularly proficient in Japanese, so we learned english as an intermediary."
"Excellent. I see here you've concentrated on theology as an area of study. Interesting choice."
Rei stared back at me confidently, "It's was an enriching field of study, despite the fact that it does not directly pertain to business. I wanted to expand my religious knowledge, which was limited to Shinto and the indigenous religions of Asia, to all the religions of the world. If you'll also notice, I have significant theoretical business experience through the university."
I held up my hands in a non-threatening gesture, "Forgive me, I was not insulting your area of studies. I myself, was a history major. Dana was a psychology major and look how she turned up. A washed up businesswoman who has to sit in on her boss's interviews."
Rei giggled and Dana hit me on to shoulder. I still did not know how to deal with Rei. She was smart, and I could already tell that we would get along well. She had a bit of a spine, probably a razor sharp wit to go along with it. But there was always the problem if she found out who I was. 'I suppose I can't live in fear forever. Besides, she barely recognizes me. Things should be okay'
I found myself rationalizing taking her on. She had all the qualities I needed in an assistant and my business sense began to take over. I knew the risks, and weighed them against the possible benefits.
After many more questions, I stood up and shook Rei's hand, "Miss Hino, it's been great getting to know you. Could you excuse us for a moment, I have to consult with Miss Annison."
Rei nodded, "Of course, Kaitou-san."
After she left, Dana leaned back in her chair, "So?"
"Hire her. She's damn good."
She stopped and smiled slightly, "Change of heart?"
"Drop it."
She fluffed her hair slightly, "Whatever you say sir. Shall I call her back in?"
"Yeah. We need to wrap this up."
"Is there a problem?"
"I'm heading back to California this afternoon. I'll be back the day after tomorrow."
Dana knew better than to ask, "Ok. Let's do it." She poked her head outside for a moment, "Miss, could you come back in for a moment?"
I stood and grasped Rei's hand, "Congratulations, Hino-san. You're hired!"
She looked shocked, "Wow, thanks! Umm, I'm not sure what to say..."
Dana looked vaguely amused, "Save your breath, you'll need it for the job."
"When can you start? I know you have university classes still."
"That's right. I can start part time by tomorrow and full time over the summer and through next year."
I smiled graciously, "Of course. I'll be gone unfortunately tomorrow, so Dana will show you around. I have urgent business back in California."
Dana said, "When are you leaving anyway?"
"I'll need to be at the airport at 4:00 PM. And since I have quite a bit of time, would either of you lovely ladies care to join me for lunch?"
Dana laughed shortly, "Thanks boss, but I've got actual work to do. I blame you."
"And you, Rei-san?"
Rei seemed a bit flustered, but recovered quickly, "Certainly, Kaitou-san."
I clapped my hands together, "Great. I just heard of this great new restaurant about three blocks away..."
Chapter 4
At 4:30 AM, I was up, preparing my questions for Rei. Strange that I already think of her on those terms of endearment.
I pushed those thoughts from my head. The pencil dropped from my hand and I got up to get coffee. I had found an old fashioned percolator and filled it with good Colombian coffee. I left it on and returned to the pencil and pad. 'Miss Hino, why do you want to work for this company'
'How would you solve this problem'
'Briefly tell me what skills you would bring to this company'
I crumpled the piece of paper up and banged my head down on the desk. This was not going to work.
'Screw it'
I walked back into the kitchen and poured myself a cup of black. The bitter taste and high caffeine content brought me back to reasonable coherence. I blinked a bit at the sudden rush of awareness that the dark liquid brought me and then looked at the clock. 7:00 already. Damn.
I had completely lost track of time and now had to scramble. My first interviews would start at 9:00 AM with Rei's being the last at eleven o'clock. Glancing into the mirror, a disheveled man in great need of a shave stared back. I wondered how much of a resemblance I would bear to her. My hair was shorter than seven years ago, my body a bit slimmer, and my face a good deal older. The timeless smooth skin of a Dark Kingdom youth had been replaced with worry wrinkles across a furrowed forehead. The soft curves had hardened, more angular than ever.
But most importantly, the palpable aura of evil that surrounded my every being had disappeared.
And if I was lucky, she wouldn't even recognize me.
'Right, I'm never that lucky.'
Half and hour later, my hair was combed and gelled back into something semi-professional looking. It was a bit spiky, but it wasn;t obnoxious. I worked my tie around. Black shirt and black tie. Black suit too.
'No. Too severe'
I tossed them aside and began to search through my closet again. Blue and red? Too presidential. Matching dark burgundy? Too Regis Philbin. Silver on white? That might work.
The tie was a silver, with a black threads interwoven through it at regular intervals. It gave it a muted coloration. I tied it quickly and added a white handkerchief to my pocket. 'Ready.'
"You're looking very patrician today, Mr. Kaitou. The chairman might think you're replacing him."
"Thanks Dana." I looked at the clock. I had another forty five minutes before my first interviews and I sat down in front. "You'll be there with me right?"
"Observing only. You've done this many times."
"I've done this once. And I managed to get you out of the deal. What does that say about my taste in employees?"
Dana smiled beautifully, "Mr. Kaitou, I have complete confidence in your ability to choose employees."
"Right. I hate you."
The first two interviews went reasonably well. The two applicants were well suited for the job, but something had not clicked with me. The largest business is built on the strength of individual people and I did not feel that I could work with these people regularly. They possessed none of the drive, no creative spark that they needed to fit the complex and demanding job. I rolled up my sleeves and dribbled water down my forehead.
That left a single candidate that I really didn;t want to hire. Of course, I abhorred inefficiency even more. It was a tough decision.
However, it was still something I had to face. And so, I prepared to meet her like I would have any opponent on the field of battle. I straightened my tie and blocked all emotion from my mind. Looking into the mirror, I saw my own face, unrecognizable, impassive, and yet self assured at the same time. Perhaps a hint of the old arrogance...and I smiled. Just a bit.
I exited the executive washroom, then proceeded to unbutton my suit jacket. I didn't really need to look that put together. My cellular phone vibrated suddenly and I flipped it open.
"Hello?"
"Sir, this is Chalmers in the San Jose office, we've got a situation at one of the manufacturing plants."
Steve Chalmers was the general production manager and executive vice president for West Coast operations. A weird blend of business sense and practical knowledge, he held two degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, an undergraduate degree in electrial engineering and a degree from the Wharton Business School. He was slightly older than my constructed age, at a venerable thirty five. He was an old school businessman, trained in the conservative ideals of the East Coast, providing a good complement to the Stanford and Berkeley dominated corporation. Chalmers also possessed a wonderfully sense of reserve, not letting his emotions override his logic and rationale. That's why his call worried me, "What's going on?"
"Well, we have strike concerns among workers. With the economic downturn a lot of workers are afraid of losing their jobs. They haven't managed to unionize them yet, but they want assurances. I've managed to stave off the intial concerns, but they want to speak to you directly and have your personal assurance that they won't be fired."
I laughed, "Fired? We've had the most productive year in our history. We're expanding incredibly. The final round of VC money just came in and we're expanding, not shrinking. If anything, we need more references to find employees. We're relying on subcontractors because we can't handle the supply ourselves."
"That coming from you in person would be enough to calm a lot of nerves around here."
"I'll catch a plane flight into San Francisco sometime this afternoon. Can someone pick me up?"
Chalmers chuckled dryly, "I'll be there myself with the car. And thanks."
I shut the phone off then called United Airlines. Although I had flown JAL over, I had thousands of frequent flyer miles in my United accounts from my continous traveling across the United States. No better time to use them.
In a moment, I had set up a round trip back across the pacific. I would spend the night in my California home, then fly back the next day. The jet lag would kill me, but that was a small matter when compared to the financial troubles that a strike could cause.
'I'm turning into a crisis manager. This is NOT good'
But as the former COO, I had dealt with most of these problems personally, in order to better understand the problems facing us. Until a new COO could be found, I would have to deal with these problems myself. Several managers in my company looked ready to step up, but I wondered if a search to the outside might yield someone I hadn't seen before.
At any rate, I was already running very late on my interview with Rei. Might as well make the best of it.
As I entered the room, Dana and Rei both stared at me. I was nearly fifteen minutes late. I coughed and smiled, "Sorry business emergency."
As I remembered her, Rei was a cute teenage girl, at the cusp of maturity. The vaunted Sailor Mars had stunned me with her beauty, and ultimately defeated me.
Age had ripened that formidable beauty. Grown from a girl, into a mature and sexy woman, she probably turned heads as she walked down the street.
However, very little of that was on my mind as I began to formulate my plan to avoid giving any hints to my identity.
"Kaitou-san," she said with a wonderful Japanese lilt, "You look familiar. Have I seen you before?"
And there went that plan. I smiled charmingly as a ruse, "Probably not, I haven't been in Japan for over nine years."
"Ah, then, Konnichi-wa Kaitou-san!"
I replied in Japanese, "Konnichi-wa, Hino-san. It's been a while since I've used Japanese in normal conversation. Please forgive my grammar. It must be atrocious."
She laughed gaily, "Not at all, Kaitou-san! You speak it remarkably well!"
"That's very reassuring." I switched back to english, "Hino-san, I apologize, but I have to test your English skills."
"That is not a problem at all. I attended a Catholic school until University. Most of the nuns were not particularly proficient in Japanese, so we learned english as an intermediary."
"Excellent. I see here you've concentrated on theology as an area of study. Interesting choice."
Rei stared back at me confidently, "It's was an enriching field of study, despite the fact that it does not directly pertain to business. I wanted to expand my religious knowledge, which was limited to Shinto and the indigenous religions of Asia, to all the religions of the world. If you'll also notice, I have significant theoretical business experience through the university."
I held up my hands in a non-threatening gesture, "Forgive me, I was not insulting your area of studies. I myself, was a history major. Dana was a psychology major and look how she turned up. A washed up businesswoman who has to sit in on her boss's interviews."
Rei giggled and Dana hit me on to shoulder. I still did not know how to deal with Rei. She was smart, and I could already tell that we would get along well. She had a bit of a spine, probably a razor sharp wit to go along with it. But there was always the problem if she found out who I was. 'I suppose I can't live in fear forever. Besides, she barely recognizes me. Things should be okay'
I found myself rationalizing taking her on. She had all the qualities I needed in an assistant and my business sense began to take over. I knew the risks, and weighed them against the possible benefits.
After many more questions, I stood up and shook Rei's hand, "Miss Hino, it's been great getting to know you. Could you excuse us for a moment, I have to consult with Miss Annison."
Rei nodded, "Of course, Kaitou-san."
After she left, Dana leaned back in her chair, "So?"
"Hire her. She's damn good."
She stopped and smiled slightly, "Change of heart?"
"Drop it."
She fluffed her hair slightly, "Whatever you say sir. Shall I call her back in?"
"Yeah. We need to wrap this up."
"Is there a problem?"
"I'm heading back to California this afternoon. I'll be back the day after tomorrow."
Dana knew better than to ask, "Ok. Let's do it." She poked her head outside for a moment, "Miss, could you come back in for a moment?"
I stood and grasped Rei's hand, "Congratulations, Hino-san. You're hired!"
She looked shocked, "Wow, thanks! Umm, I'm not sure what to say..."
Dana looked vaguely amused, "Save your breath, you'll need it for the job."
"When can you start? I know you have university classes still."
"That's right. I can start part time by tomorrow and full time over the summer and through next year."
I smiled graciously, "Of course. I'll be gone unfortunately tomorrow, so Dana will show you around. I have urgent business back in California."
Dana said, "When are you leaving anyway?"
"I'll need to be at the airport at 4:00 PM. And since I have quite a bit of time, would either of you lovely ladies care to join me for lunch?"
Dana laughed shortly, "Thanks boss, but I've got actual work to do. I blame you."
"And you, Rei-san?"
Rei seemed a bit flustered, but recovered quickly, "Certainly, Kaitou-san."
I clapped my hands together, "Great. I just heard of this great new restaurant about three blocks away..."