The rain hadn't stopped yet, so I grabbed my umbrella as Sarah and I headed out. It was only about half a block to The Caffeine Bean, the local coffee shop. We didn't talk much on the way there, we were trying to avoid the splashes of speeding cabs and other passing vehicles. The Caffeine Bean's neon sign was like a beacon of hope, its familiar yellow and green lights showing the way. It was a slow day, there were only about five people inside, there's normally around twenty plus. We ordered our coffee and found a table next to a big plate glass window facing the street. We sipped in silence for a while.
"So, you grew up in…..?" Sarah asked.
"In Minnesota, the Minneapolis area, but we moved some."
"Oh, ok." We sat in silence some more. "Well this is………awkward." She said, pointing out the obvious.
"Yea, it is." More silence, then Sarah's phone rang.
"Hello?...When? God, that's in five minutes! Ok thanks, we'll get over there!"
"Who was that?" I asked.
"Gorder just called a staff meeting, it starts in less then five minutes, time to motor!"
We practically sprinted back to the Finc. Complex, slowed down just enough to show our company IDs to the guard, almost knocked several people over while running up the stairs, and finally made it to the conference room, soaked. "Johnson, you're on time for once! Sit down and we'll begin." It turned out that Mr. Gorder had called us all under the pretense of a corporate emergency to tell us that he was getting promoted, a raise, and that he would be naming his successor. "Joy," I thought to myself, "another possible pay increase goes up in smoke while the blob running this place is going to get a Minnie-Me for himself to run the office." He went on for a while about performance evaluation, working environment, how the office is one big family. When he finished, the clichés were making me sick, along with the sappy speech. "Tie me down and gag me with a 12-gauge." I thought. "……Which is why I have chosen Dan Johnson to replace me as head of Marketing." Everyone turned and stared at me. Nobody made a sound. It was so quiet, I almost heard my jaw hit the floor. "You are all dismissed, except you Johnson." Everyone around me got up and headed for the door. Harmony and Will both flashed thumbs-ups at me while Sarah smiled and winked at me.
"Johnson, lets head to my office."
"Sure thing Mr. Gorder."
"Call me Fred, the formal stuff gets annoying after a while." Mr. Gorder was about to sit down in his chair, when he said "You know what? Why don't you sit here? After all, it'll be yours in about a week." I sat down, unsure about what to say except "Wow, comfy."
Mr. Gorder laughed and patted me roughly on the back. "Oh you bet it is, now let's talk about whats going to be expected of you as head of Marketing."
"Alright Mr. Gor-uh, Fred."
"You'll be charged with overseeing the smooth progress of this new marketing campaign that we'll launch in roughly a month. Also, you'll be the one reviewing this department's reports, research, all that stuff."
Mr. Gorder continued with his briefing for about twenty minutes, until he saw the time, told me he get it to me on paper, and headed for the door. Just before he was going to run out, he stopped, turned and said "Hey, it's still my office for another week! Back to work!"
