Chapter 7

Word about Lenny's incredible accomplishments with the leopard shark pup spread through the organization like a wild fire. Not a single employee could believe that a rookie, let alone a teenager, managed to make one of their shyest children stop crying. And of course this news reached Kylie and President Patrick, who both needed to see it to believe it.

"For the last time, Sir, you are not dreaming," Lenny said to Patrick for at least the eleventh time. "I really did make him stop crying."

"It's only your first day and you've already shown that you're more dedicated than one third of my workers," Patrick said wide-eyed. "Whenever that kid used to cry, none of them could ever come close to getting him to stop."

"Thanks," said Lenny. "And his name's Lucas."

Patrick's jaw dropped.

"Okay, how did you manage to get his name?" Kylie asked.

"Uh, he told me," Lenny said making it sound like that was an obvious question.

"He's been here two days and he wouldn't even tell me his name," said Kylie.

"Well some kids feel better around certain people," said Lenny.

"Lenny," Patrick said in a stunned voice. "I've got one simple word for you: natural. You keep doing this good with the kids and, who knows? This time next year, we could all be working for you."

Lenny chuckled. "One step at a time, Sir."

Little did either of them know that Patrick's statement would turn out to be true. But we'll get into that later.

Late that night, long after the employees had gone home for the night, Patrick had decided to confront Nathan in order to find out where he had snuck out to the night before and what he had done. Nathan tried to save his own skin by saying he'd just gone out to a dance club with a group of guy friends. Unfortunately for him, Patrick was no idiot. After being demanded the truth over and over again, Nathan nervously spilled his guts. The details are rather unclean, but let's just say alcoholic beverages and a woman or two were involved. Patrick's reaction contained flying furniture, glass and china breaking every ten seconds, and language of a frank and explicit nature. This reprimanding, to put it nicely, went on for over an hour. As it occurred, a relatively large crowd of concerned listeners, who had been kept awake by Patrick's screaming and glass smashing, gathered outside the room. Lenny, Kylie, Dustin, and Patrick's wife Mara, who hoped this fiasco wouldn't end too badly, were among the crowd. As time went by, no one could tell what was scarier: that Patrick was getting louder or that Nathan never said a word the entire time. By the time it ended, it was clear that Nathan was still alive because the last thing Patrick said to him was, "Kiss the family business, because you're out of it!"

After that, it was strangely quiet for about thirty seconds. It was at this point when Mara said to Dustin, "I guess we should go in and see what's happened now."

Dustin didn't like the sound of that one bit. "Mom, are you telling me everything we just heard didn't hint to you that Nathan's in more trouble than he's ever been?"

"Let's just go in and see if we can convince your father to calm down," said Mara.

"Not likely," Dustin said nervously.

Mara turned to face the rest of the crowd. "Everyone else, go back to bed. Everything will be fine here… I hope." She said those last two words under her breath.

Lenny and Kylie, who wanted to avoid any more possible hollering, were among the first few to quickly swim off.

"That may have been the most violent parenting I've ever witnessed," Lenny said as they swam to safety.

"No kidding," Kylie agreed. "Even I've never been that mad at Nathan before."

"I wonder who his replacement in the business is gonna be," Lenny said, trying to make a joke of the whole thing."

"Well, based on what Uncle Patrick said this afternoon, maybe it'll be you."

Lenny was flattered by all the praise he was receiving, but at the same time he was flustered because he never thought he could be President of anything. At least that's what he thought at the moment.

One year later

Before we get to Lenny, I just want to make it clear that Patrick was not kidding when he said Nathan was out of the business. Nathan, though still living in the ship because Mara refused to kick him out, didn't show up for work the next day or any day thereafter. And frankly, Lenny, Kylie, and all the other employees were just fine with that. Dustin would've been happy… if he didn't have to go home to Nathan every night and still be miserable because of him.

Anyway, Lenny had become a bit of a role model to the other employees. Some people even considered him the President of the rookies. He was patient, caring, and helpful to everyone. He could make the screaming children be quiet, the sad children laugh, and he even kept the troublesome children in line. Every child in the lost and found was different, but Lenny's affection was the same for all of them.

Kylie, go fig, noticed how good Lenny was with the kids and thought it was adorable. If there was one thing she looked for in a guy, it was his way with kids. She would stop by Lenny's workstation from time to time to help out. The more she saw him giving his time, duty, and love to the kids, the more attracted she was to him. Lenny's feelings for her, though he was afraid to admit it, were no different. He saw that she too was a natural when it came to childcare. There were three things the two had in common: they loved kids, they secretly loved each other, and they were both afraid to admit it… at least to each other. Other employees took notice of how shy the two became when they saw they were in the same room. When the two weren't looking, the others would whisper to each other, "It's only a matter of time before one of them asks the other out."

One Friday afternoon while Lenny was attending to the needs of a seven-year-old great white girl, Kylie came in to deliver a message to him.

"Hey Lenny," she said rather nervously as she approached him.

Lenny turned and almost yelled when he realized she was finally talking to him. "Uh… hey, Kylie. How's it goin'?"

"Pretty good," Kylie replied. "I hate to interrupt your bonding time with Monica but Uncle Patrick wants to see you in his office."

Lenny was now a little more nervous than before. He'd never been called to Patrick's office before. "Oh, alright then."

Once he was in Patrick's office, Lenny nervously took a seat across from Patrick, who was sitting at his elegant desk.

"Good afternoon, Lenny," Patrick greeted him.

"Afternoon, Sir," Lenny replied.

Patrick could tell by his voice that Lenny thought he was in trouble. "First things first. I suppose you'd like to know why you're here?"

Lenny nodded.

"Well let me put your mind at ease," said Patrick. "You're not in trouble, Son. So wipe that scared look off your face and perk up. What I'm about to tell you is good news."

Lenny sighed happily. "What is it, Sir?"

"Well, Lenny," Patrick began, "It's been a year since you started working in this organization…"

"And a great year too if I might add," Lenny interrupted. "Just lettin' you know. Go on."

Patrick continued. "Since then, I've noticed what an unbelievably gifted young shark you are. I never hear a negative thing be said about you. That's already more than I can say about my idiot sons. You show much more dedication to the business and more importantly the kids."

"Thank you, Sir." Lenny could tell this was leading up to something great.

"As you're no doubt aware, I'll be retiring in a few years," said Patrick. "And ever since Nathan destroyed his chances by screwing around with those girls, I've been trying to find someone to replace him. I've been putting a lot of consideration into this and Son, I think I've found his replacement in you."

Lenny went wide-eyed. "Me?"

Patrick chuckled at this reaction. "That's what I said. I thought about just leaving Dustin in charge of the organization, but I realized he's too timid to handle it all by himself."

"Ain't that the truth?" Lenny said under his breath.

"As for you, I know the organization is called Patrick & Sons and I know you're not my son. But that doesn't matter. I've come to know and even admire a lot about you, Lenny. And I truly believe you've got what it takes to be in charge one day. Would you consider it?"

Lenny didn't even need time to think. "Consider it? Are you kidding me? Of course I'll do it! As long as I still get to see the kids."

"Of course," said Patrick.

"Then you've got yourself a deal, Sir."

Patrick smiled. "Excellent. It's decided then. Starting Monday, you'll be filling in for Nathan and working beside Dustin and me. And when I retire in two years, you two will become co-Presidents of the entire organization."

Lenny joyfully jumped out of his seat. "This is awesome! Thank you so much, Sir. I won't let you down. And to think, when Kylie told me you wanted to see me I thought I was done for."

"Oh speaking of Kylie, she wanted me to give you this." Patrick held out a piece of paper that had been folded to resemble an origami heart. "I'm not an expert but I think she didn't give it to you herself because she got cold fins."

Now Lenny was anxious. He took the paper heart from Patrick, unfolded it, and read the message that Kylie had written on it: Coffee? Tonight? That may have been humorously brief, but it got Lenny excited. Patrick noticed his smiling face and said, "I don't know what she wants, but I assume you two are gonna have a big night out?"

Lenny stopped smiling. "Uh… Maybe… I gotta go. Thanks again, Sir." He turned around and dashed for the door.

"Good luck, Romeo!" Patrick called to him.

Lenny went to Kylie's office and peaked his head through the open door. Kylie was filling out paperwork and was seated with her back facing Lenny. He thought this would be a perfect opportunity to flirt a little. He hovered in the doorway wearing what Oscar would call a "game face" and knocked on the open door to inform her of his presence.

Kylie turned to see who had interrupted her. "Hey," she said happily when she saw Lenny.

"Hey," Lenny said as he swam up to her.

"So what'd Uncle Patrick say?" Kylie asked.

"Ya know, I can't really remember at the moment," he joked. "But I'm sure I'll remember in a few hours. Then I can tell you everything over coffee," he said holding up her heart-shaped note.

Kylie gasped. "So it's a date?"

Lenny nodded. "It's a date."

Kylie squealed and jumped up to hug his neck.

End of chapter

Author's Note: I'm sorry this chapter is relatively late. Finals started at my school and I've been kinda juggling a lot. I'm still wondering how I managed to get this written in two days. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it.