After eating a simple meal (Froot Loops and milk), I rinsed out my cereal bowl and spoon but, left them in the sink.
I grabbed my back pack, the contract, and my cell phone and headed out.
Traffic, as expected, was horrible. I arrived at the office building at 8:41 but parking during the day was not like the night time parking situation. Thankfully, I saw a parking garage connected to the office building. I went in the garage entrance, pulled the ticket to get the ‘arm’ to raise then whispered to myself to hopefully find a parking spot quickly.
I went up 4 floors to finally find a parking spot. Thankfully, I was parked next to the elevator. I took it down one floor to the ‘crossover’ bridge to the office building.
As I entered the office building, I immediately ran into the security desk. They politely asked to look inside of my back pack. They took a quick peek and sent me on my way.
I took the elevator back to the familiar 8th floor, nervous as hell.
Lots of people in the elevator, not like the interview night when I was alone.
The bell rang for the 8th floor and the doors opened. I got off the elevator and headed to the doors of Happy, Happee Limo. No handwritten sign on the door this time I noted.
I reached for the door latch and to my surprise it was easy to open. I went in and stopped at the door looking around for a familiar face. A short red headed woman approached me saying, “Welcome to Happy, Happee Limo. What brings you to us?”
“Um, it’s my first day. I’m supposed to see either Tina or Sasha.” I replied.
“Oh my, you must be the new guy for the night shift. David, right?” she said with a devilish grin.
I was stunned. I stood there for a moment before answering, “Yes, yes, sorry I didn’t expect anyone to know my name.”
“Are you kidding? After your ‘interview’? Everyone in the office knows. You’re becoming a cult hero already.” She said with a chuckle to her voice.
I was stunned. A what? Did she say, ‘cult hero’? As if I wasn’t nervous enough before, now I’m bordering on nauseated.
“Let me take you back to Sasha’s office.” She said with a wink to me and more of that devilish grin.
I followed silently noticing a few ladies peeking up from their computer screens and whispering to their neighbor. I just smiled back and chuckled to myself ‘cult hero?’.
The short red head knocked on the castle doors and walked right in. I saw Tina first. She came over to me and squealed with delight.
“DAVID!” she exclaimed.
“Hello, my darling,” I said with an air of flirtatiousness in my voice. I smiled and gave her a kiss while she was hugging me hard.
“Sasha stepped out for a meeting and will be back in a few minutes. I’m supposed to give you the five-cent tour to meet everyone. When Sasha returns then we will start the boring paperwork and go over other stuff. At noon, we’ll go to lunch. Like I told you on the phone last night, you’ll go home after lunch and come back at 8 tonight for your ride along with Jill”. Tina went over with me in a matter of fact tone.
“Are you ready for your tour?” Tina inquired with a big smile on her face.
“Before we start may I ask you a couple of things?” I said sheepishly.
“Of course, if I’m not allowed to answer the question I’ll defer it to Sasha. She will answer all your questions. Fair enough?” Tina replied still smiling.
“Um, ok, fair enough. First, how does ‘everyone’ know about my interview? Second, what have I gotten into here? Third, and finally, are you single?” I curiously asked.
Tina, now smiling her beautiful smile, “Yes, I’m single but Sasha frowns on employees dating, if that is where you were going with that. We can have sex but dating requires ‘permission’. As to your interview, of course everyone knows! The girls who came in to clean you and Sasha up that evening are big gossips. They are twin trouble. I’m guessing you didn’t even realize that they are twins, did you? As to your second question, I’m afraid I will have to defer that one to Sasha. When you ride with Jill ask her after Sasha tells you her answer. Why Jill? She is former military and is very plain spoken almost blunt when chatting with other employees. She’ll give you her opinion without any political correctness. Does that answer your questions?”
“Mostly. Can you give me an idea on who to avoid saying anything to because they are such gossips, like the twins?” I asked.
“Of course. When I take you around and introduce you, I’ll introduce them as the ‘friendly, chatty type’ so you’ll understand. Fair enough?” Tina replied.
Clearly, she is smart as a whip. We left the office for Tina to be introducing me to the day staff. The very first person I meet is a lady who is probably reaching her mid-40’s. Petite, short blonde hair, cute smile and small athletic type chest. She had the appearance of someone who works out regularly. She was introduced to me as Paula.
Paula, stood up, took off her headset and reached out to shake my hand. She made some small talk after saying hello. Tina reminded her she needed to get back on the phones. Paula smiled and excused herself and went back to work.
Tina took me around to everyone in the room. As she told me in the office, she introduced me to only 3 more ‘friendly, chatty types’ which, gave me a sigh of relief.
Just as we were finishing the round of introductions Sasha walked back into the main room. She came over to me and asked me to follow her back to her office, which I did without a word.
“Mr. David, it is such a pleasure to see you here. My, don’t you look less, hmm, what’s the word? Stuffy. You clean up and look much more relaxed today versus your interview.” Sasha said in her strong accent.
“Tina texted me with information that you have questions. So, please ask. I want any objections out of the way right from the start.” She continued.
“Wow, ok then, I have several questions. Most of them just curiosity, but a few of them are concerns. If you don’t mind, I will start with the concerns first.” I said in a non-emotional tone.
“Go ahead Mr. David, please”
“Let me start with the contract. My attorney pointed out that the dollar figure in the contract is not what we discussed. In my interview, you offered me a sum of $200,000 annually. Yet, in the contract it says $300K. Did I miss something?” My curiosity quite peaked.
“Mr. David, the $200,000 is your ‘guaranteed minimum’ with the $300,000 figure representing what we ‘expect’ you to make annually. The better you do, the more you’ll make.” Sasha said with a grin.
“I’m sure my Tina told you that you will be with one of my best drivers, Jill. She is our most requested of the entire drive staff. With tips, bonus’, and other ‘perks’ Jill will make in excess $600,000 this year. I expect you to make that much and maybe even more depending on what you’re willing to do to service our clientele.” Sasha continued saying.
“And?” Sasha questioned.
“Well, let me just lay all of my cards on the table. In no particular order, here goes: 1. Why are employees forbidden from dating? 2. What have I gotten into here? 3. What is the list of stuff I need in my back pack? 4. Why did you request ‘no condoms’ when Tina, you and I had sex? 5. And finally, (looking at the clock seeing that it is a little past 11am) What ‘service’ will I be performing and on which of the clientele?” I said with a bit more authority in my voice.