A couple of days later I pulled up at their house. They all came out and we began to empty the truck. When it was empty, I asked Amy if she could follow me since I needed a ride to my place. As we rode back, I told her about my business and asked her if she wanted a job until she settled in. That would give her time to decide on what she wanted to do. I told her I would pay her whatever she thought was fair.
We pulled up to the garage and she looked around. “Jerry, you live here?”
“I live in the trailer behind the garage. I bought the whole place. I haven’t found the time to clean and fix it up yet. I’ve been spending all my evenings doing paperwork. That’s why I need a secretary. Are you interested?”
“I’m not sure what my plans are but I’ll help you until you can find someone. I really want you to succeed, Jerry. I care about you.”
As we were standing there, an older woman pulled up and asked me if I could weld some braces on her two chairs. I told her if she had a half hour, I could do it right then. She said she was going to the store and would be back. I opened the garage and took the chairs in and welded braces on both of them. I then painted them to match the chairs.
Amy stood and watched me. It made me feel good to know she was interested in what I was doing. Amy walked over and picked up my billing pad.
“Do you want me to make out the bill?”
I looked at her and smiled. “Just make it out for twenty-five dollars.”
The woman came back and was very pleased with the work I had done.
“You even painted them. Thank you,” she said. “How much do I owe you?”
She walked over to Amy who asked her name and wrote it on the bill. She wrote out a check for thirty-dollars and said it was for doing the job so quickly.
I loaded the chairs back in her vehicle and she left.
“When do you want me here tomorrow?” asked Amy.
“Eight would be good. If I’m not out here knock on the trailer. We can go over things then. Thank you so much for helping me out. I really do appreciate it.”
“It’s friends helping friends.” replied Amy before she left and went back home.
The next day Amy was there right on time. I went over the paperwork and my appointment book with her. I explained to her that I would be gone all day and tomorrow. I had some farm equipment to repair. I asked her if she could interview a few people for the office work and possibly someone to help clean up the place.
I told her my teacher got me a couple of students to help me at the farm. Some of the equipment was too heavy for one person to lift. I promised her I would take her out to dinner when I returned. I told her that I really needed to talk to her.
* * * * Amy Again
After Jerry left, I took a good look at the garage. It was a solid building but did need cleaning up. Then I went in back to look at his trailer. It looked like a tornado went through it. I checked the yellow pages and found a cleaning company. They sent two hardworking women who weren’t afraid to get dirty. They came in and said they could have the garage office and restroom cleaned and painted in about a week. Jerry would have to do the stalls where he would work.
I took them to look at the trailer and they asked if it was a guy’s trailer. I told them it was but that he just purchased it. They told me that they could have it cleaned in about three days. I signed an agreement with them and they would start the next day. I asked them to start with the office and restroom and then do the trailer.
They suggested Jerry stayed in a motel for a few days while they cleaned the trailer up. I could tell he needed new mattresses, a couch, and a chair for the living room. The ladies could clean the stove and refrigerator. Jerry would need essentials such as bedding and a few kitchen items. Most of what he had wasn’t usable.
I talked to Jerry that day and explained everything to him. He told me I was in charge and he would go along with whatever I thought best. But I wanted to wait so he could choose things he liked. Once he returned from the job at the farm, we went shopping to buy things for the trailer. Jerry smiled and said we were like a married couple.