And Then There Were Four
By Beej
Part 1
Lee-Anne loved her new job. She’d been at A&M for just over two months now, and she was looking forward to her three month trial period to be over and to being taken on in a permanent role. Right now she was working the reception desk, but she’d heard of a previous receptionist who had done so well that she was now in the Sydney office in the finance department. That was good, but she was looking further up the ladder and fully intended to oust Alex as Michael Taylor’s pa.
Truth be told she was a bit of a snob, which is why she liked working for A&M Risk, even as receptionist. They had a good class of client, mostly heads of multi-national companies, or rich individuals. She was quite taken aback when the lift doors slid open and two dishevelled men in wheelchairs rolled towards her, followed by a mountain of a man carrying a set of crutches.
"Oh, Lord," she mouthed, "retard alert."
Just then one of the ‘retards’ spoke to the man walking beside his chair. His voice carried to the reception desk and Lee-Anne groaned. Not only retards…but foreign ones to boot.
Jake reached the desk, and in his thickest Kiwi accent asked to see the boss.
"I beg your pardon?" Lee-Anne replied. It took Jake three more attempts before she understood what he was saying. She hadn’t looked at the other two visitors, who were now almost purple-faced trying not to burst out laughing.
Roxanne was in the office behind the reception desk and had heard both what Lee-Anne had muttered when the lift opened and the ongoing conversation. Recognising the voice, she wondered what Jake was up to, but decided to go along with it. She popped her head round the door.
"Can I help with anything?" she asked innocently, trying not to look at Jake.
"Oh, could you, Roxanne? This…gentleman, wants to see Mr. Taylor. I was about to try and explain to him that it’s not possible without an appointment."
Lee-Anne was watching Roxie for a reaction and didn’t see Jake wink at her.
"Well, it looks like they have come a long way to see him," she turned towards Jake and continued. "If you’d like to wait a moment, gentlemen, I’ll check to see if we can make an exception."
She walked towards Mike’s office, knocked and entered. Lee-Anne looked at Jake with ice in her eyes, and Jake matched it with a textbook Maori glare.
A few minutes later, the office door opened and both Roxie and Alex came out to speak with the visitors. They were instantly taken through to Alex’s outer office, much to Lee-Anne’s disappointment, and the door was closed behind them.
Mike came out of his office into Alex’s and instantly his face broke out into a smile. Rushing over, he bent down and hugged Jake.
"Man, oh man, I thought you weren’t coming. This is fantastic. Come on through and you can tell me what's been going on in reception."
As they went through to the inner office, Mike suddenly realised someone was missing. "Couldn’t Angie make it?"
"Oh yeah, she spotted the new fancy store in the main entrance and dragged Jinny in there for a mooch round. I’m afraid Star and David got roped in as well, but at least they can all keep an eye on her and carry anything she decides she can’t live without."
"Great, I’m glad Star is here, and it’s good that we all get to meet David finally. He’s been a pleasant voice on the end of the phone for too long. Who’ve you left in charge?"
"Darren. It’s about time that he flexed his muscles a bit. He pretends he’s a dyed in the wool field man, but he’s been showing more and more interest in how the office works."
"Great, it’s good to add more strings to your bow if you can. Now, want to clue me in on your little interaction with Lee-Anne?"
Jake wheeled over to the sofas and scooted out of his chair and watched as Kevin wheeled it out of the way and headed out of the office, saying he was going down to check on Angie.
"She still on trial?" Mike nodded. "Well, you might like to tell her to be a bit more tolerant. She called me and Shan retards."
"To your faces?" Mike asked in shock.
"No, mate. But loud enough."
"Ah, your bat ears picked it up," Mike grinned. "Don’t worry, she’ll be spoken to. She still has a month to go so should be watching herself."
"What’s she like?" Jake asked.
"Work wise she’s pretty good, but I think Alex needs to watch her back," he winked over at Alex. "She’s certainly very…ambitious."
"That’s not what I’d call it," Alex snorted. "Just watch her face when she comes in here." She went over to Mike’s desk and rang through to reception asking Lee-Anne to bring in some refreshments.
When she entered the office a few minutes later pushing a small trolley, Jake and Shannon had to pinch themselves to keep from laughing. She looked like she had a very nasty smell under her nose. Obviously keeping unexpected visitors happy wasn’t part of her remit. Just then the door opened and four people entered; the very large man she’d seen earlier, an extremely pregnant lady, a pretty black girl and a handsome man.
"I guess I’d better get some more drinks," she muttered before leaving.
"Nice lady," Star chuckled as she hugged Alex and Mike.
They all sat chatting until Lee-Anne returned with another trolley, and started handing round hot drinks and offering snacks.
"Thanks, Lee-Anne," Mike remarked. "Before you get back to reception, I’d like to introduce you to our visitors. It always pays to know just who is dropping in without an appointment, because believe it or not, some people are welcome anytime…no matter what they look like," he added looking at how all his guests looked a bit dishevelled from the long flight.
Lee-Anne wasn’t really too keen on finding out who they all were. It was obvious that they weren’t prospective clients, especially the two ‘retards’ who didn’t look like they had two cents between them.
"Okay, starting with the biggest," Mike grinned, "this is Kevin."
Kevin stood and shook her hand, which vanished in his instantly. When he spoke his voice seemed to rumble around the room like thunder. She was relieved that she could understand him.
"This is David, you may have spoken to him on the phone; he’s from our Sydney office."
Lee-Anne began to look a little confused. Didn’t they announce visits from Sydney? She knew in advance if someone was coming across from London.
"This lovely lady is Star. She started out as receptionist here until she was kidnapped on an exchange to Sydney," Mike laughed.
Ah, so this was the famous Star was it? Lee-Anne looked her over carefully, trying to see what she had to enable her to get a prestigious transfer to Australia.
"Hello, Lee-Anne. Welcome to the company. I understand you haven’t been with us for too long yet."
Star had a beautiful, melodious voice, and her smile was dazzling. Lee-Anne took the offered hand and smiled. This was a person she needed to get on her side if she were going to progress as far as she wanted in the company.
"Next we have Jenny."
"Ah, you’re Mr. Mitchell’s personal assistant aren’t you."
"That’s right, Lee-Anne. We’ve spoken many times since you joined the company. Pleased to meet you face to face at last."
"You’re not Australian are you?"
"No, I’m English, but have lived in Sydney for many years now."
"You haven’t lost your accent, you sound very grand."
Jenny didn’t quite know what to make of that last remark. Had she been complimented, or was it a snide remark?
"Okay, smiler in the chair over there is Shannon. He doesn’t work for us, but is a very good friend of everyone in the Sydney office."
"G’Day, Luv," he grinned as he wheeled towards Lee-Anne to shake her hand. She resisted the urge to back away. Less than perfect people disgusted her, and anyone in a wheelchair was definitely less than perfect.
Mike moved behind the sofa and placed his hands on Angie’s shoulders as he introduced her. "This is Angeline, you won’t have spoken to her as if she needs to talk to me she uses my private number. As you can see, she’s expecting a happy event, so we’re all on high alert while she’s here."
Angie reached out to shake Lee-Anne’s hand. "Before you think I’ve really over-indulged during my pregnancy, it’s twins," she laughed.
Mike then moved behind Jake and ruffled his hair. "Last, but by no means least, we have my very good friend, Jake."
Lee-Anne was dreading this. Out in reception she couldn’t understand a word he was saying to her. Jake held out his hand to her.
"G’Day, Luv. How ya going?"
She slowly took the offered hand with amazement. She actually understood every word. He sounded quite normal…for a retard…but something was different from the others, she didn’t know what it was.
"You won’t have spoken to Jake before, Lee-Anne. He either comes through direct to my private line, or his p.a. will call you and ask to speak to Alex."
Lee-Anne looked at Mike blankly. Was she meant to know who this Jake character was? Jenny decided to put her out of her misery.
"Lee-Anne, this is Jake Mitchell."
"Oh, are you related to our CEO?" she asked Jake directly.
Jake gave her his most radiant of smiles before answering. "You could say that, Luv…I am your CEO. Aaron Jacob Ira Caleb Mitchell at your service."
Lee-Anne dropped his hand as though it were a hot coal and rushed out of the office.
"Was it something I said?" Jake asked no-one in particular.
"Well done, my friend. She’s most likely grabbing her stuff ready to head for the hills," Mike laughed.
"That’ll teach her to call us retards," Jake laughed. "Give her a few minutes then Star can go find her, if that’s okay with you, Twink."
"No worries," Star answered in her best Virginia/Aussie accent.
"Twink?" Mike asked.
"Don’t ask," Star laughed as she got up to go after Lee-Anne.
There was no-one on reception as Star walked through, so she decided to try the kitchen and staff room first; both empty. She headed to the restroom, but that was empty as well. She went back to Mike’s office and went inside.
"She’s nowhere in sight. I think she may have done a runner!"
"Damn!" Mike exclaimed.
"Sorry, mate. I didn’t mean to scare off the staff," Jake said, looking crest fallen.
"It’s not a problem, Jake. If she doesn’t come back then she’s not the kind of girl we need in the company anyway."
"If it’s causing a problem, I’ll take over in reception for you until you can arrange for a replacement," Star offered.
"You’re a guest, Star. I wouldn’t dream of it."
"Don’t be silly, Mike. It would be my pleasure, and it means I can catch up with Roxie."
"Ah…girl talk. Alright then, just for a couple of hours until we can get word to Jackie to come in and cover."
Alex stepped out of her office just as the lift doors opened. A bright smile lit up her face when she saw who stepped out of it.
"Well, good morning, Jake. I’d forgotten how tall you were," she said, rushing towards the small group who were walking towards the reception desk. She hugged Jake, careful not to knock him off balance. "I’ve been waiting for this day forever. It’s good to see you on your feet again."
Jake smiled as he hugged her back, a little out of breath from walking from the car.
"He would have walked in yesterday, but it was a rough flight and he didn’t feel up to it," Angie answered, accepting her hug from Alex next. "Is it okay if we get him in the office so he can sit?"
"Angie, I can hear and speak, and you don’t need to treat me like a piece of fine china…but a chair would be good," he grinned.
They were soon in Mike’s office enjoying a chat over a morning cuppa. Mike soon entered with a folder full of paperwork.
"Whoa, that looks intense," Jake said. "Important client?"
"No, nothing as mundane as that…it’s the anniversary plans."
"Geez, mate. I thought we were just taking everyone out for a meal or something."
"Oh come on, AJ. When have you ever known Mike to miss out on a party?"
"Right," Jake sighed, "show us your plans."
They’d all been discussing mike’s ideas for some time before there was a knock on the door. Mike looked over, not expecting any visitors, and knowing no-one would get past Alex anyway.
"Come in," he called.
The door remained firmly closed and he shrugged his shoulders and turned back to the papers strewn across the coffee table. The knock was a little louder this time as was his reply.
"COME IN."
Jake grinned and looked at Kevin, who got up and helped him to his feet. Grabbing his crutches, he looked across at Mike.
"I’ll get it, shall I?" He walked over to the door and opened it, enjoying the look of shock on the face of the person standing in the doorway.
"G’Day, Luv. You gonna stand there looking like you’ve been slapped in the face by a wet fish, or do you wanna come in?"
Lee-Anne stood there with her mouth open, not knowing what to say or where to look. She snapped out of it when he heard Mike ask who was there. Jake stepped back to give her room, and she stepped slowly into the office.
"Well, well. Look what the cat dragged in. Something I can do for you?" Mike asked sarcastically.
Lee-Anne’s face fell. This didn’t look good. She was hoping that a quick apology would allow her to get back to work, but obviously it wasn’t going to be as easy as she thought.
"Please, Mike…"
"Mr. Taylor, thanks."
"Sorry…Mr. Taylor. I came to apologise for yesterday."
"Well, young lady, I think you’ll need to do a lot more than that. Mr. Mitchell has to be first on your list, with Shannon coming a close second. Then let me see, there’s myself, Alex, Roxie…need I go on?"
"I realise that I was less than professional yesterday, and I don’t think that there are enough hours in the day for me to apologise enough for my disgusting behaviour, but I really want a second chance…"
"You want?"
Lee-Anne realised that she was skating on extremely thin ice and didn’t know what she could do to save the situation. "I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound demanding, but…"
"But you thought that we’d forget about yesterday after a good night’s sleep and everything would be cool again today?" Jake asked.
"Something like that," Lee-Anne muttered.
"Your attitude stinks, lady. You’re still on trial here, just remember that."
"Please, I’m only asking for another chance. Can you help me, Mr. Mitchell?" she pleaded.
"I think you’ve blown it, Luv," Jake said quietly. "It’s not up to me anyway. I don’t tell Mike who to hire and fire, and he doesn’t tell me."
"See Alex on the way out," Mike said, turning back to his papers.
"Ah well, more interviews ahead then. You want to hang around for them, Jake?"
"No, mate, you’re on your own. As soon as the party is over I’m taking my little lady home. Don’t want her popping in enemy territory, our babies are gonna be Aussies," Jake grinned.
