“Hi, there,” she said as she came walking up. “I’m hoping you could help me out with this. Someone from accounting gave me this printout, and I’m having trouble understanding what it is exactly that they want me to do.”
“Well, let me see,” said Tom as he took the stack of paper from her and placed them on his desk. He frowned as he studied the columns and columns of names and numbers. “So these are…”
“The names and addresses of subscribers who canceled their subscriptions,” Scarlett supplied as she glanced in the direction of Natalie, who had just returned to her desk. From where Tom was sitting he had a perfect view of the PA, and also of Michael Madison, whose office was just beyond Natalie’s desk.
“So what is it that accounting wants you to do with these?” asked Tom.
“They want me to cross-check this printout against this printout,” said Scarlett, and dumped another stack of paper on Tom’s desk. “These are the people who took advantage of the digital subscription offer, which is cheaper than the paper one.”
“Okay, so what you want to do is—”
“Is thatGlimmer?” asked Scarlett, pointing to the young man’s computer.
“Yeah, I’m working on an article about spring cleaning,” said Tom. “Why, do you readGlimmer?”
“Do I readGlimmer! I only devour the magazine, and have done since just about forever. In fact my mom subscribed toGlimmer, and before her my grandma. You could say the Canyons madeGlimmer what it is today.”
“Loyal reader, huh?” said Tom. “I wish there were more of you.”
“Readership is dropping?”
“Yeah, circulation numbers are down across the board.” He smiled. “Which is why it’s important to keep loyal readers like yourself happy and renewing their subscriptions. I’m Tom, by the way. And you’re one of the new senior interns, correct?”
“Oh, how silly of me. Totally forgot to introduce myself! Yeah, my name is Scarlett, and me and my friend Vesta are Advantage’s newest hires. Yay!”
“Welcome aboard, Scarlett. Glad to see a new face around here.”
“Yeah, it means things can’t be so bad, if Advantage is still hiring.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but you are an intern, right? So not paid?”
“Yeah, Madison got a good deal when he got us. Lots of experience, and free of charge!”
At the mention of the name Madison, a cloud passed across Tom’s visage, but it soon passed. “I think you’ll fit right in. We’re a great little bunch here at Advantage.”
Scarlett noticed a post-it on Tom’s desk. On it he had scribbled ’15 Ways to Spice up Your Love Life.’ “If you need any help with that, just holler,” she said. “I can think of way more than fifteen ways to spice up your love life.”
A blush spread across Tom’s face. “You can?”
“Oh, absolutely. In fact I could show you ways no one has ever tried before except me.” She leaned in. “I have an adventurous streak when it comes to enjoying the pleasures of the flesh.”
Tom gulped a little.“Do you now?”
“There’s things a man can do to a woman that will guarantee she will hang on to him forever, Tom.” She spoke earnestly, looking deeply into the man’s eyes. She had taken a seat at the edge of his desk, and was thinking that if only he’d get rid of those glasses he’d improve his attractiveness with at least a factor of ten.
“Things… a man can do to a woman?” he asked, adjusting his glasses.
“If you want, I could show you,” she suggested, shifting her position on the desk. She’d popped a button or two on her blouse, and as she leaned in, there was a certain wiggling going on, and a certain jiggling, causing Tom to redden even more as he was granted a certain measure of insight into certain assets.
He cleared his throat.“I could use a few p-p-pointers, f-f-for sure.”
“Well, that’s settled, then,” she said, leaning back again. She could see that the kid was suffering from an acute case of vertigo, and didn’t want him to pass out on the office floor. “Why don’t we get together this afternoon, and I’ll share some of these insights with you, mh?”
“A-a-absolutely,” he stuttered. “Too kind.”
“No problem. See you later, Tommy.”
“See you later… Scarlett.”
CHAPTER 11
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Dooley and I had returned to Natalie’s desk, and decided to stick around for a while, picking up any clues we might gather as to the young woman’s state of mind. I could see that Scarlett was ‘working’ on Tom, using her not inconsiderable charm to educate the young man on the ways of how to seduce a member of the opposite sex. But if Gran’s plan was to be successful, we also had to disentangle Natalie’s complicated love life, which probably was a lot harder to accomplish.
And as we settled in for the duration, a woman came stalking through the office with purposeful step, darted one scathing look at Natalie, then waltzed into Madison’s office and slammed the door. Moments later the blinds were dropped, and Madison and his visitor were obscured from view.
“Oh, God,” Natalie groaned. She clearly had recognized this visitor.
Gran, who didn’t miss a trick, came hurrying up. “What’s happening?” she asked.
“Madison’s wife just arrived,” said Natalie.
“Bad news?”
“Very.”
Which is when the screaming began. We couldn’t understand what was being said, but whatever it was, it wasn’t happy or kind!
“Madison’s marriage is in trouble, is it?” asked Gran.
“Oh, absolutely. Wouldn’t surprise me if Deith is planning to divorce him.”
“They’ve got kids? Madison and his wife?”
Natalie hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.“No kids.”
“At least there’s that. The moment kids are in the picture, it’s that much harder.”
Natalie darted a quick look to Gran, clearly wondering what she knew, but said nothing.
“He’s something of a player, though, isn’t he, Madison?” Gran continued to pry. “I mean, I don’t know the guy, of course, but he looks like a real playboy.”
“He’s very loyal… to the woman he loves,” said Natalie.
“Which isn’t Deith?”
But Natalie wasn’t to be drawn out so easily. “I wouldn’t know about that,” she insisted.
“Oh, come on. You’ve been the guy’s PA for how long now?”
“Five years,” said Natalie, fiddling with a ring on her finger.
“So you must know the guy inside and out.”
“I take care of his professional life, not his personal one.”
Gran nodded.“Of course you do, sweetie. Of course you do.” She gave Natalie’s arm a gentle squeeze, causing Natalie to cast down her eyes and bite down on her bottom lip. Her emotions were clearly very near to the surface, and she was afraid they would come spilling out under Gran’s gentle nudging.
The door to Madison’s office opened again, and his wife came stomping out, slammed the door behind her, and stalked off through the office once more, drawing all eyes to her, and causing people to start whispering furiously the moment she had passed.
“Looks like that divorce is happening sooner rather than later,” Gran said.
Hope momentarily flashed across Natalie’s face, and when Madison called her into his office, there was a pep in the young woman’s step, causing Gran to comment, “Poor thing. She’s still hung up on the guy, even though he’s treating her like crap.”
“If Madison gets a divorce, maybe he’ll marry Natalie?” Dooley suggested.
“Never,” said Gran. “Guys like Madison don’t marry their secretaries.”
“I thought Natalie was his personal assistant,” I said.
“Different name, same job,” said Gran, shaking her head.
She returned to her own desk, and so did we. And as we settled in, Scarlett came tripping over, a triumphant smile on her face.“I’m going to teach Tommy how to seduce a woman,” she announced. “Natalie won’t know what hit her!”