Other Side of Town Ch. 03

There was nervous apprehension as we waited for the meeting to begin. Sarah, our team leader sat directly across from me at the long table...she was also the only one who knew about my life on the other side of town.

I averted my eyes from her. I only felt comfortable with her when we were alone.

"So, uh, 'John'-how was your weekend?" she asked loud enough for everyone to hear.

I blushed and immediately hated myself for it. What is she getting at? Does she know how I spent my weekend?

"Fine," I said, "...kind of quiet...didn't do anything special...but it was relaxing."

The smirk on her face made my heart sink and caused my nerves to go on high-alert.

I waited for her to say something awful, but she stayed quiet.

I cursed at myself: Goddamnit, John-how much longer can you live like a scared little kid? Why do you want to constantly live in fear?

The door leading from the office of the company president swung open and he walked into the conference room followed by a youngish guy in an expensive suit. They stood at the far end of the table.

I was still trying to surreptitiously look for ominous signs on Sarah's face, so I didn't look closely at either of the men.

The company president began speaking:

"We will make this as short as possible, I know you all want to get back to the project...anyway, I'm sure most of you have heard the rumors of a possible sale of our company...I'm here to tell you it is true..."

His words surprised me. That's when I looked first at the president then the man standing beside him.

HUH? WHAT? OH MY GOD-NO-THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING!!

Standing next to the president, looking official, and important, was Jeremy! Every ounce of blood drained from my face.

HOW CAN THIS BE?

The president continued: "Worldwide Technologies has purchased our company. We finalized the buyout this morning, and pending approval, the deal should be completed by the end of the week...now, I want to introduce Mr. Jeremy Hanson...Executive Vice President and Special Assistant to the President and CEO of Worldwide Technologies, Mr. Benjamin Vanderslice!"

Stunned-flabbergasted-completely blown away-words could not describe how I felt...

Mr. Benjamin Vanderslice is the fourth or fifth richest man in the world...his name is known to everyone, but he is a recluse, successfully avoiding the public spotlight all these years...very few people have ever met him much less seen a photo of the man...and he's the man I just spent the weekend with????

OH MY HELL...I became sick to my stomach-a sudden nausea overwhelmed me...I wanted to run out of the room and keep running...

Then I heard Jeremy's voice: "I want to welcome all of you to Worldwide Technologies...most importantly, I am here to reassure each and every one of you that your positions are safe, and we hope you will work for us for many years to come...I am not at liberty to answer any questions you may have today, but I would like to meet each of you right now...once again, we have no intention of letting any of you go-we consider you very important and essential people for the continued success of our company...thank you!"

My project partner, David, sitting next to me asked, "John, are you all right? You don't look so good!"

I had difficulty putting together a coherent sentence.

"Uh, I-well, uh, well...yeah...I'm fine," I managed to say.

Stars danced before my eyes. I was aware of my co-workers standing...a line had formed at the front of the table and I was vaguely cognizant of Jeremy saying "Hello, nice to meet you" as he shook everyone's hand.

A hand was on my shoulder. I heard Sarah whisper in my ear, "Billy, time to meet your new boss...oh wait-you already know him, don't you?"

My heart leapt out of my throat...beads of sweat formed on my brow...my hands shook uncontrollably...in a complete daze I managed to make it to my feet, and Sarah guided me by my arm to the front of the room.

Sarah and I were the last employees in the room. She approached Jeremy pulling me beside her. I stared at the floor. I couldn't bring myself to look him in the eyes.

"Sarah, good to see you," I heard Jeremy say. "Mr. Vanderslice wants me to thank you one more time...and to compliment you on your exquisite taste in boys!"

HUH? OH MY GOD-they know each other-or at least they have met before...why in the world was he thanking her?

He then turned to me and said, "John-or should I call you 'Billy'-that was quite the weekend, wasn't it?"

I couldn't believe he said that with Sarah standing there.

My face went from ashen gray to beet red. I was tongue-tied...I prayed to God he wouldn't say another word about our weekend in front of Sarah.

He continued: "We're going to finalize the deal by Friday, and Mr. Vanderslice returns to Dallas on Saturday...he wants you to come by the motel Friday night at 7pm for an intimate, uh, celebration, okay?"

I was stunned he said that to me in front of Sarah! I couldn't talk-I simply nodded my head in agreement...this was too surreal-am I dreaming?

"Oh yes, a heads-up-Mr. Vanderslice is going to ask you who you really are...are you 'John' or, are you 'Billy'?" he said.

HUH? What does THAT mean??

He said something to Sarah I didn't hear and they turned to leave the room.

He abruptly stopped, turned to me, and said, "Oh yes, Mr. Vanderslice wanted me to say one more thing to you...it's a favorite cliché of his...he wants you to think about it the rest of the week...to paraphrase: 'A coward dies a thousand deaths-the brave but one!'...see you Friday night!"

I stood staring at the door a good thirty-seconds after they'd left the room. My heart pounding; the blood racing thru my veins. A palpable sense of fear engulfed my entire body.

I am an intelligent and logical guy, but what Jeremy had said to me was beyond my comprehension.