Chapter 4: Randy

After Jill hung up, I began the real conference with the rest of my friends.

“Okay, guys. What’ll we do tomorrow when she shows up? Anybody got an idea what we can ask her to do, other than the obvious, be a sex worker?”

“What’s wrong with that,” asked Eddie. “Hell, I’ve got a business degree, and I’m washing dishes at a goddamn diner for two human manatees, for Christ’s sake. Sex work is still work, right?”

“It’s a good point, Eddie,” said Bob, “and just as soon as her Dad and Mom find out about her new ‘venture’ and our company, we’ll have you explain it to them personally! I sure as hell won’t.”

Frank chimed in with a brilliant idea again. “Look, guys, this isn’t gonna take off and make us rich overnight, right? So aren’t we each keeping our first jobs until this one starts being profitable?”

“What are you getting at, Frank?” I asked.

“Well, with us paving roads three or four days a week, Eddie working over in Sparks and only available to talk on his breaks and after work, and Bob at McCarran’s all day long, who’s going to schedule the operation? Who’s going to coordinate with us when something happens that requires one or more of us to attend to it? Who’s going to track our expenses and earnings? What I’m saying, I guess, is that we need a business manager who can handle sales, run the books, and manage the schedules. Why not offer her that job?

With total consensus, we decided to nail down the “executive” position titles. Hands down, we agreed Frank should be the CEO, Bob would be the COO, Eddie, the Executive Marketing Director, and I would be the CFO. Lucky Jill - four bosses to please!

“Last two orders of business,” I announced. “First, Eddie and Bob, as heads of marketing and operations, you guys should decide who’s responsible for personnel hiring, performance evaluations, and firing, and remember we still want to hire one more entertainer!

“Second, what salary should we offer Jill tomorrow, and where’s she gonna work?”

Bob said, “That sounds like my AOR as the COO, guys. Since we all work during the day, why not put a desk in our living room and get a second phone line there? Once we’re profitable, we can rent a small office for her.

“Tomorrow, who’s free to meet Jill at 9:00? And where?”

“I can’t be there,” grumped Eddie, “it’s the end of the breakfast rush, and the manatees won’t let me leave in time to make that drive from Sparks. I bet Bob won’t be able to get there, either, unless he meets her in the parking lot at McCarran’s!

“How about you two,” he asked Frank and me, “do you think you’re both going to be working tomorrow?”

Frank replied, “No way to tell that before tomorrow when we check in. I guess the only thing we can do is decide tonight, which of us will skip work tomorrow.”

“Okay, coin toss?” I asked.

“Sure, as good as any other way,” Frank replied. “Heads.”

It was heads.

“Okay, I’ll meet Jill tomorrow since I’m the person her parents expect her to meet anyway. I’ll try to dig a little deeper into her computer skills and basic office management abilities. I doubt she’ll have any trouble with managing a payroll or our budget. Bob, did you hear anything about the sybians you ordered last month?”

“Yeah, forgot to tell you I tracked the shipment. They’re due to arrive tomorrow before 9 pm by DHS. I used the apartment’s address for delivery on the order because it was the only one I had then. I think you had better meet Jill at the apartment tomorrow instead of the trailer so you can receive the shipment if it comes before we all get back from work.”

I said, “Maybe Jill can show us what she knows by doing the receipt and updating the accounts ledger. I’ll leave it out on the kitchen counter tomorrow morning for her to review and update. That should give me an idea of her competence with bookkeeping, anyway.”