Chapter 56: Join Us

September 28, 1984, Chicago, Illinois

When I returned to work, I went up to 30 to see Mandy Peterson about hiring an executive assistant and to discuss my intention to swap the positions in September 1985.

"That's somewhat irregular," she observed.

"I understand, but Violet and I work well together, and I don't want to mess that up."

"Given I'm certain Mr. Spurgeon will approve, we'll make it work. We'll need to make it unambiguous in the employment letter. Do you want to use the same job description as you used for Violet, with the caveat of switching roles?"

"That makes sense, yes."

"What about specific traits or skills?"

"The two most important are that he or she is intelligent and personable."

"You have a lot of leeway, Jonathan, but not enough to hire a male executive assistant."

"I suspect you're right, but I will be hiring a female PM, though she won't start until June."

"I'll have to clear that with Mr. Spurgeon."

"Already done, but I know you have to check."

"I'm sure you're aware of what has happened with female PMs in the past."

"I've trained this one personally and will continue to do so. She's working on earning her securities license before she graduates in May."

"Just remember what we discussed about young high-flyers."

"I remember, but I'm extremely confident in her abilities, and in mine."

"Speaking of that — congratulations on landing the new client."

"Thank you."

"I'll get in touch with the agency that we use to hire secretaries. I'll confirm your availability for interview times with Violet."

"Thank you. May I make an off-the-record request?"

Mrs. Peterson smiled wryly, "Bust size is immaterial?"

"Exactly. Is there any way to put a stop to that nonsense?"

"The EEOC is beginning to take sexual harassment seriously, and I've apprised Mr. Spurgeon of that."

"Good. Thanks again."

I left her office and returned to 29. I asked Violet to step into my office and closed the door behind us.

"I need a big favor," I said. "I offered Chelsea the live-in nanny position, and would like you to pick her up tomorrow morning."

"Me? Why?"

"I felt it would look bad if I were to pick her up, given her dad's worldview; she agreed."

Violet rolled her eyes.

"I am not even going to try to address that crazy thinking!" she said. "Obviously, I'll do it."

"Thanks. She'll call in the morning when she's ready to be picked up."

"Cool."

Violet went back to her desk, and the rest of the day was routine until 4:00pm, when Mr. Gottschalk called.

"Lee Gottschalk is on the phone for you," Violet announced over the intercom. "He says you know what it's in reference to."

"The nanny agency," I replied. "Put him through."

"Kane," I said when I picked up the transferred call.

"Mr. Kane, this is Herb Gottschalk. Nancy Pearson informed me about your request."

"Thank you for returning my call. I hope we can come to some kind of arrangement based on the offer I made."

"I hope you understand why it's important we not allow clients to directly hire nannies who we have under contract."

"I do," I replied. "That is why I offered to pay your fees through the end of the year for Chelsea. As I said to Ms. Pearson, we'll obviously honor the contractual notice period for Jessica. If that is not acceptable, please suggest an alternative."

"We can't really make a practice of allowing this," he countered.

"I understand that, which is why I made an offer to compensate you for it. I am confident we can come to some mutually agreeable solution."

"I really cannot waive that provision."

"Then I'm notifying you verbally, and will confirm with a letter by fax and courier, that we are terminating our contract. I would like to point out that as of November 1st, we are no longer obligated. On that date, we'll hire Chelsea, and there is literally nothing you can do to stop it."

"Her contract with us prohibits her from working for a client for a year after leaving our employ."

"I understand. She won't be working for a client; she'll be working for Yūsuke Holdings, a corporation that is not a party to the contract. It is also not a competitor, so that provision, if it was included in her contract, also does not apply. I will allow you to accept my original offer right now, but if you decline, I will not compensate you in any way. You have fifteen seconds."

"I won't be extorted!" Mr. Gottschalk declared.

"It's not extortion; it's hardball contract law. Ten seconds."

"You won't get away with this."

"If you sue, I guarantee you'll lose, and you'll end up paying attorney's fees for both Chelsea and me. Five seconds."

"Fine," he said, surrendering. "Your business will never be welcome here."

"You'll have a check and a letter outlining the terms, as well as our intent to cancel the contract on Monday. Jessica does not need to report."

"Fine."

I heard the call disconnect, so I replaced the receiver. I actually had enough time to create the letter in WordPerfect on my IBM PC, and once I'd written it, I called Bianca and asked her to proofread it. She came to my office, read it, suggested a few minor changes, which I incorporated, and printed it out. I signed it, wrote out a check, and put both the letter and the check in a manila envelope. I wrote the agency name and address on the front, then called the mailroom to have it couriered to the agency, but charged to me personally.

I left the office a bit early and went to the bank branch on the 47th floor. I withdrew cash to pay Jessica for the final three months of the year, as I had no idea what the agency would do, and I didn't want to leave her in the lurch. Once I had the cash, I went up to the condo.

"Hi!" Jessica exclaimed. "You're a bit early."

"I am. I know this will come as a surprise, but Bianca and I decided we need a live-in nanny."

Jessica smiled, "I'm actually not surprised. Now that Bianca is taking classes, you basically have us here almost full-time. I assume you gave the agency notice."

"I did, though Mr. Gottschalk and I had a serious disagreement because I wanted to offer the job to Chelsea. In the end, he accepted my offer, but we did not part on friendly terms."

"He can be a real ... jerk," Jessica observed. "When is my last day?"

"Because of the way things went, it'll be today," I replied. "I'm sorry about that, but given how Mr. Gottschalk handled my request, it was the only way. I did send him a check that would cover your fees for October, but I can't be sure what he's going to do, so I'm going to pay you directly."

I handed her the envelope with the cash.

"This is too much!" she protested. "I don't make anything like this!"

"I'm paying you what I would have paid the agency through the end of the year. If they do pay you for next month, consider it a bonus. We're extremely pleased with your work, and we'll provide you with glowing references. However, I'm fairly certain the agency won't use us as references. If they give you any trouble at all, please call me, and I'll take care of it."

"I can't imagine he'd retaliate against me."

"I hope that's the case; if not, please call me. Will you stay this evening?"

"Yes, of course!"

"Thank you. You and your husband are welcome to join us on Sundays for Bears games if that interests you."

"Jennifer would lose her mind!" Jessica exclaimed with a smile. "The last thing she wants is Mom and Dad hanging out with her and her friends!"

"The invitation is open, but I understand. I never had a situation like that with my mom, but our circumstances were different. Anyway, I very much appreciate what you've done for Sofía and for us."

"You're welcome."

Bianca and Violet arrived a few minutes later. After I changed, Violet and I went down to the lobby to meet Jack, Kristy, and the Boys for dinner and to see Irreconcilable Differences.

September 29, 1984, Chicago, Illinois

On Saturday morning, we awoke to the news that police in Sicily had apprehended over 350 people suspected to be involved with La Cosa Nostra — the Mafia. That was big news, but not news that would move the US, European, or Asian markets, nor affect the Italian lira.

Chelsea called at 8:40am, and Violet left to pick her up as we'd agreed. While Violet was gone, Bianca helped me put sheets on the full-size bed in the nursery, where Chelsea would stay at least in the short term.

"How is this going to work?" Bianca asked.

"Exactly as we discussed," I replied.

"Yes, of course, but I meant with regard to Violet, CeCi, Deanna, and the other girls you're seeing."

"There actually aren't that many girls at this point. Nobody regular, anyway, except Violet, Deanna, and CeCi. OK, yes, Allyson and I have our monthly tryst after Jeri's dinners, but that's totally casual, just as it is with Alexa and Erin."

"And the Art School Girls are basically totally cool with a casual fuck now and again."