Chapter 42: Jason Stuart

December 3, 1990, Chicago, Illinois

“Steve, this is Juana Morales,” Charlie said, indicating the cute, young Hispanic woman standing just to her left at the door to my office.

“Come on in,” I said. “Would you like coffee, tea, juice, or water?”

“Coffee, please.”

“Charlie, would you please ask Kimmy to bring a pot of coffee?”

“Sure thing!”

“Have a seat on the couch, if you would,” I offered as I sat in one of the comfortable chairs on the other side of the coffee table, facing the couch.

“Thanks, Mr. Adams,” Juana said.

“I’m going to have to have a word with Barbara and Charlie,” I chuckled. “NOBODY calls me Mr. Adams! That’s my dad, who sits on our Board of Directors. Señorita Morales, please call me Steve!”

I was tweaking her a little bit to see how she responded.

“Sorry, it’s not Charlie’s fault. She said that I should be informal, but my parents raised me to be very formal and correct.”

“I understand, but please, in our company, everyone goes by first names. That’s how we do things.”

Kimmy came in with a pot of coffee and her usual winning smile. She poured cups for both of us and offered cream and sugar to Juana, who accepted both. Kimmy closed the door behind her when she left, though I had just enough time to admire her cute little butt.

“I hope Charlie also warned you that my interviews tend to be short and that you shouldn’t draw any conclusions from that.”

“She did,” Juana confirmed.

“Good. Tell me why you applied for the position.”

“A friend of mine works for a company that your company did some work for. He said that Cecelia really talked up how great a place it is to work and how you treat your employees really well, and she has lots of interesting assignments. He knew I wasn’t happy with my current job and that he’d heard from Cecelia that you were hiring. So I sent in my résumé.”

“Why were you unhappy?”

“It’s boring work, and the management team doesn’t seem to care about the staff. At first, it was OK, but after three years, I’m tired of fixing bugs in an accounting package. To be honest, I wouldn’t apply for a staff programmer job if you had one in Los Angeles. I’ve decided that’s not what I want to do. I want to do interesting work and not do the same thing every single day for years on end. I’ve applied to a couple of other computer consulting companies in the LA area, but based on what my friend said and what I’ve seen so far, this is the place I’d like to work.”

“Besides interesting assignments, what motivates you?”

“Being appreciated, meeting people, having a chance to advance, and being paid what I’m worth.”

“And you don’t get any of those at your current job?”

“Not to the level that I would like, especially being appreciated.”

“Travel isn’t a problem for you?” I asked. “Los Angeles covers the entire Western Region at the moment. That means Seattle to San Diego and as far east as Denver.”

“I’m single, so no, it’s not a problem. If I had kids, well, I hear you have a bunch, so you know how it is.”

I nodded and chuckled, “Indeed! I see you’re fluent in Spanish, which is good. Any other languages?”

“Just English,” she smiled. “My mom’s family has been in California for nearly a hundred years, but we all speak Spanish. On my dad’s side, all of my relatives are in Mexico.”

“Why should we hire you?”

“I’m an excellent programmer with four years of experience, and I graduated near the top of my class at UCLA. I’m outgoing, curious, and dedicated.”

I nodded, “Is there anything you want to ask me?”

“Will you hire me, Mr., uhm, Steve?” she said with a smile.

“That’s not up to me, Juanita,” I replied with a soft smile.

She sighed and responded in a good-natured way, “I should have listened to Charlie.”

I nodded, “She would be your boss, if she decides to hire you, so yes, that would be a VERY good idea!”

“May I ask why it’s not up to the CEO?”

“I maintain a veto, but I allow my managers and directors to hire the people they want. They have to manage their teams, and that wouldn’t work very well if I imposed people on them, now would it?”

“No, it wouldn’t. I suppose I’ll just say that I would like to work here, and I appreciate the time and consideration.”

“You’re welcome! Let me get Charlie back. Who else have you spoken to so far?”

“Charlie and your office manager. I’m supposed to meet with Julia next.”

I got up and walked over to my door, and opened it. Charlie looked up from her desk, and I waved her over.

“All yours,” I said. “Come see me when she’s finished with her interviews.”

“Will do,” Charlie said.

“Thanks again, Steve,” Juana said, extending her hand.

I took her hand, shook it gently, and replied, “You’re welcome, Juana.”

When she and Charlie left, I picked up the phone and dialed ‘0’ to be connected to Keri.

“Keri, what did you think of Juana when she came in?” I asked.

“She was very nice and very polite. She needed to wait a few minutes for Charlie, and she asked me about NIKA and why I liked working here.”

“Thanks,” I said.

About an hour later, Charlie came to my office and shut the door.

“Well?” she asked.

“No veto here,” I said.

“Good. I need to talk to Julia, but Kimmy and Terry both liked her.”

“So did Keri,” I said.

“Keri?”

“I called her and asked how Juana behaved when she came into the office. I think how a person treats the receptionist says a lot about their character. Keri said Juana was very nice and polite.”

“Wild,” Charlie said. “I would never have thought to do that. It makes total sense. If they treat our receptionist badly or as someone inferior, we sure don’t want them on the team!”

“Exactly. If Julia doesn’t object, are you going to hire her?”

“Yes.”

“Then go see Julia, and if she’s cool with this, then get Elyse or Kimmy to type up an offer letter.”

“Standard compensation package?”

“Yes. The LA one, of course, because we take into account how insanely expensive California is.”

“Was my proposed bonus system approved for next year?”

“Yes. 2% of all billable hours when the client pays. 5% for up to a year if the consultant brings in the client themselves.”

“That 5% is even if they aren’t assigned to that client, right?”

“Yes. I think it’s a great incentive to bring in more business. I saw your projections, and it looks as if you’re going to be slightly oversubscribed for the first quarter, even with the new hires.”

“Yes, but that’s better than having someone sitting at their desk, not billing. Julia and I are watching closely and working with Elyse. I won’t hire until I can be sure I can keep someone busy.”

“Wise, but we want to be careful about turning away business, too. Have a chat with Dave and Cindi about using a consultant for bug fixing, testing, or on-site support in their downtime. I know our QA department is stretched thin.”

Charlie laughed, “Department? Shauna is a department? Who knew?!”

“That was my point,” I said with a smile. “We use the phone support folks to supplement, but they’re becoming busier as we make more sales.”

“OK. I’ll go talk to Julia now and then Elyse. I’m going to take Juana to lunch, then put her in a limo to the airport.”

“Sounds good,” I said.

Charlie left, and I returned to my work. She was back thirty minutes later with a hiring form and offer letter. I signed and initialed the documents and handed them back to Charlie. She thanked me and went to talk to Juana. They were back five minutes later.

“I wanted to say ‘Thank you’,” Juana said. “I accept!”

“Excellent. Welcome aboard! What’s your start date?”

“January 2nd. That allows me to provide two weeks’ notice and takes into account Christmas.”

We shook hands again, and they left. A few minutes later, Kimmy brought me my lunch, and I went back to work while I ate. I had just finished my lunch when Elyse came into the office.

“There’s a report on the radio of a collision between two planes in Detroit,” she said. “I turned on CNN, but other than saying that there was a collision, they don’t have any details.”

“It’s been a while since we talked about plane crashes, though I had my two ‘close encounters’ this year, which is more than enough for me! A collision sounds like either pilot or controller error, not terror.”

“I agree. I’ll let you know if I hear anything more.”

“Thanks.”

At home that evening, we found out that two Northwest Airlines planes had collided when one of them had turned onto an active runway while taxiing. CNN was reporting a death toll of eight on the DC-9 that had made the runway incursion. The DC-9 was destroyed by fire, and the 727 that had struck it sustained only wing damage.

December 7, 1990, Chicago, Illinois

“When do you need to leave for the airport?” Abbie asked as we made dinner.

“About 7:00pm. Jason’s flight lands just before 8:00pm.”

“Cool. He sounds like a really nice guy.”

“He is. Are you headed to the club tonight?”

“Yes. I’m meeting Henry, Trish, Jorge, and a couple of other people.”

“Not Leslie?” I asked.

“Oh, hell no!” Abbie laughed. “She’s not ‘goth’ or ‘punk’ and would never go to a club like that. I met her at Rose Records. She likes British Rock and was looking for imports. We got to talking and went out for Cokes.”

“I was thinking about it, and after talking to Elyse and my wives, I’m willing to talk about it with her. But you know the rules, right?”

“An STD test and rubbers.”

“Will having to get an STD test cause her to freak out?”

“I have no clue,” Abbie replied. “I need to sort of feel her out to see if she’s actually interested in you or not and take it from there.”

“When will you see her?”

“Sunday afternoon. We’re going to see Home Alone. I hear it’s hilarious.”

“Let me know. There hasn’t been much at the theatres lately that I’ve wanted to see. And let me know what Leslie says.”

We finished preparing dinner, got it on the table, and called everyone to the dining room. When we finished, I left my housemates to clean up and headed out to my car for the drive to O’Hare. I made surprisingly good time for a Friday night, only to find on the arrivals board that Jason’s flight was delayed by about twenty minutes. That proved to be optimistic, and he walked off the plane nearly an hour after the scheduled arrival time.

“Hey, Steve!” Jason said when he walked out of the Jetway.

“Hi, Jason. Other than being late, how was your flight?”

“Not too bad. We were twenty minutes late getting out of Atlanta and that messed things up on this end, I guess. We circled, and then when we landed, we had to wait for a gate.”

“Well, let’s get going. Jesse is hyped to see you!”

“He’s a great kid, even if he had poor taste in drivers!”

“You do realize he chose Earnhardt because I root for Bill, right?”

“He’s as ornery as Stephie ever was!”

“For sure,” I said.

Jason only had a carry-on, so we walked out of the terminal to my car and headed for Hyde Park.

“Sweet ride,” he observed. “Glad to see you still drive a stick.”

“It’s a bit of a pain in the city, but I have no interest in driving an automatic. When the time comes, I’ll make sure my kids all know how to drive stick.”

“Did you ever think of racing?”

I shook my head, “No. I like my fast cars, but driving 200MPH door-handle-to-door-handle with forty or so of my closest friends is just a bit too exciting for me! How about you?”

“I just work on ‘em! I’ve driven ‘em, obviously, for testing, but I only ever raced once. I finished second, but I just didn’t feel it, if you know what I mean. So I stick to building and fixing them.”

“How are your sister and the others?”

“Everybody is doing great. LeAnn is pregnant with her second kid.”

“Good for her! How are things with the team?”

“Pretty good. We need to improve, just like Bill needs to get back to form. I think you know all the stuff that’s going on in his life.”

“Yeah. Hopefully, next year will be better.”

“I’m not sure changing car colors is a good idea, though. He’s always driven a red car.”

“Say what?! Changing colors? No way!”

“Yes. Coors wants to push their ‘Light’ version, so Bill will be driving a blue ‘Coors Light’ car.”

I sighed deeply, “I think that’s a BAD idea, but I know the sponsors write the checks. What about Alan?”

“Between you and me only, Zerex is leaving, and we have a deal with Maxwell House. Junior Johnson has been sniffing around again, trying to get Alan to drive a car for him, but Alan wants to run his own team.”

“Another blue car?” I chuckled.

“Yep. But as you say, the sponsor calls the tune.”

There was a bit of traffic on the way home, but it didn’t take too long. Jesse was waiting for us and just about bowled Jason over when we came in the door.

“Hey, Jesse!” Jason exclaimed, scooping my son into his arms.

“Did you bring your race car?” he asked.

Jason laughed, “It’s not mine! It belongs to my boss, Alan Kulwicki.”

“Let me have your bag, Jason, and I’ll take it up to your room. Jesse can take you to the great room to see the others.”

“Thanks, Steve!” Jason said.

Jason put Jesse down, and Jesse grabbed his hand and led him away while I took Jason’s ‘weekender’ bag upstairs to the temporary guest room. I went back downstairs to find Jason surrounded by my kids as Jesse introduced everyone.

“You have a fantastic family, Steve, if a bit out of the ordinary!” Jason said with a grin.

“Our nanny isn’t here, nor are Jesse’s moms, and my sister is out with her boyfriend. You’ll meet them before the weekend is out. Did anyone offer you a drink or something to eat?”

“Jessica did. I’m fine for now, thanks.”

“Jason, did Stephie ever tell you about our sauna?” Kara giggled.

“Kara!” I said, trying to sound stern but starting to laugh instead.

“Oh, I heard all about Steve’s escapades!” Jason said with a small laugh. “Stephie felt I needed to know before she agreed to marry me.”

“Now I’m scared,” I chuckled.

Jason laughed, “Just like I was that Summer when I asked Stephie out on a date when she was with you.”

“She was only with me temporarily,” I said. “And only because you took up with Rose.”

“Not the smartest thing I’ve ever done,” he sighed. “But we set it right. Do you know one of the last things Stephie said to me?”

I shook my head, “No.”

“That I should find a girl to spend my life with. She made me promise, but I just haven’t been ready to do that.”

“It’s only been three years,” Kara said.

Jason gave a rueful smile, “When she knew she was going to die, she started pointing out girls she thought would be right for me.”

“Damn,” Elyse said.

“That’s my Peaches,” I said, deliberately using my pet name for her. “It fits her personality perfectly.”

“And your situation is exactly what she expected from her Yankee,” Jason added.

“Steve has some photo albums if you want to look at them,” Kara said.

“I’d like that,” Jason said.

I went to get them, and we spent the next hour going over them. Jesse, Matthew, and Birgit paid rapt attention, asking questions about all the people in the album. When we finished, Jason decided to head to bed, and after we put the kids to bed, my wives and I went to our room.

“Do you think you’re pregnant, Jess?” Kara asked.

“I should know by Tuesday!”

“I guess it’s so late in your cycle that trying doesn’t matter now,” I teased.

“Do you want to DIE, husband? I expect a good, thorough fucking before I go to sleep!”

“Me, too!” Kara giggled.

“I think I can oblige,” I smirked.

December 8, 1990, Chicago, Illinois

“Good morning!” I said to Jason when he came to the kitchen where I was drinking coffee. “Abbie, this is Jason Stuart. Jason, this is Abbie, our nanny.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Jason said.

“Nice to meet you, too! You’re the guy who works on race cars, right?”

“Yep. I work for Alan Kulwicki, a NASCAR driver.”

“Go fast, turn left, die of boredom,” Jessica teased.

“Ignore her,” I chuckled. “For her, excitement means putting in a Foley catheter or disimpacting a bowel.”

“Ew!” Abbie said, making a face.

“Watch it, Tiger!” Jessica warned.

“Or what?” I chuckled.

“Are they always like this?” Jason asked.

“Pretty much,” Abbie said. “I hear he’s been like this forever.”

“That’s true,” Elyse said. “If there is a bigger smart ass than Steve, I don’t know who it is!”

“Stephie!” Jason said.

“Very true!” I agreed. “Though I think Jesse is working on being the all-time champ!”