Chapter 6

Scott thought long and hard about what to tell Ray if he would or wouldn’t take the offered assignment to replace Carley. He was not overly anxious to go to Central America because he enjoyed being back in the States. There were a number of thoughts that ran through his mind as he pondered about what he should do.

One of these thoughts had to do with Isabel. He wondered if she still would be available for Scott to be with since the seriousness of her involvement with this Army man was unknown. Another thought was with her now announced candidacy. If she would have the time to spend with Scott or if she was seen with Scott would that in some way negatively affect her candidacy? Who knows what the General’s reaction would be if Scott was affecting Isabel’s aspirations for higher office or her relationship with this Army man?

Another factor he considered was that if he turned down the assignment, would that in some way affect his career with the company? While Ray said it wouldn’t, Scott couldn’t be sure that would be true. Ray could casualty mention in passing that Scott had turned the assignment down to someone who didn’t know the whole story and that could turn out to be a mark against Scott.

A bigger and his most important thought had to do with his relationship with Sandi. He could be gone for up to maybe a year. It wouldn’t surprise Scott that Sandi who would shorty be divorced and with her new wealth let alone her good looks could have men pursuing her. With Scott in Central America Sandi could become involved with someone here that would effectively end the relationship Scott had with her. That was something Scott did not want to happen.

A side thought was of Pam either erroneously or purposely committing Scott to fix her plumbing problem. Her saying she would be “deeply appreciative” could mean many things and of course with her good looks he was thinking that maybe she could be willing to do the nasty with Scott. Getting involved with fellow employees no matter how good looking they were was a no-no and something Scott knew he shouldn’t do. While it would be nice to see if Pam was a true redhead it could also cause him more trouble than it would be worth in seeing if she was.

Scott had observed that a fellow employee Josh Martin had the hots for Pam. Scott thought if he asked Josh to sub for him Josh would jump at the chance to do this plumbing repair. He made a mental note to see Josh on his doing this repair.

The arrangements for him to go to Central America if he accepted this assignment would be handled by the company’s HRS department. They if he wanted would sell his brand new car and assign a property management company to rent out his condo. He knew he wouldn’t be hurt in his pocket book if he replaced Carley and in fact he would be rewarded financially because of the additional compensation he would be receiving.

In having what was becoming a very close relationship with Sandi he phoned her and explained the situation he was in and the decision he needed to make about going to Central America. It turned out that phoning her was the best thing he could have done.

After hearing what Scott told her about the situation and asking her what she thought he should do she said, “I would think you should say that you are not enthused about going there but if your boss can’t find anyone else to volunteer to go you should tell him you would be willing to go. You have told me your company has been good to you and you like working for them so I think that is the approach you should take. I think if you say that it will show you are loyal and it should enhance your potential for advancement.”

“You do know that I am coming into a large amount of money and I will never ever be able to spend all of it. A friend of mine who is a financial adviser and someone I have already consulted with tells me what the dividends and interest those funds will generate in a year and it blows me away how much money that is.”

“I have never done much travelling and now I am going to have an opportunity to do that because of this money. From what you have said and those pictures you showed me it seems like that Central American country is a very nice and picturesque country to visit. There is no reason why I couldn’t come down there and live with you for the time you are there. I think you know that I like being with you don’t you? I am sure I could find things to do during the day when you are at work with me now having a life of leisure. That is of course if you want me to be with you and do that.”

After thinking about what Sandi just said Scott responded saying, “How did you get to be so smart? What you say makes perfect sense and that is what I am going to tell Ray. And Sandi, if I am going there I want you to be there with me if just for the fact that when I wake up in the morning I want to see you there lying next to me. When you wake up it will be with that look on your face that I enjoy seeing.”

“Oh Scott! You say the nicest things.”

Bright and early the next day Scott was in Ray’s office. He told Ray that while he wasn’t enthused with the idea of replacing Carley that if Ray didn’t have anyone who wanted to do that Scott would. In the early afternoon Ray told Scott to pack his bag and thanked him for accepting the assignment. Ray also congratulated Scott on his promotion to Senior Project Manager which included a nice bump in pay.

Leaving Ray’s office Scott went to the HRS department and told them what he wanted done with his condo and car. He had them make a flight reservation and secured a travel advance along with a company credit card.

He couldn’t wait to phone Sandi to tell her the news. He knew she would be excited about going there from what she had said the night before. She could follow him down there once the divorce was finalized. He knew she also needed to make arrangements as to her home before she could leave.