Chapter 18

The first thing that Nestor did upon accepting the job at Solutions Incorporated was to quit his job at the Department of Motor Vehicles. After minutes of agonizing debate about how to best give notice, he chose to go with the short and sweet version, “I quit.” He did try to sound regretful, but the ear to ear grin and little victory dance probably undermined any appearance of sorrow at leaving he attempted. It didn’t matter to him that he looked a lot like a Russian dancing bear when doing his victory dance.

This is not to say that Nestor was exactly looking forward to working with Magus and Titus. The idea of being around the two egotistical, partially delusional oddball characters was rather scary. He found their insistence that extremely attractive women found them irresistible particularly humorous. Having grown up with three older sisters, he knew exactly how women felt about men who looked like Titus and Magus. The words irresistible had never been used by his sisters while describing such men.

Nestor was surprised to learn that his office was not in the same office area with Titus. It was in the office next door. He had looked at the door to Paladin Incorporated thinking that it was just another example of insanity that would plague this job. After being given the combination to the huge vault door that led to his office, Nestor finally was shown to his personal office by the receptionist, Claudia.

Nestor was pleasantly surprised to discover that his work area was quite large and filled with very comfortable furniture. He had a comfortable leather chair with a reading lamp to one side and a small table to the other side. There was a small conference table with four smaller leather chairs around it. Off to the side of the room was a desk of solid wood and a leather desk chair. Two of the walls were lined with empty bookshelves.

Once he had settled into his office, he was given an opportunity to talk a little with his coworkers. He had just sat down in the large comfortable leather chair when the man who had described his job duties entered.

He said, “Hello, Igor.”

“Actually, my name is Phil.”

“I wondered what kind of parents would name their kid Igor,” Nestor said.

“I don’t think there is anyone eccentric enough to name their kid Igor,” Phil said. “Come to think of it, Magus or Titus might.”

“Eccentric is a good word for describing them,” Nestor said. “Magus insists on calling me Hagar.”

Phil shrugged his shoulders and said, “You’ll get used to it. They are both absolutely brilliant. I enjoy working for Magus. I think you’ll enjoy working with Titus.”

“Really?” Nestor said.

“No two days are the same around here. I have plenty of time to read. It is a rare occasion when I have to look and act tough,” Phil said.

Nestor said, “I’m kind of worried about that look and act tough part of this job. I’m a poet at heart.”

“I know what you mean, I’m a historian,” Phil said.

Nestor said, “I guess there is about as much demand for historians as there are for literature majors.”

“Yeah. Magus really saved my life,” Phil said.

“How?” Nestor asked.

“I used to work at the DMV in Chicago,” Phil said. A pained look flashed across his face.

“Say no more,” Nestor said. Wanting to avoid further discussion of a painful topic, he said, “I’m kind of surprised by the office. I wasn’t expecting something so luxurious.”

“I know what you mean. Magus doesn’t believe in doing anything halfway,” Phil said. “Did Claudia point out the coffee maker, mini-refrigerator, and snack bar in the reception area?”

“Yes,” Nestor said.

Phil could hear Jake talking with Claudia. He shouted, “Poindexter, come in here and meet Hagar.”

Jake walked into the office and said, “Do you work with computers too?”

“No. He’s doing my job for Titus,” Phil said.

“By the way, my name isn’t really Poindexter; it is Jake.”

“My name is Nestor.”

Phil said, “He’ll be moving in with you and Stephen as soon as Willa moves out. That should be any day now.”

“Excellent. You’ll be able to help me with taking care of Cathy,” Jake said.

“Cathy?” Nestor asked.

“You’ll like Cathy,” Phil said.

“She’s our resident nymphomaniac,” Jake said.

“You have a resident nymphomaniac?” Nestor asked.

“Yes. We also have a resident prostitute, but it looks like she’ll be moving out soon,” Jake answered.

Nestor said, “Resident prostitute. Every house should have one of those.”

Jake shrugged his shoulders and said, “It has been kind of tough on me ever since Stephen and Mel got together. Mel doesn’t let Stephen help out with Cathy anymore.”

“Do you help out with Cathy, Phil?” Nestor asked.

“No. My wife would kill me if I did that,” Phil answered.

Jake said, “He’s married to our receptionist.”

“She’s pretty,” Nestor said. “You’re a lucky man, Phil.”

Phil said, “If you like her looks, I know of a woman who looks just like her.”

“No. I’m just going to take some time to relax before I jump into the dating scene,” Nestor said. “I just quit the DMV.”

“It took me years to get over working there,” Phil said.

“It is reassuring to know that I’ll recover eventually,” Nestor said.

Phil looked at his watch and said, “It is time for Stephen to go home.”

A short period of time later, Nestor opened the back door of the office building and led Stephen to his car. It was with more than a little pleasure that Stephen looked forward to the ride home. For the first time in ages he hoped that he might reach home without being followed, stopped, or touched. His hopes came crashing to earth when from behind him a female called out, “Oh, Stephen!”

Nestor turned to seek out the source of the voice. He was shocked to see a very attractive young woman approaching in a seductive walk. She was putting so much effort into it that she might as well have been Salome dancing the dance of seven veils. Her attention was focused entirely on Stephen.

Stephen squeaked and then said, “Protect me, Hagar.”

Hagar stepped between Stephen and the woman wondering if he was going to be able to stop her without getting physical. She was totally fixated on Stephen until she ran into Hagar. Looking down at her, he asked, “What do you want?”

The woman looked up at Hagar, her gaze starting at the base of his ribs before moving up to his face. She had to tilt her head back to see his face. She swallowed heavily and answered, “His baby.”

Hagar couldn’t believe his ears. For most of the interview with Magus, he thought the man had been pulling his leg. He said, “Okay, that can be arranged.”

Stephen squawked, “Really?”

“Really?” the woman asked with a tone of excitement in her voice.

Hagar grinned and then said, “Stephen says you must have my baby first.”

“What?” Stephen said perking up.