Chapter 7

Now that she had broken the ice, Janet was sure that she could get George to bed her more often, especially if she could get Robin and Wilbur to sleep together on something like a regular basis. Oh, well, she would work on that as she got the chance.

Meanwhile, she was working on the World Class web site. She had those four videos she wanted to mount, plus she had a lot of text that she had to get in as well. The basic problem was that she had to present the story of a totally new product, actually, a new kind of product. She wondered how to do this without making it so wordy that it would quickly become boring. There was no question about it—Janet needed help.

How about a comic strip kind of rendering? Maybe she could be lucky and find a local person who could do the comic strip. At the moment, she did not worry about how much storage space she was going to need on the server, whatever it was, she would pay the bill if only her story could be properly told. There were three high schools in the city, surely one of them would have a budding cartoonist whom she could hire to do the comic strip she wanted.

Janet started with the high school that she had attended, which was the one where Wilbur was currently going. She called the principal's office for an appointment, and found that he had an opening this afternoon. Janet put on the nearest thing she had to a businesswoman's outfit, though it might have been a little bit sexier than most businesswomen would wear. Janet arrived exactly on time and was ushered into the principal's office. She was remembered, since she had graduated only the previous year.

After a few pleasantries, they got down to the real reason for Janet's visit. "I'm doing some work for a new company. I have the job of setting up their web site, and I want to make it something to appeal to everybody. The problem is, there are a lot of dry facts that have to be presented, and I want to make it as interesting as possible by having most of the text done as a comic strip. I don't know how to find such a person to help me with the cartoons, then it dawned on me that I might find such a person in high school. I don't care what sex the artist might be—a boy or a girl, I couldn't care less."

"Thank you of thinking of us, Ms Coxman. Would this company have anything to do with the new product that your brother is selling to the students?"

"Yes, it does. We are getting ready to market the product on a commercial scale. Right now, most of the work is being done by our family, but that will change very shortly. We hope to go commercial by next spring, though we don't yet have a firm date. Does that affect your interest in helping me?"

"Oh, no, of course not. I was just curious. I have not yet sampled the product, but I probably will very soon."

"I highly recommend the product. I have used Coital Bliss many times, and I have never experienced anything better. Even if my family had nothing to do with it, I would still recommend the product. But don't get me started—I could go on for hours singing its praises."

"I have heard nothing but good about it, so I would say that you truly do have something to be proud of.

"Now, to the subject of a cartoonist. You really need to talk to the art teacher, Ms Archer. I will set up a meeting for you. Will you be available at 10:00 AM tomorrow? If so, I will set up that time with her for you. It is an open period in her schedule, so she should have 50 minutes she can devote to your problem. I'll tell her this afternoon, so that she will we forewarned and have time to examine her list of students. Is this a paid position you are offering?"

"Yes, it will be for the right person, though I don't know how much we will pay. I will have to talk to our CFO before I will know the answer to that. Also, unless the candidate Ms Archer finds for me is spectacularly suited to our needs, I will be visiting the other two high schools to see if they have anything to offer."

"That certainly seems fair. Come in at 10:00 AM tomorrow and someone will escort you to Ms Archer's classroom where you can talk to her."

A few more pleasantries, and Janet returned home. "That had certainly seemed to be a productive meeting. If only the meeting tomorrow will be as good."

The next morning, Janet was at the school at 9:55. She was escorted by a senior girl to Ms Archer's classroom and introduced. Ms Archer was new this year, so she did not know Janet from the previous years, but she certainly knew of her. Ms Archer was one of those repeat customers who had paid for Wilbur's services several times, though she had not met Janet during any of those occasions. There were two girls and a boy in the room with Ms Archer, so Janet assumed that they were potential candidates for the cartoonist's job. Janet knew the two girls from their trips to visit Wilbur after school for the demonstration of Coital Bliss, but she did not know the boy.

After introductions, Janet talked to all three of the candidates with Ms Archer putting in a comment now and then. Naturally, the two girls had experienced Coital Bliss, but she did not know about the boy. Well, if he had not tried it yet, she would introduce him to it before he was hired. Experience with the product was essential to put across the ideas Janet wanted to get through.

Each of the candidates had samples of their work to show her, and they were all quite good. However, when Janet said that she mainly wanted a comic strip, the two girls backed down. Their stories were that they could do single cartoons, but they had no idea how to do a comic strip. On the other hand, John Sibley said that he had been drawing comic strips since he was in grammar school, and he had a small sample with him. Janet looked at the eight panels that she was shown and was astonished by the talent that she saw exhibited by John.

"Ms Archer, Mr. Sibley seems to have exactly the right touch for what I need. Do you object to me interviewing him at length with no one else present. Some of the information I would need to broach is still proprietary and needs to be kept secret."

"Of course not, Ms Coxman. As far as I am concerned, I have done my job and will not intrude on either of you unless you ask for me. I am thrilled that you have found one of my star students to have the kind of talent you are looking for. If you and Mr. Sibley would like, I can sign him out for the rest of the day so that you can go somewhere else and discuss your situation and requirements in private. If you do decide to hire Mr. Sibley, I am sure that we could arrange for him to transfer to the vocational training course long enough for him to complete your job. That way, he could work for you and still complete his required high school courses. How does that sound to your, Mr. Sibley?"

"That would be perfect, Ms Archer. I would love to land this job. I could certainly use the money, and it would get my father off my back about wasting my time with comic strips!"

"That sounds good to me. Thank you, Ms Archer, Carol, Angie. You have all been a lot of help to me, and I appreciate it. Now, if you could write Mr. Sibley's pass to accompany me, Ms Archer, we will get out of your hair."

The red tape was handled and John was released to Janet's custody for the rest of the school day. They got into Janet's car and she drove toward home. "John, please call me Janet. As you may know, I am only two years older than you. On top of that, we will need to be very informal to make this job work. Do you have any idea what I will want you to do?"

"No, I don't, beyond draw some sort of comic strip. Does this have anything to do with that goop that your brother is selling?"

Janet laughed and said, "Please don't let Wilbur hear you call it goop, or you will be out of a job in seconds. He is very proud of the product which he named Coital Bliss, and let me assure you, it does live up to its name."