Conviction (Club Destiny 1)

“You just missed Mr. McCoy. He had to go to a meeting.” Deanna stated and sounded rather apologetic.

Oh, she hadn’t missed him by any means.

“That’s ok. I’m scheduled to meet with Jeff first thing anyway. Can you point me in his direction?”

“Let me call him and have him come meet you. I don’t want to send you wandering through here by yourself. Wouldn’t want you to get lost.”

Sam smiled back at the woman. She was cute. Her smile brightened her entire face and Sam could see the sincerity written across her features. She glanced down and noticed a long line of art deco picture frames decorating her work area. She picked up one picture of Deanna holding a very small infant.

“That’s my youngest. He just turned eight months old.”

“He’s precious. How many kids do you have?”

“Three. We’re hoping for more, but we don’t know if it’s the best time. There’s so much going on. My oldest just started kindergarten this year, and it has been a positive learning experience for me and Tommy.”

Wow, three kids? “You must be busy.” Sam stared at the other pictures, envying how happy Deanna looked in each of them.

As she turned back to say something, she noticed a heavy set man with a receding hairline – the epitome of what Sam expected Logan to look like – heading in her direction. This man looked tired. She only hoped it wasn’t related to the job.

“Samantha? Jeff Henson. Good morning.”

“Good morning, Jeff. How are you?” Surprised with his brief nod, in lieu of an actual response, Sam waited for him to continue.

“Follow me.” Jeff turned abruptly and walked back toward the way he had come.

Sam turned back to Deanna as if waiting for her approval, her eyebrow rising in question, as if to say “Is this guy for real?” Deanna returned her look with a frown and a shrug of her shoulders.

This man wasn’t exceedingly pleasant, and Sam was a little nervous about what had put him in that mood. Again, hoping it wasn’t the job.

“I’m to show you what I do so you can take over.” Jeff stated rather flatly as he sat down at his desk, which was cluttered with papers and old coffee cups.

Sam stared back at him incredulously. Was he for real?

When she thought about her boss, James Banten, she couldn’t imagine him looking so defeated or treating someone so rigidly. Sam hadn’t thought it was possible to deflate her excitement regarding this opportunity, but this guy was well on his way to making her turn back the way she’d come and tell Logan McCoy, thanks but no thanks.

Relying on her basic professionalism and her inability to beat around the bush, Sam didn’t see any other way to get to the bottom of his apparent hostility than to confront it head on. Her philosophy had always been to get right to the heart of the matter.

“Jeff, I appreciate you taking the time to give me some of the details of your responsibilities. I’m not quite certain we’re on the same page though. Am I overstepping my bounds by being here?”

“Whatever gave you that idea?” He asked without an ounce of emotion, turning to the oversized filing cabinet standing behind his desk. “I have all of the information on the projects for the last year in here.” He pointed toward the open file drawer that was in desperate need of some organization. “All of my soft copies are stored on a shared drive, and I’ll make sure you get access to them. What else do you need to know?”

Ummm what?

“Are you serious?” Wow – uncontrollable mouth!

The words came out before she could stop them. She prided herself on her professionalism, but this man was pushing her to her limits. Sam instructed her lungs to inhale deeply as she sat her bag on a nearby chair, cluttered with paper. Taking in a deep, cleansing breath, she turned and faced Jeff.

“I apologize, Jeff. That was highly inappropriate of me. I think we should just start over. Maybe we should talk for a few minutes?” She walked slowly to an adjacent chair, and after moving a couple of binders, she sat down. “Logan tells me you’ve been with the company for quite some time, and I’d like to get your take on the organization, the people, as well as the projects. Based on the information I’ve received, you’re the most knowledgeable in regards to project management and others look to you for your expertise.”

Ok, so she was laying it on a bit thick, but obviously this man needed something to boost his attitude. Sam watched as his eyebrows raised and she thought she could almost see the signs of a smile tilting the corner of his thin lips.

“I apologize for my attitude, Ms. Kielty. I don’t mean to be like this. It’s just that I… I don’t want to leave the company, but my wife is insistent that I do something to help fix our marriage, and this was her suggestion. She complains that I work too much, and she feels I put my career before her. I don’t think I do, but apparently, according to our therapist, that’s his conclusion.”