Jake opened his eyes the following morning with a start before dawn. He sat up in his bed and parted the window blind. It was still dark outside. He stood up and picked up the pack of cigarettes from his nightstand.
Jake brought out one and lit it. He took a long drag, walking out to the small porch outside his room. He sat on the wicker chair and took another drag of his cigarette. Stacy was still in confusion about what had happened the day before with Stacy.
He never planned to tell her he loved her. But there was no taking it back after it came out of his mouth, especially when she started asking questions.
Of all the reactions he was expecting from Stacy, anger was none of them. It surprised him that she got angry with him. He called her twice after she left him in his office but she declined both. So he let her be for the night. That was the very first time his girl would be angry with him in eleven years. The very first time she would refuse to talk to him.
He felt so mad at himself and at life. He sat on the balcony, chain-smoking for about thirty minutes before he went into his exercise room to punch away his frustration for another hour. Jake went to shower after that and left for work.
When he got to his office, he decided to first go through the report prepared by one of his assistants for the board meeting the next day.
“What?” He exclaimed after he went through the first three pages of the report. It was not organized at all, everything was haphazardly done. Jake reached for the intercom and put a call to the person who prepared the report.
“Come to my office right away,” he bellowed into the phone.
”What is this, Oliver?” Jake asked the assistant when he arrived. He was trying very hard to keep his anger under control. “What in the name of incompetence is this?”
“It’s the market review document, sir,” Oliver answered timidly. “I still have a few things to do to tidy it all up, though. I only sent it to you when you insisted I should email it to you right away.”
“Oliver, you have the guts to call this nonsense the report we are going to share with the board tomorrow?” He looked into the young man’s eyes in complete horror.
“I’m so sorry, sir,” Oliver looked agitated. “I will tidy it up before morning.”
“Stop being sorry! You are always sorry.” Jake bellowed in anger. “Do your damn job, young man!”
Oliver joined the company a year ago after his MBA, but Jake was still yet to believe the guy has an MBA or even a first degree for that matter since he’s been working closely with him for the past four months.
“Oliver,” he called out gently, trying to rein in his anger. “I will have to speak with Agnes. I don’t think we can work together. She will send you to another department.”
“I’m so sorry about this, sir,” the younger man started. “I’ll adjust, I promise.”
“Look here, young man,” Jake set his elbows on the desk. “I will not recommend your dismissal. But you need proper training.”
“Okay sir…, thank you, sir,” Oliver looked a bit relieved.
“I will speak with Agnes and see how we can go about that. But surely you can’t fit in here with me. I don’t have the time to babysit anyone!”
Jake picked up the phone and made a call to Mark, another of his assistants, to come over. He turned to Oliver after the phone call and said, “You may leave.”
The young man walked away dejectedly.
Jake leaned back in his chair. The day was not going the way he hoped at all. He reached for his phone and called Stacy. He realized, to his bewilderment, that she had blocked him.
“Oh shit! Shit!” He muttered and dropped his phone back on his desk. The phone started ringing almost immediately. He quickly reached for it and checked the screen. It was Claire, his ex-wife and mother of his six-year-old daughter, Katie, calling.
“Just what I need,” he muttered to himself and rolled his eyes as he picked the call. He would have preferred not to, but he knew Claire would keep calling every single minute until he answered her.
“What!” He shouted into the phone.
“Good morning you too,” she replied with the same vigor.
“What is it this time, Claire? You know I’m at work.”
“I got a job in London,” she announced.
“And…?” Jake asked impatiently.
“And Katie will have to come down to be with you in New York for the summer.”
“What? You know that’s not possible. We already discussed this.” He stood up and started pacing around his office. “You said she can stay back with you for summer, so I didn’t have to take time for vacation until Thanksgiving and Christmas.”
“Well, I guess you will have to reschedule your plans.”
“You know I can’t, Claire,” he retorted. “I am the freaking VP. I can’t just up and reschedule just like that.”
“Sydney, my UK agent, got a spot for me in a new drama series,” she scoffed into his ear. “The pay is good. I can’t just let it slip by.”
“So, what do you want me to do now?”
“We can work something out though,” she said in that sneaky voice of hers he hated so much. “If you like.”
He already knew the new job was an excuse. She just wanted to squeeze money out of him. She comes up with silly excuses to take money from him, not minding that he pays the child support and alimony when due.
“Claire…” He sucked in a deep breath and closed his eyes to lower his rising agitation. “What do you want? I’m busy.”
There was a long silence before she finally said, “I will take Katie with me if you can buy her a return ticket and also pay for a babysitter for the duration of our stay in London.”
“Okay, fine,” he said reluctantly and returned to his seat. “I will call you at night.” He snapped and quickly disconnected the line. Claire knew how to make him miserable.