T he work was going slower than we expected.
“The old system is harder to get out than I thought it would be,” Andy said.
“We’re under a pretty tight deadline.” I didn’t need any more problems than I already had.
“Skip, when you’re dealing with a building of this size, there are bound to be surprises.”
One of the surprises was that we still didn’t have our 50 percent down. Michael had called on my cell phone, eating up my minutes, and told me to check into it.
“Skip, we’ve put you in charge of this project. I’m taking some serious heat from Jaystone. Now, don’t let me down. You just walk into that office and tell them that we can’t work like this. We’re covering all the hardware, software, the labor, and blah blah blah blah blah.” That’s what I heard.
One crisis after another. As the Person in Charge of the Project, I guess that’s what I was paid for. Putting out fires and finding solutions. So far, I hadn’t done a very good job.
Sarah was in her office, door number three, right next door to Feng’s door number two. There used to be some show on television where people had to choose a door to see what their prize was. I was starting to believe there weren’t a lot of prizes behind any of these doors.
“Skip, what can I do for you? More problems with Feng?”
Damn she looked good. A sleeveless shell top of gauzy white, and a cranberry-colored skirt that hit above the knees. Either she had money, or she knew how to bargain shop. And she wore it very well. Em was a sharp dresser when she needed to be, but this girl was just plain hot.
“No. No Feng confrontations. Not yet. Michael called today and asked about the down payment on the security system.”
“Do you mean we haven’t sent that yet?”
“He says no.”
“Skip, I apologize. I’ll call bookkeeping, and I’ll let Sandy know. He won’t be happy about this. Don’t you worry about it anymore. Do you understand? I’ll take care of this right away.”
“Sarah, I’ve got one more money question.”
She gave me a quizzical look. “Yes?”
“The bonus.”
“Bonus?”
“Yeah, you know, for pretending that you and I-”
“What about it?”
“When, you know, when do-”
She frowned, sitting behind her glass-topped desk, and reached down, tugging her skirt just a little farther down. People who live with glass desks-“I told you that Sandy was getting a big payoff.”
“You did.”
“You’ll get paid for your…” she hesitated, “extra services, when he gets paid. Is that a problem, Skip?”
“No, no, no. I just wondered. We hadn’t really talked much about it, and-”
“If that isn’t a problem, is there anything else?”
There wasn’t. I’d gotten nothing. But, I’d been promised everything, so it was all good, right? Sarah motioned with her hand that I should leave, and I had the impression her message was “don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out.” The room was about twenty degrees colder than when I’d gone in.
I walked up to the entranceway and Andy and another installer were pulling cable from the ceiling.
“Skip, this is what I’m talking about. I think there was another system that someone used a long time ago, before the newer system was installed. So this means two old systems that were up there. We need to clean this out. I’m thinking we’re going to have to tack on a day or two extra.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. Michael would be upset, Michael’s bosses would be upset, and somehow I knew this was going to affect my commission.
Jim Jobs was on a ladder halfway down the entrance hall. “Hey neighbor.” He smiled at me, taking ceiling tile out and stacking it on top of his ladder. “Andy tell you that there might be two systems up here?”
“He did.”
“Not that I’m takin’ credit or anything-”
“Credit?”
“Yeah. I found ’em yesterday. Told Andy, we can’t be puttin’ new lines in when we’ve got all these old lines. Not just the last installation, but one from a long time ago.” He gave me a big smile and if those two front teeth weren’t missing, I might have considered punching them out. J.J. reached up and pulled another tile from the ceiling. Damn.
This guy was supposed to be a runner. Now he was a technical consultant? And he was cutting into my paycheck. The worst part was, I’d hired him. Was there a sign on my back that said “Dumb Ass”?
“Hey, pard.” James came walking through, carrying a cardboard box under each arm. “I guess we’ve got Feng backed down from that ‘do not leave the building’ crap. Sandy and Sarah say as long as we are checked when we leave, we’re free to go to lunch. Good deal, eh?”
“You got the permission?”
“I just asked Sandy, Skip. Hey, no need to get upset. You’re in charge. You’re the man. I just wanted clarification.”
What happened to Person in Charge of the Project? I think the entire title evaporated that morning. Almost everyone on the project knew more than I did, and had taken more responsibility than I had. I looked at my cheap Timex watch. It was nine thirty in the morning. Nine thirty. The day had just started, and I was ready to go home. For good.
By noon I’d run into two more problems. The manufacturer had sent the wrong smoke alarms and we were short by twenty motion detectors. Unless we could pull them from another job site, it would be another two or three days from the time they were shipped. My head throbbed and I wanted a beer. Two, no make that three beers, back to back.
“Ready to rumble, amigo?”
“What?”
“Lunch? A little trip to see where the Fengmiester went yesterday?” He stood in the entranceway, pointing to the glass door.
“I shouldn’t leave, James. There are about a million problems with this project, and-”
“You need to get away. Come on.” Throwing his arm over my shoulder, James walked me out the door. “We’ll follow up on those addresses, stop at a little bar I know and have a sandwich and a beer. You’ll feel better. Trust me.”
I get into so much trouble when I trust James Lessor.