“I’m so sorry,” Jess said. “I didn’t know.”
I handed her phone back to her. “It’s fine.” This wasn’t what I wanted to discuss at the moment. “I have to go. You’ll have full access to everything in my home, and I have a spare car with a car seat for Gina. All of your keys are on the key rack by the door. It’s the set with a unicorn keychain. That was Gina’s touch.”
“Everything will be okay. Have a good day at work.”
“You too,” I said.
The moment I walked onto my floor at the office, Allison approached me.
“Noah,” she said, a bit frantic.
“Good morning, Allison. What’s going on?”
“Eddie called out of work today. He has the flu.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
“He was supposed to meet with Hill Ridge Hospital today before their annual budget meeting.”
With Gina taken care of, I felt enough at ease to say, “I’ll do it.”
“You?”
“Don’t look so surprised. I started off as a salesman, remember?”
“Sorry, Noah. I know that. I’ll get you Eddie’s notes and call a car for you.”
Less than ten minutes later, I was in a car on the way over to the hospital. Admittedly, I felt excited about stretching my salesman legs again. Having someone drive gave me the opportunity to familiarize myself with the previous dealings with the hospital. Eddie was one of the best on the team, and I wanted to keep his good reputation with the client.
At the hospital, the staff directed me to the bank of offices on the tenth floor. Before stepping off the elevator, I straightened my tie and gave myself a little pep talk before putting on my metaphorical salesman hat.
At the reception desk, I announced myself, and the older woman brought me down the hallway to a large meeting room. The standard sized room looked like every other one I’ve been in, but this one had a beautiful view of the city. Admittedly, I was a little jealous of that.
Several hospital employees sat around the table.
The man at the head of the table came to meet me at the door. I assumed he was Eddie’s contact, Mr. Travis Holmes.
“Eddie Banks, it’s nice to meet you in person,” the heavy-set man said.
“Actually, my name is Noah Stone. Eddie is under the weather today.”
Travis frowned. “That’s unfortunate.”
“But I am the CEO of Stone Medical Supplies.”
“Oh,” he said with a surprised expression.
I smiled. That line always made people take notice. “I don’t want to waste any more of your time. I know annual budget meetings can take a while, so I’ll get started.”
“I like you already,” Travis said and sat down.
I opened my briefcase and pulled out several sheets of paper and placed them on the table.
“Stone Medical may be a smaller operation than what you’re used to, but I guarantee you won’t lose anything in the transition. You will have a dedicated team assigned to your account with twenty-four-hour support. And Eddie has also saved you ten percent by matching the supplies you already purchase with our warehouse.”
Travis appeared pleased by this development.
“And there are also quarterly discounts from each of our vendors that we share explicitly with our clients. We understand that money is important to Hill Ridge. And we will work tirelessly to provide the best service and supplies to your one hundred percent satisfaction. Now, does anyone have any questions?”