*
Once Slo
an and I had hashed out our individual duties, she left to pursue some new leads. My job would be focused on marketing our services and drumming up new business via the online offerings. Sloan would do it the old-fashioned way, by visiting clients and forming personal relationships with them. I knew that if she walked into any office on the planet, there would be no way she would walk out without a modicum of business. It crossed my mind to ask her how she accomplished this, but then I quickly decided that I didn't really want to know.
Let the magic stay magic, I thought to myself.
I walked out to the outer office to speak with Norma, but she was nowhere to be found. Since the phones weren't ringing, I shrugged and headed down to the warehouse.
The Baby Steps warehouse was attached to the executive offices, and despite the fact that it had turned a profit every year for the past 20 years, my father had never once invested a dime in renovating the place.
The offices looked like a throwback to a 1970s television set with the popcorn ceilings and the metal desks covered in faux wood paneling. There was even avocado carpeting in some of the offices, though most of it had been pulled up and replaced with linoleum. I shook my head as I looked into office after office and found the same worn set up in each of them.
"At least the computers are somewhat new," I muttered as I walked down a fluorescent-lit hallway, feeling vaguely like I was in some kind of low-budget horror flick. The lights buzzed and flickered until, at the end of the hall, one of them simply cut out and died. I swore under my breath, "We have got to fix this shit!"
"Jack?" Leah said as she stuck her head out of her office and gave me a quizzical look. "What are you doing down here?"
"I finished up with Sloan and I wanted to talk with you about some of the changes we're thinking about implementing," I said as I looked into her eyes. The differences between Leah and Sloan were as vast as they could be. If Sloan was a thoroughbred racehorse—tall, lean, well kept—then Leah was the wild pony. Leah wasn't fashionable or expensively groomed, but her wildness was alluring.
"I see," she said as she turned and headed back into her office. I smiled as I followed her. There was something about the way that she wasn't intimidated by me, or my position, that made her even more attractive. She sat down and motioned for me to take a seat in one of the cracked, vinyl-coated chairs at her desk. "So, what's the plan?"
"We want to renovate the warehouse so that we can offer a wider range of products," I began.
"Wait, what? We already offer customers over 20,000 products,” Leah exclaimed. "How many more do you think we can offer?"
"100,000," I said plainly.
"You have got to be kidding me," she said as her eyes grew wide. I could see her trying to imagine how we would fit the additional 80,000 products into the warehouse, and I knew that it was mind-boggling.
"We're going to overhaul the warehouse and create room for them," I said as I pulled a rough sketch I'd done for Sloan out of my suit pocket and smoothed it out on the desk. "We're going to expand upward and create a multi-tiered deck where we now have empty space. We'll create a system of lifts and stairs that allow workers to quickly access the products, and a conveyer system that will allow the packages to be carried to the packaging area once the workers have loaded the order into the appropriate box."
"So, we're going to become exploiters," Leah said. "We're going to drive our employees to do more for less. Your father resisted this, Jack. He hated the way big companies drove their workers into the grave by upping production until it became impossible for anyone to actually meet the quotas. This is not how Baby Steps operates."
"We're not going to exploit anyone, Leah," I protested. "We're going to streamline the warehouse and make it easier for the workers to do their jobs without interference."
"But you're going to expect more for less!" she cried as she shot up out of her chair and began pacing along the side of the small room. "This is wrong, Jack! This is not how your father ran this company! I don’t know what bone you have to pick with him, but he ran this company fairly and was always decent to his workers. I have a bad feeling about these improvements and what they're going to do to the workers who've been loyal for years."
"I'm not going to exploit people!" I yelled as I stood up. "Why do you think that only bad things can come out of this change? Why are you such a damn pessimist?"
"Because I've seen what this kind of change can do to people!" she shouted at me as she stopped pacing.
She was inches from me in the small room, and I could hear her breathing. I wanted to reach out and push the stray piece of hair off of her face as I looked down into her soft-blue eyes. I could feel the need that I'd pushed aside earlier starting to rise again as she held my gaze. The memory of her pressed against my chest at the wake flooded my brain, and I felt myself grow instantly hard.
Neither of us moved a muscle.
"When are you going to start this project," Leah asked quietly. "I need to let the workers know so they don't get spooked."
"We're going to begin construction next week, but it won't interfere with business," I said, picking up the drawing from the desk and holding it in front of my pants so that my straining seams wouldn't be as obvious. “The storage platforms will be installed above the work floor, so you all will have to wear helmets, but other than that, the workers will be out of your way.”
"Fine, then let me know what you need from me, and I'll do my best to keep us on track in the warehouse," she said still holding my gaze. I couldn't look away, nor did I want to.
Finally, she broke the connection as she turned and opened her office door. I nodded and moved past her, slightly brushing against her as I made my exit. I was two steps out the door when I turned and ran right into her.
"Oof!" she cried as my hand hit her midsection causing her to double over. "What did you do that for?"
"Payback for the bloody nose," I grinned as I put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, fine now that the score is even, you big oaf!" she laughed as she stood up and tried to take a deep breath. "Damn, you hit hard!"