"Thank you."
"Oh, well, you're welcome."
"I love my job. I love traveling. I love numbers. I love the fact that you've given me the authority to make so many decisions on behalf of the company."
"You do a good job." He smiled. "Shall we take a walk back to your office?"
"Yes, sir. Of course."
"So I just found out that I have to go to a charity event next week."
"Oh, cool."
"Not really." He shook his head. "Black tie, ten thousand dollars a ticket. We've had to buy a table for Covington and Associates."
"Oh, that's awesome."
"You know, it's to fund, or help fund, the New York chapter of Every Kid Should Read."
"Oh yeah. That's ... awesome. That's where the ..." I paused. I couldn't quite remember what the charity did.
"They pair professionals with elementary school kids to help them learn to read. A lot of them have literacy below the current grade level."
"Oh yeah. That's cool. My sister is a teacher now. Well, she's a teacher's assistant, getting certified to be a teacher, but I know that's really important work."
"Awesome," he said. "Well, if you're interested, I have a table to fill."
"Oh? Me?"
"Well, you, your sister, your friend Oliver, right?"
"Oh yeah. My best friend."
"He's an attorney, right?"
"Yeah." I nodded.
"Well, that's three people." He laughed.
"Sure. I can ask them. And then my sister's best friend is also in town, Alice. She's actually living with me right now."
"Oh?" He stared at me, a raised eyebrow on his face. "She's someone you're seeing, or ..."
"Oh no, no, no," I said quickly. "She grew up with us. She wanted to live in New York City, and she doesn't have a job yet, so ..."
"Okay. She interested in finance?"
"I don't know," I said, shrugging.
"Because you know we have that new apprenticeship program starting in a couple of weeks. If she's interested, and you put in a good word for her, I'd be more than happy to let her into the program."
"She is looking for a job right now. She's smart. I don't know that she's necessarily interested in numbers, but I can check."
"Sure. I mean, if she's interested, then I can definitely interview her." He nodded.
"So that's four people. Great. We have a table of ten. What about other people from the office? I'm sure that Fairfield would love to go."
He sighed and shook his head. "I can't deal with Fairfield." He rolled his eyes. "Sucking up to me, talking numbers. At least when you come, you know to keep business in the office."