Chapter 33
EMPIRE
"Look, I can’t do it all! There
just are not enough hours in the day, Connor! I never planned on
being this busy, and I don’t like it! Our home life has gone to hell;
we never see each other any more, and when we do we’re too tired to do
anything about it. Godammit, this is not the way I want to spend
the rest of my life!"
Sarah couldn’t help it, she smiled, then chuckled, then finally laughed out loud. "Listen to the empire builder! I thought you wanted to run two businesses."
"No, you got that wrong. I wanted to start two businesses. I wanted to own two businesses. I never said I wanted to run two businesses!" He looked down at her, his face softening. "Connor, I never see you any more. I can’t do this, it’s necessary to my life that I see you, and talk to you, and touch you. Please, Connor, get with me on this. I can see why it’s funny to you---I know I just bulled ahead and did it, but now I’m sorry---help me, babe. I need your help."
Sarah’s face softened also. "You know I can’t resist you when you talk like that. I’ll help all I can, but Johner, the school has got me hopping ten hours a day even with you doing the administration. What do you want me to do?"
"Figure out a way for me to get out from under this disaster I’ve built for myself. What can I do?" He looked at her helplessly.
"Surely someone with the brains to run two highly successful businesses can figure that out? It looks fairly simple to me. Find someone to help you."
Johner’s face changed from helplessness to uncertainty. "Great idea. But who, Connor, who?"
"I’ve got that covered too. Carly."
He was surprised. "Our Carly? Would she be able to do the job?"
"You have been busy! Too busy to look around you, I guess." Connor shook her head. "Carly is a marvel of organization. She’s got the house totally under control, not to speak of John and me, and you too, if you weren’t too busy to notice. How do you suppose it is that the house is running smoothly when you’re working fourteen hours a day, I’m working ten, and John’s going through exams? Carly is responsible for the whole thing, and she does it without the slightest effort. Johner, you’d be crazy not to hire her."
"Oh. Well OK. I guess it wasn’t too dumb when I got John to transfer up here so they could live with us, huh?" Johner grinned at her. "Remember, I said I thought they might be a help."
"So you were right! And I said we wouldn’t have the house to ourselves any more. Well, I don’t know what good it would do us anyway, we’re never there." She put her hand up to his face to caress it lightly "We need time for ourselves, babe, you’re sure right about that. We do need to make a major reorganization, and I think the best thing for us to do is to put it straight into Carly’s lap. If anybody can figure it out, she can, and we’re too busy to do it, even if we knew how!"
******
They put it to Carly at the dinner table that night. By making some major schedule changes they both arranged to be there; and Johner had even managed to make enough time to cook dinner.
"What a pleasure! My family sits down to eat my food; now this is what makes it all worthwhile!" Johner was smiling from ear to ear as he served them.
"God, you’re a frustrated housewife!" Sarah laughed and shook her head.
"No, no! I’m a frustrated chef! Now eat, everyone. After dinner comes the serious talk; you know there had to be something to get us all together at one table. Now eat!"
When dessert had been served and consumed, Johner called the meeting to order.
"Carly, Connor and I have a proposition for you."
Carly looked up, surprised. "Me? What?"
"How would you like to make an enormous salary for doing what you’re good at?"
"Now wait just a minute! She may be good at it, but it’s not for sale! It’s just for me!" John grinned at Carly, who blushed.
Johner grinned too. "Carly, get used to it. There is no privacy in this family; sexual matters have been common currency ever since I first came here. It never gets any better, and it’s mostly John’s fault, so blame him.
"Now, if I may be allowed to have the floor for a moment. It has been brought to my attention that Carlita, our own little Carly, is a wonder at organization. And boy, do we need it! Connor and I are foundering under a load of work that would kill two horses; and Carly, we are hoping that you will find it in your heart to give us back our lives.
"What I am offering here is a post as---I don’t know what to call it; Connor, we didn’t figure that out---anyway, what we want is for you to get in there and organize. We figure that what’s too much for two people might be just right for three, if one of them is a genius at organization.
"We need help. Our lives are going to hell because there’s no time left for living; work takes up all the available hours. We need to split up the workload three ways, with each of us doing what we do best, and none of us working more than eight hours. Do you want to try your hand at doing this for us? First the organizing, and then taking on a full time job as one third of this triumvirate The salary would be the same as what each of us is making. How about it?"
Carly looked around at the other three faces at the table. "I don’t know what to say. I certainly need to work, and to tell you the truth, this kind of management stuff is what I think I’m good at. John, what do you think?"
"This one is for you to decide, but I think you’d be extremely good at it, and I think you’d like it. Of course if you don’t it’ll be a little hard to get out of it. Mother-in-law and all that, you know." John grinned at his mother, who batted at his shoulder.
"Can I have a couple of days to think about it?" Carly was looking a little overcome.
"Well, of course. As long as you need. Just keep in mind that I’m dying of Connor deprivation, and it may soon be too late." Johner laughed and put his arm around Connor.
******
Carly thought about it all right; in three days she had a tentative chart of organization drawn up.
"Where in hell did you get the information?" Johner was stunned; she had included practically everything necessary to the operation of both businesses.
"Well, a lot of it is usual with any business; and then I sat at the dinner table with you two for a lot of nights, listening to the problems. I heard which ones were giving the trouble, and which ones you did and didn’t like to deal with. I paid attention because it’s the kind of stuff that interests me." Carly was focused and serious, intent on the work at hand.
"Carly, if you want the job, it’s yours. Please!" Johner’s head went down to look at the chart again; He studied it for a minute, then looked up grinning with elation. "Christ, Conner, look! I don’t have to do any financial stuff! Woh! That would be a deliverance all by itself! Carly, do you like to do that stuff?" He looked unbelieving.
"Yes. I took two semesters of accounting, just because I thought it might come in handy, and it was interesting. It satisfied a requirement, and I liked it besides."
Connor was scanning the chart also. "God, Johner, she’s going to do my paperwork! Carly, you’ve got all the awful jobs! Are you sure you want to do this? It may not look so bad right now, but after you’ve been slogging through this stuff for months it might grind."
Carly laughed. "I guess there’s no accounting for tastes. I like to do detail work. I like the feeling of accomplishment when everything balances and comes out neatly at the end. I don’t even mind working for six hours to get my checkbook to come out to the penny."
Johner laughed with the rest of them, but his face sobered with his next words. "I don’t know how important this is to you, and I guess it’s not the most critical thing for Connor and me either, but these businesses are making a lot of money. You’ll share in that, both now and after we’re gone. Like I said, it’s not the important thing---living is more fun than making money, and we want to live.
But it’s nice to have the money when you want to expand your lifestyle a little. Like this: when you’ve got this down so we’ve got some time available, I’m going to take Connor to Paris. Don’t you think we deserve Paris in the spring, Connor?"
Connor’s jaw dropped. "Jesus, Johner, let me in on these things!"
"You don’t want to go?" He pretended disappointment.
"That’s a silly question! Of course I want to, ninny!" She smiled tenderly at him, her look belying her words.
And so they went to Paris in the spring.
*******
Johner stretched and looked down
at her, leaning lazily on his elbow. "As long as we’re here, don’t
you think we should get out of bed long enough to do a little sightseeing?
We've only got three days,---'Carlie said!'" He was quoting the new
catch phrase around the office.
"Yes, we should. In a minute. Come here, Johner, I want to talk to you."
"Again?"
"Yes, again. And again. Until we get caught up."
"Connor, caught up from what?"
"From six months of being too busy to do anything but work."
Johner laughed. "OK! Just a minute, though. I’ve got to call the desk."
"What? What for?"
"I want to find out if they’ve got
a weekly rate!"