Tiffany Lokasher, Superintendent of Operations, was thirty two years old and had joined Planetary Publishing fresh out of the University of Wisconsin at twenty two with a degree in journalism. Hired originally as an editor, she distinguished herself as and excellent writer and manuscript specialist, but more importantly she was a great manager. After being in the company for sixteen months, she was promoted to Editorial Staff Supervisor and within a year of that moved into Operations.
Being in Operations meant you worked directly for the boss, Justin Scoville. And working for the boss meant intense hours, days and weeks. She often remembers the day she met the boss...
"Lokasher...what is that Scandinavian? How do you pronounce it?," the boss asked upon first being introduced.
"The name is German," Tiffany replied, without the least hesitation. "But there is enough English blue blood in my veins that I'd say we're more heirs to the throne of the British Empire than to the Third Reich. Lokasher, Lo-cash-er. Like it is spelled."
"Interesting," said Justin, dropping her file on his desk and sizing up her looks. Her high heels complemented her muscular calves. Her business suit started just above her knees and fit securely to her petite athletic frame. Her long brown hair was up on her head, clipped in the corporate style of a busy executive and her bangs and strands of lose hair fell around her thick brimmed eye glasses as if planned to get the attention of any males who would take the time to notice. Justin Scoville noticed everything about everyone in his company who excelled.
"Why would you mention the Third Reich just because Lokasher is German?," he probed, less interested in her answer than her body language.
Tiffany had stood erect upon meeting the boss and had barely moved or blinked since coming into his office. She learned long ago, dealing with powerful men to understand their motives before deciding to eat them for lunch.
"I thought maybe Scoville was Jewish and probably English," she answered efficiently, still not moving or flinching in the least. "I'm new in this department and wanted to make sure that I didn't end up in the gas chamber before I had a chance to make a name for myself."
The line took him by surprise and disappointed him. "Shame, a girl so pretty with so much potential has all this anger," he thought to himself as he sat down at his desk and proceeded to handle papers, his mind racing to the nearest project at hand. "Get out," he snapped, before pushing the button to the intercom, and asking his secretary for the file he was thinking of.
Within three weeks from that meeting, Scoville had Tiffany working on every project he was personally involved in. He never intended to make her fall in love with him. He just worked her because she ran circles around everyone else. She remembered details, she was extremely efficient, punctual and organized and she knew how to get results from people. She was an "Ace." A word Scoville would have used to describe her, except he never described her.
Tiffany became Superintendent of Operations for Planetary Publishing at twenty six and had been working 80 hours a week for the last six years prior to flying to Beijing to meet her boss, who had been a bachelor since she started.
"Tiffany, this is Tsu Yen. Tsu Yen, Tiffany," casually introduced Justin to wife and personal assistant in the airport. "What's the word on Ripley?"
The women knew instinctively that only one of them would eventually win his heart. Tsu Yen bowed delicately, looking down and noticing Tiffany's Gucci pumps. Tiffany didn't give anything away while offering her hand to Tsu Yen, along with just the hint of a courteous smile.
"How do you do Tsu Yen. Please accept my hearty congratulations on your marriage to Mr. Scoville," Tiffany offered. "May you both have years of happiness in wedded bliss."
Looking up and making eye contact, Tsu Yen politely accepted Tiffany's hand, her eyes piercing Tiffany easily with a lightning current that made Tiffany shiver with fear. Tsu Yen bowed and returned the smile for a fraction of a second, long enough for her husband to be satisfied that the women would behave, and then looked down again. "Bitch," she thought to herself.
"He never showed up at your scheduled meeting," answered Tiffany about Scoville's question referring to Derby. "We think Rare Flesh has him. Here is a file on a Hong Kong drug and crime syndication called Scontandia. As far as we can tell, Scontandia has been retained by Rare Flesh. They seemed to have kidnapped him on the day of your planned meeting, from a suite in the Penninsula, but a different one than we had reserved for him. He was in room 2415."
They had been walking at a fast clip toward their scheduled connecting flight to New York but Justin stopped suddenly and turned toward Tiffany. "Twenty Four Fifteen?," he asked surprised.
"Yes Mr. Scoville. Next door to the honeymoon suite that you were staying in," she replied. "Ripley was kidnapped, with just a wall separating you and approximately fifteen feet away, while you were engaged in sexual intercourse, exactly at the moment when you were scheduled to meet with him."
Neither Scoville or Tiffany noticed Tsu Yen smiling.
No comments:
Post a Comment