“Here you go,” she said as she walked through an open door.
He followed her inside the small office that was outfitted with a desk, chair, file cabinet, and empty walls. “It doesn’t look like much now, but you’ll be able to make it your own. Bring in some photos, certificates, posters, anything to make you feel comfortable. Sometimes clients come up here though, so make sure you follow the company guidelines of what is and isn’t appropriate.”
“Of course,” Green said.
They chatted another couple of minutes then she was gone, and he was left in the nearly empty room, wondering how long he’d survive in his fake position. He couldn’t stand being locked inside. He hadn’t minded the shipping yard so much because he’d gotten to move and get outside as much as possible. But this room was a nightmare come to life.
His new position was basically a split of working for the COO as well as following the orders of the company’s political action committee and essentially being their gofer. He didn’t like being anyone’s gofer.
Who in their right mind woke up one day and said I want to be a US senator? In Green’s jaded mind, it was someone who wanted something. Some of the team members disagreed with him, saying there truly were those out there who felt a need to serve the people and the country they loved. When Green met one of them he’d admit to being wrong — not a second before then, though.
One thing Green knew for sure was the high players in this company were definitely crooked, because what company in their right mind would allow an employee to come and go at the whim of a political action committee? Green wouldn’t have made the tens of millions he’d made if he’d allowed his staff to come and go as they pleased — or worse yet, influenced by political figures.
Green’s new boss was Andrew Senior, the punk’s father. Unlike the kid, the father knew his stuff and had a very old-school work ethic. There weren’t a lot of rough edges in the way Andrew Sr. spoke.
The man was above average intellectually and worked hard and long hours. It was easy to see why people were willing to follow him. That was something worth paying attention to. Green couldn’t see how the man had such a lazy, power-hungry son. Maybe Andrew Sr. had just worked so many hours he hadn’t taken the time to instill the same values in his child. Or maybe his morals and ethics hadn’t passed down to his son.
It didn’t take long for his new boss to appear at his door.
“I hope you’re settling into your new position,” Andrew Sr. said.
“I think it’ll take a while to get comfortable, but I’ve never failed to conquer something I’ve put my mind to,” Green replied.
“Very good,” Andrew said. “That’s the kind of attitude that builds up a company.”
“I agree with you there,” Green said.
Then Andrew got to the real point of his visit. “I hear you’re meeting with Senator Miller this evening.”
“Yes, it appears so,” Green said, watching for a reaction, trying to figure out how much Andrew had to do with the politician.
“Make sure you’re a positive ambassador for yourself as well as this company. I don’t know a whole lot about you, but the people I’ve talked to have all said the same things — you’re a straight shooter, hard worker, and do what you say you’ll do. You might be a bit of a late bloomer in the business world, but if you want to make a go at this with a real career, working here will give you the resources you need to make that happen.” The man seemed to mean exactly what he was saying. No wonder Sue loved her job so much.
“Thank you, sir. I appreciate the opportunity to prove myself,” Green said. “As far as tonight goes, I don’t exactly know what they want to meet me about, but I’m excited to find out.” He gave a genuine smile as he forced himself not to laugh. It was a joke how many people wanted to rub elbows with those they deemed important.
It was also a good thing the company he’d sold had kept his name and face out of it. If this man before him knew of that sale, he’d know it was a joke for Green to be working for him. He was nearly a billionaire, and men like him didn’t work for another corporation.
The reality of humanity was that everyone came into the world the same way, and they all exited the same way too. Just because a person rose to celebrity status of some kind didn’t make them any better or any worse than the next person. Reputation was also a way to lift a person onto a pedestal. It was odd how politicians, outside of the President, had become so coveted — and it had begun when the internet had made its appearance in the world.
Before the internet the average American didn’t have a clue who the congressmen or senators were for the US. They might know who they were in their own state, but even that was doubtable. The internet had changed all of that. Now politicians flashed across screens on a daily basis, and recognition of those faces raised their status.
In Green’s opinion that was the biggest fail of society as a whole. The politicians and people alike had all seemed to have forgotten that the whole point of serving in the government was the word serving. They didn’t own the people, they represented them — and somewhere along the way everyone had forgotten that one very important fact.
Those thoughts all flashed through his mind in a matter of seconds. Andrew smiled as he patted Green on the back.
“Enjoy this ride while you’re on it,” Andrew told him. “If the senator sees something in you, you must be special. I want to hear all about your meeting on Monday morning. Why don’t you take the rest of today off so you can get ready for your big night?”
Green cringed as he almost expected the man to tell him to take one for the team. Luckily that didn’t happen. He internally rolled his eyes.
“Thank you, sir. I appreciate it. It’s also great to meet you. I hope you don’t regret it,” Green said.
They shook hands and the COO took off. Green was quickly behind him. He might not be excited to meet with the senator, but he was ecstatic to move forward with his true mission. The senator was crooked. He had no doubt about it — now he just had to find the evidence to put a nail in her coffin.
Chapter Three
Brackish leaned back, bored as he hacked into the server of the restaurant where the senator was meeting Green later that night. He loved a challenge and hacking a ridiculously unsecure server didn’t ring any of his bells. He took control of the program used for seating diners. He found that Senator Miller and Green were at a table for two in a quiet corner — she wasn’t playing around in her quest for romance. That made him smile. He enjoyed the torture Green was going to be put through acting humbled by her attention while also giving off an air of indifference.
Once he mapped the tables at the restaurant, he sent Smoke to discretely place a few of his top-of-the-line undetectable listening devices in the lobby, bathrooms, and dining area. He watched as Smoke did his job smoothly without a single eye seeing what he was doing — and the man still had time to flirt with the pretty young hostess, making her blush and swoon. The man truly was good.