Learning the ropes and Sue's advice

You walk out to the main room and see Sue is on the phone. She gestures for you to pull up a seat. You grab a chair from one of the rows, put it beside the desk, and patiently wait about five minutes while she finishes the call. She hangs up and turns to you.

"I hope the meeting went well, Simone. I expect the old horndog is pretty excited."

"He seemed very pleased with the results I think. He asked me to come out here and let you tell me what I need to do. Oh and he'd like you to order some food and hand the account to me," you add as it pops into your head.

"I'll place the order but he's going to have to deal with the disappointment of you not getting the account. I don't know if he gets it yet but I just move to an office down the hall during these breaks. I still handle 90% of the work, you just have to relay it to me."

She hops on the computer and places a quick order.

"Do you want anything? The old perv will pay for it, it's his account."

You smile and ask her to get you a Caesar salad. She hits send, writes a few numbers down on a piece of paper, and passes it to you.

"No offense but none of you girls are ever here long enough to get the computerized systems right. I'd need weeks to teach you. He'll still think you did it all though because he's an asshole that thinks everything around here is easy. I'll show you how the phones work and the buzz through system. He'll expect to hear you on the phone and the buzz through to open doors is easy. You'll need to call or text me for anything else. I promise it'll be smooth because I don't want him whining at me later."

You just start laughing.

"It sounds like you hate him. Is he that bad?"

"No. He's pretty narrowminded but he'll move heaven and earth if I insist on something. We have a pretty symbiotic relationship for the most part. Is it love? Who knows but it's comfortable and I'll take that."

"So why do you allow this ummmmm stuff to happen?" You ask genuinely curious.

"Because it's something I don't want to do myself but it makes him happy. Our first year of marriage was fantastic. He was loving, attentive and the sex was fantastic. His urges were pretty strong though and we were both getting miserable because there was no way in hell I was doing any of that. This is the compromise we came up with. It's stressful for me but it only lasts a few days every half year or so and the rest of the time is great. So it isn't perfect but it works."

She offers a smile and gets up.

"Well sit down here and I'll run you through the phones."

The lesson with the phone only takes fifteen minutes and a half-page of notes but it seems easy enough. The buzz through system is even easier. With two mouse clicks, you can open the outside doors and all the top floor ones. Sue steps to the side and sits in the chair you originally brought up there.

"Now I have to tell you a few things, some of which is pretty basic and some Charles would probably prefer not to be mentioned. Things will go smoother if he doesn't know you know. First the easy stuff."

She points to the last door in the room you haven't used.

"That's the bathroom. It locks from the inside but the buzz through can open it. Under the sink in the back is a tub of baby wipes, some moisturizing towelettes, and a bunch of shop towels. It's a peace offering I stock for you girls when you come up here. I figure it has to be worth its weight in gold when you need it."

The desk phone rings and you answer. Then use the buzz through to unlock the office door. The delivery man comes in with the food. Sue tips him and he leaves. She grabs the sub from the bag and a soda.

"Be right back."

Then she ducks into his office. She's back at the desk a minute or two later.

"That is lesson two," Sue offers as she sits back down. You look over at her after you finish opening your salad.

"Go ahead and eat girl. His next client is in a little less than forty minutes and I need to be gone by then. He has three meetings set for this afternoon and a trip to visit a wildcatting station tomorrow. He's planning to keep you very busy, Simone."

You put a fork full of salad in your mouth as she continues.

"Did you notice I didn't need to buzz to get in his office?"

You nod as she pulls a card out of her pocket.

"This mag card just needs to be within about three feet to unlock any of these doors. I have one and so does he. There are a few others floating out there but you're very unlikely to meet any of those folks."

Then she stands and starts gathering her things.

"Lastly, there are cameras everywhere on this top floor and in his cars. I can't speak for anywhere else you may go. None have audio though. Yes everywhere, even the bathrooms. He'll relive the next couple of days quite a bit until the next girl shows up. He has a mic in his office to save audio from negotiations but I'm not sure when that is on or off but the phones aren't recorded. He's nervous he'll tape the wrong conversation by accident because every state has their own rules on that stuff. Physically here in Texas though, the warning sign on the front door covers everything done on the property. Any questions?"

"Nothing I can think of. Thanks for being so helpful, Sue. I don't know that I'd be so nice in your shoes."

She walks to the door, opens it, and looks back.

"I'm glad to help, dear. As much as I dislike all this, it probably keeps our marriage healthy so I'm happy to stay civil about it. Just don't forget, call or text for anything at all. I'll be happy to keep things running. The better it goes, the longer he lasts before he needs another visit. Take care and try to have a decent time."

Sue smiles one last time as she slips out the door and it closes behind her. You work on finishing your green tea and salad because you are certain it won't be long before you have company.