Arron gets a visitor...twice...

It was odd that someone would be knocking on his door, Arron figured, especially since the school year was over and there were no students around who needed advice or assistance on things. It also didn't really seem likely that Cynthia would knock, given the woman's decision that the two of them were bound to be besties and thus knocking only served to be a bother. It also wasn't Brooke as Brooke didn't really come out of the Accounting division due, in no small part, to the fact that she was simply a wiz when it came to making numbers and figures line up and balance. She kept the school running and the higher-ups kept her busy. Perhaps that is why she was making the numbers?

"Yes?"

He looked up as the door opened and a man he hadn't met yet stood there, a bit taken aback for a few moments. "U-U..."

"Can I help you?" he prompted again and the man somehow caught a second, third, or maybe even a fourth wind.

"Sorry, didn't know there was such a beauty here. My name's Richard, from the Marketing Department. You can call me Dick."

Arron groaned internally. "Nice to meet you, Richard. Can I help you with anything?"

Whatever Richard had to say next was lost as someone tapped him on the shoulder. "Oh..OOH...sorry, didn't mean to disturb you."

Arron looked a little bit lost as Richard turned and seemingly scurried off from whence he came and the person appearing in his doorway was an older man, the one he recognized from the pamphlets outside in the waiting area. "I'm sorry for that, really."

He shook his head and quickly got up from his chair, making sure to button up the blazer he was wearing after having left them open to permit him to cool down a bit. "N-No, no, that's alright. No harm done."

"That's nice of you to say but still, there are some people who just have no sense of manner or place." He walked in carefully and gave him a warm smile and offered his hand. "I'm Dean Taylor, ironically the Dean of the Business School."

"Perfect name!"

The old man laughed as Arron's face looked immediately like he stepped in a big pile of dog shit and just now realized it. "I get that a lot, my wife says that I was meant to be the Dean, just that she wishes I was back at MIT." Dean turned and looked around the office. "I'm glad to see you settled in. It was my wife's idea, you know, the concept of the directors choosing their office styles. She always said making people happy led to better results. I'm no expert but the rankings went up after we did it." He laughed a little. "I'm sorry, I get side-tracked at my age. Anyway, I wanted to say 'welcome onboard.' I'm glad to have you here. Cynthia's one of the best administrators we have here and she's always asking me for another woman to hire. We just never had someone apply with your caliber. We're looking forward to seeing you perform."

A few hours later, Arron found himself back at home, on a Friday night, before he read the note that Sarah had decided to go exploring the town with their neighbor's son Michael. He knew she was 19 and a young woman with needs so as long as she was careful, he didn't mind. Plus, Michael seemed like a nice boy and Hannah was definitely a good (if not scary at times) task-master. Pedigree was sound at that point. Still, with little to do at the moment, he wondered just what he was going to do when his phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Erin? This is Ryan, Gerald's brother. Listen, I was wondering if you were free tonight? I gotta go out of town for a conference for the next two weeks and wondered if I could, perhaps, cash in on that BBQ early?"

He thought about it for a moment, tempted to turn it down, but then decided that he was not really in a mood to be home alone. "Sure, what do you have in mind?"

"I thought maybe we could hit Rennies? It's a bar and grill downtown. Great beer, decent wings."

I could go for a drink after this week...