John's Special Promotion

The first day that John and Mandy went to work together, as coworkers, he had to admit that he was feeling a little bit excited. Not only would he get to see more of his lovely fiancee in the day, not only would they be raking in a lot more dough, but also he was going to find out about his special promotion today. He wondered how much more money he was going to be making now.

“You know, you should take Eric with you,” said Mandy.

“Take him where?” asked John.

“To Miami, of course,” she said.

“Why would I do that? He’s my boss, not my friend,” said John.

“He doesn’t think of it that way,” Mandy reminded him, pointing out their night at the restaurant. “Think of it this way. He’s done so much for you. He got you this job right out of university, he’s promoted you over everyone else because he recognized your talent and he got me a job too.”

“I’ll ask him,” said John, “but if I’m being honest, I think he’d rather go to your party than mine.”

“Why’s that?”

“Four hot girls and one guy? I know Eric, I bet he’d try to go for Cindy first,” laughed John. Weird, he thought, Mandy wasn’t laughing.

“Just ask him, he’ll probably like it,” said Mandy.

“All right, I will,” nodded John.

He ended up giving Mandy a full tour of the office building once they entered. He figured that Eric probably did not have time to give her as complete a tour as him and so he took the time. Plus, it let him be distracted from his own work for a little bit. Once the tour was done, he took her up to the level where Eric worked, since her new office was there.

“Do I get a secretary?” she asked.

“I think Mrs. Brunwald handles all business on this floor,” said John.

“Who is she?” asked Mandy. She had been curious when she met the woman, who was about in her sixties but had a very powerful demeanor about her. She seemed to have much more power than the simple title of secretary appeared to afford her.

“She’s Eric’s cousin,” answered John. “Born in Munich. He didn’t meet her until after his escape from Cyprus.”

“How come you never told me how he left Cyprus?” asked Mandy.

“I mean, you never watch action movies with me, I thought you might not find it that interesting,” said John.

“Oh, please,” she said. “Cyprus is my motherland. I’d find it interesting for that much at least.”

“Yeah, well… I just thought what I did,” shrugged John. Did she really expect him to apologize for this? “Anyways, I’ll see you after you talk to Eric. I’ve got some work to do before I meet with him.”

As Mandy went into Eric’s office, John took the elevator down to his level and went into his own office. “Morning Claudia,” he said, finding her working diligently at the desk in the front of his office.

“Morning, boss,” she smiled. Her Portuguese accent was cute. If John hadn’t been with Mandy by the time Eric hired Claudia, he was sure he would’ve put the moves on her by now. Hell, Claudia was fucking sexy. If he were any less honourable than he was, he was sure he and she might’ve fucked. But alas, with his commitment to Mandy, it was not meant to be.

John quickly got into work. There was a lot to do, even with everything that he cleared out of the backlog that day he worked from home. It sometimes seemed like his work was never ending. Maybe it was, in a way. Whatever, he enjoyed it enough. He made a lot of money. His life was good.

Before he knew it, it was time for his meeting with Eric. He considered passing by into Mandy’s office before he went, but he figured that she’d probably be busy. Instead, he went straight into Eric’s office.

“John, my boy,” said Eric, throwing his hands in the air out of his chair. “Take a seat, let’s discuss your special promotion.” That was weird, usually Eric got out of his desk to give John a hearty hug. Whatever.

“So, this special promotion you mentioned?” asked John.

“I knew that’d be on your mind,” said Eric. “If you accept, you’ll get a 14% pay raise. Not as much as the management position, I know, but I truly think you’re better suited for this.”

“Well, what is it?”

“Well, as you know we have branches across the nation,” said Eric. “I need you to be our management officer. You’ll spend a week each month going to a different, making sure operations are perfectly. You’ll see what I mean in the paperwork later. Then, when the week’s up, return here and assume your normal positions.”

“Wow, I don’t know what to say,” said John.

“I know, no need to thank me, my boy,” said Eric. “I’ve emailed Claudia the contract, she’ll print it out for you.”

“I’ll never forget this,” said John. He extended his hand and Eric shook it, still not getting out of his chair. Not even thinking about it, John left the office room in a daze. This was incredible. The contacts he’d make. The experience he’d gain. Wow.

Management officer. Incredible.