AdWorks’s new secretary, Bella, had only been on the job about a week, but was getting to know the staff quite well—especially Jerry. They made a connection right away, even though Bella was the opposite of Jerry in every way. She was twenty-eight and fashionable with the whitest of white teeth. She possessed a great laugh, wore her brunette hair short, and was clearly out of Jerry’s league. Jerry, at thirty-eight, was looking his age and a bit set in his ways, but she clearly liked what she saw in him.
Nick and Jerry had met ten years ago here at AdWorks, a medium-sized agency owned by James Bongero, a son of bitch who cared about himself and not much else. He had the knack of putting on an act as if he was your best friend, but was despised by many. He didn’t like anyone either, so that made it all even.
“Hey, big guy, ready for the team meeting at nine?” Nick asked. He purposely wanted to interrupt Jerry and Bella’s googly-eyed conversation.
“Are you kidding? Miss a team meeting? Never. Wait, why are
we having this again?”
“Well, rumor has it Bongero went to this seminar and now he wants us to have once a week rah-rah sessions so we can work more and make him more money. Probably to pay for the motivational tapes he invested in.”
“I don’t get it,” Bella interjected. “Why do you keep working for a guy you hate? You could do this stuff anywhere.”