Kit had finished discussing the plans for the Amazon trip Ameristar and Drake were about to make with them, but the latter looked a bit confused.
"So do you always take strange people with stranger abilities off the street and immediately hire them?" Drake asked.
Kit laughed. "Well, it's a policy that seems to have worked okay so far..." he began before cracking up again and putting his hand on the young man's shoulder. "I think you'll do okay with us, kid, but I think the others would kill me if I didn't put you through a probation period first. God knows I really should've done so with all the newbies when they first came onboard, but they all proved themselves more than capable during Hurricane Jason. The guys'd had a lot of membership turnovers by then, but that storm was a sort of 'trial-by-fire' for the team. I really think it'll come together and work now, though." He looked as if he were lost in thought for a moment, then turned back to Drake and shook his head as he said, "Ahh, but don't sweat the probation. We'll be putting all new members through a probation period from now on."
"That seems reasonable enough," said Drake, shaking Kit's outstretched hand. "I'm just glad to be with a group of people who are just as strange as I am."
Kit grinned and gave Drake the old motivational spiel for the next 15 minutes -- a "pep-talk" he claimed was what an old mentor had once given him, but was really just something he'd picked up from a late-night TV info-mercial a couple of nights ago. He was a bullshitter, he knew, but at least he was an "honest bullshitter" -- which was more than he could say about most other salesmen.
Drake held an expression of relief on his face as Kit went back to his office and Ameristar impatiently checked her watch for the 30th time in 15 minutes.
Kit Piper sat back in his chair with his feet on his desk. Today was a great day. Today was a fantastic day. He'd gotten laid last night by an olive-skinned girl 20 years younger than him who spoke some kind of Asian language, all thanks to one of MBL Consulting's newest staff members, their personal trainer.
Speaking of which, Kit noticed as that oddly-shaped, purple-skinned, mohawked "man" walked into the make-shift office at the Fish Factory, and he got up from his seat with his arms outstretched in greeting at his 'new best friend.'
"Hey, hey, Blackwulf! Good buddy, good pal! You da maannn!"
Blackwulf grinned at Kit and mimicked the gesture, "Ha-ha-ha -- No, you are being the man."
"No, man, you da man!"
"No, comrade, it is you who are being the man."
"No, YOU da man."
"Nyet, nyet, you are the one who is being the m--"
"You're BOTH 'da man', okay?" Shirley finally shouted in exasperation as she stood up from her computer console. "Now, could you guys please keep the noise level down a bit? I have a pile of paperwork to do that YOU forgot to put on my desk, Kit."
Shirley gestured at all the slips of paper and unopened envelopes below them that scattered over her desk. "Where'd we get so many bills all of a sudden? And how are we supposed to pay for all of this, especially since we haven't had a case in months? I'm not willing to work for free for more than a few days, you know." She glared at him suspiciously. So much for the relaxing, carefree day she'd hoped to spend with her fiance.
"I wouldn't worry too much about that, Shirl, m'girl," Kit said, still grinning. "There's plenty o'cash to pay for all these bills and more, thanks to our little friend Pete... God rest his soul."
Shirley shook her head and muttered as she sat back down in resignation, "You should never take something like that for granted, Kit. Murphy's Law and such, you know?"
"'Murphy's Law'?" Kit laughed and prepared himself for another speech. "Law-shmaw. Why, my business experience alone is enough to keep this firm afloat no matter how deep in the red we go because of this storm. Besides, that weekly check from BountyLand Foods is guaranteed to cover our business expenses whenever we're overdrawn, thanks to Pete's last will and testament which left ownership of it to the company."
"Kit! Don't tempt fate by talking like that!" Shirley scolded. "We've got to keep the books balanced on MBL Consulting's profits, especially since we still haven't paid for that damned hovercraft you had Henry order last year. That thing cost more than the Gross National Product some small countries make in a year! Not to mention the apartment building repairs and utility charges, your salary and mine, the operating expenses for the cases, and all the little expenses that add up, like all those business trips you've made over the past year to see potential clients, all the luncheons and fringe benefits you held for them that went for nothing but 'goodwill in the business world' as you called it. And all these new employees you keep hiring right off the street! I mean, I love the guys, don't get me wrong, but ever since the storm ended the bulk of them have had little to do but twiddle their thumbs and get paid for it! We can't afford to keep it up like that. No one could."
"Don't worry about it," Kit said, waving it away while still fantasizing about the 20-something, olive-skinned girl who shared his bed last night and didn't speak much English. "It'll all work out in the end. I mean, we've got Chance on our side, don't we?" He winked.
"I'm serious, Kit!" Shirley continued. "And besides, Chance isn't here right now. Who knows how his luck works? Maybe his luck was the only thing that'd been preventing our company from going bankrupt like so many other Perditian businesses have ever since the storm! Only thing is, unlike all those other businesses, we're not eligible for disaster relief!"
"The girl -- she likes to talk, da?" said Blackwulf, laughing heartily at the situation.
"Don't mind our little Shirl-girl, here, Wulfie!" Kit said, putting an arm around Blackwulf's shoulder and leading him out of the office. "I hired her for her feistiness -- keeps me in check." He winked again at Shirley just as he stepped out of view.
"Hmmph," Shirley muttered, and went back to the business of paying bills.
[ 01-23-2003, 12:07 PM: Message edited by: TheTimeTrust ]
