Dorsai - Kelly's adventures

"Had what planned?"

"That bit about them hiring a Filipino – Filipin*a*! – to be the liaison between the company, and the government and everybody. You were thinking about that when you told Marilyn that you didn't think she was going to have to stay in that terrible orphanage for very long! You were going to try to find a way to get them to hire Marlyn for some job, weren't you?"

"Hmmm. That's a good idea – I wish I'd thought of it…" I answered.

Kelly just gave my arm a gentle slap, and told me "You did think of it you big stinker! Oh! You just make me crazy sometimes!"

Then she saw me grinning at her, and wrapped her arms around me as she said "You big softie. You're so devious with all your plans and schemes and all that – when all you're trying to do is help someone that deserves it. Sometimes I wonder why I stay with you."

I hugged her and said "Sometimes, I wonder why you do, too."

She looked up at me and replied "That's easy. Because I love you."

I hugged her again, and told her "I'm glad to hear that – because I love you, too."

That settled, we got into my car and headed home. On the way, Kelly used her cell phone to tell Sarah that she could leave early if she wanted – that we wouldn't be back into the office until the next day.

Around midmorning the next day, Sarah let me know that I had a telephone call – and that it was from my client. Figuring that they just need clarification on some point or other, I took it, and said "Good Morning, Bill. What can I do for you?"

"You can start getting your bags packed, Dan. We're going ahead with the project."

Surprised (!!) at how fast they'd reached their decision, I asked "Already? I figured it would be a couple of days, anyway."

"Nope. I told you before we sent you, we've had this on our minds for a while. What you brought back for us was all we needed to make the decision – we were there till almost ten last night, hashing it out, but we settled it. I've got two lawyers that are ready to make the trip, any time starting two weeks from today. Today and Monday, I'm going to see if any of our young go-getters are ready to step into the big leagues.

If any of them are, they'll be going, too. How long would you need with them over there to see if they can handle it?"

"I think a week or so would do it."

"Take two, if you need them. You've always done right by us, and I'm going to trust you to let me know which ones are my best bet. I'll be making the final decision, but what you tell me is going to count for most of it. I'm also giving you authority to hire our liaison person. So how soon can you go back?"

"Let me get in touch with my guide over there, and see when the best time would be. Time zones and all, it might be tomorrow before I have an answer."

"That'll do. Aren't you going to ask what it pays?"

"I figured to scale it from last time, if that's okay."

"It'll do for now. But we're gonna be working you, Dan, and I expect to pay for it. This project is gonna save us a chunk of change, and it's only right you get some of it."

"Fair enough, Bill. I'll get things started, and we can haggle when I know more."

"Good deal. I'll be waiting to hear from you."

That ended the conversation, and I asked Kelly to come into my office.

She did, and all but screamed when she heard the good news. Sarah came in to see what all the fuss was, and surprised Kelly and I both when she did her own little victory dance – wearing an ear-to-ear grin.

I checked my watch, and realized that if we were quick about it, there was a chance of contacting Marlyn right away. Sarah hurried to her desk and made the call; she managed to catch them before they left the office. With a little begging, pleading, and cajolery on my part, they agreed to get a message to Marlyn before the conversation ended. All three of us waited anxiously for the next couple of hours – jumping every time the phone rang, until we were finally rewarded by the call we'd been hoping for.

The first thing I did was to give Marlyn the good news – Kelly was listening to the conversation, and we both heard as she started laughing and crying. When she'd calmed down a bit, I filled her in on the rest of the details: me, two lawyers, and an unknown – as yet – number of others that were being considered for the plant management job. She told me that she would be free to guide us when we needed her, and that she would be happy to get Bhoy to drive for us again. I said that there were a couple of other things that I wanted to discuss with her, but that they would have to wait until I got there – earning myself a jab in the ribs and dirty look from Kelly. Marlyn said that she'd get things started, and email me the details. I thanked her, she thanked ME, and that ended the conversation.

When I'd hung up the phone, Kelly gave me another dirty look and asked "Why didn't you just tell her that you had a job for her?"

"A couple of reasons. First, there's the off chance she might have her own reasons for not wanting the job, okay? Second, I don't know what it pays yet. I'm sure it would pay more than her guide thing, but how much I don't know – so there's no point in offering her a job when I don't know the gory details. Finally, I want to see the expression on her face when I tell her about it!"

Kelly just grinned at that last part before conceding that the other reasons were reasonable.

I called Bill, and told him the good news.

"Damn, you work fast. I'm sure glad you're working for me! Okay, here's the rundown. We got it narrowed down to three places. First choice is Dagupan. Second is Cebu, and Suribao to round it off. From what you said, I don't think we'll have any problems getting into Dagupan, but I wanted a couple of other options. Would you be able to come in here and give the folks going with you a little heads-up on the customs and language and all that?"

"I'd be glad to – I'd have offered if you hadn't brought it up. Of course, your people are going to need passports and all that; shots aren't needed, but probably wouldn't hurt. I'll have some additional stuff for them to look over, too, so a week before we leave would be good. We can cover the basics in about half a day, tops."

"You've got it. I'll set the tickets up – I know the lawyers wouldn't be happy flying business, so I'll just send the bunch of you first class.

Anything else?"

"The sooner I know how many, the better, is all."

"I'll email you the list first thing Tuesday. Will that work?"

"That'll be great, Bill. Thanks."

"No, it's me thanking you, Dan. I'll talk to you later."

With the end of the conversation, I went in to where Kelly was fine-tuning the analysis she'd done of the sites for the final version of the report.

Sitting on the edge of her desk, I told her "I'll be going back in just over two weeks. I'll be taking along a couple of Bill's lawyers to get them started, and riding herd on some of his people to see if they'll be able to fit in there like we need."

Kelly looked up at me, and said "And you're hoping I don't want to go."

Seeing the look on my face, she went on to tell me "Its okay, Dan. I know you'll be busy – a lot busier than when we went there. And I know that if I went with you, you'd feel bad about not spending as much time with me as you wanted; I know you wouldn't do anything but the best job you could for Bill. So I'll stay here and hold down the fort with Sarah. I don't know enough to handle the design work you do, but I can sure ask the right questions so that you know what's needed when you get back. Besides, it'll only be a couple of weeks, tops, right? We were gone quite a while, and I need to get caught up with Jan and Sandra and all the others, anyway. So go ahead, and don't worry about it, okay?"