She had gotten lost in the numbers on the page again and the buzzer scared her. She laughed at herself as she crossed to the front door and pressed the button to talk. It was Joey.
"Come on up, I'm on the second floor."
It occured to her, that it might not have been that smart to invite Joey into her home, but Drev was there, sleeping soundly, but there. If she called out he'd be there to help her almost instantly. Maybe she should wake him up anyway. She shook her head as she opened the front door. That would be silly and paranoid of her. She needed to trust this man, plain and simple.
Joey walked up the stairs and smiled at her. He had the file folder she'd given him in his hand, it was a bit worse for wear, which told her he'd spent a lot of time with it in his hands. he walked past her into the hall and took off his jacket. She took it from him and hung it on a hook behind the door next to her's and Drev's. She saw him note the jacket and felt a bit better.
"Let's go into the kitchen, there's more room at that table."
She walked past him and led the way to the kitchen. She sat back down in front of her computer, tucked Drev's papers into their folder, and saved the document she'd been working on. She moved out of all of the programs and shut the screen of the lap top. She smiled at Joey as she pushed all of Drev's things to one side and pulled Joey's file and a pen from her briefcase.
She was careful to open it past all of the other documents to her copy of the contract. She'd called Paulie and he had done a background check for her. She didn't ask how he got the information he did, but it was all good news she'd been given. Joey was squeaky, as Paulie put it, the only thing on his records anywhere were three speeding tickets, gotten in high school, and a disputed claim with a bank. It was only for forty dollars so she figured it was a principle thing. He'd graduated in the top 10% of his highschool class and had complete a BA just recently. So far he was a model citizen, and he was even registered to vote.
"So Joey, what did you want to ask me?"
He ducked his head and opened his own folder. He seemed embarrassed about his questions, so she gave him a reassuring smile and resisted the urge to soothe him. She was new at this whole being the boss thing and she could only go by how her instructors and employers had treated her.
"Well, the contract doesn't address days off, sick days, vacation, or insurance. I wanted to know what to expect in those areas."
She wrote his list in the margin of the contract and looked back up at him. "All valid concerns, that I've been thinking about myself. Let's start at the top and work our way down. Days off; the Studio will be closed on Sundays, and I will have only two classes on Saturdays, so I guess you can have Saturday and Sunday off. Then come in early Monday mornings or late Sunday nights to clean up. Will that work for you?"
"Seriously, Saturday an Sunday?"
"Yes, seriously." She gave him a puzzled look, and waited for him to elaborate on his astonishment.
"It's just that I've never had a job that gave me Saturday and Sunday off. I counted myself lucky if I got one or the other once or twice a month."
Well that made sense. She'd never really thought about it. Saturday and Sunday were prime days in the club, so she worked them for the money, it never occurred to her to ask for them off.
"I see, well now you can have them off." She smiled at him and noted what she'd told him next to the words "days off", on the contract.
"Sick days are a little tricky for me. I'm not sure how they work."
"Well at Homestead, You got one after your first six months and then after the first year you got three, then they gave you one more for each year you worked there. I have seven since I've worked there five years."
"Ok, but beyond that what is a sick day, I understand it's when you call in sick, but why are they important?" She probably ought to be asking these questions to the lawyer so that she didn't look stupid in front of her prospective employee, but Mr. Schaefer wasn't here and Joey was.
"When you call in and ask for a sick day, you get the day off with pay."
Ah, that was there importance, that made sense too. She tapped her pen against the pile of papers as she thought.
"Alright, we'll do it like they did. Only a little different. I'll start you off with one, then in six months one more and at the year mark two more. Then one for every year you work for me with a maximum of ten." She had written down what she was saying as she spoke, to help her think the problem out.
"That works for me, Wren, thanks."
"Sure thing, Joey, lets move on shall we?" She looked down at the list and had to stop and think again. She remembered her dad's lamenting about vacation days, how the union had screwed them out of an extra week. He'd worked for the company her whole life and had had four weeks of vacation each year. When he got his forty year pin they gave him another week.
"Let's see. I plan to close the school every year for the first two weeks of August for my own personal time off. Those would be your weeks off as well. Will that work for you?"
He must have been expecting something completely different from, because he nodded emphatically.
"That's perfect, thanks."Â?
"Good, and if you stay with me a long time we'll work something out about more vacation time then."Â?
"Sure."Â?
She smiled at him. He was eager to please her, and take care of his concerns at the same time, so this whole thing had been very easy. She'd expected a great deal of negotiating when he'd first asked her. Though the next point was going to be hard for her. She had no idea what to do about insurance for him. She didn't have any of her own, but so far, knock on wood, had not needed it. She'd had her yearly exam, and paid cash, so it didn't occur to her that she would need to provide insurance for Joey.
"I don't know what to do about the insurance thing, Joey. I don't have any myself. So I don't know how to provide it for you. I'm going to have to talk with my lawyer and the guy who is providing the policy on the Studio. I'll let you know with in a week about it."Â?
"That's fine Wren. I'm willing to take care of it myself, but it will be cheaper for me if you can carry it."Â?
"No, that's ok, as your employer I should provide that for you."Â?
"Ok, thanks again."Â?
She smiled and made more notes in the margin of the contract.
Joey the Handyman
Wren sat cross-legged in the chair of her desk, typing quickly with her right hand as her left hand followed a column on a paper. She was trying to catch up on her work for Drev, since she'd managed to neglect half of it in the last week. Schubert played softly from the stereo, and she hummed along, as her fingers flew over the keys.
She paused to take a sip of her coffee and nearly lost it all over her lap top when the phone beside her rang. She'd switched her cell phone ring to the cingular chime when she had met with the lawyer and had not changed it back, so it's climbing scale and cymbal crashes scared the crap out of her. Swallowing, she set her cup down and picked up the little phone. She didn't recognize the number, but that didn't mean much lately.
"The Studio. This is Wren."
"Wren? Hi, it's Joey."
Wren was very happy to hear from him, but why did people always ask your name, right after you said it to them. She supposed it was simply a habit.
"Hi Joey, it's good to hear from you. What's up?"
"I'd like to work for you, Wren, but I have some questions first."
"Ok, I'm in the middle of some work right now. Would you mind coming over here and we can talk about it when you get here?"
He cleared his throat before he spoke. He sounded excited, and that made Wren happy. "I can do that."
"Great!" She quickly gave him her address and directions. He was across town and it would take him close to twenty minutes, due to traffic to get to her. She figured she should change before he got there, since pajamas were not exactly the best attire for a business meeting. She put on a bra, a black camisole and blue jeans. She didn't really want to even put on that much clothing, but she really didn't have much choice.
She unplugged her laptop, and carried it, her coffee cup, the papers she'd been working on, and her briefcase into the kitchen. She refilled her coffee and settled back down at the computer to await the arrival of Joey.
Wren
18 years ago
Wren
18 years ago
"Was there anything else?"Â?
"Well, yes actually. I was looking over the numbers in the contract."Â?
Oh, no he was going to ask for more. She couldn't afford to pay him more. This wasn't going to work out after all, which really bummed her because she liked Joey.
"Ok"Â?
"I think you're paying me too much."Â?
Wren was floored. That had been completely unexpected and she had no idea how to respond so she said the first thing that came to mind.
"I'm, what?"Â?
"Well, if I'm reading this right, after the studio opens, I'm only going to be working, at most, twenty hours a week for you. In the first month it will be around forty to sixty a week and so the 1800 is fair, but not for 20 hours a week. I did the math and that's like twenty0three dollars an hour, that's way too much to vacuum the carpet and fix the leaky sink."Â?
"But Joey..."Â?
He held up a hand to stop her. "Hear me out. I think instead of paying me a salary, that you should pay me an hour what I make now, and then I can keep a time card, and you can pay me for the hours I work each week. If I take a sick day you can pay me against the hours I average for the week. Like I take a sick day, and every other day during the week I worked three hours then you just add three extra hours for the sick day. If I'm out of sick days you don't pay me anything."Â?
"But Joey, if you're only making half of what you were before, how will you pay your bills and eat? Remember you like eating."Â?
He grinned at her. "My room mate asked me last week how I felt about having a new room mate. We have an empty room, so I was all for it. We're going to split the rent and utilities three ways instead of two, which cut my expenses almost in half. The Studio is only like seven blocks from our apartment, so I can walk instead of drive, so I won't have the gas expenses I had before.
Then the coolest thing ever happened yesterday. Every week I take a few of my paintings around to galleries and ask them to be displayed. It's never a big deal and I don't mind if they tell me no. Anyway, I went into one I'd never been to before, and there was this kind of smarmy guy there, called Bertrand. He took one look at my paintings and offered me space on the spot. In fact he hung up the four pieces I'd brought with me and put price tags on them. Then he took me into his office and gave me a contract. The gallery gets 15% of each painting I sell.
So the contract I have with you and the contract I have with the gallery, should give me equal to what I'm making at The Homestead, with the bonus that I get to do what I love and work for a beautiful woman. A man can't get any luckier Wren."Â?
Wren stared dumbfounded at Joey. She had no idea what to say. It would certainly save her nine hundred dollars a month, not to mention give her some piece of mind where his painting was concerned. She wrote down the hourly rate he gave when asked, and a few other details at the top of the contract. She'd call the lawyer after he left and get a new contract made up.
"Well, Joey it sounds like your ship has come in. If you don't have any other concerns I'll call my lawyer and get a new contract made up and we can meet tomorrow and go over it and if it's what you want we can sign it and then you can give notice at Homestead.
I'm really excited for you Joey. I really am. I think it's awesome that I can be a part of someone else's good fortune."Â?
He smiled at her, and closed his folder. "I prayed for this Wren, and it's amazing that God has answered my prayers in such a dramatic way. I thank Him for you, and Bertrand and even the Homestead."Â?
Wren felt humbled. She wasn't exactly religios, she believed in God and considered herself a Christian, but it was nice to hear that God still answered prayers. Maybe she should go back to church. She shook her head, and stood from the table.
"Well, Joey I really am looking forward to working with you."Â?
"Me too, Wren."Â? He stood and walked around the table. "I'll let you get back to work. Thanks for meeting with me."Â?
"It is my pleasure, Joey."Â?
She walked him to the door. They shook hands and smiled after he'd put on his jacket.
"I'll call you tomorrow when the contract's ready."Â?
"Great! I'll talk to you then. Have a good one, Wren."Â?
"You too, Joey."Â?
She closed the door after he waved and headed down the stairs. Wren leaned against the door for a moment, giving her brain time assimilate everything that had just happened. She heaved herself up off the door and went to call the lawyer.
"Well, yes actually. I was looking over the numbers in the contract."Â?
Oh, no he was going to ask for more. She couldn't afford to pay him more. This wasn't going to work out after all, which really bummed her because she liked Joey.
"Ok"Â?
"I think you're paying me too much."Â?
Wren was floored. That had been completely unexpected and she had no idea how to respond so she said the first thing that came to mind.
"I'm, what?"Â?
"Well, if I'm reading this right, after the studio opens, I'm only going to be working, at most, twenty hours a week for you. In the first month it will be around forty to sixty a week and so the 1800 is fair, but not for 20 hours a week. I did the math and that's like twenty0three dollars an hour, that's way too much to vacuum the carpet and fix the leaky sink."Â?
"But Joey..."Â?
He held up a hand to stop her. "Hear me out. I think instead of paying me a salary, that you should pay me an hour what I make now, and then I can keep a time card, and you can pay me for the hours I work each week. If I take a sick day you can pay me against the hours I average for the week. Like I take a sick day, and every other day during the week I worked three hours then you just add three extra hours for the sick day. If I'm out of sick days you don't pay me anything."Â?
"But Joey, if you're only making half of what you were before, how will you pay your bills and eat? Remember you like eating."Â?
He grinned at her. "My room mate asked me last week how I felt about having a new room mate. We have an empty room, so I was all for it. We're going to split the rent and utilities three ways instead of two, which cut my expenses almost in half. The Studio is only like seven blocks from our apartment, so I can walk instead of drive, so I won't have the gas expenses I had before.
Then the coolest thing ever happened yesterday. Every week I take a few of my paintings around to galleries and ask them to be displayed. It's never a big deal and I don't mind if they tell me no. Anyway, I went into one I'd never been to before, and there was this kind of smarmy guy there, called Bertrand. He took one look at my paintings and offered me space on the spot. In fact he hung up the four pieces I'd brought with me and put price tags on them. Then he took me into his office and gave me a contract. The gallery gets 15% of each painting I sell.
So the contract I have with you and the contract I have with the gallery, should give me equal to what I'm making at The Homestead, with the bonus that I get to do what I love and work for a beautiful woman. A man can't get any luckier Wren."Â?
Wren stared dumbfounded at Joey. She had no idea what to say. It would certainly save her nine hundred dollars a month, not to mention give her some piece of mind where his painting was concerned. She wrote down the hourly rate he gave when asked, and a few other details at the top of the contract. She'd call the lawyer after he left and get a new contract made up.
"Well, Joey it sounds like your ship has come in. If you don't have any other concerns I'll call my lawyer and get a new contract made up and we can meet tomorrow and go over it and if it's what you want we can sign it and then you can give notice at Homestead.
I'm really excited for you Joey. I really am. I think it's awesome that I can be a part of someone else's good fortune."Â?
He smiled at her, and closed his folder. "I prayed for this Wren, and it's amazing that God has answered my prayers in such a dramatic way. I thank Him for you, and Bertrand and even the Homestead."Â?
Wren felt humbled. She wasn't exactly religios, she believed in God and considered herself a Christian, but it was nice to hear that God still answered prayers. Maybe she should go back to church. She shook her head, and stood from the table.
"Well, Joey I really am looking forward to working with you."Â?
"Me too, Wren."Â? He stood and walked around the table. "I'll let you get back to work. Thanks for meeting with me."Â?
"It is my pleasure, Joey."Â?
She walked him to the door. They shook hands and smiled after he'd put on his jacket.
"I'll call you tomorrow when the contract's ready."Â?
"Great! I'll talk to you then. Have a good one, Wren."Â?
"You too, Joey."Â?
She closed the door after he waved and headed down the stairs. Wren leaned against the door for a moment, giving her brain time assimilate everything that had just happened. She heaved herself up off the door and went to call the lawyer.