The part-time receptionist Dimitri had allowed them to hire had been a godsend. Susan (it wasn’t her name, but she agreed to let them call her that since it was close enough) spoke some English, enough she could understand much of what Jeremy said. She had helped Jennifer place the job ads for analysts online and in the local paper. She could drive, but didn’t own a car. That small matter was quickly taken care of at a local car rental place where they leased a car by the month for her to drive. The rental place carried all necessary registration and insurance so it was cleaner for the company to lease it that way.
Quite possibly the nicest thing she did for everyone was find a map of the local area online and circle things. Each circle got a number and on the following page there was a description of what that number was. She flagged four restaurants, a dry cleaner, and two stores where Jeremy could buy food. Lunch was catered to the office every day she was there. Dimitri had put them in touch with a payroll service to get people set up on payroll.
Jeremy had exchanged several emails with Lenny over the course of the second day. He had also received the email from Stacie about adding additional money to her trading account. As soon as it appeared he bought her some more First Global stock. He had basically spent all the money they had deposited into the account and some of their credit buying First Global.
The day after they had obtained a car for Susan to drive, she took Jeremy to a bank that was within walking distance of his apartment so he could set up a local bank account. He needed her to help with translation, as not many there spoke English and his Russian was horrible. That evening she drove Jeremy and Jennifer to the store so Jeremy could get food and other things for his apartment. At least the store was large enough to take Visa.
Once Jeremy was home and the groceries carted in she offered to drive Jennifer home. Jennifer declined, saying she was going to cook something for Jeremy once they got the groceries unpacked. The rest of the team had opted to eat and drink in their hotel at the company’s expense. Once the receptionist was gone, Jennifer gave Jeremy the key to her hotel room and told him to fetch the black backpack from there.
“Don’t look inside. Just do what you are told,” she admonished him.
He chuckled and set about walking to the hotel leaving her to put away the groceries and cook a meal for him. The meal was basically done by the time he had made the round trip. Walking a mile kills a lot of time. It was getting dark out by the time he knocked on the door to his own apartment. He made a mental note to get some spare keys made.
The place smelled incredible when Jennifer let him in. He had eaten some fine Russian meals over the last few days, but he was dying for some American cooking. Even McDonald’s was sounding like good American cooking to him at this point. He made a point to compliment Jennifer on the meal several times. When they were done and just drinking wine she told him to gather and do the dishes.
It wasn’t really something Jeremy had thought about. There wasn’t a dishwasher in this place as in most American apartments. He had wondered why they had bought a bottle of liquid dish soap. Now he knew.
Jennifer disappeared into his bedroom with the black backpack and closed the door. Just about the time Jeremy had finished washing everything, he heard her call his name. He nearly dropped the plate he was drying when he saw her. She had packed a lot more than stockings!
After an amazing night, Jeremy heard Jennifer get up early. It was barely light out and she was dressing, then stuffing things into the backpack. Apparently the backpack had also contained gym shoes and a jogging outfit because that is what she was wearing and Jeremy didn’t recognize it as his. She kissed him lightly and apologized for waking him, but she needed to get back to her hotel and get cleaned up for work.
“I don’t think the boss will dock your pay,” he said groggily.
She laughed and said, “I don’t speak enough Russian to tell Susan to wait for me.” Part of Susan’s duties with the car was to play chauffeur on the days she worked. Making her work every day the team was there would have been a burden, but she was on break from university and wouldn’t return to taking classes for another few weeks. Jeremy promised she only had to work when she didn’t have class once the semester started. Her friends all wanted to work at Jeremy’s company when she showed them the car. None of them had a car, but most had a driver’s license.
The last full day Jennifer was there was kind of sad for Jeremy. In all of the hustle and bustle he had lost track of the days. First Global had made its announcement about being the first customer for Pytho Corporation and its stock was climbing dramatically. The nice thing about the brokerage accounts his firm had was that they all participated in after-hours trading. With another office on the other side of the world, Group Lenny could now work their plays around the clock without someone having to sleep at the office or stay up all night at home. Still, Jeremy was going to miss Jennifer. She had spent three nights at his place and cooked him three incredible meals. With her and the rest of the team leaving the next morning, he felt kind of like the vacation was ending and he was the only kid left standing on the beach.
Susan noticed his sadness the morning after the others had left. At first she thought it was a hangover because they had all gone over to the hotel and drunk like fish. When lunch arrived, she struck up a conversation.
“Don’t look so sad. You’re not alone.” “I’m a long way from home and a fish out of water here,” he responded.
“At least you will be busy all next week. We have résumés to go through and your computer operator arrives early next week. Should I pick him up at the airport?”
“That would be wonderful if you could. Do you have his flight schedule and a photo?”
“Yes, Jennifer got that for me before she left.” Hearing the name made Jeremy think about how his nights were going to be from now on. Susan noticed a change behind his eyes and decided it was time to broach the subject.
“You have some clothes suitable for going to a club tonight, don’t you?” Jeremy’s mind definitely spun trying to figure out where that came from. “What kind of club?” “A dance club.”
“I try not to dance unless I’m drunk at a wedding. I’m more of a sports bar kind of guy.”
“Well, you have plans to go to one tonight.” “I do?”
“Yes. It was obvious between you and Jennifer. I asked. She told me about ‘other related duties.’ I have boyfriend so cannot perform. Five of my girlfriends would like nothing better than to hang out with good-looking, rich American, though. Your needs will be taken care of tonight, I am certain of that.”
“I’m not rich.”
“They see the car, that is all they need to see. Most people here cannot afford car. One thing I must say, though, because I like you and like working here.”
“Go on,” Jeremy said, dreading where this was going.
“Most girls at college also cannot afford to be on, how you say, ‘pill’?” Jeremy nodded.
“Don’t believe them if they tell you that. Girls here, attracted to money, tend to latch onto it with a child.”
“Good information. I wouldn’t want any form of relationship here. There is someone I care about back home, not dating, but sleeping together. I am flying back to see her for New Year’s Eve, by the way. I do plan on training people here and leaving once they are capable of running the place. It is doubtful I will ever return.”
“Well, if things don’t work out with my boyfriend I would consider performing ‘other related duties’, but you need to provide for the pill.”
“You don’t have to, Susan. I rely on you far too much to lose you.” “I know. That’s why I offered.”
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