A Breath Of Fresh Air

It's a breath of fresh air.

The new guy is... well he's... nice. That's the only way I can describe him. He's nice. He smiles. He makes jokes. He's upbeat and enthusiastic.

For the past week he's been sharing my office. He's slowly getting to grips with how things are run. He's dying to go out and find new business. He's eager to meet existing clients. And slowly but surely he's enthusiasm is killing me.

I would love to come into work and have and old fashioned bitch fight. A moody hello followed by a nasty comment. Without Gay Boss people are pleasant and boring.

Last Friday New Guy and I had a discussion. I told him the bad parts. CEO's random fits of illogical behaviour. I told him to be prepared for stalker-like behaviour if he does anything wrong. He was slightly shocked. He sat in silence for a while tapping away at his computer.

"Don't worry," I gave him a reassuring smile "You'll be fine."

......

"He's screwed."

Stoner and I had lunch together that day. It was warm enough to sit in park. We lay on the grass sharing a cigarette as we spoke about New Guy.

"In any other company it would be a fantastic attitude. He motivates people."

"Yep. But if you're like that here you'll fall harder."

"you think he'll fall?"

Stoner shrugged.

"They all do."

Gay Boss once told me about the person that he replaced. And the person before him. Stoner's right. They all fell. Gay Boss lasted the longest. CEO actually liked him for a long time. I wonder what changed.

......

On Saturday I began working hard on my business plan. I walked around the house conjuring up ideas. I threw tree loads of paper into the bin as I ruled out the ideas. I spent hours tracking down old contact information.

Towards the end of the day I was exhausted and frustrated.

Solicitor's brother came over for dinner that night with he's current girlfriend. (He's had about six different ones in the last four months.) As we sat down to eat I suddenly lunged for a pen and my notepad. I tripped over the rug in my desperation.

"What the fuck?"

Solicitor's brother looked at me alarmed. Solicitor shook his head and continued to pour drinks. He's used to my sudden outbursts of energy. I once sprung up out of bed in the middle of the night reaching for my notebook. He thought the house was on fire.

As I wrote down information that I suddenly recalled Solicitor explained my business idea to his brother. Throughout dinner Solicitor's brother showed a keen interest in my plan. He asked questions about the development strategy and he supplied new ideas.

"Elise, it's going to work. Nobody's doing what you're doing. It'll take time but when it takes off it will be amazing."

Amazing?! I love him!

Later that night as I was getting ready for bed I asked Solicitor for the millionth time if he thought it would work.

"Yes babe. It'll work."

"You think it'll be amazing?"

He dropped a kiss on my lips. A very sweet way of shutting me up.

"Do you?"

"Yes babe."

"Really?"

"Really."

"You're not just saying that?"

"Have you taken you're knickers off or do I have to it for you?"