NEW RECRUITS

A JAKE MITCHELL STORY BY BEEJ

(COMES AFTER BASIC TRAINING) 

Jake was in the office… bored… again. He seemed to be spending more and more time behind his desk, when all he wanted was a bit of action. The last piece of excitement he’d had was when he was called in to help the police with a hostage situation at one of the city banks, but unfortunately for him (and very fortunately for the hostages), just as Jake was getting a long-missed adrenaline rush, the robber gave himself up. So here he was, back behind his desk, staring out the window at the harbour below.

Mike was due in on an afternoon flight in readiness for the recruitment drive the following week. Jake had mixed feelings about it. They needed new operatives, especially as they were thinking of opening a London office, and he was looking forward to the practical side, the group talk and the one on one, but then he remembered all the added paperwork and let out a deep sigh.

His PA, Jennifer, walked through the door just at that point, and noticed the sad look in his eyes. She knew he longed to get out of the office for a while. Walking over to his desk, she placed yet another pile of papers down on the corner, smiled at him and said, “Why don’t you go for a run in the gardens?”

Jake’s eyes lit up at the suggestion, but darkened again when he looked at the new pile of papers.

“Don’t worry about those, Jake. They only need your signature, they’re the reports we went through yesterday. I think they can wait until you get back, and you know you’ll feel better after a run.”

“Aw, Jinny, your blood needs bottling,” said Jake, jumping from his seat and giving Jenny a hug. I’ll be about an hour, two at tops. In fact, I should be back in time for lunch, then I can go pick up Mike from the airport this arvo.”

Jake winked at Jenny as he headed for his private bathroom to change into his running gear. Jenny smiled, knowing Sandi and Dee, on reception, were going to get a nice bonus when they saw him jog to the lift in the next few minutes.

She was right. By the time she was back at her desk in the outer office, Jake was just coming through his door. Dressed in black tank and shorts, he leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the top of her head, smiled and mouthed *thanks, mum* at her, then made off towards the lifts giggling, before she had the chance to throw something at him for his cheek. The girls hung over the reception desk watching him disappear down the corridor.

“Come on girls, you know he’s spoken for.” Jenny reminded them.

“We know,  he’s still well worth a perve though,” they replied, sitting back down behind the desk, laughing.

Jenny laughed with them, wondering if Jake realised just what effect he had on his staff, whether he was in a business suit, running shorts, sweats, or even full commando gear. They all adored him, no matter what he looked like, and it wasn’t just the female members of staff he affected. All the men in the organisation would lay down their lives for him if need be. He commanded respect from everyone, not because he was co-owner of the company, but because they all knew he would never ask them to do anything he wouldn’t do himself, and they all knew he was more than capable of doing it twice as well as they could.

Jake was blissfully unaware of the awe in which he was held in by his staff. He just felt lucky to have such good people working with him, and treated them all as he would want to be treated himself. As he left the lift on the ground floor of the building, his staff was the last thing on his mind. He was headed for the gardens and a good run to blow out the cobwebs. He told himself not to feel guilty for playing hooky as he knew that he would work twice as hard when he got back, and Jenny knew he would probably stay well after everyone else had gone for the evening.

Jake jogged through Circular Quay and past the Opera House, then made his way around the harbour walk on the edge of the Botanical Gardens, as he got close to the wharf, he toyed with the idea of sneaking home, but decided against it. He ran past the wharf and headed towards Potts Point and on through Kings Cross and beyond. After running for around 45 minutes, he slowed to a stop, stepping into the first store he came to for some bottled water. He sat on a bench for a few minutes drinking deeply, checked his watch, and turned to head back towards the city.

As he reached The Domain, he decided to cut through the centre of the gardens. Nearing the pond, he noticed a scuffle going on. Four lads were laying into a lone victim. Jake stopped and shouted. They looked over, flipped him the bird, and carried on with their assault.

Heading towards them, Jake was soon in the thick of things, trying to break it up. The victim took advantage of the brief respite to run off, leaving Jake the object of the yobs' anger. He may have been outnumbered, but they were outclassed, and he was soon getting the better of them. Just when he thought that he was getting the upper hand, a searing pain exploded inside his head, and his world went black! One of the thugs had ripped a low branch from one of the trees and landed him a good one against his left temple.

A bad job well done, they ran off whooping and roaring to cause more havoc wherever they could.

************

Slowly, Jake’s senses returned to him and he gingerly sat up. When the garden stopped spinning, he thought he would give standing a go. Staggering a bit, and nearly falling into the pond, he was vaguely aware that the area seemed deserted. Typical, when you want a crowd, there’s never one about! He was only about ten minutes from the office, so his muddled mind told him it was a good idea to head back there and maybe lie down for a bit to ease his pounding headache.

Oblivious to the strange looks he was getting from the crowds around the Opera House, he slowly made his way back to the office building, staggering through the main entrance and slumping into the lift. By the time he got to the 12th floor, he was feeling more than a little groggy. He lurched out of the lift and headed towards his office. With a lot of help from the wall, he made it to the reception area without incident. The girls looked up on hearing him, and gasped in unison.

Making his way towards Jenny’s desk, he saw her rise and walk towards him, just before he fell flat on his face at her feet.

“Jake!” she cried, dropping to her knees to see how she could help him. She shouted to the girls to call a couple of the men from their office to help get him up. A few minutes later he was lying on his huge over-stuffed sofa at the ‘informal’ end of his inner office. Jenny was mopping the blood from the gash on his head, while one of the girls put in a call to Doctor Sing, Jake’s Sydney physician and neighbour, both in  his business premises (Dr. Sing had his office on the 10th floor), and at the wharf.

Within minutes Dr. Sing was heading down the corridor from the lift, and was on his knee next to the unconscious Jake. As he was finishing dressing the wound, Jake groaned and opened his eyes.

“G’Day, Jake. You’ll go to almost any lengths to get me to make a house call, won’t you. How ya going?”

“Wha….?” replied Jake.

“Not your usual erudite self are you, mate? Do you want to try to sit up now?”

Jake groaned as he was slowly eased to a sitting position on the sofa, and Dr. Sing got from the floor to sit next to him.

“What happened?”

“We were kind of hoping you might be able to tell us that, Jake,” replied Jenny.

Jake rubbed his hands over his face, wincing when he touched the stitched wound on his temple.

“Shit! There was a bloke by the pond getting a bashing. I went over to help him out.”

“Where is he now, mate?” asked the doctor.

“He shot through as soon as I got there. Didn’t really have much time to see which way he went. I kinda had my hands full.”

Just then there was a knock on the door. Jenny opened it and stood back to let two police officers enter. Jake groaned softly. He was hoping to just lie down until his head stopped pounding; now he knew he would have to make a statement.

As the two officers sat down, there was a commotion from the reception area. Jenny stepped out to see what was going on. Leaning over the reception desk, kissing Sandi and Dee on the cheeks, was Michael, Jake’s American partner. In all the excitement, Jenny had forgotten he was arriving that afternoon.

Hearing the door close, Mike turned and smiled.

“Hey, Jen, good to see you”

In a couple of strides, he had reached Jenny and she found herself in his arms being swung up in the air.

“How’s my favourite girl?” Mike beamed at the woman he’d grown to love like an older sister.

“Michael, I’m fine. I’m so sorry I didn’t get anyone down to pick you up.”

“That’s okay, sweetie, I managed to get an earlier flight. I thought it would be easier to catch a cab than to mess up your day by having to drag someone away to get me. Where’s the whiz kid?”

          ***************

Jake was just about to re-tell his story to the police when the door flew open and a whirlwind blew in. Michael was by his side in an instant asking if he was okay.

After around ten minutes of reassurance, he finally calmed down enough to let Jake finish answering the police questions, then Dr. Sing told them Jake needed to rest and anything else would have to wait until he was feeling better. The  officers got up and said they thought they had enough information. They said their goodbye’s to everyone and left. Jake sank back into the sofa with a groan.

“Okie dokie, I think it’s time to take you home,” said Dr. Sing. “I have my car so I’ll give you a lift.”

“I’ll come, too, if you don’t mind, doc. That way I can see for myself he does what you tell him,” said Mike.

Before too long they were back at the wharf, and Jake was safely in his apartment, tucked in bed with a hot drink and, despite his vehement protests, some pain meds.

“Get some rest now, Jake, and don’t hesitate to call me if you feel any worse.”

“Don’t worry, doc,” Mike said. “I’m staying here while I’m in town, so can keep an eye on him. If we need anything, I’ll come knocking.”

Dr. Sing got up from the edge of the bed. “I’ll say goodnight then, and if you don't need me before, I’ll drop by in the morning.”

Mike saw him to the door, and by the time he returned, Jake was fast asleep. He closed the blinds and quietly left the bedroom. Moving to the kitchen, he made himself some coffee and went out onto the balcony to enjoy it while taking in the view. He never tired of it, and thought once again how lucky Jake was to wake up to this every day.

He was still on the balcony, watching the sun setting over the bridge, when he heard a commotion from Jake’s bedroom. Rushing in through the lounge room and up the stairs, he reached Jake’s room in time to find him half out of the bed chundering his guts up and moaning.

“Shit!” said Mike, on his way to the en-suite to fetch a damp wash cloth. He was soon back, helping Jake onto the bed once more, and wiping his sweat covered face with the cool, damp cloth. Even though he was being as gentle as he could, each touch seemed to be agony for his friend. He helped him lie back against the pillows, cleaned up the floor, then made his way to Dr. Sing's apartment.

“Sorry, Doc,” he said as the door opened in response to his hammering.

“What’s happened?”, asked the doctor, reaching for his bag and keys and following Mike along the walkway back to Jake’s place.

“He’s just chucked his guts up all over the bedroom floor, and he seems to be in a lot of pain.”

Dr. Sing made his way up to Jake’s bedroom and found him tossing and turning on the bed. It was quite dark in the room with the blinds closed so Mike went to open them. As the last rays of the sunset lit up the room, Jake flinched and quickly shut his eyes.

“Light hurting?” questioned the doctor.

“Umm hmm,” Jake mumbled in reply.

Mike quickly shut the blinds again and put on the light in the bathroom. After asking a few yes/no reply questions, Dr. Sing reached for his bag and took out a syringe. Jake opened his eyes long enough to see it and tried to move away from it.

“Jake, I know you hate taking medication, but I’m pretty sure this is a migraine, and the only way you’ll get any relief is to let me give you this shot. It will take the nausea away, help with the hammers of hell you have in your head, and allow you to sleep. Trust me, I’m a doctor,” he said, winking.

He slipped the tiny needle just under the skin on Jake’s side, and within minutes the deep furrows on his forehead began to smooth out and he relaxed as the medication took hold. He was soon asleep once again, and Mike took the doctor downstairs for a cup of coffee.

“He should sleep through the night with that shot. He’ll be pretty groggy when he wakes up, but hopefully the pain will have gone. Try to get him to stay in bed tomorrow, or at least lay him on the sofa for a few hours. I‘ll drop round after brekkie; knowing him, he’ll try to get up at the crack of dawn as usual.”

“Okay, doc. Sorry for nearly knocking your door down, and thanks for coming over.”

“No worries. See you tomorrow.”

************

Dappled sunlight was weaving its way through the blinds. It was going to be a lovely day.  There was a rustle from under the bedclothes, and a soft moan. Jake was returning to the land of the living. He took a risk and slowly opened one eye. Grateful for the absence of flaming arrows searing into his brain, he opened the other eye. Pulling himself up into a sitting position, he decided that he didn’t feel too bad. A swim should bring him back to normal, he thought, and went to get out of bed to head for the bathroom.

As soon as he put both feet onto the polished hardwood floor he knew he wasn’t as good as he had felt while still in bed. The room began to spin and his temples began to ache. Just as he thought he was going to say G’Day to the floor, Mike came through the door, rushed to his side, and eased him back onto the bed.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” he asked.

“Mate, I need the bathroom.”

“Well, okay. I’ll help you, but then it’s back to bed for you quick smart, and don’t even think about heading down to the pool this morning.”

Jake turned to Mike with a frown, but knew his best friend was right, he was still a bit too fragile to take his normal early morning swim. He felt stupid being helped to take a leak, but Mike was adamant that he wasn’t going to let him go it alone. His ablutions over, Mike wrapped his arm around Jake’s waist and helped him back to the bedroom, and into bed,

“Can you manage a cup of tea?”

“No, mate, but I could murder a glass of water.”

“Coming up, my friend,” said Mike, heading down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Just as he was getting some water from the fridge, there was a knock at the door. He opened it to find Doctor Sing smiling at him.

“Morning, Doc.”

“G’Day, Mike. How’s the patient?”

“He’s pretty groggy, like you said. I had to help him to the bathroom just now, and he didn’t even fight me when I put him back to bed.”

“Don’t look so worried. That’s just an after-effect of the medication I gave him last night, It will soon wear off, then you’ll have fun trying to keep him down. Can I go up?”

“Of course, I was just taking him some iced water.”

“Right. He’s not up to eating anything yet ,then?”

“Didn’t offer him food, but he sure went green at the thought of a cup of tea,” Mike answered as they entered Jake’s room.

“That’s because you make lousy tea, mate,” Jake said from the bed. “G’Day, Drew.”

“Hey, Jake. How ya going?”

“I’ve had better days, I have to admit. Good job it’s Saturday eh? Didn’t fancy the office today.”

Doctor Sing sat on the edge of the bed and quickly examined Jake. Deciding there was no permanent damage, he told Jake he could get up, as long as he took it easy for the entire day, and that he should be fine for work on Monday. Jake groaned, remembering that Monday was group chat day for the job candidates.

“Can’t you give me a note for the boss?”

“Get real, Jake, you ARE the boss. Don’t be a pussy. You know you love interviews,” laughed Mike.

Jake groaned and leaned back against the head of the bed with a small smile on his face. The doctor told him he would be at home all the weekend, and not to hesitate to call him if needed. He said goodbye to Jake and Mike saw him out.

When he returned to the bedroom, he found Jake standing by the picture window, swaying slightly. He’d managed to put on a pair of old sweats and a tank, so Mike helped him down the stairs and out to the balcony. As he was settling him onto a steamer chair the security phone rang.

Mike answered it. It was Jenny. A few minutes later, she was fussing over Jake.

“G’Day, Mum,” he joked.

Jenny gave him a playful swat on the shoulder, and a gentle kiss on the top of his head. She didn’t mind his jokes; it meant he was feeling better. She headed of to the kitchen, and was soon back with mugs of steaming tea, a pile of toast, and jars of marmalade and Vegemite.

She took one look at Jake, sitting there with one eyebrow raised.

“No arguments. You haven’t eaten since yesterday morning.”

“He refused tea earlier,” Mike said.

“That’s because you can’t make a decent cup,” Jenny quipped.

Jake burst out laughing, then groaned a little at the twinge in his head. He sat and ate his toast like a good little boy, then took a grateful swig of his tea. He thought it would make him chunder again, but instead, it seemed to settle his stomach, and he immediately felt almost back to normal. He knew that he was going to have to be a good boy for the rest of the day though, as Mike would stick to him like a limpet to make sure he followed doctors orders.

The rest of the day passed without incident. Jake shocked Mike by doing what he was told, for a change, and taking it easy for the entire day. If the truth be known, all he really wanted to do was sleep anyway, so most of the day was spent dozing on the balcony, with Mike making sure that he was shaded from the worst of the sun.

Sunday found Jake feeling himself once again and when Mike woke up to an empty apartment, he knew just where to find his friend. He grabbed a towel and headed down to the pool. Sure enough, there was a human torpedo swimming lengths underwater. When he finally came up for air, he spotted Mike sitting on the side of the pool.

“G’day, mate.”

“Hey yourself. You look like the Man from Atlantis down there.”

“Rack off, mate,” grinned Jake, hauling himself out of the water and dripping all over his friend.

“My belly thinks my throat’s been cut. Fancy some brekkie?”

“Only if you’re buying, my friend.”

“Okie dokie, let me dry off and we’ll go to the café.”

Mike threw Jake the towel he’d brought with him and Jake headed off towards the changing rooms. A few minutes later, he emerged, dressed in sweats and a tank, and they headed off towards the café on the boardwalk.

As they sat at an outside table, Peter, the waiter came up to take their order.

“Shit, mate. What does the other bloke look like?”

“G’day, Pete,” replied Jake. “Do you remember Mike, my business partner?”

“Yeah, how ya going, mate?”

“I’m doing good, thanks. Nice to see you again, Pete.”

They placed their order, tea and toast for Jake, and a strong black coffee for Mike. When he returned, he took up their offer of joining them as it was early, and they were the only customers. After a lot of badgering, Jake finally explained what had gone down the previous day. Pete told them that some yobs had run past the wharf, but hadn’t caused any trouble there. They had been heading up towards the Cross, probably never to be seen again.

“Ah, well, no permanent damage done anyway?” asked Pete.

“Only to his ego,” laughed Mike. “He’s a bit upset that he couldn’t take them all down on his own.”

Jake snorted and took a drink of his tea. He looked a lot worse than he actually felt, and could understand why his mates were taking the rise out of him. He knew he would soon be getting all the ‘action man’ jokes from his mate, Pete, but he only did it because they were so close.

Breakfast finished, they headed back to the apartment. A quick shower and change of clothes later, and Jake was picking up his keys, heading for the door.

“Where ya going?” asked Mike.

“The office, mate. I lost an entire afternoon Friday, and I still have stuff to do before the interviews tomorrow.”

“Hang on then, I’ll come with you. We’ll get it done a lot quicker if we both work at it.”

They headed off towards the office, laughing and joking as they went. Jake got some looks from passers by, but he returned them with one of his patent ‘glares’, and they were left alone. He knew he looked like he had been hit by a train, but he didn’t see why that gave strangers the right to stare at him.

They got to the office building and were soon in the lift heading for the 12th floor. As the doors slid open, they were surprised to see the lights on. They owned the entire floor and Jake wouldn't even let the cleaners work on a Sunday. As they walked down towards reception, they heard the sound of fingers moving swiftly over a keyboard. Jake smiled.

“G’day, Jinny,” he called.

“Jake, what are you doing here on a Sunday?” came the reply.

“I could ask you the same thing, luv,” he said, smiling down at her as he stood beside her desk. “Why don’t you join us in the office, it’ll be heaps easier than having to keep shouting through the door at you, and between the three of us, we should get all this paperwork done in a couple of hours, then lunch is my treat.”

“Aw shit, that means a beef tiger at Harry’s,” groaned Mike.

“Go bite yer bum, mate. Jinny’s worth something special.”

Jenny blushed at the kind words from her young boss. It wasn’t often he showed his appreciation of her in actual words, even though he showed it in other ways, and it made her feel like a teenager with a crush at times. She gathered up all the papers they would need, and followed the two men who meant more to her than anything, into the inner office.

They all sat around Jake’s giant desk, going through applicant files, sorting forms, and printing and collating the various handouts that would be needed for the group talk the following day. Around 11.00 am, Jake threw down his pen, leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hands over his face.

“Are you okay, Jake?” Jenny asked, a worried look on her face.

Jake looked across at her through bloodshot eyes. “A bit bushed, luv, is all.”

“Okay, I vote we stop,” Mike stated, getting up from his chair and piling the files neatly on the edge of the desk. “We’ve done all we can anyway, so let’s get outta here.”

They headed down to the underground parking where Jenny had her car. Mike  grabbed the front passenger seat, and Jake crawled into the back. Jenny got behind the wheel, turned to Jake, and asked where they were headed.

“Depends what you want to eat. If it’s Chinese then down to Fu Manchu at Bondi, if not, we can go to Coast in Cockle Bay Wharf.”

“Right, sit back and relax, and I’ll make up my mind as we go,” said Jenny, winking at Jake through the rear view mirror.

Jake grinned in reply, and settled back, resting his head on the soft leather upholstery.

Jenny and Mike chatted happily as she drove to their as yet undecided destination. She thought she wouldn’t tell Mike where they were going until they actually got there. She wanted it to be a surprise for him as she knew he didn’t really know the city too well.

Jenny hadn’t been to Cockle Bay Wharf for a long time, so she chose Coast, taking the scenic route to make the journey last a bit longer. They pulled into the car park and stopped. It was quiet in the back of the car, and both Jenny and Mike turned round to see Jake fast asleep, his head resting on the passenger door.

“It seems a shame to wake him,” whispered Jenny.

“Yeah, but he’ll kill us if he misses out on his lunch,” replied Mike.

He quietly went around to the rear door, opening it slowly so that Jake didn’t fall out. Crouching down by the open door, he gently placed his hand on Jake's shoulder, giving a little shake.

“Wake up, Sleeping Beauty, we’re here.”

Jake grunted and opened his eyes.

“We here already? Where are we?”

Jenny and Mike both laughed at the confusion flashing across Jake’s face. He looked out of the window and smiled as he realised where he was.

“Good choice, Jin,” he said, getting slowly out of the car. “Another first for Mike, real Aussie tucker.”

Throughout the meal, Mike kept jabbing Jake with his elbow ‘to make sure he was still awake‘. Jake went along with the joke, right up until Mike managed to find a tender spot along his ribs where he had been kicked the day before. Pain and anger flashed across Jake’s face.

“Leave off, ya fuckin’ Seppo,” Jake spat out at Mike.

He sprang up from his seat and lunged towards the men’s room, leaving Mike and Jenny staring open-mouthed at each other.

“Go after him, Mike.”

“No way, I know better than to get near him when he’s off on one.”

“Mike, I think you should go and see if he’s okay. He didn’t look too good.”

Mike had to agree with Jenny, and he made his way to the men’s room to see if his friend was alright. As he entered, the room seemed to be empty, but as he was about to walk out and see if Jake had nipped out the back way, he heard a groan and the unmistakable sound of someone emptying their entire stomach contents down the toilet.

“Jake?”

A groan answered his question, and he pushed open one of the compartments to find his friend slumped on the floor with his head over the pan. He was looking pretty green.

“Jake, what is it?”

“Piss off,” was the reply.

Mike bent over his friend and placing his arms around Jake’s waist, helped him to his feet and out to the wash basins. He leant Jake against one of them and raised up his shirt.

“FUCK!” he said, looking at the deep purple and black bruise that started just above the hip, and stopped around his lower ribs.

“I am so sorry, Jake. I didn’t know.”

Jake just looked at his friend, pain showing clearly in his eyes.

“Home?” asked Mike.

Jake nodded once, and Mike helped him back into the restaurant. After paying the bill, they headed back to Jenny’s car, and were soon on their way back to Jake’s place. As Jenny settled him on the sofa, Mike went along to Dr. Sing. He answered right away, and followed Mike to Jake’s.

“G’day, Jenny.”

“Hello, Andrew, sorry to disrupt your Sunday, but I think Jake needs your expert attention.”

“Headache again, Jake?”

Jake was still in a bit of pain, and just shook his head. Mike explained what had happened, and Dr. Sing asked Jake to lift up his shirt.

“Shit, that looks more than a bit sore!”

“Tell me about it,” replied Jake.

After some gentle prodding, Dr. Sing decided that there was nothing broken, and it was just bad bruising.

“Keep an eye on it, though. If the pain gets any worse, a trip to the hospital wouldn’t go amiss.”

“I’ll be right, as long as a certain person keeps his elbow out of my ribs,” Jake groaned in reply.

After the doctor had gone, Mike sat on the edge of the sofa and turned to Jake.

“Why didn’t I notice that at the pool this morning?”

“The bruising hadn’t come out. I guess the warm water helped it, along with your bloody elbow.”

“I am so sorry, my friend. What can I do to make it up to you?”

“All the interviews?” asked Jake, a hopeful glint in his eye.

“No way, sunshine!” laughed Mike, in reply. “We do this together, as always.”

************

Monday morning. 7.30 am.

Mike and Jake, looking every inch the powerful executives in their designer suits, were having their first coffee of the day. Jenny was there with them, but as yet, the rest of the floor was empty. The applicants were due to arrive at 8.30am. They only had to finish laying out the information packs on the rows of seats, and they would be ready.

8.00am.

Sandi and Dee arrived, ready to greet all the applicants. Jake headed off for the little office just off the briefing room, and Mike sat on the edge of Jenny’s desk, drinking more coffee and practicing his new chat up lines on her, to no effect.

8.30am.

All the candidates had arrived in plenty of time, and were now sitting in rows, listening to Mike introduce himself. They were all intent on what he was saying, and none of them noticed the door at the back of the room open, and a figure slip silently into the room to take a seat by the back wall.

At the end of his introduction, Mike stopped and glanced towards the figure at the back, who nodded to him.

“Okay, people. I’ve introduced myself to you, and now I think it’s time for you to introduce yourselves. Before we start, though, I’d like to make one more introduction. As you know, the company is called A&M Services. From my introduction, you know I’m the ‘M’ in the title, and Financial Director, so now I’d like to introduce you to the ‘A’, my business partner, and Managing Director, Aaron Mitchell.”

Jake rose from his chair and made his way to the front of the room. As he turned to face the group, he heard a few gasps, and saw a few horrified expressions from the female candidates. He quickly apologised for his battered appearance, and went on to introduce himself to the candidates. He then perched himself on the edge of the desk, and watched intently as each prospective employee stood, and gave an account of themselves.

Jake was pleased to see that all those who had been invited to attend had actually turned up, including the women. He and Mike both knew that a lot of firms still only employed women for the minor office roles, and only took men as negotiators, but they were convinced that women could do the job equally, if not better, than some male negotiators they knew, and were always willing to give them a trial.

He scanned the room as each candidate stood for their introduction. He spotted one face he knew very well, but made no acknowledgement when their eyes met. He also spotted someone he was sure he didn’t know, but was certain he had seen, and recently.

By the time all the introductions were completed, Mike decided he couldn’t go on without a caffeine fix, so they all adjourned for a coffee break.

“Okay, ladies and gentlemen. As there are so many of you, I think a 30 minute break should give you all a chance to get a drink. This is a non smoking building, so if you feel the need for a nicotine fix, turn left when you leave the lift on the lower ground floor, and you’ll see the little smoker’s enclosure by the parking area,” Mike said with a grin.

He and Jake headed for Jake’s office. Once there, Jake loosened his tie, eased his shoes off and sat down, with his feet on his desk. Jenny came in with a huge mug of tea for him, and the coffee jug for Mike.

“How’s it going?” she asked.

“We’ve just finished the introductions, so hopefully we should have the tour of the offices finished by lunch, then this arvo we’ll have the group stuff, and while they have a break, we’ll work out the individual interview times for the rest of the week.”

“To make it easier, I can take all the women if you like,” winked Mike.

“In your dreams, mate,” replied Jake. “I think we’ll do them together, tomorrow, to get it over with.”

They were still laughing together as they re-entered the briefing room, which went a long way to calming the nerves of the candidates already seated awaiting their return.

It was a long afternoon, but by 6.00pm, all the candidates had all gone, with their interview times, and Jake, Mike and Jenny were headed off to Woolloomooloo Steak House for a quick meal and a drink before having an early night.

Jake seemed to be pre-occupied all the way through the meal, and finally Jenny asked him what was wrong.

“It’s that bloke, Latham. I feel that I should know him, but I’m buggered if I can remember why.”

“Is he a local? Maybe you’ve seen him around the city,” said Mike.

“I don’t know, mate, but give me time, it’ll come to me. He’s on my list for Thursday, maybe by then I’ll have remembered.”

The rest of the week flew by. Mike enjoyed Tuesday the best and was in his element interviewing the female candidates. Thursday came around, and it was the last day of the first interviews. Mike and Jake would take Friday for their deliberations, and to make a shortlist for second interviews. Finally, Martin Latham knocked on Jake’s door, ready for his interview.

He sat down opposite Jake and waited. Jake just sat at his desk staring at him for a while.

“I think I know you,” he said.

“I don’t think so, Mr. Mitchell. I don’t come from Sydney. I only arrived last Friday.”

“Last Friday?”

Jake rubbed the wound on his temple slowly.

“Did you get a chance to look around when you got here?”

“Oh yes, I took the Opera House tour, and then had my lunch in the Botanical Gardens.”

“The gardens! That’s how I know you. You’re the bloke that was getting a bashing by the pond last Friday. Thanks for shooting through, mate!”

Latham stared guiltily at the floor, unable to look Jake in the eye, ashamed that his secret was out in the open.

“I am so sorry for what happened, I just panicked…I didn’t know what to do!”

“Mate, you didn’t even call for help. You just left me there to fight your battle for you.”

Latham sat silently, waiting for Jake to blow up at him, or maybe worse. Jake didn’t say a word, just looking at the man hunched in his seat on the other side of the desk. When he finally spoke, it wasn’t an angry outburst, as Latham was expecting. Jake was calm and quiet, a sure sign for anyone that knew him that he was close to boiling point.

“We place teamwork as a high priority in the work we do here. We can’t afford to have a colleague we can’t trust. We don’t like to have to go in to make an extraction, but it happens, and the last thing we need is to find ourselves in shit up to our ears because our backup has done a runner. I’m sorry, Mr. Latham. This interview is at an end.”

“But…!”

“No buts. My assistant will show you out.”

Jake buzzed for Jenny and asked her to show him to the lift. A few minutes later she was back in his office, a question forming on her lips.

“That has to be the quickest interview of the week, Jake. What happened?”

“He’s the bludger who left me at the mercy of those yobs last Friday, Jin.”

“What?  And he had the nerve to sit here all day Monday and not say a word?”

“I guess he was hoping I wouldn’t remember him because he shot off so quickly when I went to help him.”

“What did you tell him?”

“I said we couldn’t afford to have someone like him working for us. We needed reliable people in a crisis, not someone who would panic and scarper.”

“Ah, well, one good thing about it.”

“What’s that?”

“He was your last of the day, so you can have an early night.”

“Ah, mate, every silver lining has a cloud. I have to wait for Mike. We’re going to The Cross later.”

“You go home and get ready. I’ll let him know and drop him off when he’s finished.”

Jake got up and gave Jenny a hug, resting his forehead on hers in Maori fashion. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, and was gone before she found him something to do ‘just before he left’. She smiled at him running down towards the lifts, looking every inch a boy being let out of school early.

Despite a late night clubbing, the boys were in the office bright and early the following morning, well, early anyway, if not exactly bright in Mike's case. They were determined to go through all the candidates and make a shortlist by lunchtime, then they could arrange for Jenny to get the second interview letters written up, signed and dispatched to the hotel where the candidates were staying that afternoon, so that the unsuccessful ones didn’t have to hang around longer than necessary.

By 11.00 the list was complete. They had more or less made their minds up the previous day, but just had to make the final choice. Jenny had the two form letters ready and just needed the names of the winners and losers, and the times for the interviews for the winners.

The rest of the weekend passed by quickly. Mike spent much of the daylight hours sitting on the wharf eyeing up the girls, while Jake was on the phone with Angie most of the time. He didn’t have enough time to go up country to be with her as the final interviews were due to be held on the Monday and Tuesday of the following week.

Monday morning found the boys once again in their best “I’m the boss”  suits, Jake sitting on the edge of Jenny’s desk sipping tea from a steaming mug, while Mike lounged against the reception desk with his black coffee, giving Sandi his undivided attention, and making her blush furiously. They heard the lift doors open, and scooted into Jake's office, ready to put on their business faces.

Mike was raring to go, especially as the first four candidates were the women he had previously interviewed. Jake kicked him under the desk and gave him a ‘behave yourself’ look, winking at him before they got under way. Things were progressing very well, and Jake was surprised when Jenny stuck her head round the door to tell them it was time for lunch. Mike resisted the urge to go round to the rocks for a ‘liquid lunch’ and made do with sandwiches and coffee.

The afternoon session was well under way, and their next candidate was a young man that Jake had previously interviewed. He was, therefore, quite surprised to see the lad looking around him nervously when he sat down.

“G’day, David. Have a good weekend?” asked Jake.

“Yes… thank you… sir.” replied David Johnson.

Mike gave Jake a sideways glance. He’d been told how confident and relaxed the young man had seemed in his first interview, and couldn’t believe Jake had got his assessment wrong.

“David,” Mike said. “Is there something worrying you? You seem a little ill at ease. Whatever Jake may have told you about me in your first interview was all lies.”

Jake gave an amused snort, but let Mike continue.

“Don’t be nervous, David. You managed to sail through your first interview, and you wouldn’t  have been  invited back if we didn‘t think you were worth it. So, just relax, okay?”

David squirmed in his chair for a moment before speaking.

“Before we go any further, I feel it’s only right I tell you something about myself that didn’t come up in the initial interview. I…. I’m….that is….”

“For fuck's sake, spit it out lad!”

“I’m gay.”

“David, when I’m looking to hire new staff, I look at their qualifications and achievements. Their race, creed, colour or sexual orientation doesn’t sway me in any way,” replied Jake.

“Just so long as you don’t ram it down our throats,” grinned Mike.

Jake gave him another kick before collapsing into helpless fits of laughter, soon joined by Mike, and David. The tension broken, David soon relaxed and Mike was able to see the same potential in him that Jake had seen the previous week.