Chapter 16: Gold

MORE OF SOMETHING MORE,

a story about a salesman trying to establish himself,

 a CEO scheming to buy out his father's influence

                                              and the woman important to each 

                                                                         16

                       

                  

     Atom Green was on the cusp of sleep but something kept pulling him back, and he lay searching the dark ceiling when eventually it peeked through the fog: the time to move had come. He shut his eyes; they blinked open again. Reflection did not come easily. He would set a course, devote his energies in pursuit and when the body shut down to re-energize, sleep would come. 

     He did know the value of planning, which after all had brought him from restaurant management to sales, and then from sales job to sales job selling A to Z before settling on financial products. At Slade Insurance he soared to the top and believed he'd realize his potential, but circumstances were telling him otherwise.

     Earlier, he had his first look at his new sales territory: mostly light industrial with pockets of trendy boutiques in gentrifying areas, small businesses that had to be courted individually for premiums a single bad claim might dwarf. The wax on his wings was melting.

     A confounding image twisted his mind. Flying in blue sky toward the sun weighty mountains around him spring and on the peaks the sales staff are smiling and waving. He fills in the thought bubble: “We’re equal.”  He tried to shake it off, unwilling to accept the idea, not with the work he’d put in, not with his talent and aspirations.

     True, the changes affected everyone, who now had to think about improving productivity of the new sales teams. Though he’d be near the top, the challenge was to be prominent individually. Elimination of the Top Ten chart worked against that.
     The nagging image flashed again. This time he feels the quaking rumble of mountains growing and the pull of gravity sucking him down. What if the rules changed again? A company might effect change to align goals to overall objectives, but if the objectives were coming unhinged the goals might keep changing too. His energies would be sapped pursuing someone else’s concept of gold.

     Stephen Slade wanted to take the company public for a cash infusion. Then the company might grow by expanding lines of coverage or buying other companies, or the cash could be a boon for investors looking for a payoff. Through Helen Roy he knew that the CEO had been aggressively enlisting short-term investors, holding before them the prospect of the golden IPO. The condo figured into that scheme.

     His pulse quickened thinking about Helen. Her fresh face and unaffected manner charmed him, and her optimism was an inspiration. The idea of increasing the distance between them was painful, but it didn’t have to be. He reached for his cell phone and texted a message, “Get together later?” So late at night, he didn’t expect a quick reply but the clock was ticking for that and more. If he left, he wanted to take her with him. Resolved, the sleep overtook him.

         

          

The next chapter will be posted by May 24. 
 The characters and events in this story are fictitious and do not represent any living person or real event.