Baxter was in a state of anxiety for most of the day. Roman had made sure of that. He enjoyed being Paula’s assistant but working with the big boss was an entirely different thing. They had been going through the Wilson National files with scrutiny preparing for the acquisition.
“We need to work on the 3 year projections for the account.” Said Roman.
“I believe that Miss Anderson already has that completed sir.”
“What is our latest status from the Federal Reserve Board?”
“I am not sure sir.”
“Then you need to get sure. Where would Miss Anderson have left that information?”
“I don’t know sir? May I suggest calling Miss Anderson?”
“Yes, and don’t stop calling her until she answers.” Roman said. “I will also try to get Maxwell from the Federal Reserve on the line as well. Maybe she told him something.”
Baxter made sure to stay on top of things for the rest of the day. Though there were lots of frustrations between the two of them. They plowed through the rest of the Wilson National account and unfortunately had not made much progress. Maxwell was not a shred of help. Needless to say Roman was not a happy man by the end of the day. “Has she called you back?”
“No sir, I am afraid not.”
***
Paula had enjoyed her day on the beach. She sat on the shore watching the sunset and feeling her hair blow in the breeze. It was just like she had imagined. When the sun faded, she returned to her room and ordered a meal. She checked her cell phone and was terribly upset to see 25 calls from Baxter. Refusing to return the call, with resolution she tossed the phone on the bed. Then flicked on the TV and sat down to enjoy a large plate of her favorite Paella and sip her Daiquiri.
Chapter 3 Roman arrived at work the next morning fit to be tied. Baxter did his best to avoid him but it was to no avail. He was really a pretty anxious guy to start with and Roman’s pressure was not helping him a bit. He was short, stocky and had slightly receding brown hair. Once Roman remarked that he reminded him of George on Seinfeld. He had stayed up all night working on the Wilson National account. In all the mountains of paperwork, that one Federal Reserve filing could not be found.
“Get her on the line.” He demanded.
“I have been trying since 7:00 am, and she hasn’t returned the call yet.”
“How could I have ever agreed to giving her 3 weeks off? She has never taken all of her vacation time at once. This will never happen again. You can be sure of that.”
“I can try sending her a text message.”
“I should have thought of that because we have an emergency text code. She better answer that one.” He said whipping out his cell phone.
Within seconds, Paula’s peaceful shopping trip was zapped like a bug on a windshield. Everything suddenly came to a screeching halt. “Damn it!” she hissed, “This better be an emergency or I will be filing my resignation. He knows this is going to far.”
Paula swiftly dialed Roman’s cell number.
“Are you in the hospital?” she said flatly.
“No.”
“Has there been an accident?”
“No.”
“Have you become incapacitated in any way?”
“That depends.”
“Oh Roman,” she groaned, “I have got to have a break. I am worn out. I have been overworked for months. I will fall apart if you don’t give me some space. I need this time Roman. You promised not to use the emergency code unless it was a life or death situation, or the company was at risk. Baxter called me 25 times yesterday. You set him on me like a hound dog.”
“You know I am not good with apologies. I am sorry for that. But this is an emergency.”
“What!”
“I can’t find the last filing paper that we need to wrap up Wilson National. I called Max at the Fed and he says he didn’t know anything about that paper. I looked through the entire file last night and could not