don’t want my privacy invaded.” She laughed suddenly. “That sounds wild, doesn’t it?”
“Is he in love do you think?”
“With me? No. He just wants to whomp the spirit out of me. He wanted me out here. Marriage was my price. I said I was getting too old for coeducational vacations. I also said that if you do too much of that sort of thing, the vacations get shorter and shorter until finally when you’re forty they only last twenty minutes in some crib in Trinidad. It was my price and he paid it, and now I think he figures I’ve got some paying to do. I can do a lot of pretending, but it gets pretty wearing. Lennie had a bull pup once. It liked to grab one end of a towel and have you yank him around on the other end. Everychance he’d get, he’d snatch a little more towel until finally there wasn’t any room for your fingers. Harry is like that.”
“He’s left me alone.”
“Try to leave and see.”
He stared at her. “I could give notice and leave. Why not?”
“You could be desk clerk in a flea bag. You’ll never get a good job managing a good hotel. Not for long. Not in this country. And I know just how he’d fix you. Through the unions. Hiring you would be a guarantee of a walkout on some other pretext. Harry never lets people go. He likes them to try it, though, because he likes to have them crawl back.”
“He’s no monster!”
“Of course not. In his business there are certain rules. He’s carried those rules over from the rackets to the legit enterprises. Nobody leaves. No top people. You’re in for life. But don’t kick about it. You have it good. I’ve seen the bonus list. You’re down for five thousand.”
“I still don’t like it.”
“Cheer up, Lloyd. You’ll be as bad as I was last night.”
When he had the chance he checked her theory with Harry one day when they were alone in Lloyd’s office.
“This is running smooth now, Harry. Maybe it will eventually get so smooth I’ll get bored and go find somebody else who wants a hotel managed.”
Harry grinned. “Don’t get bored then.”
“Seriously, suppose I did want to take off some day?”
“You’d get an argument.”
“But I could go, couldn’t I?”
“What is this, kid? What’s chewing you? You need a raise? You unhappy or something? If you’re getting the job licked, drift with it. You want to work too hard all your life?”
“Sometimes you get so you need a change.”
“When you need a change, let me know. I’ll send you to look over hotel problems in Paris. That’s a legitimate deduction. If you don’t like Paris, they got hotels everywhere. If you’re restless, we can send a secretary alongwith you. I got a contact who can come up with a real class kid, college level.”
“What you’re saying is, I work for you from here on in.”
Harry stood up. “Is that so bad? Am I some clown? Isn’t the pay right? Listen, I’ll tell you something. In every business they got key personnel, right? Okay, you’re key personnel. In a lot of businesses they got a turnover problem with key personnel. G. E. has it. General Motors has it. Even the Air Force has it. But you know what ratio of turnover I run on key personnel? None. No ratio at all. I don’t want you trying to spoil my record, kid. If right now you got an itch, that’s okay. It’s letdown. You’ve worked like a dog. Tell you what you do. Draw a thousand and take off for a week. The house won’t fall down. Go away someplace. Go get laid.”
“Thanks, Harry. I’m not that restless. I was just thinking.”
“Don’t think too much.”
“Suppose I goofed on the job. Would I get fired?”
“If you goof, I lose money. If I lose money, my partners lose money. If they lose money, they say, ‘What the hell, Harry! What are you doing to us?’ Then I say, ‘Look, boys. This Wescott goofed off. He dogged it on purpose.’ Then they say, ‘So what did you do to him?’ Much as I like you, kid, I can’t let my partners down. They
“Is he in love do you think?”
“With me? No. He just wants to whomp the spirit out of me. He wanted me out here. Marriage was my price. I said I was getting too old for coeducational vacations. I also said that if you do too much of that sort of thing, the vacations get shorter and shorter until finally when you’re forty they only last twenty minutes in some crib in Trinidad. It was my price and he paid it, and now I think he figures I’ve got some paying to do. I can do a lot of pretending, but it gets pretty wearing. Lennie had a bull pup once. It liked to grab one end of a towel and have you yank him around on the other end. Everychance he’d get, he’d snatch a little more towel until finally there wasn’t any room for your fingers. Harry is like that.”
“He’s left me alone.”
“Try to leave and see.”
He stared at her. “I could give notice and leave. Why not?”
“You could be desk clerk in a flea bag. You’ll never get a good job managing a good hotel. Not for long. Not in this country. And I know just how he’d fix you. Through the unions. Hiring you would be a guarantee of a walkout on some other pretext. Harry never lets people go. He likes them to try it, though, because he likes to have them crawl back.”
“He’s no monster!”
“Of course not. In his business there are certain rules. He’s carried those rules over from the rackets to the legit enterprises. Nobody leaves. No top people. You’re in for life. But don’t kick about it. You have it good. I’ve seen the bonus list. You’re down for five thousand.”
“I still don’t like it.”
“Cheer up, Lloyd. You’ll be as bad as I was last night.”
When he had the chance he checked her theory with Harry one day when they were alone in Lloyd’s office.
“This is running smooth now, Harry. Maybe it will eventually get so smooth I’ll get bored and go find somebody else who wants a hotel managed.”
Harry grinned. “Don’t get bored then.”
“Seriously, suppose I did want to take off some day?”
“You’d get an argument.”
“But I could go, couldn’t I?”
“What is this, kid? What’s chewing you? You need a raise? You unhappy or something? If you’re getting the job licked, drift with it. You want to work too hard all your life?”
“Sometimes you get so you need a change.”
“When you need a change, let me know. I’ll send you to look over hotel problems in Paris. That’s a legitimate deduction. If you don’t like Paris, they got hotels everywhere. If you’re restless, we can send a secretary alongwith you. I got a contact who can come up with a real class kid, college level.”
“What you’re saying is, I work for you from here on in.”
Harry stood up. “Is that so bad? Am I some clown? Isn’t the pay right? Listen, I’ll tell you something. In every business they got key personnel, right? Okay, you’re key personnel. In a lot of businesses they got a turnover problem with key personnel. G. E. has it. General Motors has it. Even the Air Force has it. But you know what ratio of turnover I run on key personnel? None. No ratio at all. I don’t want you trying to spoil my record, kid. If right now you got an itch, that’s okay. It’s letdown. You’ve worked like a dog. Tell you what you do. Draw a thousand and take off for a week. The house won’t fall down. Go away someplace. Go get laid.”
“Thanks, Harry. I’m not that restless. I was just thinking.”
“Don’t think too much.”
“Suppose I goofed on the job. Would I get fired?”
“If you goof, I lose money. If I lose money, my partners lose money. If they lose money, they say, ‘What the hell, Harry! What are you doing to us?’ Then I say, ‘Look, boys. This Wescott goofed off. He dogged it on purpose.’ Then they say, ‘So what did you do to him?’ Much as I like you, kid, I can’t let my partners down. They
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