Crimson & Clover

Partners

I drove back to Tom's reflecting on the encounter with Charlotte. There was no way I would ever have turned her down last year, I thought to myself, actually impressed with how much I'd matured. I threw the paper with Charlotte's phone number out of the car and watched it fly away in the wind. Ma was wrong about me, I had changed. Pa would be proud.

I walked inside Tom's home like a king. I had conquered the world, and I did my own way. Today I had gone from being a smooth talking nobody to upper management. This is the life.

Tom was in the living room sitting on the sofa with Julie. He seemed happy enough, but something was missing.

"Have you told her, partner?" I asked referring to whether or not Tom had told Julie the news.

"I haven't had the chance," he answered.

"But you've been home for a while now," I replied, wondering why it's taking him so long to tell the girl of his dreams that now he's someone worth being seen with.

"And what do you mean by partner?" he asked, confused, because he knew about the bank job offer.

"Why did Adam just call you partner?" Julie asked Tom with an inflection in her voice that said if you and Adam are going to be partners in anything then it's because he's taking advantage of you.

"I'll explain later," Tom said nervously. "Oh by the way, you'll never guess who just dropped by."

"Who?" I asked.

"Betty," she's in the bathroom.

Oh my God, Betty, Lost in Big Al's proposition was the fact that I'd already agreed to work at the Bank of Beverly Hills, and I was getting a new Cadillac out of it for good measure. Her parents and I had agreed that I would start at the bank after the wedding next summer but still, how do I explain to Betty that I've agreed to stay on as a manager with the culmination being that I'd own the place. At least I've got a year to figure it out.

"Tell me now," demanded Julie. "This sounds way too interesting to wait for later."

"Well you see, it's like this..."Tom was stalling. He realized I'd goofed with whole partner thing and was waiting for me to figure a way out of this. Knowing Tom, he wanted to tell Julie while they were alone. In his mind he probably felt that once Julie found out she would jump into his arms and they would live happily ever after. Hey, at least he had a plan, or so I hoped.

"Big Al just gave us a huge account," I said. "It's corporate."

"Wow," replied Julie. "I thought Big Al only did private homes."

"Not anymore," I said with pride as if I was already an owner. "Big Al's going big-time."

"That's terrific," said Betty who heard what we were saying form the hallway. "You'll be able to help him out for the next year before you move on to the bank. It's true that good things happen to people who are nice." Betty's eyes sparkled with love. "Big Al has always been nice to you and now that you're leaving, he's going to be growing. It's as if he's being rewarded for all the good things he's done over the years."

"It does seem that way," I replied.

"So how did Big Al react when you told him you were leaving," Betty asked. "He must have thought it was good of you to stick it out until next summer."

"Big Al was very happy about my opportunity," I replied. "He said that my father would be proud that I would be more than just a salesman."

"Well, a personal banker is a salesman of sorts," she said, "but it's just temporary. You know, my father says that they'll be starting you at around six thousand dollars a year."