Jenny, don't go home now

Gio worked today and he was hardly the repentant figure I expected to encounter. Rather, he didn't do much of anything and copped a mighty attitude. I asked him to clean one of our supply rooms after he informed me he wasn't going to do any deliveries, and when I checked to see his progress a half hour later, nothing had been accomplished. I was pissed, because he was pushing my buttons and making a confrontation inevitable. I found him in the warehouse, sitting down and talking on the cell phone. When I asked him why he didn't clean the room like I asked him to, he shrugged and told me he was overwhelmed at the prospect of cleaning it. I shit you not, that is what he said. I let it be and walked away, waiting until the end of the day when Karen and I were going to sit down with him to air my grievances.

In the meantime, there was Jenny. For at least a few months now, I've been doing business with Jenny over the phone. She works at another rental place in Dorchester that we get equipment from when we're short, and we hit it off immediately. She was new, but her customer service skills were superb, which made talking with her a joy. Karen had spoken with her a couple of times and we both agreed she would be a great addition to our place. I tried recruiting her once, but she politely declined the offer; she lived too close to her job to want to leave it.

I always thought it was mildly amusing that she'd call me hon' when we'd talk. I never actually thought I was the only customer she called that---most likely, she calls a large percentage of her customers that---but I did, on occasion, wonder. Not knowing much about her, what she looked like, etc., I wasn't exactly swooning over her. For the most part, I just enjoyed talking with her; after dealing with pricks and bitches all day, hearing her voice on the phone was a ray of light stabbing through the murk.

One time I sent Al over to her work to get pick up some stuff and when he came back he had a big smile on his face. He told me Jenny was a little curt with him but when she asked about me, her face lit up. I found that terribly amusing, but my curiosity was piqued. "She called you honey!", Al blurted out.

"So what does she look like?", I asked him. I half expected him to tell me she was a stooped, middle-aged woman who smells like cat urine and cigarettes, but instead he replied, "Man, she was cute. She has these amazing gray eyes! You should totally go for her."

I dismissed the suggestion, though it was beginning to sound more appealing, and moved on to other things. This week, I spoke to her a few times because we needed to get some plates. I sent Al over to pick them up and when he returned, he had the big smile on his face again.

"I'm telling you, man, she really likes you. You've got to move on this", he said.

He went on to explain that Jenny had again asked about me and that, according to him, she was interested. Again, I found the situation to be humorous. I strongly doubted this woman would have a thing for someone she rarely speaks to on the phone and doesn't know what he looks like, to boot. However, she did ask me for my cell phone number when I placed the order, which was a little odd. Why would she need that when she already had our work number? Hmmm.

I had to send Al back over to get more stuff at her place today and when he came back he pulled out his phone and said "See what I do for you". He gave me the phone and there was a picture of Jenny. The bastard took a shot of her surreptitiously while he was at the counter with her. I scolded him about respecting people's privacy, but my heart wasn't in it. The scolding morphed into a "You magnificent bastard! You did good", speech. Now I know what she looks like, and he was right, she is cute.

Karen came in after lunch and near the end of the day, we took Gio aside and had a talk. The nuts and bolts of the discussion can be summed up thusly: If Gio doesn't shape up immediately, he will not be invited back. Ever. He's got some anger issues, but he's really a sweet guy. When he was talking with us, he became teary-eyed. Instead of firing him, I wanted to give him a hug. I didn't act on it because I feared it would sully the macho veneer he's built up over the years. Instead, I took him into the bathroom for a courtesy make-out session. It was touching, I tell you.

After our talk with Gio, Karen called Jenny to ask a billing question. When she got off the phone she asked me if I had talked to her yet about her working with us. I told her I had and that she had declined. I told her Jenny was in possession of my cell phone number, so at the very least I could ask her out on a date. Karen went with the idea and suggested I date her and get her to move in with me and then we could get her to work with us. I guess Karen doesn't have a problem with couples working together.

So will Jenny, not knowing what I look like, call me now that she's acquired my phone number? I have no idea, and I'm not going to dwell on it. It would make things interesting, to be sure.