Page 13 of Protecting Silver
“To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit? Did you get another fundraiser?”
“No,” Lorna said. This time of year was usually slow, but she had other projects she could work on until Marc reviewed the applications for fundraisers, then discussed them with Lorna. “I’m actually here on a personal matter.”
“Oh?”
“Silver’s awake,” Lorna blurted out. “You know I’ve been texting Patch daily to check up on her, right?”
“Yes, as does Veronica, and it’s my understanding that Tymber and Amber do also. He mentioned that all the women blowing up his phone are spoken for.” He grinned when Lorna laughed.
“He needs to get a girl of his own. But, anyway, after Patch told me she was awake, he said that she’s wanting to come back to work as soon as she’s released from the hospital. I’m here to let you know, then to ask if that’s okay.”
“Why wouldn’t it be?” Finn frowned at her. “After your mother had you abducted, how long did you stay away from work? Granted, you had several surgeries to repair the damage that fucker did to you with his knife, but once you began to heal, you were fighting Andy to come back. From working with her, I believe Silver is the type that would hit the ground running after something like this, that she’s resilient and won’t let this get her down. My only question is, with her jaw wired shut, can she perform her duties? That’s the only way I’d put a kibosh on her returning until she’s healed.”
“I think with some modifications she can do her job.”
“What modifications?” Finn frowned as he leaned forward and picked up his pen, then grabbed a clean sheet of paper to make notes.
Lorna leaned back in her chair, and looked at him square in the eye. “Silver’s good at her job, she’s like me in the aspect that when we research for a fundraiser, she goes down avenues that I don’t even think of.”
“Wow, and you go down a lot of avenues.”
“Thank you. This next part I’ve been meaning to talk to you about for a few months. I think we can work this out, but some modifications will have to be made.”
“Like?” Finn sat back to study Lorna and let her mind take over. He knew that eventually she would get to the point.
“First, you never replaced Simon, nor Marc when he took over after Maggie retired. So, Simon’s old office and Marc’s old desk are just sitting there. Just yesterday Marc gave me the heads up that within the next few days, he’ll be sending me four new fundraisers, he just needs to run them by you later this week. As I said, Silver’s good, about as good as I am.”
“Okay, so far I’m following you, what are you proposing?”
“Promote Silver to be my equal, not my assistant. She can be Simon to my Janis. Then, for now, remove one of the desks in front of our office, move it over, and hire only one assistant for both of us. Until we get busier and have a need for two, like Simon and Janis did, but I can guarantee you that Silver and I will do our own work, and only use the assistant to answer calls, and send out letters. Stuff I did for Janis before she pushed all her work onto me.” Lorna paused and saw that Finn was thinking hard on it. “If you want to see what I do, come to my office.” They stood, and Lorna knew then that she had him hooked on her idea. Together they, along with Major, walked down three flights of stairs to where Lorna worked. She stopped before she reached her office and pointed as she described what she wanted.
“That’s my office, and this is Silver’s desk. She’s in my office more than at her desk, because, well, hello, she’s good at her job, and very hands on. You know I took the corner office because of the windows, but Simon’s office and Marc’s desk sit there empty. What if we promote Silver to an event coordinator, same title as me, then she can take over Simon’s office.” Lorna next pointed to the empty desk. “If we don’t need two assistants right away, remove that desk, and center this desk between the two offices. We’ll leave it up to whomever we hire to let us know if the work gets too overwhelming for them, and they need help. Then we can shift the desks back.” Lorna paused long enough for Finn to grasp what she was saying, then added the one thing she knew would help him decide if her idea was feasible. “Besides, with both Silver and me doing events, we can have more fundraisers during the year, instead of just around the holidays.”
Finn nodded his head while Lorna talked. Once she was finished, he walked over to the closed door of Simon’s old office, opened it, turning on the lights, and stepping inside. When Lorna joined him, he was nodding even more. “I like the idea.” He turned and went over to the large window that looked out over the desks and where people worked. He fiddled with something on the side of it, and Lorna stared in awe when the blinds inside the window closed.
“Does mine do that?”
“I think so, but I like the idea that if Silver needs privacy while still recovering, and not wanting her still-bruised face on display, she can have the door open, but she can also close the blinds.” He walked around the office, then finally leaned his hips against the desk, and stared at Lorna. “How would you do it?”
“What do you mean how would I do it? Do what?”
“Hire an assistant for the both of you?”
“Oh, I’d ask your permission first, then I’d go to Deb in HR and tell her what I needed. I’d also ask her to set up interviews. However, I would only interview them with Silver, because if I like someone and they don’t mesh with Silver, then that would defeat the whole purpose of getting an assistant. Both Silver and I would have to be able to work with them. And...” she paused and looked directly at Finn. “...I’m not opposed to having a male assistant, but that’s something I’ll run by Silver.”
Finn continued to sit there, and Lorna could tell by his expression that he was mulling it over. She’d seen it several times in the past, and her best friend, Ronnie, who was Finn’s wife, would mention things that Finn did when he was thinking. It took five minutes before he shook his head, as if to clear it, then he gave a slow smile as he nodded. “I like that. I’m going to say go with it, but not before you talk it over with Silver first. I don’t want her to return to work and find her desk empty, thinking that we got rid of her. And...” Finn held up his hand at her joy, wanting to rein it in for now. “...I want it stressed that we are not putting her in an office to close her off from others, whether for privacy, or her own protection against everyone staring at her. If she understands that, and that we are promoting her because of her job, and not out of pity, then I agree to everything.”
“Thanks, Finn,” Lorna danced in place. If they were anywhere else, she would have rushed him and given him a hug, but not here at the office.
“Before I go back to my office, may I ask you something?”
“Sure,” Lorna said, distracted by what she wanted to discuss with Deb in HR, and Silver when she went to the hospital after work to see her.
“How are you doing?”
Lorna paused in her musings and stared at him in confusion? “Come again? How am I doing in what? What are you asking me?”
“It may be nothing,” Finn said as he rubbed his face and started to stand, but remained propped against the desk when Lorna pointed a finger at him.
