Frequent Flyer

Chapter 8

Jake entered the office building and, after going through the usual security, he tapped his card on the elevator panel and pressed the button that would get him into the executive offices of his client. He was tired from the flight and he hadn't slept in over 24 hours, but remaining awake on the flight was well worth the reward. He already planned to get some rest at the hotel before heading out to dinner with Fabienne, so the sooner he could get things done here, the sooner he could get to his room at the hotel and get some rest.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened to the executive floo,r and there, with a great welcoming smile, was Anna the receptionist.

"Grüetzi Mr. Otero. Welcome back to Zurich. How are you doing this morning?".

"Good morning Anna. Always a pleasure to see you. I just landed a little while ago and came straight over from the airport, so a little tired but ready to get going.".

"I have booked the main conference room for the meeting and ordered refreshments. They should already be waiting. I will let the rest of the team know you are in, but since the meeting isn't scheduled for another 30 minutes, many of them are either arriving or in their offices. Oh, and Jacques Bauer was also flying in this morning from Montreal. Did you not see him on the flight?"

"No. I'm guessing that maybe it was a different airline."

"Must have been. Well feel free to roam around to see anyone beforehand or you are welcome to go straight into the conference room. Also, I booked guest office 1203 for the day in case you want some privacy."

"Thank you Anna. That's great but I am only planning to stay half a day today so if it is needed in the afternoon you can release it. I will see you later."

"Have a good day Mr. Otero, if there is anything you need, you know where to find me."

Jake didn't have time for small talk today. He had plans and needed to be well rested, so the faster he could get through this morning with the client, the better prepared he could be for this evening's plans with Fabienne. He first headed to room 1203, closed the door and took out his personal phone to see if any messages had come in from Fabienne, but nothing. Maybe she got a head start on getting some shut eye so he decided to leave her alone for now. She would need the rest.

He put his briefcase on the table and started to pull out the documents his executive assistant had prepared for this business meeting. This wasn't going to be a pleasant meeting. There would have to be some serious changes. Again. And last time, Jacques was the one who took the biggest hit. One of Jake's recommendations for phase one of the restructuring plan meant that Jacques would have to move his whole family from Zurich to Bangalore India to run a call centre that the company desperately needed if it wanted to survive. This was a huge blow to Jacques. Not only would he have to uproot his family from the only place they've ever known, and be far from their extended family and network of friends, but he would have to do a lot of travelling too. That meant leaving his family alone for long stretches at a time. And then there was the career killer. Not only would this mean he was out of the running for the promotion he wanted, since he now had to devote a few years to this new challenge, but he would be far from the day to day opportunities to warm up to the big bosses and be on their radar. He was furious and it was all Jake's doing. Jake was well aware of this, and that he wouldn't be Jacques' best bud anytime soon. It was surely the reason he didn't call him while in Montreal. If Jacques did see him at the airport, Jake knew he would have been avoided at all cost.

Jake took a last look at the notes and headed to the conference room. On the way he stopped at a few offices for a quick hello and small chat. As he entered the room he saw that more than half the group had arrived and we're standing in a huddle in the back having coffee and grabbing at the fresh pastries Anna had ordered for the meeting. All Jake could think of was how happy he was they were eating now because when they saw his proposal, he didn't want to see anyone choking on a croissant. He placed his things down on the table and headed to the back to greet everyone.

Once everyone was in, they got the meeting underway and Jake was able to complete the task in record time. It wasn't a pleasant meeting, but the heads of the company knew that they had no choice left but to integrate Jake's proposals. That just added to Jacques' fury and Jake was well aware of it. There was no hiding how Jacques felt and his body language and cold stares at Jake were so obvious you would have to be unconscious to not notice.

The meeting ended and Jacques was the first one out of the room. As he brushed by Jake he mumbled something under his breath. Jake wasn't sure what he heard so he ignored it.

Jake excused himself from the usual after-meeting lunch with the heads of the company by using the excuse that he had to prepare for another meeting that was coming up fast. But, at this point, all he could think of was taking off his clothes and diving into the luxurious bed waiting for him back at the hotel. The plush soft perfectly temperature pillow and luxurious pillow-top mattress with the huge comforter waiting to hug him as he lay down. Every one of his regular hotels knew what he liked and they made sure to have it ready for him. And he couldn't wait any longer.

Jake gathered his things, said his goodbye's and headed out the building into the cold Zurich air. He needed the blast of cold to wake him up enough to walk back to the hotel. He knew that he didn't have much time for anything but sleep today so a nice walk to the hotel would be a welcome breath of fresh crisp air after being indoors for so long. Also, he loved to take in the architecture and city life whenever he was on a trip. Most people who traveled for work would only see the inside of an airport, car, hotel and office building on their trips. But not Jake, he took advantage of every trip to take in the culture of the cities he visited and that, to him, meant as little as a walk from point A to point B on the days that didn't give him the time to go see or do the things he wanted to. It was only a 30 minute walk to the hotel but because he needed some shut-eye, it would be all he could do at this moment anyway. So he picked up the pace and cut through Sihlhölzli Park.

When Jake arrived at the hotel, he picked up his room card and headed straight to the room. There, his luggage was waiting for him so he pulled out a tooth brush and toothpaste, grabbed his personal phone once again and headed to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He turned the phone on but still no message from Fabienne. So he sent her a text to let her know that he was going to be off the grid for a few hours getting some rest but that he would pick her up as planned later that evening. He walked into the sleeping area and noticed the adjoining room door and was surprised. Everyone who handled his requests knew that one of his top no-no's was adjoining rooms. Even though they were securely locked, the doors didn't provide the noise barrier that a wall did. But he was too tired to change rooms now so he turned the phone off, grinned a little in the mirror, rinsed his mouth and headed to the room. He called the front desk and asked for a wake up call to make sure he didn't oversleep, turned off all his electronics so that nothing would beep in the next few hours and looked over at the bed. What a welcoming site it was. He undressed and practically threw himself on the bed. It was awesome. The blackout curtains emerged the room in total darkness and the room was far down the corridor from any elevators or people making noise walking by. For safe measure, he slipped in some spongy ear plugs in case anyone did make noise and he let out a sigh. Just a few hours of shut eye was all he needed to be ready for tonight