WE GATHER TOGETHER by Edward L. Woodyard

We Gather Together Chapter Twenty-Eight

Jack Drexler sat behind his office desk. He looked at the screen on his laptop again and again. He kept reading and rereading the press release about Worldwide's expansion into health care products and services. He was the account executive on the Worldwide account and oversaw all of its public relations campaigns. Those duties included approving press releases that came out of Pamela Milstead's office. She may have been his boss on the corporate side, but she still needed to offer him the courtesy to at least let him review the release and to know of these plans months ago in the first place.

Jack noticed that he wasn't even the media contact on the release; Louis Stanton was. He and Pamela had not only purposefully gone over his head but had also basically chopped it off. Jack was asking too many questions to himself. The only one with any immediate answers was Louis Stanton.

Jack heard a short knock on his office door and saw it open. It was Louis, who entered and shut the door behind him. Jack pushed his chair back from his desk as Louis stood in front of it. Jack knew what Louis was going to say. Jack should have stopped him right then, but he wanted to hear Louis out.

"Jack, you've done a fine job on Worldwide. You're the best P.R. man I've ever known. Outside of myself," Louis affirmed to himself.

Jack didn't say anything. He waited for Louis to tell him that he was fired.

Louis swerved away from Jack then back at him as he continued, "We're not big enough for two vice presidents and Marc Kaufman has also proven himself worthy, but on more accounts. . ."

Jack couldn't tolerate the excuse, interrupting Louis, "That's not why, Louis."

Louis ignored Jack. "Worldwide is expanding into health care products and is hiring Anderson and Smathers in the city to handle all of their corporate P.R. regarding the new division."

Jack stood up from his desk chair. "I'll clean out my desk later."

Louis moved toward Jack, "I'm sorry. It's never a good time for these things."

Jack didn't look at Louis when he reached for his suit jacket off the chair in front of his desk. "Sincerity was never a strong character trait for you, Louis.  You were never 'a pleasure to have in class' because you totally lack it."

Jack tossed his jacket over his shoulder and walked out of his office toward the company lobby, leaving Louis in his office. He walked up to Michaela at her desk, bending down to look at her closely. "Michaela, how about going out to dinner with me tonight? I need a designated driver."

"Getting drunk tonight?" she asked, full well knowing the answer.

"Crawling into the bottle."

Michaela shut down her computer, grabbed her purse from a desk drawer and an overcoat from a lobby coat closet. Louis Stanton stood in the hallway outside of Jack's office and watched Jack and Michaela exit the office together. He saw them walk toward separate cars in the parking lot, Jack getting into his red Corvette and Michaela into a blue Toyota Camry.