kisses

*Kisses*

I was seating on a seat in a busy café. I was feeling uncomfortable, trying my best to bury myself in the cushioned seat. The time was 12:32. It was a typical Monday, with crowds of people coming in and out. Jessica surveyed the crowd with cautious eyes. Small sweat drops flowed down her forehead. "It's not my fault", she muttered." It's not my fault.". A man approached her, she immediately froze. The man was average height with a small bulge in his belly. His brown eyes seem to smile happily. His leaps pursed to reveal white, even teeth. He sat down in front of her. "Eddie", he smiled, "with a double D".

10 years ago, Remembered Jessica. The Café was long gone. Instead stood a large ugly shopping centre, "Kohll's". She looked around. Her corner office was cold. The A.C was blowing cold air. The walls behind her were covered in pictures and photo's. A *fake* Mona-Lisa famous painting hung behind her, and a famous photo by Henri Cartier-Bresson was to the wall to her right. A photo of a elegant women in black and white, wearing an elegant hat, walking down a street in N.Y.C. She picked up a phone on her desk, "send him in ". Before she managed to hang up, he walked in." what's up?" she said noncommittedly. To a stranger they seemed friendly but that could not have been further than the truth. She always held the same feelings, disgust mixed with a burning sensation, like alcohol on a open wound. "What's up?" he returned her question. He laid back in his chair. He laced his fingers behind his head and exhaled the air. They held a short polite conversation. "Well, I'm right down the hall, last office to the right", he got up and left. She returned her focus on the computer screen in front of her. She typed a few words on a file, then signed a few papers regarding the actions of the company. Something was on her mind, and she felt like calling it a day and perhaps take the longer route home, drive through town maybe buy a coffee. She made sure no meetings were scheduled that day. "I'm out for the day, not accessible until tomorrow", she told her secretary. It was a tall building with 30 floors. She took the elevator." Looks like good news, ma'am" read the text she received." I've got the day off, want to have coffee?".

Jessica got debriefed. Her position was greatly affected by the financial statements of the company. Now that the company was showing great results, the compliments ( and reward) would be acclaimed to her. Her accountant slide a paper with two columns of numbers. They compared last years results to the past year. It showed clearly the increase in income compared to last year. Her secret?" ever since I was accepted to the company" , she said," I've learn to appreciate the personnel connection between the workers. Work is a public sometimes a formal (boring?) public place to spent our days, but it also were humans work together, and humans have needs and ambitions. When your workers are happy, it shows in the company results. It's been 10 years, she thought. 10 years since I had the interview with Harvy. Now I am the CEO, and Harvey is in the same floor as I( the office last door on the right)."You seem to question Harvey, it seems more personnel than anything". There wasn't a day Jessica didn't think about that day. She was desperately looking for a job, any job really. She was unemployed, the last one she left slamming the door behind her. She timidly thought the world was waiting for her, and bills were pilling up. Her background in finance wasn't helpful, since the market of risk analyst required experience. To be fair, she was always interested in psychology. Giving therapy was as much of giving as receiving. She perceived it as a service to the community. But the requirements were too high and she didn't brood over it too much. She studied Finance and Business and was only sorry she didn't enjoy any of it, but felt it was sufficient to move forward. Everything in life could be evaluated as business, and she worked her first years helping small businesses. Gambling was very risky. Timing when to go public had to be calculated and well timed. It must have a working product that can drag the company while going public through the difficult mud. Jessica's great contribute was to find an investor, to find a" My company is looking for a company like THIS". The difference between make it or brake is simple. There are certain green lights.

a successful product.

A strong market.

A big cash bank.

Jessica believed in people. Although times require a different approach. It is ruthless. In the end, her job was a front man (women). The firm was owned by a family, and they dictated the strategy. It helped to remember where she came and who she was when she asked to be part of the this amazing family. Her expertise are needed right now, her dream secretly is to fly away, maybe Hawaii. Ly down on the beach under the warm sun and drink mojitos all day. We all need a purpose, she thought to herself. I can hopefully find someone like me, a man with killer instincts that wants to dance it all night. But it has to happen in a *bang*, she sighed. The rich get richer and even now, from the top floor of this 30 floor building in NYC, she feels full. She still is employed desk clerk, just bigger and more expensive looking wearing suits and high hills to work. How interesting can spending her weekends on the beach and drinking mojitos be? She didn't become a different person with her success; she was always proud that spending money didn't become her lifestyle. That should get the work done, she thought, as she finished writing her memoir. She carefully bonded the 200-page stack of her typewriting machine. She carefully filled a wine glass with chardonnay and raised it in the air, pretending to celebrate. If only I was 20 years older.