Southern Justice, Part 50
I’m Fixin’ To present part 50 of Southern Justice:
The following Thursday morning the mood inside the Pic-Ric Products’s conference room was almost festive as everyone was busy putting the reorganization into motion.
Just before lunch Jones finally found an opportunity to call their outside law firm. The receptionist put him straight through to Roland James who said, “Mister Jones, I hope you’re calling with another fishing invitation!”
“Not this time, Roland—playing golf this weekend.”
“Some life you Pic-Ric boys lead,” Roland said, “fishing, golfing and working at that wonderful company!”
“Yeah,” Jones told him, “but as you well know things aren’t always as smooth as they appear on the surface.”
Roland’s tone of voice turned serious when he asked, “Not more problems, I hope?”
“No. Same problem. We were just wondering if we could move a little faster. We understand we have until June fifth, however, just for the peace of mind, we would like file the contest of the will as soon as possible, and if possible, sooner than that. We were thinking that Monday would be sufficient.”
“Monday!” Roland cried out. Then the silence told him that his client was strongly insisting. “I-I-I suppose I could put some items on hold and get it filed before the close of the day on Monday.”
Firm, but diplomatic, Jones said, “Let me assure you we really appreciate your time and efforts, Roland. Please call me on Monday to confirm.” Then he ended the call and went back to work.
Down the hallway, Chris walked into Vickie’s office to check on her progress with Patty’s orientation and introduction to her new position. He opened his mouth to speak and Vickie, without looking up said, “We finished all her paperwork with human resources, set her up in a temporary office, and she wants to see you as soon as possible.”
“How do you always know what I’m thinking and even what I’m about to say?” Chris asked Vickie.
Still not looking up Vickie responded, “It’s easy, and yes, it’s okay to take her to lunch. She needs a few things. Get me a list.”
“Amazing,” Chris said to himself while he went looking for Patty.
He stuck his head in her office door and asked, “You got everything figured out yet?”
“Yeah, sure,” she sarcastically replied.
Chris pulled her office door completely open and said, “Come on, we’re going to lunch.”
“I can’t go to lunch! I have all this work to do. I’m overwhelmed!”
“Company policy,” Chris told her, “We always go to lunch. Let go for a little while and have a fresh start at everything afterwards. We’ve found this policy to be better in the long run. Beside, I have a surprise for you.”
“I don’t know if I can take another one!” Patty exclaimed.
Over soup and salad Chris explained that his surprise was that they had Jones’ lake house all to themselves for the weekend.
“Chris, that sounds wonderful, but you need to understand that lawyers who are just starting out work through lunch, at night and on weekends. If you’re going to be one of the owners of this company, then I need to work on it. Besides, I need forms, law books, and—-”
“When we get back to work make a list of the law books, and everything else you need and take it to Vickie. She’ll get on the Internet and order everything you need and we’ll have it express delivered tomorrow and you can take your work to the lake over the weekend.
“We’ll pack tonight and leave from the office around mid afternoon. That way we’ll beat the traffic and be there by five or so. By the way, what are you going to do about your three clients—the ones you stole?”
“I already passed them to a class mate who’s just starting out too. She’s good and they’ll do all right with her.”
“Good, so how about this weekend?” Chris asked.
“Okay, we’ll go if you promise to let me get some work done,” Patty committed.
Chris Adams had a mischievous grin on his face as he said, “Okay, you can work some and we’ll play some. Perhaps I’ll even get in a little work myself concerning one of our neighbors on the lake.