Amy snapped out of her reverie, mumbled sorry and continued to follow Joseph into his home office. She’d been in there once for her interview but had been far too nervous to really look around.
It was actually very inviting. There was a huge fireplace that was crackling at the moment and a country theme to it. There were several comfortable chairs near the fire and a floor to ceiling bookcase lining one huge wall. She wandered over to the bookcase and found some of her favorite titles on it.
She caught herself just in time, before grabbing one of the copies off the shelf. She could imagine herself curled up on the sofa, by the fire, reading until she fell asleep. That sounded just about perfect right then.
Joseph sat down in one of the chairs near the fireplace and waited for her to look around. She finally remembered where she was and came to sit by him. The door opened again and Lucas walked in. Her eyes drank him up before she could stop herself.
She wouldn’t fall for her boss. She repeated that to herself that about ten times. She finally gained the willpower to look away and focused on Joseph. She was very unnerved by the power Lucas had over her. She would certainly not let him know he could bring her to her knees easily with one more touch.
“Amy, we like to take care of our employees. Our philosophy is that if you treat your employees well then they will remain happy in their job and therefore be happier in their lives. It all comes around full circle. A happy employee equals happy clients,” Joseph began.
“I’m very happy in my job sir. I know that I’m struggling a bit with the computer system but if you just give me a little bit more time I’ll have it down. I’m more than willing to work weekends and stay late so I’m not using your time while learning the system,” Amy started defending her job skills immediately.
“You’re doing an amazing job dear. I have no complaints with how your work performance is going. Esther and Lucas have both said you are a real asset to the team. This conversation is not about any work problems,” he comforted her.
Amy took a deep breath of relief.
“I brought you in here to let you know about your benefits while working for the company. You have been with us three months already and you’re a valued employee,” he said Amy had been worried that she may be losing her job but he only wanted to talk about her benefits. She was so excited she almost jumped up and hugged him. The relief coursing through her at not only not having her job in jeopardy but getting her benefits was making it hard for her to stand still.
“Mr. Anderson, thank you so much for your confidence in me. It truly means a lot. I promise to not let you down and I’ll still be spending all of my extra time to make sure I’m giving you a hundred percent. This is the best job I could’ve ever hoped to get, especially right out of college,” she said with real gratitude.
Joseph chuckled at the gratitude in her voice. “Amy, you’re a breath of fresh air, but wouldn’t you like to hear about your benefits before thanking me so much?” he asked.
“Yes, of course sir,” she said.
“You know that officially I’m retired now and my son runs the company. He’s doing a damn fine job of it but he asked me from the beginning if I would still handle all the personnel type issues.
He has a lot on his plate already and this is something I truly enjoy, as he knows well.”
“Our company takes great pride in offering more benefits than your average corporation. I don’t disclose this to new hires because, first of all I want them to take the position because they want to work here and second of all, if that employee doesn’t work out then no harm caused,” he continued on.
“We take care of all employees, from the top of the chain of command all the way to the bottom.
Our executive positions get a few added bonuses though, which is what you are Amy. You work for the president of the company and therefore we want to make sure you’re extra taken care of.” Amy was a little bit confused as he continued talking. What could they possibly give her that was better than medical benefits? She had no idea.
“First of all you’ll receive a company car. Lucas will take you down to the dealership to pick it out tomorrow. Esther’s favorite was always the Mercedes LX but you can choose what fits you best. You’ll be doing a lot of driving for us and we want you to enjoy the ride,” he smiled.
She got a car! She was so excited. She couldn’t believe she got a company car. Did she get to take it home with her? She wanted to ask but was afraid that it would sound bad. Her forehead wrinkled a little bit as she was warring with herself on whether she should ask that or not.
“This will be your vehicle for personal use as well,” he said as if reading her mind. “Unless there are performance issues with the vehicle, we trade them in every two years. Safety’s a huge concern of ours and we don’t want you breaking down on the side of the road somewhere,” he added.
Was this company for real? She’d never heard of a business being so good to its employees. She would treat the vehicle like it was a newborn baby. She knew from her interview she was expected to do a lot of errands but hadn’t really thought about how she was supposed to get from point a to point b. She was glad they were providing the transportation because some of the things she was transporting were too risky to take a chance on the subway with.
“Here’s your new telephone,” he said handing it over to her with a piece of paper. “Your number’s on it. You have unlimited minutes so you may also use this as your personal cell and can turn off your other one. Communication’s key to a good business and we need to be able to reach each other at all times, well that’s except nighttime when work should be the last thing on anybody’s mind,” he added with a laugh. “However, unfortunately in the corporate world, time is forgotten and there will be some very late nights and long weekends,” he added sympathetically.
She already knew that as he’d told her all about what was going to be expected of her in the job interview. She had no issues with working hard. She would’ve been willing to do it without all the added benefits but with them there was nothing she wouldn’t do for the company.
“My dearest wife threw a couple of my company phones out into the lake when we were on vacation. She always told me that there was a time for work and then a time to relax.” He added.
Amy already thought the world of his wife. That statement made her like the woman even more.