Page 9 of Small Town CEO Grump

“I was just checking in,” I explained. “I will be heading out to my son's game in about 10 minutes, so I was wondering if there’s anything you need me to know before I leave, or something you would like me to get started on first thing tomorrow morning.”

“Well, there’s one thing you can maybe help me with right now,” he said, picking up one of the reports that I had placed on his desk to help familiarize him with everything that was happening in this particular community. It detailed our top clients, our top properties, and some of the events on the horizon. “Can you possibly tell me who wrote this report? It is exceptional, and I was wondering who authored it.”

I felt my cheeks blushing.

“I wrote it,” I said, simply. I didn’t want to draw attention to myself, but I also knew that I couldn’t deny it. He was going to find out sooner or later that I was the one who wrote all of the materials for this office.

“You wrote this?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yes, I wrote it. I actually have a masters degree in journalism, and writing is my greatest passion. However, working as the office manager allows me the schedule that I need and the freedom I need to take care of my son or support him and whatever he’s doing, so I work here, but then write whenever I can.”

Ryan slowly nodded his head. “ I see. Well, that makes sense. Would you like to write more for our other offices? Because I know that what we have in the Manhattan office isn’t nearly as well-written as this, and although I haven’t seen what Orlando or Boston are putting out, I’m sure those offices don’t have someone with a masters in journalism writing there.”

My heart started pounding, and I was so excited about the opportunity of getting to write more, but I didn’t want to appear overager or flattered. I steadied myself and took a deep breath before responding.

“Thank you for the compliment. I would be very interested in writing more for the other offices.”

“Excellent,” Ryan said, smiling. “What is your schedule? Are you free to travel? If you could take your son with you?”

“Travel?” I asked, confused.

“Yes,” Ryan said. “Travel. I know this idea just came to me and I’ll have to work it out some more, but I think it would be beneficial for you to travel to those other locations to see the properties and neighborhoods before you write. You can only see so much through looking at pictures online.”

“You’re right,” I said. “That definitely would help. I could find a way to make that work, especially if my son could come with me.”

“Great. Let me work on this some more and get some potential dates on paper. And then we can talk about it more tomorrow?”

I nodded, trying to contain my excitement. I loved the thought of getting to travel and write more, and having Tyler with me would just make everything better.

“Sounds good,” I said, glancing at my watch. “But I’m going to head out now. There is a big game coming up.”

Ryan smiled. “Indeed,” he said. “What is your son's name?”

“Tyler.”

“Tell Tyler good luck.”

“Will do,” I said. I turned and left his office, closing the door behind me.

I said goodbye to the rest of my coworkers, picked Tyler up from school, and we rushed home so he could eat something and then get ready for his game.

An hour and a half later we got to the ballpark, and Tyler was so full of nervous energy that he could barely sit still. He had not stopped smiling the whole day.

“Grams and Gramps aren’t going to be at this game, right?” he asked.

“Right,” I answered. “They had to go to Pennsylvania for this week to help your Aunt Susie take care of the kids and new baby.”

My brother’s wife had recently had their third child, but two days before she gave birth she had fallen and broken her ankle. The baby was fine, and she was recovering well, but it was very difficult for her to take care of a newborn and two other little ones while being in a cast. My brother had been able to stay home with her for two weeks, her parents were there for two weeks, and now my parents were going for a week. After that, she would be able to get the cast off and have a walking boot, which would make things easier.

“Are we going to see all of them again soon?” Tyler asked.

We had gone to visit the weekend after the baby was born. Tyler had a great time with his cousins, and I always loved being around my brother and his family. It was fun to hold a little newborn, and I knew we would get back there as soon as we could.

“Yes,” I said. “We will probably wait until after baseball season is over, but we’ll get there.”

“Good,” Tyler said. “And Grams and Gramps will be at the rest of my games after they get back from Aunt Susie?”

“Of course!” I said. “And you know that they are thinking about you.”