Living Without Dreams

Chapter 35 - The Offer

Monday morning arrived in a haze of marital bliss. Greg and Susan slept late, made love, and breakfasted together in their room. And they still had plenty of time for Susan to get ready for her meeting and to arrive at the office on time.

"I'll call you about one this afternoon," Susan told him as she got ready to leave.

"If you receive an offer, do you really intend to sleep on it over night?" he asked.

"That depends on what the offer is ... how often or how long they want me to come in, what the work is, and of course the pay," she said.

"What about benefits?" Greg asked.

"That's standard for all employees. I already know what the benefits would be," she told him. "Here," she said as she handed him a brochure. "This all there is to know about benefits. Read up on it if you want," she suggested, "but I have to go."

"Okay Susan. Good luck. Bye," he said.

"Bye," Susan answered as she kissed him on the cheek.

Greg returned her kiss and watched as she went out the door. He knew Susan would be gone for several hours, so he took the brochure down to the Starbucks lounge on the ground floor of the hotel, ordered a cup of coffee, and settled himself into one of the high backed chairs in a private corner to study the brochure over his cup of coffee.

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Lunchtime came and went as Greg thoughtfully considered the comprehensive information about Susan's company that was included in the benefits brochure. He ordered a drink to allow himself to continue occupying his table in the lounge, but he didn't eat as he awaited Susan's call. Instead he found himself reflecting on the caliber of the company Susan considered her employer. Greg didn't know much about the field Susan was in, but from what he could tell, Ingene Pharma was one of the best companies of that sort to work for, for according to what he'd read, they strove to hire only the best and brightest of those technical professionals in the drug development and medical fields. They prided themselves in being the employer of choice for those in that field, and the brochure included quotes from publications suggesting that they were.

Greg sat back as he contemplated what he'd learned. The company Susan previously worked for ... the same one she'd spent the past three weekdays interviewing with, clearly had a reputation for excellence in their field. The employees and former colleagues of hers he'd met the previous week during Susan's welcome home dinner all seemed to be people of the highest integrity. And from his own observations during that dinner, she was one of them. She was apparently good at what she did and they wanted her back. His Susan was one of these well- educated, intelligent, highly sot after people ... reinforcing once again the idea that Susan's work wasn't just a job, but a professional position with a highly successful and well respected science-based company. He was still thinking over what he'd learned and what that meant when his phone rang. Greg answered it, initially thinking it might be Susan, calling at last to tell him about the job. But to his surprise, the caller turned out to be Alex instead.

"Greg, I think I have some good news for you," Alex began without preamble after Greg said hello. "I'm finally starting to get responses back from some of the television studios. After more than a month of persistent inquiries and hearing nothing in return, I think the word if finally starting to be passed about that you are back and looking for work."

"That is good news," Greg said feeling encouraged. "What sorts of things are they saying to you?"

"I've got guest appearance slots lining up for you to review. We could have contracts in place by the end of the week on two of them, if you are interested. I expect a half dozen more to come in by Friday," Alex said and he began to tell him about the roles involved for the all various appearances he expected scripts on in the coming days.  It was all information Greg wanted to hear, but Alex's descriptions were taking a considerable amount of time. Before he knew it, an hour had passed and Alex continued to talk. Meanwhile, Greg was keenly aware of the fact Susan was supposed to call.