Chapter 5 The next couple of weeks I continued meeting all sorts of people at the department, I learned a few new programs on the computer and was even asked by Mr. Lewis to attend one of his meetings with him. We were going downtown today to meet with the Mayor and other city officials. He said he wanted me to just be a second pair of ears and eyes. He said to take note of what I thought of different people, and then we would go out for lunch to discuss the meeting. We entered the conference room and all of the men, except Mr. Lewis were dressed in suits and ties.

He didn't seem to care, he was a bit rugged, like Pete. Pete, would only wear a suit if forced to for a wedding or funeral. I was dressed very nicely, black dress slacks and matching blazer with a bright red shirt. I put a bit more make-up on then usual and wore very uncomfortable dress shoes. We had parked half a mile away from the entrance and my feet were killing me already. I do think I probably have lost ten pounds already. The City Manager, William Fields, sat next to me and greeted Mr. Lewis, as if they were friends.

William, looked to be about forty five years old, very handsome, dressed impeccably, and had a suaveness about him. He was slightly intimidating to me. I caught myself making sure I used proper grammar, unlike when I was around Mr. Lewis, I was myself and comfortable. I wrote his name inside my portfolio with a little smiley face next to it, to remind me, he was the really good looking man. I described a few of the others, by what they wore or where they sat. It was hard to catch everyone's name. I didn't know exactly what Mr. Lewis would ask me afterwards and I wanted to be prepared.

I was so bad with names. I needed a cheat sheet for sure. I wrote myself a note to find out the names and titles of all of the city officials. I sat and listened as the debate heated in the room. I didn't quite understand everything they were yelling about. There were some definite conflicts. Mr. Lewis shook his head in disgust a few times but never said a word. I was startled to hear William lean over and whisper in my ear, "What does the smiley face next to my name mean?" I looked up in horror to see him grinning like a little boy who just made a home run or something.

I quickly slammed by portfolio closed. "Excuse me?" I didn't know what to say! Again, he leaned over grinning and ever so slightly whispered in my ear, "What does the smiley face next to my name mean?" Oh shit I thought to myself and then said, "You must be mistaken, I'm just taking notes on who everyone is," I smiled politely and wanted to die! He simply nodded back to me. One man stood up from the table and said, "This is bullshit, I won't be apart of it," he walked out. Yikes, I thought to myself, what is this about? Everyone started raising their voices, talking over each other.

William stood up instantly, "Ok, that's enough, let's remember we are Gentlemen and Ladies, he looked down at me, although there were several other women in the room. His voice was loud but even toned, it demanded everyone's attention and they quieted down quickly. "While, I don't have the answer to the problem, I do know that this is no way to go about solving it.

I suggest we all take a break, cool off and go have lunch." he looked at his watch, "Let's meet back here at 2:00." There was some grumbling heard throughout the conference room, but everyone did as they were told and got up to leave. Everyone, but Mr. Lewis. "This is unbelievable Will," he shook his head again. "Not here," William cut him off quickly and looked down at him with a glare of anger. Mr. Lewis said, "Come on, join us for lunch," and got up from his chair. William responded, "I'll drive old man." He held the door for me and we followed him to his car.

There were a few stragglers in the hallway waiting for us to exit but William politely dismissed them as we made our way out. Wow! I thought to myself, what did I get in the middle of? It was exciting for sure and I couldn't wait to quiz Mr. Lewis about the whole ordeal. I wasn't too happy William was coming with us, he made me nervous. He drove a BMW, it was beautiful, sporty and much cleaner than my car ever was. Mr. Lewis was polite and insisted I sit up front. "Did you have somewhere in particular you planned on eating?" William asked as we drove out of the parking garage.

"You know this side of town better than me, Will I don't care, unless Carla has a preference." "No, anything is fine with me." "Well I know you, Uncle Bob, you won't be able to keep quiet through lunch, so let's go to this offbeat place I know of where the others are sure not to be." William said and turned the car. "Uncle?" I said out loud, surprised. "Yup, Mr. City Manager's my nephew," Mr. Lewis explained. "My uncle tells me you've been a great help to him so far." "Tm glad to hear that," I turned my head and smiled back at Mr. Lewis.

I grabbed my portfolio to bring in the restaurant with us. It was a charming little pizza restaurant with red and white checkered curtains hanging in the front window. It was a bit out of the downtown area. When we walked in, they knew William by name and shouted hello. The hostess came up and said, "Three today William?" "Yes, Shirley, can you put us in the party room, so we can talk privately?" "For you, anything honey," the hostess teased him and squeezed at his cheeks.

"You'll have to excuse Shirley, she forgets that Iam no longer a child and may be having a professional luncheon," he said sarcastically as he put his arm around the woman. "I have been coming here since I was a child, they have great food." William said with a sincere smile, looking directly at me. We entered the small party room, which would hold probably a party of twenty or so. Shirley shut the door behind her, after giving us the menus. Then it started, the private debate between Mr.

Lewis and William, both raising their voices throughout the conversation, not directly at each other, but just in frustration of the situation. "Carla, what's your take on all this?" Mr. Lewis asked. I opened my portfolio, quickly scratching out that damn smiley face and laid it on the table. "T am not exactly current when it comes to city politics, I need to get a list of who everyone is," I heard William clear his throat as I said those words and tried not to let it intimidate me.

"The man with the red tie, glasses and grey hair.." William interrupted, that's Fred Barker, the assistant to the City Commissioner I can have my secretary send you a list of who everyone is, what's your cell phone?" he said as he pulled his out and began texting her. "Don't worry, I won't use it to call you personally," he raised his one eyebrow up at me as he waited for my response. I gladly gave it to him, and within minutes I received an attachment from his secretary with all the information.

"Thank you," I said sincerely, "This will definitely make my life easier." "Just let me know if there's something else I can do for you, I'm happy to assist," he smiled. His eyes were dark brown, they almost had a black tint to them and they were intimidating for sure. "T will," I continued with the brief notes I had on the meeting while I listened to the two men as they argued back and forth with each other. Mr.

Lewis said to me, "Can you tell, he's a damn republican?" William said, "Do you already know her political affiliation, because if not that was highly rude to insinuate she would be a democrat." He looked to me for an answer. I felt myself biting my bottom lip, "Sorry, but he's right, I am a democrat." "Well, that's strike one, you've got two more chances left to impress me," William said arrogantly. I didn't think I just blurted out, "Now who's being rude?" I said very sarcastically. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that." I looked to Mr. Lewis to see his reaction.

"Damn, that's my assistant, nephew!" He said laughing hysterically. "Don't apologize, you go right ahead and put him in his place, Carla." "My uncle's right, I can admit when I'm wrong. Carla I do owe you an apology. You have a right to affiliate with whatever political party you wish to, I just got upset with you because ...I seen that you took away my smiley face," he bursted into laughter. "T couldn't help but giggle, "There was never a smiley face," I lied. "What the hell are you two talking about?" Mr. Lewis broke in.

"Nothing important uncle," he dismissed his question as the waitress came in with our food. Back at City Hall, I stepped into the restroom before entering the conference room again. I noticed two women walk in, one saying she was told that, 'Bowser' needed to be next to go. I washed up and hurried to the meeting. I wrote the name Bowser in my portfolio so I was sure to remember to ask who he was. It lasted about an hour and a half more. While there were no other major outbursts, our city did seem to be in turmoil politically.

Someone was leaking lies to the press and we needed to find out who soon. There seemed to be one political scandal after another lately. Men were being accused of inappropriate behaviour with female employees, women accused men of not promoting them because they were females and so on. I'm glad I couldn't foresee any issues with Mr. Lewis, it was obvious he loved his wife. He spoke of her often and with a tenderness in his voice. He said that she was out of his league and her family never wanted them to marry. Apparently, she came from money and he didn't.

I'm sure William is from her side of the family. He definitely seems to have come from money. Mr. Lewis, myself and William, were the last to leave the meeting. I opened my portfolio and slid my pen inside. "Why do you have the name, Bowser written down?" William demanded to know as he pointed to my portfolio. His tone of voice was different, he seemed angry. "J... was going to ask Mr. Lewis about it later on," I was confused. "Who is Bowser? I don't see that name on this list your secretary gave me?" "How do you know that name?" William glared at me.

"I overheard two girls talking about him in the restroom," I explained. "They said he needed to be next to go." William slammed his fist down on the table, looked at his uncle and whispered, "I told you! Believe me now? Who were the women?" he demanded. "Damn it, you were right Will," he whispered back. "I don't know who they were, they weren't in the conference room with us," I explained. "Describe them to me," William insisted. I tried to, but it wasn't much help. "Carla, let me drive you back to your office, we need to talk in private," William said matter of factly.

"Ok?" I hesitated and then saw Mr. Lewis nodded his head, 'yes' to me. "Will, I trust her, don't give her a hard time." "Yes, uncle." I followed William anxiously back to his car and before we barely shut the doors, he started quizzing me. He asked where I went to school, what my major was. Asked if I knew certain people. He was not just making casual conversation, he was searching for something. Finally, he said, "Excuse my bluntness, but your education seems to be highly underqualified for the position my uncle's hired you for." "What?

Are you intentionally trying to insult me?" I raised my voice a bit. "Just because I didn't go to a four year university does not disqualify me from being able to handle my position." "No, I honestly don't mean to insult you," he said cool and relaxed as he drove. "I just needed to know you were telling me the truth, and I believe you, because you got offended by my statement." "T really..." "I apologize, again Carla. I'm really not such an asshole. I'm just being protective of my uncle," he said. "Are you sure?" I said with attitude. "Am I sure I'm protecting my uncle?" he said surprised.

"No, are you sure you're really not an asshole?" I snapped. He laughed, looked at me and said, "I see why he likes you. Let me explain, Bowser is my Aunt's maiden name and there are not very many people left in the upper ranks who would know that. Some of the old time guys used to call him Bowser when he was first married to her because her family was more prominent than his. Most said he'd never make it up the ranks unless he used her name, so to my uncle it's insulting to call him Bowser, you understand?" "Yes, I get that part, what does it mean to say he is next?

Do they want to fire him?" "He can't be fired, unless there was a major untrue scandal built up around him. Which is what I have suspected for weeks now, I told him to watch his back. I'm sorry, I insinuated you might be part of the whole mess, it's just the timing of your arrival. I had to be sure. Truly, I meant no offense to you personally." "Ok," I believed he was being sincere. "So what happens now?" I asked.

"It's late, Ineed to get home, can you swing by my office tomorrow morning and we can put our heads together and see if we can figure out who those two ladies were." "Sure, where's your office exactly?" "T will text it to you when I get home, and let you know what time works for me, since I already have your number." He pulled up to the front entrance of the station, let me off and then sped away. I couldn't stop thinking about William, the way he took control of everyone at the meeting, the way he looked, smelled, and his assertiveness was extremely attractive.