Six months of intensive training were at an end and soon the newest recruits to A&M Risk would know if they had made the grade. They sat in the conference room of the 12th floor office complex chatting quietly together, while Mike, the ‘M‘, and CFO, of A&M, got himself yet another refill from the coffee pot at the rear of the room.
Suddenly the door flew open, crashing back on it’s hinges, and Jake stormed into the room, carrying a thick file. He slammed it down at the head of the long, oval oak conference table, turned a thunderous glare at the six trainees sitting there, and left, in much the same manner as he had entered, slamming the door behind him.
Mike put his coffee down and rushed towards the door, looking over his shoulder as he opened it.
“Talk amongst yourselves, boys and girls. I’ll go check out who’s rattled laughing boys’ cage.”
The ‘boys and girls’ looked around at each other in shock. Over the past six months, they had seen Jake in many different moods, but up until now, they had never seen him quite like that, and now knew what some of the other staff had meant when they had mentioned his patent ‘look’.
They had no idea what was wrong with their boss, and could only hope it wasn’t anything to do with them. They all stared at the file on the table, not daring to take a look in case they brought the wrath of Jake down on their heads should he walk back in and catch them.
Mike steamed down the corridor towards Jake’s office like a runaway train. He burst through the door ready to rip Jake a new one, but stopped as he saw his friend.
Jake was standing by the window wall, his hands in his pockets and his forehead resting against the glass, a picture of abject misery. He didn’t think he’d ever seen his friend look so down.
“Jake?”
No reply.
“JAKE?”
Still no response.
Mike walked over to the window and gently placed his hand on Jakes’ shoulder. He watched as Jake slowly lifted his head away from the glass and turned to face his worried friend.
“You okay, Jake?”
Jake walked slowly over to his desk, and sat down heavily in his chair. He rubbed his hands over his face before looking up at his friend.
“Yeah, mate, I’m apples.”
“Like hell. You wanna talk about it?”
“Nothing to talk about,” Jake replied, making a visible effort to pull himself together, pushing himself up from his chair and making for the door.
He looked back at Mike with an ‘are you coming’ expression on his face, then walked down the corridor towards the conference room.
The low rumble of talking from inside stopped the minute the door handle turned, and Jake and Mike walked into a silent room, alive with tension.
“G’day, folks. How ya going?” Jake asked, as if this was the first time he'd ben in he room, looking around at six worried faces. They all relaxed a little as they saw Mike give them the thumbs up behind Jakes’ back.
“Right then, the moment you’ve no doubt all been waiting for. Six months down the line and it’s time to let you know which of you have made the cut,” said Jake, looking at the expectant expressions on the faces.
“We won’t beat around the bush and leave you in suspense, even though it would be fun,” laughed Mike. “We’re happy to tell you that you all got through the first part of your training, and we’re delighted to say you’re ready for stage two.”
The small group let out a joint sigh of relief and there was a short delay in the proceedings while they took the time to congratulate each other. A discrete clearing of throats brought them back in line.
“We now get onto the difficult part of this mornings meeting,” Jake said seriously. “As you all know, when we did the initial interviews, you were told that not all the positions would be here in the Sydney office. We actually need three here, and three to continue their training in our new London office.”
“Now, of course it would be much better if you could work this out yourselves,” added Mike. “But, if you can’t, then Jake and I will make the final choice, and believe me when I say that there will be no negotiation regarding our decision!”
Darren Hill raised his hand slightly. “Can I say something please?”
“Yeah, mate, go ahead,” Jake replied.
“We’ve been chatting about this on and off since we started training, and have come up with a list, just in case you decided to keep us all on, that is.”
Saying this, Darren rose from his seat and walked to Mike and Jake, handing over a sheet of paper and returned to his place.
Jake looked at it and handed it across to Mike with a raised eyebrow. He then opened the file in front of him and took out a similar sheet.
“Alrighty, before we go any further, I’ll show you what Mike and I had decided, just in case you couldn’t.”
Jake slid his sheet across to be passed around the table.
SYDNEY
Kiri Collins
Darren Hill
David Johnson
LONDON
Jason Evans
Marie Mason
Lynn Turner
He looked down again at the list Darren had handed him.
SYDNEY
Darren
David
Kiri
LONDON
Jason
Lynn
Marie
“Well, children, we all seem to be on the same page here don’t we,” Mike said, laughing at the stunned group.
“Okay, ladies and gentlemen, for the three of you that have chosen to leave the nest and join our new colleagues in London, see Jenny for your flight details. The company will be arranging apartments for you, until then you’ll be staying in an hotel near the office, okay?”
Jason, Lynn and Marie nodded their agreement, looking forward to their new adventure. Marie and Lynn hoping that they would be able to share an apartment eventually, as they had become good friends.
“Now that’s settled, I know it’s still only Monday morning, but I think you all deserve a break. We know it’s been a tough few months for you, and it’s going to get tougher from here on in. It could be a long time before you all manage to meet up again, so we’ve decided that you should all spend some down time together before the ‘London Three’ get shipped out in a couple of weeks.”
There followed a lot of cheering and back slapping, and finally the little group filed out of the door, heading off towards the reception area, where Jason, Lynn and Marie would pick up their travel documents from Jenny.
Darren held back in the conference room and motioned to Jake that he wanted a word.
“Walk with us,” Jake said, heading along the corridor with Mike to his office.
“Have you had the invite, Jake?”
“Yep.”
“Ya looking forward to it?”
“No, mate, it’s a fuckin’ pain in the arse!”
“Am I missing something?” asked Mike.
“We’ve both had an invite to the Unit shindig next Wednesday,” Darren answered.
“And the problem is?”
“Think about it, mate, what’s the bloody date next week?”
“Shit, it’s Angie’s birthday!”
“Will she be mad if you miss it just once, boss?” asked Darren.
“It’s not that, Dazza, I've had to miss them before now,” replied Jake. “There’s something kinda special I’ve got her this year for a pressie.”
With that, Jake pulled open the top drawer of his desk and threw over a small box to Darren. He opened it up and gave a long low whistle.
“Man, oh man, that’s a bewdy, mate. Does she know what’s coming?”
“Not unless you tell her. I thought I’d spring it on her. I promised I‘d be home for her this year, and I would have if not for that invite.”
“You could always say no, Jake,” Mike said, slapping him on the shoulder.
“You don’t turn down an invitation from the Unit, mate. It’s more like a fucking command,” Jake sighed.
“We’ll think of something. Maybe we can sneak you out early. As long as the General sees you at least once, I’m sure he won’t miss you,” said Darren.
“ I guess,” said Jake, not entirely convinced. “Anyway, if we have to go, we’ll go in style. I’ll pick you up.”
“On the Hog?” Darren asked, a huge grin on his face.
“Not this time. We go by car.”
“Ripper, I’ll see you next week then, boss.”
With that, Darren rushed off to catch up with the others, who were already on their way to the lift, and two weeks freedom.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Early the following Wednesday morning, Darren was suitably impressed when Jake pulled up outside his parents’ home in a brand new BMW Z4.
Now maybe his olds would agree that he’d made the right move from the army into ‘this insurance lark’ as his dad called his new profession.
His parents followed him out to the parked car and watched as the driver stepped out. He was dressed smartly in a charcoal grey three piece suit. His cufflinks sparkled in the early morning sun. Were they silver, wondered Mrs Hill, white gold, or could they even be platinum? Her husband looked at the drivers’ shoes. He had long held the belief that a clean, shiny pair of shoes were a good indication of quality in a man. These gleamed to perfection.
The driver stepped forward with his hand outstretched.
“Good morning, Mr Hill,” he said, shaking hands firmly.
He then turned to Mrs Hill and took her hand in his, raising it to his lips and kissing her knuckle.
“Mrs Hill, you’re everything Darren described, and more.”
Politely refusing the invitation to ‘come inside for a cuppa’, they headed off, leaving Darren’s parents standing by their front gate, waving happily.
“Cheers, Jake. That was good of ya. Now maybe they’ll get off my case for leaving the army.”
“No worries, Dazza. Anything to make you look good, mate. You don’t mind if we make a quick stop before we head out do ya?”
“Not at all, forget something?”
Jake didn’t reply, but smiled slightly as he headed back for his apartment. He pulled up outside, not bothering to use his parking spot.
“Two ticks. Mate,” he called over his shoulder as he jogged down the boardwalk and entered the building.
Five minutes later he was back, wearing a pair of faded jeans, t-shirt and trainers.
“There’s enough time tonight for stuffed shirts, at least I can drive there in comfort,” he said, winking at Darren, who was already casually dressed.
They reached the Unit in plenty of time, and were soon changed into their dress uniforms, and feeling very uncomfortable. Jake constantly checked his watch.
“How long to drive to the farm from here?” asked Darren.
“Too bloody long, but if I can leave early enough, I can make it while it’s still actually her birthday.”
“We’ll get you there, no worries.”
“Hope so, mate. Hope so.”
The luncheon dragged on, but eventually was over and the guests congregated in the main hall for drinks. Col. Fisher caught Jakes’ eye and called him over.
“Mitch, you’ve been looking about as happy as a bastard on Fathers’ Day ever since you arrived. What’s going on.”
“It’s Angie’s’ birthday, Tom, and I promised her faithfully I’d be there this time.”
“Sorry to hear that. I’m sure she’ll understand. You’ll be there tomorrow.”
“It’s more important than ever that I keep my promise,” replied Jake, showing Tom the small satin box.
“Oh shit, why didn’t you say something earlier. Listen, just make yourself known to the General, then slip off. He won’t notice.”
“Thanks, Tom. I owe you big time.”
Fifteen minutes later, Darren saw Jake slip out of the hall and make his way towards the car pool. He turned and saw Col. Fisher standing beside him, smiling.
“Love’s young dream eh? It’s about time. A better match I’ve never seen.”
Darren nodded in agreement and walked with the colonel towards the bar.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“How could he? He promised he’d be here!”
Angie threw herself onto the sofa in fits of tears. The party had broken up hours before, and she had finally given up hope of Jake turning up.
Emily sat down beside her and gave her a sympathetic hug. She wondered what had kept her grandson away. He never broke a promise unless it was humanly impossible for him to keep it.
Sam was pacing the lounge room, swearing under his breath. He stopped and pulled out his cell phone.
“I’ll give him a call, see what he’s playing at.”
He tried the Sydney apartment, the office, Jakes’ cell phone, but got no reply from any of them. In desperation, he tried Mike. After about six rings, he picked up.
“Talk to me!”
“Mike? It’s Sam. Is Jake with you?”
“No, my friend. He’s meant to be with you!”
“Angie’s in tears up here, he never showed.”
“Shit! Listen, Sam, give me five, I’ll get back to you.”
Without another word, Mike hung up and began dialling Darren’s number.
“Where’s Jake?” he demanded when Darren picked up.
“What ya mean, where’s Jake? He left here hours ago. He should be at the farm by now.”
“He never got there, my friend. I don’t like this.”
“I’ll get some wheels and head over there, Mike. I’ll meet you there yeah?”
“I’m on my way even as we speak. Keep in touch.”
Just as Mike got off the phone to Sam, letting him know he was on his way up, his cell rang again. It was Darren.
“Mike, something’s so not right. Jakes’ car is still up here, it looks like he didn’t drive anywhere himself.”
“Maybe he got a lift and left the car for you.”
“Yeah, right. As if he'd let me loose with this beauty. Even if he did, I think he would have let me know before he went, don’t you?”
“Yeah, you’re right. I’m just clutching at straws. Are the keys anywhere?”
“That’s the biggest worry, they’re in the ignition!”
“Fuck! Okay, you’d better take his car and get to the farm as quick as you can. You’ll get there before me, try to keep it calm, we don’t want them falling apart before we know what’s going on.”
By the time Mike arrived and they explained that Jake had just vanished, Angie had gone from being upset, then distraught, to pissed off and furious. She'd got it into her head that Jake was playing some stupid game with her. She stormed off screaming at the top of her voice:
“When you see that no good prick, you can tell him I never want to see him again as long as I live!”
“That went well,” remarked Mike, looking at the door that had just slammed shut. He turned to Emily and took her hand in his.
“Don’t worry, Emily. We’re going to find out what’s going on. I’m sure there’s a simple explanation for all this.”
“I hope so, dear. You do what you do best, and I’ll see if I can calm Angie down. I don’t want Aaron walking in while she’s still spitting like Ngauruhoe!”
“What’s Ngauruhoe?” asked Darren.
“It’s a Northland volcano, mate,” replied Sam.
“Ah, right,” grinned Darren in reply.
Enquiries back at the Unit revealed a sighting of Jake leaving the base in a taxi, but the car and driver couldn’t be traced. Having exhausted all avenues, they decided to return to the office in Sydney and see what their contacts could turn up.