Jon Jennings wished he had picked up the phone and asked "Samantha" where Mr. McMillan's office was. He figured that the CEO was on the top floor. Five minutes to find him up there, thought Jon.
He opened the door and bumped into a thin, middle-aged woman covered with freckles exiting the office next to his at the very end of the hall. "Excuse me."
"Jon!" exclaimed the woman. "Just in time."
"You're going to see ... Mr. McMillan?" asked Jon.
"Yeah, Richard," replied the woman.
Jon noticed she was standing in front of a sign that said "Samantha Duncan." "Are you ... Jay's mother?"
"Uh ... why do you ask? Of course I am. We've talked about him many times."
No wonder she's so freckly, thought Jon. Jay inherited her complexion.
Samantha started to walk toward the elevator. "How could you forget?"
Jon followed her. "I'm just not ... myself today. I have a lot on my mind."
"We both do." Samantha pressed the "up" button. "How are your kids?"
"Um ..." What was that girl I saw called, wondered Jon. She looked fine. But I don't have a clue about Zoe and Mikey.
The elevator doors opened in front of Samantha. "You're really out of it today, aren't you?"
"Uh-huh." Jon walked into the elevator after Samantha. He let her press the "20" button. He had guessed correctly. No autopilot needed. He gave himself a little credit. Enough moments like that, and he might make it through the day after all, though he doubted it.
Samantha tapped Jon on the shoulder. "We're here."
Jon gasped.
"Calm down. We're not in Richard's office yet." Samantha's finger was on the "open" button inside the elevator. "We're on his floor. No daydreaming, okay? Did you have coffee this morning?"
"I did." And it tasted horrible, thought Jon. "But it's not helping. Not at all."
"Obviously not." The hallway in front of Richard's office isn't the right place to lecture Jon, thought Samantha. Absent-mindedness can be cute at times. Not now. "Jon, if something's the matter - other than this meeting - let's talk about it at lunch. Maybe before then if it's bugging you that much. You're really distracted by whatever it is. Normally I'd go in and tell Richard to call the meeting off and reschedule, but he has to leave on a trip tomorrow, so it's now or never. Look, I know he's got a ..." She lowered her voice. "... grudge against you, but no matter what happens in there, you'll come out alive. What's the worst that could happen?"
"I think I'm gonna find out."
