That was okay, however. Jamie didn’t expect much, and it did not even cross her mind that Sam would have been at the event. She was excited about providing quality entertainment for the event more than anything else. She hadn’t even thought about what she would have said or done if she did run into him.
As the celebration came to a close, the band finished tearing down the equipment to pack up and leave. Stragglers continued to ask questions, request their contact information or paid compliments. It was past midnight and Jamie was still in a good state of mind. She did not feel like she had another missed opportunity because Jamie firmly believed she would see him again. It was a small world after all.
“This is just going to be a ten-minute interview. You are going to be asked about what it was like growing up as Jerry Ellis’ son. It’s for Music Time Magazine, and the article they are writing is a profile of Jerry Ellis, so they are going to ask you questions related to that, okay?” Amy explained to Sam as she proceeded to massage his shoulders.
They were at the main headquarters that housed both Jerry Ellis Enterprises, Inc. and Jerry Ellis Estate Foundation. The magazine was setting up the lights and cameras for his camera interview in his office. The room was wood paneled with furniture that screamed simplicity. His desk was minimally decorated with a couple of framed pictures of his family and father. It took Mark days since the event at the country club to set up the magazine interview that he spent the entire evening convincing Sam to agree to do.
“Alright. You said the magazine was going to put on some light makeup and film it particularly for an online article, right?” Sam asked.
“Yeah, Sam. If you have any specifics or want to be reminded again how this is going to go, you can always ask the producer. They were thinking about filming you in here with b-roll of the photographs of Jerry. If that’s okay?” Amy asked.
“Sure.” Sam cleared his throat. Although slightly nervous, Sam always loved every opportunity he had to talk about his father’s legacy. Jerry deserved nothing less.
After the film crew set up the shot in Sam’s office and set up the mics, the producer asked Sam what it was like growing up with a famous father:
“When I was a kid, I’d wake up, and we would drive to another state or fly to another country, so I never really knew what normalcy was. We would be in Sutton Hill some of the time and then travel. The rest of the time we would be out on my dad’s boat. That was normalcy to me. I did not have any real roots anywhere because everywhere was home. When you are a kid, you have absolutely no idea if your dad is famous or not. The concept just didn’t exist to you. I was very close to my father, and I loved him. My dog Owen, here, is always nearby and wherever I go, he goes as well. When I look back at pictures of me as a kid, I totally did the same thing. He would often tell me to give him some space, but I just wanted to be around him all the time.
I loved everything about what he did professionally. Some of the musicians rode motorcycles, and I loved that aspect of it as well. I wanted to be like them too. My father eventually bought me a dirt bike when I was a little older, and I remember riding it a lot, and I would always crash into something and fall. I used to complain to him that no matter what I did or how hard I tried, I would crash into something and fall. He would say to me to always look forward at where I actually wanted to go and not where I didn’t want to go. When I grew up, that’s what I always did in life.
When my father passed away, I was in my twenties. I had no direction because my dad was like my rock, my anchor. He was responsible for everything that I knew how to do. My father had a best friend, Wilson, who around the time of my dad’s death was working with him on developing the idea of setting up a foundation and a scholarship fund for kids with aspirations for the arts. When my father died, Wilson approached my family and asked us if we wanted to continue the pursuit on my dad’s behalf, and of course, the answer was yes.
It was a lot of fun to work on, and my oldest brother was the first head of the project, and we developed it, and if it weren't for Wilson giving us the opportunity, I wouldn’t know what I would be doing now. When my brother decided to step down, he asked me if I wanted to take his place. I took over the Foundation and the Corporation, immediately.
The business is Jerry Ellis. He’s made a tremendous impact on the music industry. I remember when I was a little boy, one of my chores was to mow the lawn and he’d always correct me and teach me how to do it right. Whenever I mowed the lawn as an adult, even now sometimes, it takes me back to that same day when I was little. My father was just a regular guy that worked really hard and leveraged opportunities and tried to find ways to use to help others. He led an extraordinary life.”
“Okay, we got the shot!” The producer/director called. “Thank you, Mr. Ellis, that was exactly what we needed, we are going to do some editing and add in the b-roll footage, and we will send it over for final approval.”
“Sounds good,” Sam confirmed.
“Sam, you did great,” Amy said caressing his back.
Interviews and being on camera was a regular occurrence, if he wasn’t around cameras when he was with his dad, then he was being interviewed as an adult about being Jerry Ellis’ son, the foundation or something related. He couldn’t expect any less because his father was a legend, but there were days he just wanted peace and quiet.
It was one of the main reasons why he left the spotlight a decade ago. He had the opportunity after his father died to continue the legacy in music. The industry professionals urged him to with branding himself being the son of a legendary hall-of-famer. That’s what he did for a while, and he traveled all over, getting his fifteen minutes of fame, but when his older brother, Matt decided to step down from the Foundation, Sam jumped at the chance.
He was tired of jet-setting all over the world and performing; he was a great musician, but he was not as talented as his father. The only reason he was liked was that he was Jerry Ellis’ son. The idea hit him while traveling to Italy one day, if he were a nobody that entered the industry the skills that he currently had, the industry wouldn’t have had the same admiration for him. He knew that he had to get out.
He loved being head of the Foundation, and he made sure they continued doing quality works promoting health, medical research towards cures for illnesses, the arts and the Jerry Ellis brand. When he first stepped in as President Sam thought that he could continue his father’s legacy without having to be in the limelight, but that didn’t stop him from getting approached wherever Sam went, groupies gushing over him or the hundreds of calls and emails he received from television stations and magazines requesting an interview.
After his father had a heart attack and died in his arms, members of the family were left with a fortune as outlined in his will. His mother and all five children equally split a cash fortune of $20 million, his boat, classic cars and the rest of his building. His mother Patricia in agreement with Sam and his siblings to donate the boat to the hall of fame agreed to turn it into a historical piece that the hall of fame museum visitors could take a look at whenever they were open.
With a little over $3 million that he was left in his father’s will, Sam bought his first home at the age of 25 in Sutton Hill and has lived there ever since. It was a Spanish style 5 bedroom, 3 bathroom home on the back bay. His home had its own private dock (as did all the residents that lived on that block) and he also bought his own boat.
He loved the ship because it reminded him of his father and whenever he got the chance he took Owen with him, and they sailed the back bay underneath the warmth of the sun.
“We need to take a look at the three final candidates for the other Project Coordinator position.” Amy walked into his office later that afternoon. A reminder of how swamped they were; they were only a staff of nine managing four major divisions: Foundation, Corporation, Health Research, and the Spirits & Liquor Division.
Each robust individually but with all of them together, it might as well have been four differen
t companies. Far too much for nine people to manage on their own. He did agree, they did need more staff members. The problem was these days, it was getting harder and harder to find qualified candidate. Most that applied to any openings they’ve had over the years did because they wanted their fifteen minutes of fame, thought it would be glamorous working for the foundation, or was one of the members of the country club’s relatives who didn’t exactly equate to what qualified meant to him.
“I took the liberty of printing all of the applications; all 180 of them. But these three on top were the ones I felt showed the most promise. I haven’t checked references yet, but I wanted to run them by you first.” Amy explained dropping a stack of papers on his desk.
“I can’t believe it’s taking a long to find someone.” Sam sighed running his hand through his hair.
“It’s like you said, we’re either getting pushed to hire the club’s relative or they end up being some kind of groupie that doesn’t really care about the foundation. They just want the glory, but I don’t think the three I selected we are going to have any trouble with. They are extremely qualified, sharp, and applied for the right reasons. Take the afternoon to think about it and let me know if you’re in agreement with moving these three forward for final interviews.” Amy instructed before exiting the office.
“Alright.” Sam sighed again.
Sam picked up the applications and resumes of the candidates Amy wanted to push forward and scanned them quickly, “They’re qualified alright.” Sam said to himself before putting them down.
As Sam put down the applications, the stack of the rejected applicants begins to fall to the floor, one-by-one.
“Great!” Sam sighed as he bent over to pick them up until he recognized something familiar.
JAMIE WINTERS. The name in bold caps on top of a resume from the rejected pile called to him. She applied. Sam couldn’t figure out if she had applied before she saw him at the holiday celebration or was it after? If it was before, he didn’t know why she didn’t bring it up to him.
Sam scanned her resume for her qualifications. He remembered her mentioning she worked for a non-profit or helped a non-profit but couldn’t imagine why she wasn’t one of the qualified candidates. Looking at it now, there was nothing that jumped out at it that screamed “unqualified.” Another thing she was talented at.
“Hey, Amy? Can you come to my office for a second?” Sam buzzed Amy via speakerphone.
“I’ll be right there.”
Amy opened his office door and walked in curious as to the nature of his urgency. Holding up her application and resume, Sam asked, “Why isn’t she one of the candidates?”
“Who isn’t?” Amy asked as she grabbed the paper from his hand.
“Jamie Winters? You know why she isn’t.” Amy said before tossing it on his desk.
“No, I don’t. Jamie’s extremely qualified and fits the experience we’ve been looking for.” Sam reasoned. “Same reason why we hired Tobias, he was an army vet going to school for a Non-Profit Management degree and needed the work experience. Jamie fits the work experience that we need.”
“But Sam, isn’t she the girl from the event? The one in that band? The one that was trying to talk to you at both of the past club events?”
“Yes, she is. So what?”
“You don’t see it do you?” Amy questioned.
“See what?” Sam asked confused.
“She talks to you at both events, she’s in a band, Jerry Ellis was a musician...Sam have you not had enough groupies to realize the profile of one by now?” Amy urged.
“She’s not a groupie.”
“Sam, really? Come now.” Amy rolled her eyes. “Stop kidding around, let’s move forward with the names I picked out. I was thinking of contacting their references today…”
“No,” Sam said suddenly.
“You don’t want me to contact them today? I can contact them tomorrow if we think we should focus on finalizing the Spirits Competition today.”
“No, I mean. Jamie Winters is it. She’s the candidate, the only one I want you to call.”
“Sam, we just talked about this. Do you know what it is you are saying?”
“Yes, I do. I know Jamie, she isn’t like that.”
“Sam…”
“Amy, she’s it. That’s it. I don’t want anyone else. You don’t have anything to worry about, okay?”
“Alright, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Well fortunately for you, I know I won’t be saying that.”
“Okay, I’m trusting you on this.” Amy reasoned before grabbing Jamie’s application and resume to make the call.
Jamie didn’t have any expectations when she submitted her application online to the job site the position was listed on, knowing her history of bad luck and not hearing from Sam she knew deep down she would have gotten no response. However, one unexpected morning and they asked her to come down for an interview as they were looking to fill the position right away.
So here she was in her business attire, sitting down in the waiting room of the Jerry Ellis Foundation. Completely nervous and afraid of what was about to happen. Think good thoughts, she said to herself. If Sam were avoiding her, she wouldn’t have been selected for an interview. Out of what could have been possibly hundreds or thousands of applicants, she was one of the selected. That had to be good news, right?
She was told over the phone by Amy, their Vice President, it was going to be a panel interview after Jamie was asked if she was still interested in the position. It was going to be a group of three people, but Amy did not say who.
“Ms. Winters, they are ready to see you now.” The receptionist said as she stood and encouraged Jamie to walk with her to a small conference room down at the end of the short hallway.
The receptionist opened the meeting room door, and Jamie immediately saw three individuals sitting there. She only recognized one of their faces, and as she sat down, each of them introduced themselves:
● Amy Wolfman, Vice President of Ellis Enterprises, Inc.
● Jason Buchanan, Co-Founder of their spirits and liqueur division
● Sofie Parker, Social Media, and Marketing Coordinator
Jamie noticed that Sam was not in the room nor did she see him in any of the offices she had seen while in the lobby or in the rooms she passed when walking to the meeting room. She wondered if he was going to join them later or if he wasn’t there because he was busy somewhere. Jamie wanted the job so much and wanted to get to know him more, but wasn’t sure if the odds were in her favor. She was definitely taking a step forward by being selected, but at the same time, Sam was close but not close enough to reach. She couldn’t help but feel like she was a rabbit with a carrot being dangled in front of her.
“Thank you, Marta,” Amy said to the receptionist as she shut the door. “Shall we get started?”
It was around nine days before she heard from anyone about the interview results and Jamie didn’t think she would get called because organizations typically called if you were selected for the position and definitely didn’t if you weren’t. During the interview, they had grilled her on her experience and her intentions. Especially Amy. For whatever reason, the woman had it in for her. The Foundation called her with good news and chose her for the Project Coordinator position.
She couldn’t believe it at first and definitely, couldn’t believe that luck finally went her way. Jamie was ecstatic and called her bandmates and Lisa to gush about the good news before she went into panic mode. Jamie realized she would have to face Sam. The realization both excited her but worried her because he not only was not in the panel interview but had never mentioned the position. Did he even know she was the one that was hired? The position would be supporting efforts made by both Sam and Amy.
It was only a matter of time before Jamie would run into Sam again and she didn’t know what she was going to say to him about how she felt, let alone what he was going to say to her if she said anyth
ing to him at all.
It was sad giving notice to the company that she had worked for almost a nice years, but there was a point in time where she felt it no longer provided her with the sense of satisfaction and passion she had in the beginning. It didn’t seem like the department heads had ideas of providing empowerment to their employees let alone any growth opportunities. It didn’t seem like it was important to them, so it wasn’t exactly a tough choice for Jamie when she was selected to work for the Foundation.
On Jamie’s first day of work at her new job, she made sure she showed up bright and early. She woke up energetic and refreshed for some strange reason and wasn’t as nervous as she had felt days before. She was excited about the opportunity and excited to hopefully see Sam. She came to the realization that she was overthinking things and Jamie wouldn’t have gotten the job if he didn’t have some influence over it, even if she wasn’t around.
When she arrived the receptionist, Marta, congratulated her on the position and introduced her to some of the interns and administrative staff who she would shadow for a couple of days. For the first few hours, they gave her a tour of the facility, gave her a basic description of the Foundation and the various divisions and the different roles and how each interacted with the other.
“This afternoon, you will be sitting with Amy and Sam, that’s the Director. I don’t think you’ve met him, but they will discuss with you more in detail about the major programs we have and what their needs are in the interim,” Marta told her hours later.
It was lunch time, and Jamie couldn’t help but notice that time had passed very quickly for her.
“Did you bring lunch with you?” Marta asked suddenly. Jamie’s cubicle was near the front of the facility where all of the interns and administrative support sat. Sam’s and Amy’s office luckily were close by.
“Yes, I did. I wasn’t too sure what the lunch situation would be like, so I brought one just in case.”
One Little Letter_A Bad Boy, Second Chance Romance Page 18
