Break Away

by Robin Edwards

  “Because I am still swamped and so are you. I think Tobias should just stick with supporting you and we need to hire another one to support projects I’m working on. They could support the both of us but either way, if we don’t hire a second person, we will never catch up. Partnership volume is increasing, and we cannot continue to maintain a staff of just nine people.”

  “Alright, Amy. Tell Chuck I’ll be right there.”

  “Great,” Amy said as she walked away, eyeing me one last time.

  “You certainly get hounded a lot. I see why you are so busy.”

  “When am I not busy? That was Amy, she’s our Vice President. We’ve been looking into candidates to assist with new projects. We’ve just hired one already but looks like we need another.” Sam nodded in Amy’s direction.

  Just a colleague? What a relief!

  “Sounds like you guys do by the way she described how busy you both were,” I said feeling more enthusiastic.

  “Definitely busy.” Sam chuckled as he walked away. “I’ll see you.”

  “Bye.” I waved goodbye. He didn’t even acknowledge that I had applied, maybe he didn’t see my application after all. It could have gotten lost in the mix, but at least I knew that Amy wasn’t his significant other but his colleague. That lifted my spirits.

  By the time the announcements were made and that Plus One was entertainment for the holiday celebration. Applause could be heard, and all eyes were on us. I gazed around the room and caught Sam glancing in our direction. He raised his champagne glass in cheer and good luck before returning the conversation he was in.

  Throughout the night, we played a mix of classic holiday songs and mainstream music by big name artists. The attendees loved it and got everyone more into the holiday spirit as they sang along. It was then that I decided that no matter what happened I was going to be happy and fun anyway.

  Several hours later, the celebration was over. Despite having a couple of scheduled intermissions, we were surprisingly too busy to take breaks and relax. Other than the occasional refreshment breaks during intermissions, we were regularly approached with questions and compliments. All I wanted to do was approach Sam, but it looked like he was busy as well.

  The entire night whenever I managed to glance his way, Sam seemed to be active in conversation with someone of influence or was networking. He too far into the crowd for me to be able to hear what he talked about, not by a long shot. It did not look like it was anything but a professional conversation and there were no hearty laughs or authentic smiles that I could see. Everything seemed fake and forced.

  That was okay, I didn’t expect much, and it did not even cross my mind that Sam would have been at the event. I was excited about providing quality entertainment more than anything else. I hadn’t even thought about what I would have said or done if I did run into him.

  As the celebration came to a close, we finished tearing down the equipment to pack up and leave. Stragglers continued to ask questions, request our contact information or paid compliments. It was past midnight, and I was still in a good state of mind. I did not feel like I had another missed opportunity because I firmly believed I would see him again. Especially after getting the chance to talk to him tonight.

  Chapter Six

  SAM

  “THIS IS JUST GOING TO BE a ten-minute interview with Music Time Magazine and the article they are writing is a profile of your father, so they are going to ask you questions about what it was like growing up as his son, okay?” Amy explained to me as she massaged my tense shoulders.

  “Did Mark have a chance to look over the contract?” I inquired. I was very protective of the content that was put out there of my father and always had Mark review any fine print before agreeing to any interviews or PR material. This interview must have slipped by me, I don’t remember agreeing to it.

  We were at headquarters that housed all of Jerry Ellis Enterprises as well as Jerry Ellis Foundation. The magazine crew proceeded to set up the lights and camera in my office for the video interview. My office was simple – wood paneled walls with furniture that screamed minimalist. Next to my desk, I had a side table that was decorated with a couple of framed pictures of my family as a kid that included my father and a potted fern plant sitting in the corner.

  “Yes, I sent it over to Mark, and it looked solid. Don’t worry, everything’s covered. You seem, not yourself today. Is something going on?” Amy asked.

  “No, nothing’s wrong. I’m just tired I think.”

  “Well, after this I suggest you go home and rest. They did ask me this morning if it was okay to film you in here working for b-roll including using photographs of your father.”

  “Alright.” I cleared my throat. I appreciated any interest the media and the public had, at least in my dad or the organization, but I was just not up to doing it today.

  After the magazine crew set up the shot in my office and set up the mic, the producer asked me what it was like growing up with a famous father. That was a loaded question, I could talk all day about him. I had a lot of memories.

  “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 real 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. If anything, that would be normalcy if I had to describe it. I did not have real roots anywhere because everywhere was home but I felt the happiest on my father’s boat. When you are a kid, you have absolutely no idea if your ad is famous or not. The concept didn’t exist to you. I was very close to my father, and I loved him. My dog, Owen, is always nearby and wherever I got, 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 of the time.

  I loved everything about what he did professionally, and it was a lot of fun. 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 this 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 always crash into something and fall. He would say to me to look forward at where I actually wanted to go and not where I didn’t want to go. When I grew up, that’s the approach I took when it came to anything I did.

  When my father passed away, I was in my twenties. I had no direction because my dad was like my rock and 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 worked with him on the development of the Foundation and a scholarship fund for kids with aspirations for the arts. When my father died, Wilson approached my brother Mark and asked if we wanted to continue the pursuit on my dad’s behalf and of course the answer was yes.

  My brother was the first head of the organization, and if it weren’t for Wilson giving us the opportunity, I wouldn’t know what I would be doing now. When my brother, Mark decided to step down he asked me if I wanted to take his place. I took over immediately.

  The business is Jerry Ellis. He’s made a tremendous impact in 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. Even now sometimes, it takes me back to those days when I was little. My father was just a regular guy that worked really hard and leveraged opportunities and tried to find ways to help others. He led an extraordinary life.”

  “Okay, we got the shot!” The producer/director shouted. “Thank you, Mr. Ellis.”

  “You don’t have any more questions?”

  “No, that was exactly what we needed. We are going to do some editing and add in some b-roll footage, and we will send it over for final approval.”

  “Sounds great,” I confirmed.

  “Sam, you did great.”

  “Thank you.”

&nb
sp; Interviews and being on camera was a normal occurrence for me and if I wasn’t around them when I was with my dad then I was being interviewed as an adult about being my father’s son, the foundation or something related. I couldn’t expect any less because my dad was a legend, but there were days I just wanted peace and quiet.

  It was one of the main reasons why I left the spotlight a decade ago. I had the opportunity after my father died to continue the legacy in music. The industry professionals that knew my dad urged me to brand myself as the son of a legendary musician. That’s what I did for a short while and traveled all over the world with a lot of women and got my fifteen minutes of fame but when Mark stepped down, I knew it was time for me to stop and settle down, so I jumped at the chance to take over.

  I was tired of the jet-setting all over the world and performing; I was a great musician, but I was nowhere the likes of my father. The only reason I was liked was that I was Jerry Ellis’ son.

  The idea hit me while traveling to Italy one day, if I were a nobody that entered the industry with the skills I currently had, they wouldn’t have had the same admiration for me. I knew then that I had to get out and honor my father a different way.

  I loved being the head of the Foundation, and I made sure they continued doing quality work promoting health, the arts, and my dad’s brand. When I first stepped in as President, I thought I would continue my dad’s legacy without having to be in the limelight but that didn’t stop me from getting approached wherever I went. The groupies gushed over me or the thousands of calls and emails we received weekly from television stations, magazines or the general public. It was too much to handle.

  After my father had died of pneumonia in my arms, members of my family were left with a fortune as outlined in his will. My mother and all children equally split the $20 billion estate including his boat, classic cars, music instrument, and property. My mom Patricia was in agreement with me and my siblings to donate the boat to the Rock n’ Roll museum and agreed to turn it into a historical piece that visitors could take a look at whenever it was open to the public.

  With a little over $3 billion that I was left with my father’s will, I bought my first home in Sutton Hill and have lived there ever since. It was a Spanish style, five bedrooms 3 bathroom home on the back bay. My home had its own private dock as did all the residents that lived in that cul-de-sac and I also bought my own boat.

  I loved the boat because it reminded me of my father and whenever I got the chance, I took Owen with me, and we sailed the back bay under the warmth of the sun and sometimes under the stars at night.

  As the magazine crew tore down their equipment, Amy approached me ready to talk business again, “We need to take a look at the three final candidates for the other Project Coordinator position.”

  It was a reminder of how swamped we were; we were only a staff of nine trying to manage four major entities. Each entity was robust individually, but with all of them together, it might as well have been four different companies. Far too much for nine people to manage on their own. I did agree that we needed more staff members.

  The problem was these days it was getting harder and harder to find qualified candidates. Most that applied to any openings we have had over the years did so because they wanted their fame, thought it would be a glamorous job or was a relative of one of the club members who didn’t exactly equate to what qualified meant to me.

  “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 their references yet, but I wanted to run them by you first.” Amy explained dropping a stack of papers on my desk.

  “I can’t believe it’s taking so long to find someone.” I sighed running a hand through my hair.

  “It’s like you said, we’re either getting pushed to hire the club’s relatives, 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 are going to give us any trouble. 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.” I sighed again.

  I picked up the applications and resumes of the candidates Amy wanted to push forward and scanned them quickly, “They’re definitely qualified.” I muttered to myself before putting the stack of papers down, but they end up falling on the floor, one-by-one.

  “Great!” I sighed as I bent over to pick them back up until I recognized a familiar name.

  JAMIE WINTERS. The name in bold caps on top of a resume from the rejected pile called to me. She applied. I couldn’t figure out if she had applied before she saw me at the holiday celebration or was it after? If it was before, I didn’t know why she didn’t bring it up to me.

  I scanned her resume for her qualifications. I remembered she had mentioned she worked for non-profit or helped non-profits, but I couldn’t imagine why she wasn’t one of the qualified candidates. Looking at it now, there was nothing that jumped out that screamed ‘unqualified.' Another thing she was talented at.

  “Hey, Amy? Can you come to my office for a second?” I buzzed Amy via speakerphone.

  “I’ll be right there.”

  Amy opened my office door and walked in curious as to the nature of my urgency. I held up Jamie’s resume and application, “Why isn’t she one of the candidates?”

  “Who isn’t?” Amy asked as she grabbed the paper from my hand. “Jamie Winters? You know why she isn’t.”

  “No, I don’t. Jamie’s extremely qualified and fits the experience we’ve been looking for, bar none.” I reasoned. “Opposite of the reason 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, she fits it extremely well.”

  “Sam, she was the girl from the events. The one in that band. The one that was trying to talk to you both times!”

  “Yes, she was. So what?”

  “You don’t see it do you?” Amy questioned.

  “See what?”

  “She talks to you at both events, she’s in a band. Your father was a musician…Sam, have you not had enough groupies to realize the profile of one by now? She didn’t apply for the right reasons.” Amy urged.

  “She’s not a groupie, and if anything, I approached her both times.”

  “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,” I said adamantly.

  “You don’t want me to contact them today? I can contact them tomorrow if you think we should focus on finalizing the Spirits Competition.”

  “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, and she isn’t like that.”

  “Sam…”

  “Amy, she’s it. That’s all there is to it. I don’t want anyone else. You don’t have anything to worry about.”

  “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 paperwork to make the call.

  ****

  JAMIE

  I didn’t have any expectations when I submitted my application and resume online to the job site the position was listed on and knowing my history of bad luck and not hearing from Sam I knew deep down I would have gotten no response. However, one unexpected morning and they asked me to come down for an interview as they were looking to fill the position right away.

  So here I was in my business attire in the waiting
room of the Jerry Ellis Foundation. I was completely afraid and nervous of what was about to happen. Think good thoughts. If Sam were avoiding me, I wouldn’t have been selected for the interview. Out of what could have been hundreds or thousands of applicants, I was one of the selected. That had to be good news, right?

  I was told over the phone by Amy, their Vice President that it was going to be a panel interview after I was asked if I was still interested in the position. The panel was going to be with three people, but Amy did not say who.

  “Ms. Winters, they are ready to see you now.” The receptionist said as she stood and walked me to a small conference room down at the end of the short hallway.

  The receptionist opened the meeting room door, and I immediately saw the three individuals sitting there. I only recognized one of their faces and as I sat down each of them introduced themselves:

  Amy Wolfman, Vice President of Jerry Ellis Enterprises, Inc.

  Jason Buchanan, Co-Founder of their spirits and liqueur division

  Sofie Parker, Social Media, and Marketing Coordinator

  I noticed that Sam was not in the room nor did I see him in any of the offices that we had passed. I wondered if he was going to join them later or if he wasn’t there because he was busy elsewhere. I wanted the job so much and wanted to get to know him more, but I wasn’t sure if the odds were in my favor. I was definitely taking a step forward by being selected, but at the same time, I was close but not close enough to reach. I couldn’t help but feel like I was a rabbit with a carrot being dangled in front of me.

  “Thank you, Marta,” Amy said to the receptionist as she shut the door. “Shall we get started?”

  It was around nine days before I heard from anyone about the interview results and I didn’t think I would get called because organizations typically called you if you were selected for the position and definitely didn’t if you weren’t selected. During the interview, they had grilled me on my experience and intentions, especially Amy. For whatever reason, the woman had it in for me. The Foundation called me with good news, and I was chosen for the position.