I was elated. The stress of the last couple of months had finally seized. I retained my job. With a slight difference. Instead of continuing in the secretarial pool, I was to become the junior secretary of the Chairman Emeritus.
Mr. Bristol Pen was a legend. He started the insurance company fifty years ago with only one account. Now, he only came to the office to keep up with current affairs. I worked for Mr. Pen’s secretary, Mrs. Brown. Usually, she had me look up facts and numbers on the internet for Mr. pen. What insurance companies launched new products? What products were doing well in the market? Which new restaurant was all the rage? Whatever Mr. Pen wanted to know, I researched and handed to Mrs. Brown. I barely saw Mr. Pen except in passing.
Then Mrs. Brown fell sick. As I sat at my desk wondering pulling up the usual queries, I heard the old man shuffle into the outer office, “Lonie! Please come into my office.”
I rose and followed him. Mr. Pen had never learned my name. He’d call me Lana, Lorrie, Lindsey but never Lina. How could I correct the founder of the company? “Can you make this thing work?” Mr. Pen pointed at the computer on his desk. “I can’t do anything with it,” he grumbled.
“Ye-yes Sir,” I stammered. I knew how to use a computer, but I’d never really talked to Mr. Pen nor did I want to. He was a grouchy old man who made demands and called me any name but mine. I passed my research to Mrs. Brown, who passed it on to him.
“So, can you make it work?!” Mr. Pen’s impatience made my fingers shake. Ctrl-L, I pressed then double-clicked to get on the internet. All the while, Mr. Pen watched over my shoulder. “Press that key. Mrs. Brown always presses that key.” I did what he wanted and fled.
“Cindy, I need news on the FirstWorld takeover.” “Jenny, which restaurant is on 156th and Giles?” Lara this, Courtney, that… Mrs. Brown was not coming back. I dreaded going to work every morning. I jumped at every sound. I began looking for another job.
One morning, I crept to my desk hoping Mr. Pen would come in late or not at all. Unfortunately, no sooner had I sat down than he shuffled in. “Penny, come find today’s stocks for me!”
“My name is Lina!” I don’t know where the words came from. They just tumbled out of my mouth. In fact, my mouth fell open in horror. “I’m sorry Mr. Pen.” I scrambled to his desk and logged in to his computer. I began pulling up the website he requested.
Mr. Pen laid a hand on mine. My heart hammered in my chest. I dreaded that he was going to fire me. “Stop,” he said. “Perhaps, if you teach me how to use the computer, I’ll find what I need.” I looked up to see if was toying with me. He was serious. He pulled up a chair and sat next to me.
“This will always be your username and password. After you login, double-click on this icon…” Step by step, I showed Mr. Pen how to access the information he wanted on the internet. Day by day, we worked together until Mr. Pen got comfortable using the computer. We became comrades hunting down elusive information. The best day however was when Mr. Pen walked into the office and said, “Good morning, Lina!”