Hidden Treasures
an excerpt

“Well, we just crossed the last hurdle!” Cindy proclaimed as she walked in Steve’s office.
The abrupt break in the silence almost knocked Steve over. Whirling around in his leather desk chair, he griped, “Gee, don’t you ever knock?” Steve had been deep in thought, looking out the window at the multi-colored sunset developing over Chesterfield, and hadn’t noticed Cindy’s arrival. He closed his eyes and breathed in and out slowly to recover from the sudden shock of Cindy’s announcement. Opening his eyes, he frowned at the perky co-worker standing in front of him.
Cindy stopped just short of Steve’s desk and gave him an agitated look. “Well, excu-u-u-u-u-u-u-se me!” she retorted, and then tossed off his remark like a sweater on a hot afternoon. Plopping down in the leather chair across from Steve’s desk, she wrinkled her nose and gave Steve a wicked grin.
Steve placed his elbows on the desk and glared in return. “May I help you?” he asked, with obvious irritation in his voice.
Seemingly unphased by Steve’s sour demeanor, Cindy continued. “Mr. Bradshaw wants to see you in his office,” she smiled. “He wants to brief you on what the county government’s final response is.” Jumping up from the chair, she winked and said, “Ta-Ta!” Chuckling, Cindy turned and bounded out of Steve’s office, glancing back only briefly from outside his door.
Steve grinned and thought to himself, if there ever was a bright spot to this business, it has to be Cindy. She is always up, always smiling, no matter what’s going on. Steve stood up and stretched his arms in front of him. If the boss man wants to see me, I’d better not keep him waiting. Steve quickly gathered his thoughts on the development project. Picking up his leather-bound legal pad, he headed out his office door to see Mr. George Bradshaw, President of the Better Living Development Corp. He turned outside his door just in time to run face to face into Alice, PR Director for Better Living.
“Oops!” gasped Alice, turning a light shade of red. “Sorry, I - I didn’t mean to run you down!” She pushed her glasses up on her nose, looking at him with the wide eyes of a scared rabbit.
Steve backed away ever so slightly, smiled generously and responded slowly, “It’s okay, Alice. Really, it’s okay.” Stepping out of her way, Steve watched as Alice escaped down the hallway and into her office. Nice outfit she’s got on today, he thought. Good shade of royal blue. Goes well with her black hair. Turning to continue down the hallway, Steve mused to himself, Cindy is the bright spot in this office and Alice is, well, maybe from the farthest planet? Steve had gone out with Alice once, and that was all it took for him to know they had absolutely nothing in common. Still, she was good at her job, and fairly nice to be around.
Approaching Mr. Bradshaw’s office door. Steve conducted a quick inspection of his appearance. Hair in place? Check. Shirt tucked in? Roger. Shoes tied? Oh yeah, I wore loafers today. Never can be too careful around the main man. Steve took in a deep breath, and rapped decisively on the solid wood door.
“Come in!” was the response from behind the presidential door. Steve turned the doorknob. Sitting behind the large stately desk was George Bradshaw. He was a middle-aged man, slightly bald on top, with a ”rotunda,” as he called his waistline. He was a family man, with two college-aged children making their own success stories, and an adorable wife. He was highly respected in town, known for treating people with fairness and respect. His business venture, Better Living Development Corp, had treated him well, making him one of the richest men in the area. It was very clear to all who knew him, including those that worked for him, that he had done well because he believed in honest business.
“Steve! Good afternoon! I see you got my message.” Mr. Bradshaw smiled at his own comment. “I thought I would perk up your day with a friendly visitor.” His sly smile only reinforced what Steve was thinking already. Why does everyone tease me about Cindy? There is no way we could ever have anything other than friendship, and even that’s hard sometimes. “Steve…” Mr. Bradshaw started, “you’re glaring at me!”
Steve hadn’t realized that he had stopped dead in his tracks at Mr. Bradshaw’s comment about Cindy. He realized even less that he was glaring at his boss, and quickly recovered. “Oh, excuse me, sir,” he stammered. “I didn’t mean to…”
Mr. Bradshaw chuckled. “Now, now, Steve, don’t worry yourself. I didn’t mean anything by it. I know you and Cindy don’t have a “thing” going on. Please,” he motioned to a chair, “sit down.”
Steve quickly sat down across from Mr. Bradshaw and waited for his boss to start the conversation. He noticed the large amount of papers on the desk covering the green felt blotter. Most of them were documents on the negotiations with the county government over the coastal land purchase and development. Nearby was the famous BLDC mug that went everywhere the boss went, usually brimming with coffee.
Mr. Bradshaw opened the conversation. “As you know, the county has accepted our final offer for the coastal property we’ve been trying to obtain. The bid was very close to what they wanted, and they believe the difference in our offer and their asking price can be recovered in the first two years’ property taxes. So we’ve crossed this hurdle, and we’re on our way!” Mr. Bradshaw smiled as if in relief, and Steve smiled in return.
“Congratulations,” Steve replied. “but what about community support?”
“Well, it may be slow at first, but I know that once the people of Chesterfield and Summer Beach realize what this plant will do for them in terms of jobs and standard of living, they’ll get behind us on this. I’m sure of it,” Mr. Bradshaw stated confidently.
Steve was always impressed with his boss’s calm confidence. He hoped one day he could be just as confident with the decisions he made. He knew the cannery they were going to construct would bring in lots of needed jobs, which would certainly help the community. Still….
“Steve? You look concerned. Got something you want to say?” Mr. Bradshaw always wanted his employees to be open and honest with him, and as straightforward as possible.
“Well, it’s just…well, I’ve heard comments that make me wonder if the community might not be as much in favor of this plant as we would like,” Steve said. “I just don’t want there to be problems.”
“Steve, I understand your concerns and I share them. People don’t like change; it scares them. It’s hard for people to see that land being used for anything else than what it has been up to this point. That’s where Alice will step up to the plate, and do what she does so well: sell the idea to the public. I know that once they see the benefits, they’ll come around. It may take a little time, but I have no doubt they will get behind us. This plant will be good for all of us.”
“So what happens next?” Steve asked.
“Well, the county has asked for another environmental impact summary,” he stated flatly, knowing exactly how Steve would react to his comment.
Steve groaned audibly. “But we’ve already done three! Why another one? Especially since they’ve approved our bid deal!” He looked at Mr. Bradshaw in disbelief.
“I know, I know! But they want another one and we’re going to do another one. I’m not going to upset the apple cart at this point in the game.” Mr. Bradshaw gave Steve that fatherly I-expect-you-to-do-this-no-matter-what sort of look, and Steve threw up his hands in surrender.
“Okay, Okay, I’ll do another environmental study. But you know this is going to delay construction for at least a month, maybe two,” Steve cautioned.
“True, but we need to keep the government happy. After all, they live here too, just like we do. This is their home we’re talking about, so we’re going to make absolutely sure that we have their confidence. You and I know we wouldn’t do anything to endanger people’s lives around here. However, if they need us to prove it to them again,” he sighed and looked at Steve, “then we’ll prove it to them again.”
Realizing that no words would change his boss’s mind, or the mind of the county government, Steve mumbled “whatever” and rubbed his forehead. Impact studies are so blasted time-consuming, he griped to himself. He sat up straight as Mr. Bradshaw stood up, signifying the meeting had come to an end. Standing himself, he offered “Anything else, sir?”
Mr. Bradshaw came around the desk to walk Steve to the door. “No, that’ll be all, Steve.” He placed his hand on Steve’s shoulder as they walked toward the door. “We’ve all worked really hard to secure this deal, Steve, so we’re going to celebrate. I’ve asked Cindy if we could all meet at her family’s beach house for dinner. The date and time hasn’t been set yet, but there will be an office memo out soon with all the details. Be looking for it.” Stopping at the office door, Mr. Bradshaw held out his hand to shake Steve’s. “I want to thank you for all your hard work, Steve,” he smiled gratefully.
“Oh, sir, it’s been no problem. Anything to help,” Steve said modestly, and shook Mr. Bradshaw’s hand firmly.
“Well, it’s been a long day which is now over. It’s Friday; go home!” Mr. Bradshaw said as he turned back toward his desk. Steve headed for his office to clear off his desk and head for home.
Why another impact study? This is going to be frustrating. Once again, I’m going to have to research the impact, then approach someone to crunch numbers for me, and do all the reports, and then I’m going to have to put this thing together. Why can’t someone else do this? Steve was pondering all of this as he walked down the hallway. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts, he didn’t realize that he had let out a loud “GRRRRR!” just outside his office door.
“Whoa, champ! Feeling a little anger today? Need a little anger management?” Steve hadn’t noticed Chet standing at the receptionist’s cubicle.
“Oh, hey, Chet. No, I’m not in need of anger management today.” Steve opened his office door as Chet walked toward him. Chet leaned over and whispered lowly as if in very private conversation.
“Saw you coming out of Bradshaw’s office. Got a problem, pal?” he asked quizzically.
“Oh, no, no. We were just talking about the cannery deal, and the county wants another study done.” Steve said frankly.
“Another? Boy, you’re going to be up some nights. Listen, wish I could help ya, buddy,” Chet said as he patted Steve on the back, “but you know how it is.”
Steve chuckled dryly and said, “Yeah. I know.”
Walking into his office, he dropped his legal pad on the desk and frowned. Gee, Chet, you’re always so helpful, he thought. Why don’t you pound sand in a rathole? He had never liked Chet, and it made him feel even worse that Chet and Cindy had gone out multiple times. What does she see in that character? He pondered to himself. Gathering his things, Steve turned off the lights and locked his office door.
The drive on the way home was pleasant enough. The mild weather and gentle breeze soothed Steve’s spirit. Then he remembered the last thing Mr. Bradshaw had mentioned. A dinner at Cindy’s family beach house. Why there? Steve didn’t want to go to Summer Beach. Sure, it was a nice place. Pretty secluded, full of wildlife. People went there to “get away from it all.” There were lots of old beach houses, most of which looked like they could fall down any minute. There were some though that had been kept up pretty well. The whole area had this quaint, homey feel to it. Lots of families spent entire summers there. Yet the idea of having to go there for dinner was something Steve didn’t want to do. He’d just as soon stay as far away from there as he could get.
Finding a parking place in front of his condo, Steve commented to himself. “I don’t want to get anywhere close to that beach, or the inlet behind it. I’d just as soon never see it again. I’d rather forget it even exists.”