Kisses in the Rain Read Free

respect.
    "Can we talk about the job, Martha? I mean, that's why you're here, right?"
    "I'm not sure I'm interested." Chalk it up to a wasted morning. There had been others.
    "What if I make it worth your while?" Sidney asked. That shrewd look again; it surprised her, interspersed as it was with so many smiles and so much laughter.
    "How much worth my while?" she inquired with what she knew was a distinctly skeptical rise of the eyebrows.
    "Listen to what I have to say, Martha, that's all I'm asking."
    He looked so sincere that she gave him her full attention.
    "It's a fairly simply operation," Sidney went on. "We use our own bagels, but I order all other supplies. I get my lox from a place in Los Angeles. Jelly I order, cream cheese, all of it. The operator of each Bagel Barn submits an order to me every week. I ship the supplies the fastest way. Each operator has to keep careful records, of course."
    "Which is why your employees have to have experience in retail, right?"
    "Sure. It helps to know a lot about the way a retail business works. And pleasing the customers is important, real important. I want everyone to know that when they eat bagels from a Bagel Barn they also get a pleasant smile and a cheery thank you from a pretty girl—er, woman, woman," he said hastily when she shot him a meaningful look.
    "Go ahead," she said.
    "That's about it. Do you want the job?" Sidney leaned back in his chair and clasped his hands behind his head.
    "Just like that?"
    "Sure. I like you. You've got a good background and you're pretty. Plus you look good in a dress."
    "I don't understand why you need a person with a degree in business administration to sell bagels in a Bagel Barn," said Martha. "Anyway, you haven't mentioned a salary."
    "I'm not just looking for a salesperson, Martha. I'm looking for someone who can be my vice president and administrative assistant here at Sidney Pollov Enterprises. Who can travel around the country and untangle problems that arise at my various Bagel Barns. I've got forty-four Bagel Barns all over the country."
    "So many!"
    "They open in Cape Cod in the summer and close in Cape Cod in the winter. They open in Key West in the winter but close in Key West in the summer. I have to travel, Martha, you wouldn't believe it. Last week I had to run down to New Orleans and hire a new person to operate the local Bagel Barn because the last one quit. Took me a week, and in the meantime everything else went to pot. Can you travel?"
    "Yes, if necessary."
    "Good. That's important. You'll be in charge of hiring. Managing my personnel is another worry. These girls—women, I mean. They have problems. They want to tell me about their kids, their husbands, and I don't have time to hear it. I have a wife and four kids that I love very much. I want to spend more time with them, and this business is killing me."
    Martha took a deep breath. "You still haven't mentioned a salary."
    He named a figure that made Martha's eyes pop.
    "After you've learned the business, in six months or so, you'll get a raise. In a year, if we're both happy with the arrangement, I'll cut you in on the profits. I'm going to have to hire regional supervisors before long. Then you can supervise the supervisors."
    "You'll cut me in on the profits? Do you mean it?"
    "Sure. You help build it up, you deserve it. Soon you can run the Bagel Barn division of Sidney Pollov Enterprises. I'm going to expand; I'm going to open a chain of Thai take-out places soon. I'm going to call it Thai One On."
    "Right," Martha said doubtfully.
    "The point, Martha, is that I need you."
    "Sidney, this is all... just a bit more than I expected," she said.
    "I'll put everything in writing just to keep it kosher."
    It was sounding better all the time. This looked like a ground-floor opportunity, certainly better than anything else she'd found.
    "When would I start work?"
    "Monday."
    Martha thought about how she could now move out of Lindsay's house, leaving the field clear for