Proposal

"Well, are you going to let me in or what?" He raised his voice at me. "Depends. Are you going to be an a$$hole when you come in here? His mouth opened and closed. He just shook his head no, and I closed the door and undid the chain. I opened it up and motioned for him to come in.

I went over and sat on the couch and watched him as he took in my small apartment. When he noticed me watching him, he came over to me and sat down on the couch. He frowned when it didn't have much give to it. I mean, it was cheap; of course you wouldn't soak up in it.

"What can I help you with?" I asked him. I grabbed the blanket I had on me before he knocked and put it over my legs since I had shorts on.

"What did you mean when you said I wouldn't be able to make it on their wages?" I just looked at him for a second.

"That you wouldn't be able to make it on their wages. That is what I meant. No sugar coating there. I don't think you could make it three months living off what the mailroom guys make and if you did, you might have an understanding of what it's like being those guys."

We sat there for so long I went back to watching my show that I paused to answer the door. I mean no reason to let a good show go to waste.

"I want to take you up on that bet." I pause the tv and turn and look at him. "I'm not betting you a bet means I would have to give you something if I lost it. I don't have anything to give."

"Well, we will cross that bridge when I win." He smiled at me and then finally leaned back on the couch.

"Yeah, well I'm not going to sleep with you, that's for sure." His smile faltered " I didn't mean that." He said to me.

"Oh. Sorry, that's usually the first thing most guys think."

"Well, I'm not most guys for one, and I will treat you like a lady if you want." Oh, I didn't want, but I'm not going to say that.

"Thank you."

"So how do we start this bet off? What do you want me to do? I have lessons to learn, as you would say, so you make the rules up." He looked amused by all of this, like it's going to be a piece of cake. But I guarantee he's going to have a hard time with it.

"Well, first, we have to find you a place to live." I grab the notebook off the coffee table and write that down.

"I have a place to live." He said as a matter of fact.

"I know you have a place to live. But if you want to know how the other side lives you have to go to the other side."He nodded. Good, I'm getting through to him.

"Second, well, actually this should probably be the first thing you do. You need to find someone to run your company for the next 3 months."

This had him puzzled. "Why?"

"Because you're ditching your suits, and you're going to work in the mailroom." He started shaking his head no.

"Yes, you will. You want to know how it is for the lower guys, then your going to learn. You just fired one, so there is an opening."

"They will know who I am."

"No, they won't. Lose the suit; don't fix your hair with your hundred-dollar hair products. Put on some normal clothes; maybe don't shave for a day or 2, and then you'll fit right in; they won't even flinch an eye. Because this isn't something you would normally do so, they won't think anything about it. They might think you look like the main guy but they won't put the pieces together. Do you have anyone that can take the company over while you go on a business trip for a little while? And before you even give me then I can't leave you've done it in the past this will be no different."

"What did you do research me?" He asked while he stood up, running his hands through his hair. He was acting like I was taking his birthday away. He was even starting to sweat. Oh crap, he's having a panic attack.

"Okay big guy, calm down a minute. Take your jacket off." He does as I say, and I run in the kitchen and get him a glass of water. "Drink this," I said to him. " Is this tap water?" He asked. "Really?" I said to him as I went over and turned the fan up that I have sitting in the corner. I take his hand and sit him back down on the couch I kneel in front of him and loosen his tie and the top button. " It's going to be okay," I tell him. I rub his arms to help calm him down. " This will be no different than those times you took a few months off for vacation. " Yeah but I still had a say in the business then." I couldn't very well tell him he couldn't make decisions but he could cut back.

"Okay how about this. You still have to work in the mail room, but you can still make executive decisions. But you don't get to sit in on any meetings or do any of those things. If it is a big decision that will affect everyone yes you make the decision but the little stuff you let. Um, who are you going to have taken over?"

"My brother can come in and do it for a little while he's working out in California with my dad." He seems like he's calming down a little. So I move and sit on the coffee table in front of him. "I'll still be the secretary up there so I can tell you what's going on. If things start to get bad you can step in okay? "

"Okay. That makes me feel better."

I grab my notebook up again and write down the next one.

"You ready for number three?" I asked.

"Yeah give it to me."

"You can't use any of the money you have in your bank account. You can have a start amount that will pay for all the things you need at first but it can't be more than what the average mailroom employee makes in one month."

"That won't be too hard," he said. We will see that I think it will be harder than he thinks.

"Can I stay here?" He asked.

"Uh! Why?"

" Like you said I don't know how to do any of this it would make it easier if I was here."

"This is a one-bedroom apartment. If you want to sleep on the couch for the next 3 months I don't guess I can argue with that. But it's still not going to be the same as the others at work, some of them live alone so they have all the bills to take care of. You will have to split everything with me. Let me see if there is another room on this floor or building and we'll go from there. If there isn't then you can stay here but you will have to do your part." It would make sense to have him close to make sure he doesn't cheat or anything.

"Deal."

"Okay, number 4. Every time you mess up you have to live another week like this." I motion around the room.

"Can I at least have five mess-ups before that kicks in?" He said to me while he looked around the small living room/kitchen.

"Okay, but if they are too big you don't get a pass on those."

I could see this was stressing him out.

"How about I write down some more things and give them to you at work tomorrow?"

"That sounds good."

"Oh and tomorrow you could start trying to be nice to people. Like when they talk to you maybe you could talk back to them instead of snubbing your nose at them."

"I don't do that." He said getting defensive.

"Oh honey, you do. And it's not a pretty thing to watch."

I walk to the door and open it. "I'll see you tomorrow. I said.

He walked to the door. And turned and looked at me. "I can do this. It's not going to be that hard."

"Yeah well, we'll see about that starting on Friday after work."

"That's only 2 days away."

"Well I suggest you get your brother here and get your affairs in order because starting this weekend you're a broke joke just like the rest of us. " and with that, I pushed him out the door and locked it. I went over to the couch and picked my notebook up and finished writing out his rules  .