"Hey good lookin'"
"Well hello, Mr. Steve. What's goin' on this fine day?"
So began another exchange. Anyone in sales finds out early on just who to make friends with in any business you call on regularly. And as you build your business, over time, you become more than just contacts. It's possible to really become friends. All on different levels of course. Every human is different. And Cathy is just Cathy. She's not the boss, but while she doesn't sign the checks, she's been the office manager of her company long enough to make the orders, so her desk is always my first and last stop when I'm in the area.
"Where's everyone at?", I asked as I sat the box of a dozen donuts down on her desk, along with a handful of new pens. Cathy turned around and put the donuts on the desk behind her, and then opened her middle drawer and rolled all the pens down into it.
"Well, Dave is on a 'business' trip... golfing of course. And Sheila's home sick... cramps. Let's see, Diane is at lunch. Earl's out 'on a call'... with Dave gone he's probably goofing off somewhere. Cindy's at a seminar. That leaves me in here all alone, and Jack's out in the warehouse fixing the forklift. I like these roller-ball pens you're giving out these days. All you have is black?"
"Yes, darlin'. Only black ink this batch. Don't you share those?"
"Hell no. I've got three kids in high school, remember?"
I shook my head and smiled and pulled up a chair. I'd probably leave with an order, but Cathy was in the mood to talk a bit. Cathy was a fun gal. We'd been doing business goin' on five years. She's not too much younger than me. Married too. She's petite, short brown hair, not slender, not heavy, just a normal mom. She's got an attractive face, nice bottom (I've checked it out often). It's her quick wit that makes her so much fun. Plain spoken, dry humor. And this lady can flirt with the best of them. We've often held the other gals in her office spellbound when we got going. Cathy can get as earthy as anyone, but she'd give you the blouse off her back. Not literally of course. At least not to me.
"So what's new pretty one?"
"That's the second compliment, fella'. Whatcha' lookin' for? A little lovin'?"
"All you got, baby."
"Yeah right, dream on, man, dream on."
So began the normal exchange. I had a good joke I'd pulled off the internet that morning. She had a rather crude, but funny, cartoon she'd been faxed earlier in the week. I took a note of some things she knew they needed.
"So, Cathy, how're you doing, really. Mom doin' better?"
"Yeah. She's getting' there. I don't know. Things at home still as dead as ever."
I could tell by her tone her and her husband weren't getting along. She'd confided in me a time or two that things were just not great. But like so many of us, kids, house, bills... she just made things work. Oh he was a nice enough guy, regular joe. But he never took the time to even try to make her feel good. She opened up one time and told me that they rarely had sex, and that it had been ages since she'd actually 'gotten off' with him. She'd winked and tried to shock the office saying she just 'took matters into her own hand'. I remember the other gals almost gasped when she told me that. On my next sales visit, I put a full box of Duracells on her desk, and created quite a round of giggles.
But today, Cathy wasn't cracking too many jokes. It seemed like with the empty office she just wanted someone to talk to. I didn't mind. I just liked her. And I'd had two great calls earlier, and probably had a third of my month done in the first half of the first week. So I just kicked back and we talked. Well, Cathy talked. I pretty much just listened. No major crisis, I think she just needed someone to listen. The phone rang.
"Yeah, Diane. Go ahead. No, it's ok. Things are slow here with Dave out. I'll cover for awhile. Back by 3:00? OK, but I'm headin' home early myself then. Deal?"
"Minding the store alone then?"
"Yeah. It's ok."
