Chapter 139: Finding Another Vincent

Vincent, Alexander’s executive assistant at Vance Holdings, had made it clear that he wasn’t following him to Second Life Workshop.

He’d worked hard to build his career and establish his own connections within the company. His future shouldn’t depend entirely on whatever his boss decided to do next. Whether Alexander returned as CEO after five months or chose a different path, Vincent intended to remain with Vance Holdings.

Alexander was relieved he’d made his own plans.

Good for him.

Unfortunately, that also meant Alexander needed to find someone else.

The question was what kind of assistant he was actually looking for.

He couldn’t exactly ask Vincent to figure that out for him. Alexander had to consider what Second Life Workshop needed and find someone who matched those requirements. Preferably, it would also be someone already looking for work rather than an employee he’d have to convince to leave a stable position for a business venture that might change considerably after five months.

"Who in his right mind would accept a deal like that?"

Surprisingly, Elias had.

At fifty-two, Elias had willingly traded secure employment for uncertainty. Give or take another eight years before retirement, and the man had apparently decided that following Alexander into a furniture restoration business was a perfectly reasonable career decision.

Alexander still wasn’t entirely sure what that said about either of them.

He opened his laptop and typed Assistant’s General Job Description.

From there, he removed everything that didn’t apply to the workshop and added the responsibilities that did. The person would need to handle schedules, maintain records, coordinate with customers and suppliers, track orders, prepare documents, answer inquiries, and generally make sure Alexander didn’t have to personally deal with every small administrative matter that came through the door.

For a moment, he considered calling the position Operations Manager.

Then he frowned.

Technically, Alexander was the Operations Manager.

He needed someone to help him run the place, not someone to run it for him.

Assistant, it was.

He posted the vacancy.

By that same afternoon, several applications had already arrived.

Alexander went through them himself, made a shortlist, and replied to the applicants he wanted to meet. He scheduled the interviews for the following week at the workshop so they could see exactly what kind of business they were applying to join.

Three applicants arrived in business attire.

All three looked mildly surprised by what they found.

Second Life Workshop was far from the polished corporate offices they were probably expecting after reading Alexander’s name on the vacancy. The property sat well outside the city’s busiest parts, and the office looked more like a converted house than the headquarters of a growing company.

One applicant looked around, asked several questions about the five-month contract, and eventually decided there was little point in continuing the interview.

Alexander appreciated the honesty and let him go.

That left two.

The first was a woman in her thirties who currently worked as an administrative coordinator for a small distribution company. Her experience was good, and she answered Alexander’s questions confidently.

"What would make you leave your current position?" Alexander asked.

"Better opportunities for advancement, mainly."

Alexander nodded. "You understand that I’m only guaranteeing this position for five months."

"Yes."

"And after five months, I can’t promise that the arrangement will remain the same."

She hesitated.

It was brief, but Alexander noticed.

"My current position is permanent," she admitted.

"Then you should consider that before making a decision. I’m not going to convince you to leave a secure job without knowing what comes after the five months."

The woman seemed surprised, but eventually smiled.

"I appreciate that."

Alexander did too. She was qualified, but the timing simply wasn’t right.

The second applicant was Roberto Martinez.

Roberto was a fresh graduate and currently unemployed, which immediately removed one of Alexander’s concerns. He was single, computer literate, spoke both English and Spanish, and had enough basic administrative training that Alexander wouldn’t have to explain what a spreadsheet was before asking him to make one.

More importantly, he didn’t seem bothered by the workshop.

Roberto had arrived in a neatly pressed shirt and tie, stared at the converted office for several seconds, then simply walked inside and introduced himself.

Alexander glanced over his résumé.

"You don’t have much work experience."

"No, sir."

"At least you’re honest."

Roberto smiled somewhat nervously. "It would be difficult to lie about it when there’s only one page."

That earned a glance from Elias, who was sitting nearby.

Alexander continued through the interview. "The position is initially for five months. You’ll receive the salary and benefits stated in the offer, but when the contract ends, we’ll have to discuss what happens next. I can’t guarantee permanent employment today."

"I understand."

"That doesn’t concern you?"

"It does," Roberto admitted. "But I’m looking for my first proper job. Five months of experience is still five months more than I have now."

Fair enough.

Alexander asked him several practical questions about scheduling, customer records, inventory files, and handling multiple requests at once. Roberto didn’t pretend to know everything. When he knew the answer, he gave it. When he didn’t, he said so and explained how he would find out.

By the end of the interview, Alexander had decided.

He offered Roberto Martinez the Operations Assistant position.

Bob, as he preferred to be called, accepted.

The five-month contract included the agreed salary and benefits, and after reading everything carefully, Bob signed it.

His orientation started that same day.

Bob listened more than he talked, took notes, and asked sensible questions whenever Alexander explained something he didn’t understand. He also managed to prove within the first few hours that, despite being reasonably prepared for the job itself, he hadn’t been nearly as prepared for the workshop’s location.

By lunchtime, Alexander caught Bob looking toward the door for the third time.

"Is there somewhere you need to be?"

Bob looked embarrassed. "No, sir."

"Then why do you keep looking outside?"

"I was wondering where I could buy something to eat."

Alexander stared at him.

Bob cleared his throat. "And maybe something to drink."

"Didn’t you bring anything?"

"I was trying to catch transportation this morning, so I skipped breakfast. I also forgot to buy water."

Alexander slowly looked toward Elias.

Elias looked back at him, then reached for an unopened bottle of water and handed it to Bob.

Fortunately, Elias had also picked up enough food that morning for them to share, so Bob wouldn’t spend his first day slowly starving beside a stack of inventory records.

Still, the problem remained.

Second Life Workshop was far enough from the commercial areas that a quick lunch wasn’t particularly quick. No convenience store sat around the corner or row of restaurants nearby, and not everyone working there had a vehicle.

Once the workshop became busier, they couldn’t have employees spending most of their lunch break simply trying to find something to eat.

After lunch, Alexander found Elias checking something near the vehicle.

"Elias."

"Yes, sir?"

"We need to figure out some kind of food service."

Elias glanced at him. "Lunch or snacks?"

"Lunch, snacks, water. Whatever makes sense. For everyone, not just us."

Alexander gestured toward the workshop.

"We’re too far from any convenience store or decent place to eat. Bob nearly starved on his first day because he came here expecting civilization."

From inside the office, Bob called out, "I can hear you, sir."

"Good. Bring water and food tomorrow."

"Yes, sir."

Elias suppressed a smile.

"Find out what our options are," Alexander continued. "Somewhere that delivers regularly, maybe. Or we can arrange for someone to pick up food at a certain time."

"I can check," Elias said, hesitating. "Although Bob can probably handle that as his first official assignment."

That sounded reasonable.

Then Elias asked, "Will the workshop be paying for everyone’s food and water as part of their benefits, or are we only arranging the service and letting everyone pay for their own orders?"

Alexander opened his mouth.

Nothing came out.

Elias waited patiently.

It wasn’t a complaint. Alexander could tell that much. Elias simply needed to know exactly what he was being asked to arrange, because one option required finding a reliable food service while the other involved adding a recurring expense to the workshop’s operating costs.

Apparently, Alexander hadn’t thought that far ahead.

Bob, who had wandered closer after overhearing his name, looked between them.

"Elias is right. I can research both options," he offered. "Then you can decide after you see the cost."

Alexander looked at his newly hired assistant.

Not bad.

"Do that."

"Yes, sir."

"Include drinking water. Figure out how many people we’d be providing for, how much it would cost per day, and what it comes to monthly."

Bob immediately reached for the notebook he’d been carrying around since orientation.

Elias nodded approvingly. "That would be a good place to start."

Alexander headed back toward the office, then slowed after a few steps.

Finding another Vincent was apparently going to involve more than hiring someone to answer emails and organize schedules.

At Vance Holdings, Alexander could tell someone to arrange lunch for a meeting and never think much about what happened between that instruction and the food appearing on the conference table.

Second Life Workshop was different.

If he wanted to make sure everyone working there had convenient access to food and water, he first had to decide whether he intended to provide the convenience or pay for it too.

And apparently, there was a considerable difference between the two.