[Jameson, Jack]
Scene Started: Thu, 6 Apr 2000
Dateline: 11.30am, Thursday, December 24th, 1998
[ Paul Campbell(PC) ]
Jack passed the gate, handing over his boarding pass. The airport staff member checked the card and waved him on, as he clicked a counter in his hand. Thankfully the queue through the metal detectors was short and he placed his bag on the conveyor to be scanned. The tall American woman in front of him seemed a bit flustered as she picked up her bags at the far side and headed toward the waiting area.
Jack and his bag pass inspection and he headed through to the lounge himself. There appeared to be a couple of dozen people in this part of the lounge. A mixture of families with kids and business men like himself. There was a steady rumble of noise from the collected travelers. The odd voice picked out, a mother berating at her child, "Leave it! ... Leave IT! ... I said 'Leave it'!" Jack couldn't see what they were to leave, but they certainly did't want to.
Over along the wall to the right, Jack found a line of pay phones, most of them in use.
As he approached the phones he walked past a few that were in use. The man at the fourth one turned from the phone. He had a shock of blond hair that didn't look like it was in the habit of doing what it was told. His face was big, wide and confident. A huge white smile broke out as he saw Jack. "Hey! It's for you," he said handing Jack the receiver as he stepped aside to let Jack into the phone, cutting of his path past.
[ Christopher Thomas(CT) ]
Suddenly surprised at the intrusion, Jack glance at the man's face. "Are you talking to me?" he blurted. His wide smile glistened. He stretches the phone toward Jack. It's no mistake.
[ PC ]
The man's eyebrows raised slightly as he nodded his head forward, and stretches out with the receiver.
[ CT ]
Jack focused on the phone and took it from his hand. Then looked him in the eye and asked him, "Who am I talking to?" He showed him a crooked smile, in an attempt to gain a fair footing. He wanted him to know he couldn't rattle him.
[ PC ]
He only repeated, 'It's for you."
[ CT ]
When Jack put the phone to his ear, he listened silently for a moment ... listening for a clue that might reveal the caller or there purpose.
[ PC ]
He heard a man's voice, "David? Are you their David?" He had an American accent, somewhere near Washington.
[ CT ]
Finally, Jack said, "This is Jack Jameson, you have an interest in the finest self-propelled upright cleaners?"
[ PC ]
"What? Who is that? Jack? Where's David? Tell that idiot he better be in my office tomorrow morning, with some answers or there'll be hell to pay." Jack looked over at, who he supposed was David.
[ CT ]
He covered the speaker of the phone with his hand and whispered to him the gist of the message, "He says you're an idiot and he wants you in the office tomorrow."
[ PC ]
David lightly tapped his temple with his index finger.
[ CT ]
Jack let a shallow grin creep across your face and nodded conspiratorially.
[ PC ]
He could hear the man on the line talking to someone else, he could just make out "... some salesman ... yes, okay ...," before he came back on at full volume. "Hello, David? Your mother want's a word." The man's voice sounds a little resigned.
[ CT ]
Jack cleared his throat, < achem > and tried his best to mimik David's pitch, "Yes, of course." Winking at David he listened attentively for what would probably be a mother's scolding tirade.
[ PC ]
A different voice came on the line, an older female, as Jack was expecting. "Hello, David. Are you okay? I'm so worried about you. Please, come home. We can talk about this. David?" She sounded worried, almost pleading.
When Jack relayed this to David, he saw him blink and his smile faltered. He turned from Jack, his head down, and Jack thought he saw a glistening in his eye before he managed to look away.
[ CT ]
Jack put his hand on David's shoulder, "Hey." He give him his best sympathetic voice, besides he don't want him to go anywhere. Then, into the phone, "Hello, this is Jack Jameson, I'm a friend of David's. He just wanted me to say that feels bad about all that's happened, too, but he's not sure he can talk about it right now." He covered the receiver with his hand. "David, listen. Whatever it is, I know I can help. If I know one thing, I KNOW that life sucks. But here's the funny, turned-around, twisted thing ..." and he raised my eyebrows to make his point, "... that's actually the good part." And he smiled at him. He patted him on the shoulder again, and whispered, "Let me fix this for you. Hello, uh .... Mrs ..... ah ....." he looked imploringly at David.
[ PC ]
But he still has his back to him. "Addison," he heard him say anyway.
"Mrs Addison...," Jack continued.
[ CT ]
"... this is Jack, again. You sound like a native Washingtoner, so am I. Born and raised just outside D.C. I know I'm sure looking forward to seeing my folks when I get back home. And I think maybe David is, too, even if he won't admit it to himself right now. Well, we're gonna be getting on the plane soon. David and I will have a good talk along the way, see if we can't get some things out in the open. Now, I don't want to make any guarantees that I might not be able to make good on, so all I can say is we'll talk about it. But that's a heck of a good step, and I know MY mom would be thrilled to get an offer like that. Tell you what, I'll throw this in for free, you can count on a phone call from ME when we get back home to Washington. I'll take care of it personally -- it would be my pleasure. What do you say?"
[ PC ]
Jack thought he could pick out a faint sense of relief in her voice, "Oh, thank you Mr Jameson. Please see that my little boy's alright, won't you." 'Little boy' Jack thought, he must be over six foot, and could easily have played Quarterback.
[ CT ]
"I'll talk to you soon Mrs. Addison. Bye bye, now." He hung up the telephone.
"Whew," he said. "Things look to be some kind of mess, don't they." He stepped up next to David and wrapped my arm around his shoulder like a buddy. "David ... of all the people in this airport ... you are gonna be glad you bumped into me. You got your ticket to Washington? Good."
Jack tried to lead him toward the boarding gate. "You know, when I'm down deep in the dirt, the first thing I do is get a good look around at it. And believe me, I've seen my share of dirt. You might say I make a living in it. Why don't you start by telling me what kind of dirt we're talking about, and then we'll see if we can't clean it up?"
[ PC ]
Jack lead David over to some spare seats. As he sat David dropped his carry bag next to his feet. Now that Jack got the chance to look at him without the disctraction of the phone he saw that he was wearing a dark blue jacket over a brilliant-white t-shirt with a pair of light coloured chinos.
David dabbed his eyes with the heels of his large hands and Jack saw that he had a lopsided grin forming as he collects himself. "Thanks for that. If I had kept talking to him I would have said something I might have regretted."
"I knew as soon as I saw you that you could talk your way through anything. And I mean that as a compliment. If I had stopped most anyone else I'd have been luck if they even grunted at me," he said.
David shifted in his seat and adjusted his jacket, getting comfortable. "I suppose I owe you some sort of an explanation.
[ CT ]
Jack shook his head, "You don't owe me anything. I could have hung up the phone if I wanted to. I made a choice not to. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. It just depends on whether you want to clean things up."
[ PC ]
"My father owns an export business. We ship books mostly, magazines and the sort. American publications sell around the world. My job involves overseeing our various offices around the world. Mostly its just a case of showing the flag stuff, reminding people that the 'Boss' hasn't forgotten them. That sort of stuff."
"Anyway, I was down in Nice about a week ago when I found some irregularities in the records. Missplaced forms, missing part shipments. All covered up very well. A sizable amount of material getting redirected elsewhere. I found out who was responsible and gave them their notice. Now I'm getting an earfull over it." David sighed, "Dad isn't happy that I did it this side of Christmas, says I should have waited till the New Year. I mean these people are ripping him of, have been for years, and he doesn't want to spoil there Christmas!"
[ CT ]
"I can't say I whole-heartedly disagree with your Dad." Jack looked David in the eye. "It takes a generous heart to treat people better than they treat you. And besides, it's his company isn't it? If he wants to let folks rip him off, that's his business. Why do you want to crucify him for his kindness? Haven't we made that mistake often enough already?"
[ PC ]
"I'm not crucifying him, he's the one that's on my case about it."
[ CT ]
"Okay, David. So he calls you up out of the blue and starts in with, 'what the hell are you doing firing people right before Christmas!' Right away, he's pushed you on the defensive and you have to justify yourself. You start in about employees stealing from the company ... maybe he thinks you're telling him that he doesn't know what's going on. That's not what you meant, but that's the way he hears it. Suddenly, you're in a situation where somebody's gotta be right and somebody's gotta be wrong, and you don't even know how you got here. But...
"Here's the thing ... there's no reason this arguement should be a wall between you. He's got to see that you're only looking out for what's best for the company, and likewise what's best for him. Tell him that. But ultimately, it's his decision. Tell him that, too -- that's the really important part. If you support him, he'll respect you and come to trust you implicitly. You tell him he's wrong ... he tells you you're wrong ... that's just more mud in the rug and you're well on your way to a stain that might never get clean."
[ PC ]
"I guess so. But I'm also supposed to have the authority to make these decisions. It's my Job. Is he going to start questioning every decision I make now?"
[ CT ]
"Well ... maybe. That depends on him. I can tell you he shouldn't. But you never know what somebody's going to do until you give them the chance to show you. My best advice is to agree with the man right from the start. He can't argue with you if you're agreeing with him. After you tell him, 'I know, it's a lousy thing to fire a guy right before Christmas. You're absolutely right.' Now you've got him thinking, 'if you agree with me why did you do it?' Now he wants to hear a reason. Then you show him the shipment receipts, invoices, whatever. If, when it's over, he still wants to keep paying them, you've got to say OK. Make sure he knows you're on his side."
"Of course, that's only part of the problem. You might still have a couple thieves on the payroll, and they've got to be scrubbed up. Do you know what happened to your Dad's property?"
[ PC ]
"Well I think I identified everyone involved. Anyone I didn't get will think twice about risking their jobs. As to where it went, I don't know really. I traced it as far as the Port but then they just dissappear. They could have been going anywhere."
"Anyway, thanks for the advice. Can I buy you a drink? It is Christmas after all." David certainly seemed to be happier again. His big wide grin threatening to split his head in half.
[ CT ]
"You bet." Jack smiled back.
[ PC ]
They headed for the bar.
[ CT ]
Over drinks, Jack let David know that, in case he didn't say so before, he thought he was right to fire those people. He offers a toast, "Here's to keeping it clean."
[ PC ]
Then to their flight about half an hour later.
[Jameson, Jack]
Scene Started: Wed, 19 Apr 2000
Dateline: 3.30pm, Thursday, December 24th, 1998
< PC >
Jack boarded Swiss-air Flight 128 from Zurich to Dulles International in Washington D.C. shortly before noon and departed a little behind schedule. He managed to get a seat next David and continued their conversation, or as some might have called it, his sales pitch.
[ CT ]
On the flight back to Washington, Jack talked to David about his job selling cleaning equipment domestically and internationally. He showed off your dazzling full color display booklets (regretting that he don't have a display model to show him on the plane). By drawing on their common moral principles and with inspirational diatribes on 'keeping it clean,' Jack did what he could to put him in an MagnaVac 2000-HK that day.
[ PC ]
"This is Captain Jackson, we are about to land at Dulles International Airport. It is approximately 3:30 pm Easter Standard Time, temperature on the ground is a freezing -2 degrees Celsius and it's snowing," came over the intercom. "Could you return to your seats and fasten your safety belt for landing. Thank you."
Looking out of his window as they were coming in Jack could barely see the ground for the heavy cloud cover. It looked as though it had been snowing for most of the day. The landing was thankfully uneventful.
As Jack and the other passengers enter the main terminal building they saw that a lot of passengers seemed frustrated. But then, being stuck at an airport waiting to depart this late on Christmas Eve, was probably cutting your seasonal travel arrangements, a bit fine.
Looking through the huge windows of the Main Terminal, Jack saw even clearer now that the weather appeared to be closing in.
After collecting their baggage, David bid farewell to Jack, "Thanks again, Jack. I needed someone to talk too. I'm sure I can sort thinks out with my folks. I'll be in touch about that MagnaVac, for a demonstration. Sounds like a real gem. You have a good Christmas." David held out his hand to shake goodbye to his new friend.
[ CT ]
Jack shook his hand. "You've got my mobile number. I expect to hear how it turns out with your dad." Jack smiled. By way of farewell, he said, "Merry Christmas, David."
[ PC ]
Outside, the Washington Flyer Taxi dispatchers were busy helping people and their luggage into taxis at the curbside. "Taxi, sir?" said one young dispatcher. A student, probably working to help stretch his college fund.
[ CT ]
Jack uttered a curt reply, "Yeah." He dropped his luggage near the curb: suitcase, carry-bag, and a large trunk that carried his product samples. He stomped his feet in protest against the cold. And breathed deep the frigid winter air as he fished out his wallet and ruffled through it for a couple bucks to tip the dispatcher.
[ PC ]
The dispatcher waved to the rank of taxis across the road then picked up Jack's bags. The lead taxi rolled over and parked by the curb. As the dispatcher walked to the rear of the cab the trunk popped as the driver released the catch.
"Where to buddy?" asked the driver as Jack settled into his seat.
[ CT ]
"Twinbrook." Jack gave him the address of his parents house. "Just get me there safe. Don't worry about making time."
[ PC ]
The traffic coming out of Dulles and getting around the outskirts of Washington were all traveling slow because of the deep snow. The gritters had been out and it had made some impact. Instead of wet slippy snow it was now salty dirty snow.
[ CT ]
Jack sat back and watched winter in Washington roll past his window. Every so often, little things would change between his trips home. The stoplight that wasn't there six months ago. Beauchamp Ave. was two lanes now instead of one. But all in all, the drive home was a familiar friend he had grown accustomed to. And the closer the taxi brought him home, the more he felt the enlivening tugs of belonging.
[ PC ]
Eventually the cab pulled up outside the parents. The fare came to $37.
[ CT ]
Jack handed him $45.00 and was out of the cab before the driver could look back. He smiled looking at the house. Behind him, the driver trudged to the back of the cab and unloaded Jack's trunk and suitcase onto the curb. Jack replied, "Thank you. Merry Christmas." The driver replied likewise. You didn't get those kind of smiles year-round, but they come out mostly now -- the few days before December 25th when the anticipation was highest. After Christmas, something happens, and it's back to business as usual.
[ PC ]
Jack approached the house. Father's Chrysler was blocked in by an old yellow NY cab. Crunching up the gravel path to the door, Jack could make out the evidence of some sort of snow ball fight in the front garden. It appeared to have involved someone ending up spread-eagled in the snow. Someone large.
As Jack approached the door it opened briefly followed by a small figured wrapped in warm clothes, hat and gloves.
[ CT ]
Jack propped the swinging door open with his carry-bag as the little one ducked under his arm.
[ PC ]
"Hello..." it piped before sprinting round the side of the house. Alan?
[ CT ]
"Alan?" Jack blurted, but too late -- he was already gone.
Jack turned back toward the door and, with one good shove against the door and a well-timed tug on his trunk, he was inside as quick as Santa on Christmas morning. He spun his luggage to the side, shook off his coat and greeted the first familar face he saw, "Hey, Jack's back!"
[ PC ]
The hall was empty but Jack could hear the sound of someone approaching from the study to the right. The door opened and Samuel appeared holding a folded newspaper in his hand. He looked over his reading glasses at Jack. "Ah Jack. Welcome home, son," he said in his characteristic solid voice. You could have told from that voice alone, no matter what it said, that this was a leader of men. Over forty years in the Navy had left him a strong powerful man, both physically and mentally.
[ CT ]
"Hi, Dad."
[ PC ]
"Come here," he said holding his arms open.
[ CT ]
Jack threw an arm over his dad's shoulder in a strong but brief hug.
[ PC ]
Samuel looked Jack up and down again, "Hmm, you've got a bit of lint on your left shoulder there boy."
When Jack looked there was nothing. Looking back at his father, he could see him chuckling. "You fall for that one still?"
[ CT ]
Jack grimaced. "Well, I feel guilty if I don't humor the old man once in a while," he smirked.
[ PC ]
"I expect you'll be wanting to see your mother. She should be back from the shops with Alexander in about an hour. Marcus is about somewhere torturing Alan, and Quentin should be up soon. He arrived early this morning, he's been sleeping like a log all day. Another half hour and then I suggest we go get him out of his scratcher."
[ CT ]
Jack blinked. "Wow, we haven't seen Zen or Quentin in...what? Three years." He repeated himself, "Three years? Yeah, I guess it's been." He looked back at his dad, "Are they doing okay?"
[ PC ]
Samuel moved to go back into his study, "Go put your things in your room and we'll talk." With that Samuel slipped back into his study, but left the door ajar.
As Jack climbed the familiar stairs he could make out the faint sound of childish screams coming from outside, followed by a more adult roar of frustration.
[ CT ]
"... Marcus is somewhere torturing Alan ..." His father's voice echoed in his head. "It might be time I settled down closer to home," he thought, "... with all of us gone all the time ... hate for Alan to grow up thinking of me as one distant relative among dozens ... not really knowing each other ... maybe I should be more a part of his life ...."
[ PC ]
Entering his old room Jack saw that things had been kept tidy in his absence. The room had been decorated at least once since he left home. His old room wasn't a shrine to childhood. Not like his younger sister's Jane and Amanda.
[ CT ]
He unpacked most of his luggage and stowed the rest. Then he sat down on the bed to finish up some unfinished business. He unfolded a scrap of paper, and punched into his cell phone the number written there.
After a few rings, the phone clicked, "Hello?"
Jack responded, "May I speak with Mrs. Addison please."
[ PC ]
"May I ask who's calling?" answered an unknown, English, male voice. A butler?
[ CT ]
"This is Jack Jameson."
[ PC ]
"Just a moment Sir. I'll see if she's available." After a minute Jack could hear the sound of approaching feet on a hard wooden floor.
"Hello? Mr Jameson?" It was Mrs Addison's voice. She sounded happy, cheerfull.
"I hope you had a pleasant flight. Not too wrung out by the jet lag?" It must be about midnight back in Zurich right now.
[ CT ]
"Well, I travel quite a bit in my business, so I've grown accustomed somewhat. Have you heard from David?"
[ PC ]
"My husband has gone to collect David from the airport. He should be home any time now."
[ CT ]
"I'm happy to hear that. I think David and I had a good talk." Jack recounted the conversation he had with David and expressed his hope that David and his father could find common ground betweem them if only they could remember that they cared about each other.
She thanked him, and they wished each other a Merry Christmas and said goodbye.
There was a *SMACK* against the bedroom window. Jack flinched and saw snowball guts drizzling down the glass. "Marcus ...," he muttered. Jack found his ski gloves and grabbed his coat. "If it's a fight he wants," Jack thought, "I'll give him one!"
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This Page Last Modified: Sun, 19 Nov 2000
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