“Gerry! Hey Gerry! Can you hear me?”

“Hmm?” Pulling off the Bose headphones, the young blonde stared straight ahead without blinking, waiting for her boss to say something. Instead of answering, she waited, knowing full well anything other than a correct response would warrant a severe tongue-lashing.

“Gerry, didn’t we submit the billing for Harris and Sons last cycle?” Susan didn’t mince words with anyone, especially not her personal assistant, Gerry. Gerry had been with her from the beginning, only because it took forever to train her, and she really didn’t want the headache of training another one. Assistants, she’d learn, were a dime a dozen. But, if you trained them how you wanted them to engage with you, teaching them how to read your mind and know what you wanted before you asked? Those were the diamonds in the rough. They were worth keeping. And she was questioning Gerry’s net worth – diamond or coal. At this point, Susan wasn’t sure. “You submitted this invoice last month, right?”

“Of course I did. I have the receipt of it, showing I mailed it off.” Her fingers clicked on the keyboard, and in less than five seconds, she showed Susan the screen printing a hard copy. “See? I mailed it almost four weeks ago. There is a copy for you, printing,” she pointed to the printer, and in that same exact moment, three pages were delivered. November 15, 2019. Not quite four weeks ago, but close enough. On December 13, 2019, they still didn’t have a payment from Harris and Sons after completing a full audit of their bookkeeping, which Susan was rather proud of. Harris and Sons was a prestigious law firm handling thousands of billable hours for hundreds of attorneys. The problem wasn’t that they never paid their accounts. It was the lateness of paying them. They were nefarious for it, one of many reasons Gerry objected to their accounting firm taking them on as a client. But Gerry wanted the challenge of taking on such a famous law firm. Besides, it cemented Susan’s reputation in the financial world. Plus, it gave her more street credit, showing that her small company, Cohen, Levinsky, and Associates, could indeed handle larger corporate accounts in a timely fashion, thus the need to show and prove that they billed on time and expected a fast turnaround on their payments.

“In that case,” she snatched pages from the printer, “get Scott on the phone. Tell him it’s an urgent matter regarding the Holowitz case.” Scott Harris was the law firm’s president and CEO, a former real estate attorney for several multimillion-dollar corporations. He knew real estate law well but no longer practiced it. The money was better as a president. So were the bonuses.

“Yes, Ms. Levinsky.” Before the words were out of her mouth, her fingers punched the speed dial to the law firm. Instead of being directed through the switchboard, Susan had a direct line to Scott Harris himself. Well, Susan didn’t have the number. Gerry did. But Gerry programmed the speed dial in case she needed to call him. Susan never did. Gerry made all of Susan’s calls.

“Mr. Harris? Good morning, sir. I have Ms. Levinsky on the line for you. Yes sir. Thank you, yes. I did enjoy the Thanksgiving gift basket. No. I haven’t tried the figs yet, but I plan to tonight. Yes, Mr. Harris.” Gerry blushed, handing the cordless phone to her boss. “Scott? Susan. I’m calling about the invoice.” Gerry did her best not to listen to calls, but there was something about Scott – Mr. Harris. She liked him. He was a nice man, complemented her often, sent her gifts for various holidays, and never missed her birthday in the three years they worked together. Gerry met him at the Harris Christmas party because she was dating his son, Rafael. He treated her like the father she wished she had, even after she and Rafael broke up. She got up from her desk and crept over to the door of Susan’s office, laying her ear against it. She could hear Susan’s part of the call most of the time because her voice was raised, almost shrill for phone calls. Gerry couldn’t figure out how she kept clients, considering how she spoke to them.

“No, Scott. We submitted it to you on November 15, almost a month ago.”

“Susan.”

She cut him off. “It’s Ms. Levinsky.”

Scott went quiet. “Very well, Ms. Levinsky. We can expedite a check to you today. You’ll have it in three business days.”

“No.”

“No? What do you mean, no? No one pays their invoices on time.”

“I do.”

“Really?”

“Yes, Mr. Harris.” Gerry listened through the door, knowing the call would likely end with her employer slamming the phone on her desk. “Every account payable I get is paid promptly when I receive it.”

“Ms. Levinsky.”

“Yes, Mr. Harris?”

“You will have a check in your office in the next hour.”

“Thank you, Mr. Harris.”

“And Ms. Levinsky?”

“Yes?”

“I will ensure you have a check on time for the next invoice we receive. And if, for some reason, you do not have a check in your office by the end of business at the end of the 30-day grace period, please have Gerry call me. I’m impressed by your level of professionalism and leadership. I expect no calls from you unless you require legal representation.”

“Excellent, Mr. Harris. I will have Gerry call you after we get the check.” She was halfway through her sentence and didn’t hear him hang up. The dial tone sounded loud in her ear. “Well. That was rude,” she muttered under her breath.