The Life We Lead: Ascending by George Nagle

initial
draw to the high-end sets had given him the opening he needed.
    Twenty minutes later, Kathy was shaking her
head. “We came here to buy a TV for $150, and we’re walking out
spending $5,000. You talk about me and shopping? Geez.”
    Todd ignored his wife. “You asked some good
questions to make sure we got what we needed and not just what we
thought we wanted.”
    “ Needed? Really?” Kathy said
sarcastically, and James laughed.
    Todd said, “Quiet, woman,” which apparently
just made her mad, and she walked away.
    The man continued, “You in school?”
    James explained that he’d just finished. He
described his background and hopes for a marketing job. After this
small discussion, Todd actually smiled.
    “I’m part owner and COO of a small chemical
company. How do you feel about interning as a marketing person for
me?” Todd asked.
    “Wow, really? That’s a great offer, but I’m
not sure I can afford to leave here and …” James started.
    “Your pay will be $25 per hour and you can
work as many or as few hours as you like. There will be some travel
involved. Do you have a passport?” Todd asked.
    James paused deliberately but also with a bit
of shock, as he hadn’t expected the wage to be that high. “Yes,
when can I start?”
    Todd laughed. “Give me a call Monday; we can
sort it out then. Want to make sure all this stuff you sold me is
quality.” He winked at James.
    James thanked him several times and proceeded
to wrap up the transaction.
    Later, he called Tyler to relay the story, to
which Tyler replied, “He must have liked you a lot. He’s a really
nice person, and if you do well, he’ll support you.”
    “I think this makes us even, Ty,” James
said.
    Tyler just laughed.

Chapter Five
    A mere two weeks after starting his
internship, James was on a trip to learn more about the North Sea
market. The day had been considerably more tedious than he had
anticipated, even with jet lag thrown in. The customer meeting had
gone in completely the wrong direction once his colleague Dennis
had opened his mouth about the efficacy of the biocide.
    When they weren’t able to show field data for
the North Sea, the customer had begun asking more detailed
questions on field trials for all the products. Apparently, Dennis
had failed to inform the customer that they were hoping to get a
field trial with them. Now it was a mess.
    That wasn’t the only mess. James had a
meeting that night to address some loose ends on the drug ring
connections. He was having a difficult time tracking down any
additional information regarding this Asian faction Petior had
mentioned, but he was now in Aberdeen and looking forward to
meeting Calum for some much needed insight. For some reason, Calum
had insisted they meet on a Friday night.
    As James headed north back toward Aberdeen
after the ill-fated customer meeting, he looked around at the
rolling landscape. The hills to his left and glimpses of the
shoreline of the North Sea to his right were very beautiful, even
with the grey sky that seemed to be a shaded reflection of the
ground below. In many ways, the landscape reminded James of being
back home in Pennsylvania, minus the sea.
    He found a pull-over area on the carriage way
and decided to get ready for his meeting with Calum now instead of
at the pub. Prior to the trip, he’d dyed his hair a very light
brown, almost dirty blond color. He’d taken the time to make sure
that all hair, regardless of location on his body, was reasonably
matched. Now, he put in color contacts to turn his hazel eyes blue.
He also added a small scar that started on the left side of his
chin and crossed underneath to the right. Nothing too big, but
certainly visible. He also added a small scar on his right cheek.
He debated whether to add a mole to his left ear as well. It was
the small details that stood out when trying to get to know
someone, but he didn’t want to overdo it. He was coming in clean
shaven, which was unusual, as it