for?”
“It’s the Society of Surgical Oncology’s annual cancer symposium. There will be some innovative medical equipment on display. There are a few presentations I’m interested in. One in particular about multidisciplinary cancer care teams. We’re looking to expand our practice so Dr. Sladek is hoping to get some take-away from that presentation. There are a few others, one on melanoma, one on hepatobiliary malignancy, and a few medical professionals I’m interested in meeting.”
“Have you ever been to one of these things?” Callem asked.
“Nothing on this scale. This is an international meeting of some of the most renowned cancer specialists. It’s targeted specifically for my field. This should be well worth my while.”
Once we got in the car, I was distracted from our small talk by the city. This was my first time in Chicago and I could see why it was so intoxicating. The urban jungle stretched before me as far as the eye could see. Everything moved so quickly around me, not completely unlike L.A. It was almost like a dance, cars moving this way and that, people ducking and dodging in an un-choreographed waltz. You could hear shouts of an impromptu aria from one Chicagoan to another coupled with the honking horns of the brass band cabbies, giving the city its own elevator music.
“I hope I’m not pulling you away from anything important,” I said to Callem. “You could have had one of your other guys drive me around.”
“The only thing you pulled me away from is desk work,” Callem replied. “Really, I prefer to be out and about. I’m not good in an office. It’s my pleasure.”
Just like the night he picked me up for my date with Damien, I had difficulty interpreting that statement. It’s my pleasure. Did he say it because he was working or because he meant it? I couldn’t tell. I guess it was one of those things that deserved ambiguity. Best leave it to my own personal interpretation. Sometimes it’s safer that way.
“How often do you come out here?” I asked him.
I could see his wide shoulders shrug from the front seat. His eyes were now on me through the rear-view mirror. “I try to hit each site a couple of times a year. It’s not hard to run the locations without me, but I like to check in on things every once in a while. I keep in touch with my GMs through conferencing so unless something big comes up, I primarily work out of LA.”
“But you do a lot of traveling, for your clients?”
“Yeah. Most of our clients only use our services for a few days at a time. It’s rare our services are needed for an extended period of time, but it happens. I’ve had guys on personal security duty for actors and production companies during filming of movies, which sometimes can take a month or more. I personally stick to the quicker jobs, give the hard work to my lackeys,” he chuckled.
“Delegation,” I added. “A good tool to use when in a managerial position.” Listening to myself, I grumbled at the cheesiness of my nervous words. “I have to commend you, though. You’re the head honcho and you’re out here working with your employees. You don’t see that very often. It must really give you a lot of respect for the job and adds a level of perspective to your decision-making.”
“Yeah, I guess you could say it does,” Callem said. “And like I said, I don’t do well stuck in a room all day. I think I’ll always be doing this because it’s who I am. It’s why I’ve got this company in the first place.”
“How often do you have instances, like where you have to, uh, I mean occurrence of…” I couldn’t put what I wanted to ask into words.
“How often do I have to man-handle someone?”
I chuckled. “Yeah, that’s what I was trying to say.”
“It happens more than you’d think,” Callem responded in a flat tone. “I get reports from those kinds of incidents from
“It’s the Society of Surgical Oncology’s annual cancer symposium. There will be some innovative medical equipment on display. There are a few presentations I’m interested in. One in particular about multidisciplinary cancer care teams. We’re looking to expand our practice so Dr. Sladek is hoping to get some take-away from that presentation. There are a few others, one on melanoma, one on hepatobiliary malignancy, and a few medical professionals I’m interested in meeting.”
“Have you ever been to one of these things?” Callem asked.
“Nothing on this scale. This is an international meeting of some of the most renowned cancer specialists. It’s targeted specifically for my field. This should be well worth my while.”
Once we got in the car, I was distracted from our small talk by the city. This was my first time in Chicago and I could see why it was so intoxicating. The urban jungle stretched before me as far as the eye could see. Everything moved so quickly around me, not completely unlike L.A. It was almost like a dance, cars moving this way and that, people ducking and dodging in an un-choreographed waltz. You could hear shouts of an impromptu aria from one Chicagoan to another coupled with the honking horns of the brass band cabbies, giving the city its own elevator music.
“I hope I’m not pulling you away from anything important,” I said to Callem. “You could have had one of your other guys drive me around.”
“The only thing you pulled me away from is desk work,” Callem replied. “Really, I prefer to be out and about. I’m not good in an office. It’s my pleasure.”
Just like the night he picked me up for my date with Damien, I had difficulty interpreting that statement. It’s my pleasure. Did he say it because he was working or because he meant it? I couldn’t tell. I guess it was one of those things that deserved ambiguity. Best leave it to my own personal interpretation. Sometimes it’s safer that way.
“How often do you come out here?” I asked him.
I could see his wide shoulders shrug from the front seat. His eyes were now on me through the rear-view mirror. “I try to hit each site a couple of times a year. It’s not hard to run the locations without me, but I like to check in on things every once in a while. I keep in touch with my GMs through conferencing so unless something big comes up, I primarily work out of LA.”
“But you do a lot of traveling, for your clients?”
“Yeah. Most of our clients only use our services for a few days at a time. It’s rare our services are needed for an extended period of time, but it happens. I’ve had guys on personal security duty for actors and production companies during filming of movies, which sometimes can take a month or more. I personally stick to the quicker jobs, give the hard work to my lackeys,” he chuckled.
“Delegation,” I added. “A good tool to use when in a managerial position.” Listening to myself, I grumbled at the cheesiness of my nervous words. “I have to commend you, though. You’re the head honcho and you’re out here working with your employees. You don’t see that very often. It must really give you a lot of respect for the job and adds a level of perspective to your decision-making.”
“Yeah, I guess you could say it does,” Callem said. “And like I said, I don’t do well stuck in a room all day. I think I’ll always be doing this because it’s who I am. It’s why I’ve got this company in the first place.”
“How often do you have instances, like where you have to, uh, I mean occurrence of…” I couldn’t put what I wanted to ask into words.
“How often do I have to man-handle someone?”
I chuckled. “Yeah, that’s what I was trying to say.”
“It happens more than you’d think,” Callem responded in a flat tone. “I get reports from those kinds of incidents from
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