| General Fiction posted January 25, 2023 | Chapters: |
...51 52 -53- 54... 
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An unexpected ally helps Abby transition to her new job.
A chapter in the book Some Call It Luck
Some Call It Luck - Chapter 53
by Jim Wile
The author has placed a warning on this post for language.
| Background A brilliant and beautiful but insecure, nerdy young woman befriends a going nowhere older alcoholic caddie. Together, they bring out the best in each other and collaborate on a startling new invention |
Recap: Abby and Kenny get married, and E.J. is an usher at the wedding. Over the next few years, he completes his bachelor’s degree and enters a master’s program at Penn State. He is a teaching assistant during those two years and feels his life is finally on track.
After getting her master’s degree, Abby goes to work as an actuary at an insurance company. She has two children, and her boss, Leroy, welcomes her back each time after she spends a year at home with each child. Her boss retires and recommends Abby for his replacement, but the company hires an outsider who treats her poorly. She eventually quits.
She stays home with the kids for a few years but eventually wants to return to the workforce. After a lunch with E.J. who encourages her, she soon gets a call from her old boss, Leroy who has taken over as interim manager of the actuarial department because Abby’s previous boss washed out. Leroy asks Abby to come back and take over for him as the new manager. Abby talks it over with Kenny and decides to go back.
Abby Payne
One year later
October, 2000
October, 2000
My first week back at Merton, almost a year ago now, I had been petrified of my new managerial position, but Leroy had helped greatly in smoothing the transition before he finally left for good.
Soon after he left, I had an interesting and gratifying conversation with one of the senior actuaries I was now supervising. He was a big, burly, older guy named Rob, and I had always liked him. He asked if he could talk with me, so I invited him into my office and sat down with him.
“Look, Abby, it’s been hell around here these past couple of years. A few years back, before you left, I remember being excited about the possibility of the new protocols you and Leroy came up with. As you well know, the actuarial field can be pretty dry with not much creativity, but your new approach to analyzing the statistics promised to add some excitement to the job. I would have welcomed you in becoming the department manager, but in its infinite wisdom, upper management let politics guide their decision, and the eventual result nearly doomed us. Hurley was a joke, and Larkin was an idiot, and everyone knew he stole your ideas and claimed them for his own, but he had no idea how to implement them and made a mess out of it. I sure wish they had taken Leroy’s advice and put you in there.”
“That’s really nice of you to say, Rob.”
“Yeah, but here’s the thing. Not everyone feels this way. There were some who didn’t get to know you very well back then, plus there have been a couple of new hires. A few had hoped to get Leroy’s job and were not thrilled when he chose you for it.”
“I can imagine. I know that feeling.”
“I’ll tell you what, though. I’m going to do my best to squelch any negativity I encounter. I think you’re going to be great and pull us out of the mess we’ve been in. I’m not just kissing up here; I’ll be retiring myself in another year or so, and I have no aspirations for anything other than what I’m doing right now. I’d like to finish my career here on a high note, and I honestly think you’re the best one to see that happen.”
“That means an awful lot to me. I’ll try not to let you down.”
“Just don’t take any shit from anyone. You know what you’re doing, whether they know it or not. They’ll come around, though, or I’ll kick their asses!”
I laughed. “Well, hopefully it won’t come to that! Listen, Rob, you’re a brick, and I always used to like working with you. I appreciate your letting me know how things are around here.”
“Wait, what did you just call me?”
I felt a sudden flush in my cheeks. “A brick, you know, a real solid guy?”
“Oh, for a minute there I thought you called me a… never mind.” He winked at me.
I cracked up at that.
“You’re going to be great, kiddo,” he said as he patted me on the shoulder.
He said that in a fatherly way, just like E.J. does sometimes. I liked it. I was so grateful for Rob’s encouragement, and he proved to be right. It took a few months, but I had eventually earned the respect of the other actuaries I supervised. We were a good team, and I had gained my confidence as a leader.
That whole first year back, I was busy getting my new actuarial protocols on the right footing; they really had been botched by my predecessor—not Leroy, but Stuart Larkin, who had gotten the promotion over me. But once I got the correct protocols in place and everyone on board, we started moving in the right direction.
The only real problem I had was that I soon became restless. As Rob had said, the actuarial field does not change that much. My new protocols were the first real change in years, but now that they were properly in place, the challenge of the job was no longer there for me. I have always loved science and engineering and minored in engineering in college. I wanted to create something new, and was beginning to feel the urge to satisfy that longing again.
Abby St. Claire: She has just finished grad school at Penn State University where she was a math major. She is intelligent and beautiful, yet shy and awkward with most people her age, having been picked on quite a lot while growing up. She worked at the snack bar and as a waitress at Brentwood Country Club during the summers where she met both E.J. and Kenny, who is a member at Brentwood and became her boyfriend and eventually her husband.
E.J. Budrowski: A 40ish alcoholic with a traumatic past (an abusive father and a mother driven to suicide) who is a caddie at Brentwood CC. One day he finds a dirty old golf ball on the edge of a pond that seems to have unusual powers, for he makes two holes-in-one with it. He and Abby become friends when she encourages him to take up both golf and bridge again after long layoffs. He finally quits drinking and returns to college.
Leroy Evans: Abby�¢??s former boss and mentor at the insurance company. When he retired, he recommended Abby as his replacement, but the company had other plans, which soon caused Abby to resign.
Kenny Payne: Abby met him briefly at a frat party in her senior year and was intrigued by him, then she sees him again when he walks up to the snack bar several months later. Tall, good looking, and an all-around nice guy. After less than a year of courtship, he marries Abby.
Pays
one point
and 2 member cents. E.J. Budrowski: A 40ish alcoholic with a traumatic past (an abusive father and a mother driven to suicide) who is a caddie at Brentwood CC. One day he finds a dirty old golf ball on the edge of a pond that seems to have unusual powers, for he makes two holes-in-one with it. He and Abby become friends when she encourages him to take up both golf and bridge again after long layoffs. He finally quits drinking and returns to college.
Leroy Evans: Abby�¢??s former boss and mentor at the insurance company. When he retired, he recommended Abby as his replacement, but the company had other plans, which soon caused Abby to resign.
Kenny Payne: Abby met him briefly at a frat party in her senior year and was intrigued by him, then she sees him again when he walks up to the snack bar several months later. Tall, good looking, and an all-around nice guy. After less than a year of courtship, he marries Abby.
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