A CALIFORNIA ROSE
Chapter Five
Sunpeak Headquarters
Masline, California
November 15, 2002
True to his word, Cal managed to arrange an
internship for Rose. He called it a "business education opportunity",
but Rose soon learned that she was acting as a glorified, and cheap, secretary
for Cal. The "paid internship" cost the company approximately one-sixth
what a real secretary would have cost, and didn’t include benefits. Rose hated
the internship. Cal insisted that it was a great opportunity, and would look
wonderful on a resume, but Rose found it dull and stressful. She worked for Cal
twenty hours a week, between classes, and found herself with little extra time
to study. When she had complained to Cal, he had suggested that she curtail her
social life in favor of her education.
Rose had never had much in the way of a
social life anyway--trying to take five classes in ten weeks didn’t leave much
time--but after she took on the internship she had little time for anything
besides working and studying. Her roommates had time to go out and enjoy
themselves, but Rose had no time to relax and enjoy the benefits of college
life.
She didn’t particularly like Elias
University, anyway. Her classes were difficult, with the difficulty compounded
by the fact that she didn’t like most of them. It was Cal’s idea that she major
in business, not hers. Given a chance, Rose would have tried all different
sorts of subjects before deciding on a major. Cal, however, had insisted that
Rose’s future lay in business, and had pushed her into taking more classes than
she could handle in subjects she found dull. The only class she did like was an
American History class, where the professor spoke about the events of the past
and compared them to present-day events. Rose studied this subject with
interest, and a bit of trepidation. Her fascination with the rights of people
hadn’t changed, and history simply seemed to repeat itself.
Cal didn’t like this professor, but because
he was the only one teaching the class, he allowed Rose to continue with the
course.
This afternoon had been particularly trying.
After finishing her classes for the day, Rose drove over to the company
headquarters. Cal had an important meeting and expected her to be there. Rose
had arrived two minutes late, thanks to a parking shortage, and Cal was
furious.
After slamming her notebook down on the table
in front of her, warning her quietly about being late, Cal had stalked to his
seat and apologized for his secretary’s tardiness. The others nodded
knowingly--good secretaries were hard to find--and started their discussion.
The business of the day was a merger. Titan
Construction had come to the point where they held controlling interest in
another company, Sunpeak Products of California. Sunpeak sold household goods,
furniture, and building materials by mail.
Rose was familiar with Sunpeak--it was the
largest employer in Masline, best known locally for its substandard wages and
slavish treatment of employees. When Rose had mentioned this to Cal, he had
laughed and said that if people didn’t like working for Sunpeak, they could
always go elsewhere. But in a city with a high unemployment rate and large
numbers of unskilled workers, Sunpeak was the best that many people could get.
Rose listened in irritation as the president
of Sunpeak, Tim Isley, discussed the terms of the merger. He was ready for
retirement, so the loss of his company meant little to him. He would still be
kept on as an unofficial business advisor, and would profit handsomely from the
sale of the company.
Rose wondered how many people would lose
their jobs. The presidents, vice-presidents, and CEO’s were discussing just how
many positions they could eliminate without threatening business. The merger
meant huge profits for them, but many people would be left unemployed.
As the meeting drew to a close, and the
merger agreement was signed, Isley began talking about the wonderful
opportunities for the combined corporations, emphasizing how their size lent
strength and an advantage over their competition.
Rose was reminded of something she had read
in psychology class. Unable to resist, she spoke up.
"Are you familiar with the writings of
Sigmund Freud, Mr. Isley? His ideas on the male preoccupation with size might
be of particular interest to you."
Everyone in the room turned to stare at her.
The head architect of Titan Construction, Andrew Thomas, choked on a piece of
celery, trying not to laugh. Isley looked confused. Cal was furious.
"Excuse me a moment," he told the
others. Rising from his chair, he gestured to Rose, telling her to follow him
into the hall.
"What’s gotten into you?" he asked,
with cold fury, as soon as the door had closed.
"He made me mad," Rose snapped
back. "He’s a pompous piece of--"
"Don’t say it, Rose. Don’t even say it.
Tim Isley is the president of a company we are trying to obtain. If you upset
him, he may change his mind. Those papers aren’t completely signed yet."
"Your merger is going to cost people
their jobs."
"Then they will get new ones. If they
can’t find new jobs, they probably weren’t good enough for Sunpeak or Titan
Construction in the first place."
"Some people are struggling even with
these jobs. What do you think will happen with even a few weeks of
unemployment?"
"That’s their problem, not mine. If
they’d gone to college, or refrained from having children, they wouldn’t have a
problem." He cut Rose off before she could argue with him again. "I’m
going back in. You’d better behave appropriately from now on, or you’ll find
yourself without this internship." When Rose opened her mouth to tell him
what she thought of his internship, he added, "You’ll also be paying your
own tuition this coming quarter."
Rose slumped back against the wall. Cal had
control of her, and he knew it. The previous summer, she had made the mistake
of telling him about her mother’s threat to throw her out on the streets if she
didn’t go to the university. Rather than being sympathetic, Cal had taken
advantage of this knowledge, using it to control her.
Rose sighed, and turned towards the
conference room. She had saved a little money from this internship, but it
wasn’t enough to pay for a place to live, with housing costs so high. Jobs were
scarce, and would be even scarcer with this merger. Cal had her right where he
wanted her.
As she reached for the door handle, Rose
noticed a young blonde-haired man watching her sympathetically from the
stairwell. Their eyes met for a moment; then, she turned and went back inside.