Samantha frantically drove to the country club, arriving fifteen minutes before the event was to start. Dr. Gill had already reviewed his slides and many of the guests milled about the atrium of the club. This was supposed to be an important moment for the reps to have "face time" with the doctors and make a good impression. Paula was at the country club at 5:30 and had already spoken with every doctor in attendance when Samantha rushed in. She was talking with Dr. Peters by the unlit fireplace about the Yankees when Samantha approached.
"Hello Paula, hello Dr. Peters," she said slightly out of breath.
"How are you Samantha?" Dr. Peters said cordially.
"Fine, there was terrible traffic on the way here. Someone crashed into a school bus and died."
Paula stated, "Yes, we heard." She turned away from her underling. "Dr. Peters, are you going to be able to make it to the game next weekend?"
"Oh, I'd like to but I haven't been able to get my hands on any tickets yet."
Paula turned briefly to Samantha and then swiveled back to Dr. Peters. "Oh, really? Samantha hasn't told you yet?" she acted surprised but knew that her rep had not seen the good doctor that day. "We have tickets for you if you would like to go."
"Of, course, I'd love to go. Can I take my son?" he asked excitedly.
"I don't see why not. Do you see any reason he can't take his son, Samantha?"
"We would be happy to get a ticket for your son. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to see you today. I had my last stop with Dr. Russ and he loves to chat," she naively stated.
Paula practically squeezed the blood out of Samantha's toe with her heel when she mentioned Dr. Russ. The idea was to make the doctor feel that he was special and not to say she didn't have time to see him because she was too busy with another doctor. Samantha felt a flush of embarrassment overcome her. She knew that she was in for a tongue lashing by her boss once the event was over.
"Dr. Russ, how's he doing? I haven't seen him in a long while. He never comes to these fancy dinners. Does he still visit patients in a horse and buggy?" he chuckled obnoxiously. Paula joined in with equal laughter. Samantha half smiled, as she liked her meeting with Dr. Russ.
A waitress came by with salmon on crackers. "Oh, I'll take one of those." Dr. Peters shouted and reached out for the tray.
"Now Dr. Peters, you enjoy yourself. I'm going to have a little chat with Samantha. We'll talk about those tickets later." Paula walked away from the fireplace confident that her little duck would follow. She walked back into the kitchen and Samantha was right behind her.
Once inside the kitchen, she spoke sternly yet cautiously. "Samantha, where have you been? You missed the review and the meet and greet with the doctors. This damn thing is going to start in five minutes!"
"I know. I'm sorry. I was with Dr. Russ and the timeà"
"I don't want any more excuses. I'm trying to help you get your numbers up. These doctors have to know every pimple scar on your face, honey. That's not going to happen if you don't spend time talking to them."
"I know. I'm sorry. I'll work on it."
Paula paused for a moment and took a deep breath after seeing the sad expression on Samantha's face. Even though she got her job because of her father, Paula could see that she was concerned about doing well. She just couldn't make it happen.
"Samantha, I have many reps to take care of and I can't manage you all the time. Don't you see that? Can't you understand? My ass is on the line too. Did you know that they fire the lowest performing DM in the company at the end of each fiscal year no matter how much they sell?"
"They would never fire you," Samantha said innocently.
"I need you to try a little harder. Just be where you have to be on time. Is that so hard? All you have to do is have some drinks and flirt with a bunch of nerdy doctors. What's so hard about that? This should be a piece of cake!" Paula smiled a little.
"Okay Paula, I'll try really, really hard. I promise." She struggled many times not to use the "D" word but she wanted to. She wanted to tell her boss that she really wanted to impress her Dad. She felt it best to refrain from using his name when speaking with her co-workers.
Paula walked through the swinging doors of the kitchen but then quickly turned back. She said softly, "And open a couple buttons of your shirt. You're not at a church meeting."
