Kettlewell himself turned up the next day. Suzanne had developed an
intuitive sense of the flight-times from the west coast and so for a
second she couldn't figure out how he could possibly be standing there
-- nothing in the sky could get him from San Jose to Miami for a seven
AM arrival.
"Private jet," he said, and had the grace to look slightly
embarrassed. "Kodak had eight of them and Duracell had five. We've
been trying to sell them all off but no one wants a used jet these
days, not even Saudi princes or Columbian drug-lords."
"So, basically, it was going to waste."
He smiled and looked eighteen -- she really did feel like the only
grownup sometimes -- and said, "Zackly -- it's practically
environmental. Where's Tjan?"
"Downstairs saying goodbye to the guys, I think."
"OK," he said. "Are you coming?"
She grabbed her notebook and a pen and beat him out the door of her
rented condo.
"What's this all about," Tjan said, looking wary. The guys were
hang-dog and curious looking, slightly in awe of Kettlewell, who did
little to put them at their ease -- he was staring intensely at Tjan.
"Exit interview," he said. "Company policy."
Tjan rolled his eyes. "Come on," he said. "I've got a flight to catch
in an hour."
"I could give you a lift," Kettlewell said.
"You want to do the exit interview between here and the airport?"
"I could give you a lift to JFK. I've got the jet warmed up and
waiting."
Sometimes, Suzanne managed to forget that Kodacell was a multi-billion
dollar operation and that Kettlewell was at its helm, but other times
the point was very clear.
"Come on," he said, "we'll make a day of it. We can stop on the way
and pick up some barbecue to eat on the plane. I'll even let you keep
your seat in the reclining position during take-off and landing. Hell,
you can turn your cell-phone on -- just don't tell the Transport
Security Administration!"
Tjan looked cornered, then resigned. "Sounds good to me," he said and
Kettlewell shouldered one of the two huge duffel-bags that were
sitting by the door.
"Hi, Kettlewell," Perry said.
Kettlewell set down the duffel. "Sorry, sorry. Lester, Perry, it's
really good to see you. I'll bring Suzanne back tonight and we'll all
go out for dinner, OK?"
Suzanne blinked. "I'm coming along?"
"I sure hope so," Kettlewell said.
Perry and Lester accompanied them down in the elevator.
"Private jet, huh?" Perry said. "Never been in one of those."
Kettlewell told them about his adventures trying to sell off
Kodacell's private air force.
"Send one of them our way, then," Lester said.
"Do you fly?" Kettlewell said.
"No," Perry said. "Lester wants to take it apart. Right, Les?"
Lester nodded. "Lots of cool junk in a private jet."
"These things are worth millions, guys," Kettlewell said.
"No, someone *paid* millions for them," Perry said. "They're *worth*
whatever you can sell them for."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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