VIII
Amanda Introduces Herself
True to her word, Mrs. Impisi had housekeeping send someone to assist with making Michael’s
office clean and presentable that very afternoon. The two of them, the other being a young
Rhesus monkey by the name of Miss Apina, determined the order of importance in cleaning
Michael’s office. Naturally, because he would be sitting and working at his desk, it was deemed
the number one priority, followed closely by the carpet. They also agreed that someone would
spend the entire day, every day through Friday, working on cleaning his office. After this
agreement, Michael moved all the paperwork on the desk to the computer desk until Miss Apina
cleaned and waxed his desk, which took about fifteen minutes, after which, he moved the
paperwork back to the desk.
Mrs. Impisi had told Michael that his hours were from 0300 until 1100 Monday through Friday.
Michael’s father had, through example, taught him that he should arrive at work at least 30
minutes before his scheduled start time. Michael started doing this the next day. Every time he
heard a voice pass his office, he would look up to see who it was. Call it what you will but, he
learned quickly who got to work early and who was a last-minute clock racer. When they saw his
office door open and the light on, he could count on each of his people to stick his or her head in
and greet him.
When Albert arrived at 0245, he passed Michael’s office and then backed up. “You’re already
here, Michael?” He asked, in shock.
“Yes, Albert. I try to get here at 0230. Right now, because I have to depend on Dr. Leo to get me
to work, I don’t have a choice.”
Albert laughed and stepped into Michael’s office. “Verifying that we get here on time?”
Michael smiled and said, “Nothing like that, Albert. I like to relax and mentally prepare myself
for the workday. It’s something that my father taught me a long, long time ago.”