The Account Manager p2

He asked her the usual questions about her previous life, her family, college experiences and yes her broken leg. She never felt as if she was being grilled or evaluated. He paid attention; he maintained eye contact; he seemed genuinely interested in her and in her leg cast.

She noticed when he looked at her toes at the end of the cast. Those eyes; they're blue, but a lighter blue then mine. They're easy to look at, but penetrating at the same time. As she related her life accomplishments and her experiences since coming to work for the company, she took the opportunity to check him out.

Samantha stood about five foot eight inches, just nearing six feet in her heels. Shawn, she guessed, was just a hair over six feet, maybe six one.

She got back to his eyes. His eyes were more powder blue; 'bedroom eyes' she thought; they had a crinkle at the edges that hinted at playfulness. She caught herself from drifting off into inappropriate thoughts.

Casually, she asked about his wife and kids—if there were little ones. He gave her a brief synopsis, not with any discernible emotion, but the smile had faded, ever so slightly.

"Janet has her own career; she's a lawyer" He told her.

"She was invited to become a clerk for a District Judge, an opportunity that would have been impossible to refuse. She won't be joining me on this move. There are no little ones." And at that statement, she noted a hint of sadness which passed quickly.

Shawn continued. "So, Samantha, I need to let you get out of here so you can go make the corporation lots of money!" He smiled.

"Let's compare calendars, and see how quickly we can schedule travel time together."

They compared calendars and found a good date later the same week, a day on which she worked with her most significant, but also most demanding, customers.

As she rose to leave, he took her hand to help her for balance while she positioned her crutches under her arms.

"Thank you for coming in to see me with your bad leg and all; I really enjoyed getting to know you a bit and look forward to working with you on Thursday."

He said the words warmly, with no hint of flirtation, as he walked her to the building's front door. Nice touch, she thought. The guy's got style. As her customer service rep had commented, he was cute, no he was hot. In any event, he was a nice looking man.

As she drove off to begin her day she was pleased. When a manager traveled with a sales rep, it was customary for them to meet
someplace that was reasonably convenient for both of them.

Samantha was renting a small apartment about an hour from the office which was conveniently located to her primary customers. She had no idea where Shawn lived, or if had even found a house.

He offered to meet her at her place and drive them there. This was a pretty typical arrangement. He told Samantha where he lived; she gave him directions to her apartment complex.

Wednesday evening, she wasn't sure if he would come to the door, or she would walk down and meet him. Just in case, she cleaned the small apartment and put out fresh flowers. Early the next morning, as it turned out, she saw him drive up and decided to meet him in the parking lot.

His car was a late model foreign sedan; as she walked on her crutches toward him, she realized it was a Benz, but not a model she was familiar with. It was big. She had a reasonably new Japanese SUV since her accident.

He looked really good. He greeted her warmly. She gave him an overview of the planned schedule and as he opened the passenger door she slid her cast inside the car and got in. He took her crutches and places them in the back seat

She was wearing a really nice business suit. She looked damned good, she thought to herself; hot, but classy, business hot, not trashy hot. Broken leg but under control yet just a bit helpless.

The day went very well for her, for the most part. Shawn never tried to take over a particular sales call. His comments in the car following an appointment were helpful and reassuring, not critical.

During one crucial presentation, she started to sense that she was losing it. Her leg after a full day of movement was starting to ache. She lost her concentration.

Shawn immediately had sensed she was starting to struggle. He calmly asked her a couple of questions to get her back on track. While she was rewinding, he filled the potential dead space with the customer. Out of the corner of his eye, sensing that she was on track, he handed it back to her. She closed the sale successfully.

Returning to the car slowly, she apologized for almost blowing the sale.

"Samantha, don't apologize, you 'done good' in there. It's a very difficult concept to get across to our customers. I've seen that presentation completely mangled; I am as familiar with this product as if I'd I invented it." He paused a moment, as if reflecting on something.

"Anyway, I know this product inside and out, but I would have never been able to do this type of presentation while on crutches. Well, correction, It must have been really hard for your customer to concentrate the way you look in that leg cast. You are a very beautiful woman Samantha" Shawn told her.

He continued. "Look, Samantha, you've got good instincts, you showed that all day. You understand the business and analyze the situation well. The customers like you they respect you. They listen to you. Not every presentation goes by the script; I'm glad I was there to help you get your motor running smoothly again.
That is really what my job is all about."