She chuckled. "If you were in trouble, it would have been handled down on the 2nd floor." I looked up at her, still not believing what I had just heard inside the office. "Mr. Woodburn always knows what he is doing. He is meticulous about knowing everything he can about every situation he intends to be involved in. That includes who he is working with."

I looked at her hard, seeing a possible ally for the moments that might follow after he finishes his call. "You've worked with him for a while?"

She smiled. It was an unusual moment that she quickly controlled. "Yes, very closely." She leaned forward and I found myself doing the same. She glanced down the row of executive offices and assistants outside them as if she didn't want to be overhead despite the separation between offices.

"You aren't used to these kind of men, are you?" It wasn't a demeaning comment, but an observation on her part. I shook my head. A small-town country girl in the big city and high-powered company, I was way over my head on the 11th floor much less the idea of working for him closely.

"Would you like a few hints that might help you with him?"

I nodded eagerly and glanced at the door as if it might open any minute.

"He is a man who understands the very nature of power and he knows how to wield it. He will be in control of every situation he finds himself in. Despite what someone else might feel about being in control, he won't put himself in a situation where he doesn't know something or have something that will give him the edge; then it is up to him to manage that edge. Whether it is him personally or someone he is entrusting to manage it for him."

She looked intently at me to let that sink in. I would be that person he was entrusting. But, I don't have that kind of power. It is the very reason I haven't had a promotion. I don't have that element inside me to leverage office politics to my favor. That deficiency within me is what I have been fighting within myself and my relationships.

My father, my husband, my male co-workers, and most of the males I meet socially. My life experience with men is controlling men who exude strength in a way that stifles my singular existence, experience, and joy. I was fighting that with every fiber of my being, but it was getting me nowhere. Now, here is another very strong male. Maybe the 'big city' I belonged in was Dubuque, with a total population of 58,000.
She saw the worry and disappoint
growing across my face and posture.

"What are you thinking?"

I looked at her, "A small state country girl lost in the big world ..."I sighed,

"...I've been fighting strong, controlling men my whole life. I don't know that I can handle someone like Mr. Woodburn."

She laughed and leaned back in her chair.

"Believe me when I say this, he probably knows you better than you know yourself. He doesn't make mistakes about people that will matter if he puts them in orbit around him. There is no question about it, Tina. He is a large mass that holds everything else within his gravitational effect. But, for those he deliberately places closely in orbit around him, that strength and control are different."

I looked at her quizzically. The very idea was foreign to me.

"The controlling men you are fighting are those that stifle your life and intend to bend you to their will, to shape you into something they imagine." I nodded.

"What they see in you is compliance and they want to take advantage of it."

Yeah, my mother.

"What he sees is potential. He uses his strength and controlling nature not to stifle, but to bring the full potential of you out. I can speak from experience with him. People think that to grow and thrive they need complete freedom and release from reins held by others. He will hold the reins, but loosely in his hands like a skilled rider on a horse needing training. He'll allow freedom but is always ready to make corrections with the reins. Sometimes, more reinforcement might be required with repetition and training on specific elements that leads to understanding. The end result, though, is a release of full potential."
I was shaking my head, again.

"But why? There must be a couple dozen other accounts people out there who have exhibited more political ability to play the game."

She laughed. "Very true and he knows it. But that is just the thing, he doesn't want people next to him who play games and act specifically for a political gain. He wants to completely depend on and trust those closest to him. I know. He pulled me out of the secretarial pool."

"So, you're saying what he started talking to me about is something very real and he has already decided he wants me for it?"

"He doesn't do anything without being sure." She could see me carefully considering all that. "But ...", which got my attention, "there is always a price. He is very supportive and will reward devoted service, but he will expect a lot in retujrn. I mean a lot."

Her phone beeped and she checked the message. She stood up and I did as well.

"Sorry for that, Miss James. That's what we are here for, though." He moved a notepad to the side and reopened the folder. "Now ... where were we?"

"You were describing a position you have in mind and the need to have the utmost trust and commitment from the person in that position."

"Yes. Trust. Commitment. And, devotion." He looked at me hard, glanced at the sheets in the folder and seemed to make a final decision on something. I realized I was holding my breath. From the comments from Trudy, it seemed this might be my job if this meeting resulted in the confirmation of his previous analysis.