Thursday Treats [Sean]

[Russell Sands]

Russell had come to love his Thursdays at Hammel. Granted at first he had been a little dubious about what he could possibily achieve there, but it had quickly turned out to be more than worth it. The kids here were so bright and so overflowing with ideas, and the fact that his little clinic was a voluntary drop-in one meant that he only ever had to work with the students who actually wanted his help and guidance. Over the years he had invested in a number of business ventures fronted by Hammel alumni, and if he could help the current students get their head around the real world of business beyond what was taught in the classroom, then he was only too happy to lend a hand.

Besides, it gave him the perfect excuse to get out of the office for a few hours.

It was a little after lunchtime when Russell pulled his Kawasaki Vulcan up in the Hammel parking lot, the Californian getting off his bike and locking it before removing his helmet and running a hand over his dirty blond hair. Ah, he loved this time of year. The sun was shining brightly and the warmth felt good against his face, but it wasn’t so ridiculously warm that he was melting in his layers of clothing and under the helmet. After taking off his gloves Russell unclipped the bag off his back, making his way into the building and retrieving his usual visitors pass.

The office that Russell usually occupied was small but comfortable, furnished with a desk and three chairs with a small filing cabinet and water cooler in the corner of the room. It was basic, sure, but then again it hardly needed to be fancy. After placing his helmet and gloves on top of the filing cabinet, Russell shrugged out of the black leather motorcycle jacket and hung it on the peg on the back of the door before straightening up the suit jacket that he wore underneath.

Out of his bag Russell produced a computer tablet, notebook and pens and a fairly large box of chocolates procured from the chocolatier in town that he held stakes in. A man needed some sugar to keep him going through the long afternoon, after all. Besides, some of the kids tended to appreciate something to nibble on during the meetings. Russell had just got himself a glass of water from the cooler and was settling behind the desk when he heard a knock at the door. It was a little earlier than his clinic was due to ‘open’, but he called for the person to come in anyway.

Russell’s face lit up into a bright smile as the psychiatrist appeared in the doorway, the younger and much shorter man beckoning for Doctor Neville to come in. “Sean, my friend! It is good to see you! To what do I owe the pleasure? Would you like a chocolate? The salted caramel ones are particularly good.”

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean required no business advice. Prior to his position with Hammel, he had opened and maintained a solo psychiatric practice that had gone far beyond merely paying the bills. He never discussed finances with people outside of his family, his accountant, or his attorney, but he had not hurt for income during his years of solo practice.

Employed with Hammel for over two decades, he had a steady paycheck and excellent benefits, including the pension towards which he worked with every pay period. He paid into Social Security, and he had some investments on the side. Truly, his greatest expense at this point in life was the fact that he had become the go-to person for bail among his social circle and among a particular segment of the student body.

As with many areas of life, he spoke to people about business on someone else’s behalf. In particular, he checked in for the students, even though managing volunteers and academic programs fell outside of his job description. He preferred to keep a list of options, since not every student who spoke with him was willing to interact directly with other adults, even if those adults were professionals in areas beyond the psychiatrist’s general body of knowledge.

Beyond that, Russell was a friend. Like many of his friends in Pilot Ridge, Russell had been a student at Hammel after Sean took on his current position, although that had been early in his tenure. He was fond of the younger man and enjoyed spending time in his company, even if today’s visit was not merely social.

“How are you today?” He stepped over the threshold when invited inside, crossing to the nearest chair so that he could sit and rest a bit. Despite having a desk job, he had spent a substantial amount of time today on his feet. Due to the nice weather, two of his sessions had taken place outdoors. At the invitation for a chocolate, he nodded quickly in assent. “I would love one.”

However, he didn’t reach for them; instead he waited for Russell to pass them over.

[Russell Sands]

Although Russell’s first few months at Hammel had been rather rough on him, having moved literally right across the country and away from the home where he had spent his whole youth, he did look back fondly on his days here. This had been the place where he had learned to use his power, had made quite a few friends and had come to really start to cut his teeth in the world of business.

Most importantly, though, it was where he had learned that anyone could become something great, despite what they had been like before. Russell had arrived at Hammel with a bad record and still on probation, a ‘teenage tearaway’ that might not have been making drugs or hijacking cars, but had been profiting in the sale of stolen goods. Russell doubted very many kids got a chance to be able to fully put that behind them, but Russell had, and he fully believed that he owed much of his success to Hammel.

Sean had of course played a large part in helping Russell get to a point in his life where he was both happy and successful at what he wanted to do, and he was sure that there were countless other kids the psychiatrist had seen through from troubled youth to productive adult. This school owed him a lot more credit than they sometimes seemed to give him.

“I’m not too bad, thanks. Had a bit of a mad morning at the office and I think I need to replace one of my dining chairs. The puppy is going through a chewing phase and has decided that pine tastes delicious.” He chuckled softly, unwrapping the beautiful black and silver box that housed the chocolates and placing it down on the table. “How have you been? Is everyone at home well?”

After selecting one of the orange truffle chocolates Russell slid the box across the table towards Sean. It was no secret that Sean had a sweet tooth, after all. “Please, help yourself. The little booklet thing says what each of them are.” Russell then headed over to the water cooler, removing one of the plastic cups. “Do you want a drink, while I’m here?”

[Dr. Sean Neville]

On an intellectual level, Sean understood why people kept pets. He was familiar with the studies regarding mental health benefits, and from Josh he saw how much an adult could take comfort in the presence of a small, furry creature. On a more personal level, animals made him uncomfortable as a starting proposition; when one added in the numerous lifestyle changes and the property destruction, time and again he preferred being pet-free. He would far prefer to have a baby or a toddler causing the same, or greater, personal household changes.

The telepath said none of that. Instead, he asked, “Aside from the chewing phase, the puppy is doing all right?”

Animals might make him uncomfortable on a personal level, but he wished no harm upon them. Moreover, since he knew how much other people valued their pets, he could value them by proxy.

“Josh is fine. With summer on the horizon, he and I are kicking his campaign into gear.” Slowly but surely. They had already done a better job this time than with last year, and so that, in and of itself, was an accomplishment. The telepath still had concerns over their probability of success, but he did want his partner to achieve this goal.

Once the chocolates had been opened and offered, Sean picked up the booklet as suggested and studied it. After finding that there was a chocolate raspberry, he set aside the booklet, reached for the chocolate, and then took a bite. Just then, Russell asked the question. Having been taught time and again that it was rude to speak with a full mouth, he projected, Please. Water if you have it.

[Russell Sands]

Russell had never owned a pet in his youth, save for a goldfish named Jaws. He had always loved dogs but had never been allowed one, something that was very much enforced once his less-than-desirable behaviours starting making themselves visible, and something that became impossible when he had been forced to move across the country to Hammel. Sometimes he wondered if that forced denial of an animal companion in his childhood was why he had eventually ended up with an entire pack of mammoth hounds. It didn't really matter, though. Even with the feed bills, vet bills, furniture damage and many sleepless nights, he wouldn't give them up for anything.

“Yeah, she's doing great, thanks. Driving her mom up the wall, but she's healthy and happy and that's what matters.” Tia was indeed turning out to be a handful, but that was overall a very good sign. Her bold personality would do her well in the future.

As Sean spoke about Joshua, Russell gave a soft smile and nodded his head. “Yes, I saw a poster in town the other day and I picked up a flier a few days ago too. It is looking promising, I think. Please, let me know if there is anything I can do to help out in any way. My assets are at your disposal.”

Having done plenty of research into the local political possibilities, largely in part due to any possible affects their policies would have on local business, Russell had been rather impressed by what he had found about about Josh. His ideology was sound and fair, and made a lot of practical sense whilst still putting humanitarian issues at the forefront. As such, Russell's offer of assistance was indeed a genuine one and not one just made out of politeness.

Whilst in no way a daily occurrence, Russell was no stranger to hearing the voice's of others projected into his mind and so he just smiled and nodded at the projected request. “Sure thing.” After filling up two cups with water from the cooler, Russell carried them back to the desk and placed one in front of Sean before taking his seat behind the desk, settling his own cup down before gesturing to the chocolate box with a finger. “They're great, aren't they? I think throwing money at that place was one of the smartest moves I've ever made.”

[Dr. Sean Neville]

“I’m glad to hear that.” Despite his personal disinterest in pet ownership, Sean legitimately was glad to hear that there were no other adjustment problems. Training a puppy could be tiring. However, he also knew that Russell was up to the challenge and had more than enough experience doing this with his other pet dogs over the years.

Sean felt a small swell of pride at hearing that the younger man had come across some of Josh’s campaign literature. They had worked hard to get started campaigning earlier this time, which was easy enough given that Josh had entered the race late last year, having only come to the decision a few months prior to the election. The telepath hoped that these efforts would result in Josh being elected to the town council this November, although he did not put the cart before the horse. With PUSE, there were forces who did not believe in Josh’s pro-meta-human platform, and that was separate from his other liberal (and occasionally idealistic) opinions. And from the laundry list of biases that he had articulated to his partner last year when discussing the possibility of backlash. Still, they tried their best, and any story of success was met with pride from the psychiatrist.

He possessed neither training nor experience as a campaign manager, after all.

He then smiled gratefully at the offer. “That’s extraordinarily kind of you.” Neither he nor Josh hurt for money, but neither of them could qualify as venture capitalists either. As they had deliberately chosen not to solicit large donations from local lobbies, such pledges went a long way. Particularly when they could trust the source. “We’d be glad to have you aboard.”

Sean nodded again, this time in agreement. “I’m biased, but I’d have to agree.” His sweet tooth was renowned, and he often made fun of himself for that. He took the offered mug, using it to wash down the treat, before setting it aside.

“Speaking of decisions, that’s why I dropped in.”

[Russell Sands]

Russell gave Sean a polite smile and a "thanks" but managed to refrain from talking about Tia any more. He was exceptionally proud of his puppy and loved her dearly, but he was well aware that not everyone liked them quite as much as he did. Sometimes that was a little tough to remember and he did tend to have a habit of rabbiting on about his dogs long after the other person had stopped listening. It was a bad habit and he knew it, but he was gradually getting better at catching himself and shushing at the right moment.

Politics were something that Russell used to pay little heed to but his expanding business interests had forced him to pay a lot more attention to parties and policies as the years had gone on. It had been an unavoidable part of running his business as well as advising and steering the direction of the businesses he held capital in. Over the years his interest in the political field had grown, but he would be the first to admit there was still much he didn't know. One thing he did know, however, was that the political world was full of backstabbing, lies and putting the almighty dollar before the health and welfare of the people. Anyone making an attempt to change that, however small-scale the attempt may be, was a local hero in Russell's eyes.

Russell smiled easily, taking a drink of water and settling down in the rather comfortable chair. "Very glad to be aboard, Captain. You've got my number; whatever you need whenever, just let me know and I'll do what I can. Always got to help out those who are trying to help the world, right?"

The chocolate store that he had invested in had originally seemed like a bad idea. They had been losing money hand-over-fist and the structure of the heirarchy within the company had been an absolute mess. Thankfully the owner had been very open to guidance as well as financial help, and though the process of turning the place around had been a long and sometimes frustrating one, it was more than paying off now. Profits were up, customer satisfaction was at an all time high, and God these chocolates really were good. He spoke with humour in his voice as Sean took a drink. "I've been invited to go down and sample the tester Christmas range in a few weeks. I think I might need to go running for a week straight after that."

Sean's next statement caused a curious eyebrow to quirk, Russell glancing over at the psychiatrist with interest. "Oh? What can I do for you?"

[Dr. Sean Neville]

“You’ll be sure to hear from us.” Sean still had to do more coordination with his partner, regarding Josh’s political campaign. Small-town politics paled in comparison with the national stage, or even with state-wide politics. Pilot Ridge was tiny, and so the repercussions of one member of the town council’s decisions were relatively minor, certainly nothing compared to the City Council in the Five Burroughs. Still, it was important to have as much support as possible, and small-town Vermont was the place where they could most likely enact a progressive agenda. Most importantly, this was highly personal to Josh, and so the telepath would do everything within his ethical power for the attorney, including networking with friends and coworkers in order to fund the campaign, drum up support, and get out the vote. “I’m still putting everything together, but we have a game plan, of sorts. And I want to try to have one big fundraiser, and so if you could help with that when the time comes, we’ll be indebted.” Both literally and figuratively.

The telepath smiled widely at the revelation regarding the chocolates. “You’re going to make me envious.” That was humor, of course, as Sean didn’t get envious. Still, the thought of being able to serve as a chocolate taste tester was enticing, particularly for something as high-quality as these had proven. “Although if you want my advice, ignore the running and just drink more coffee.”

That was better for the palate as well as good for metabolism.

With the younger man’s question, Sean settled into his role as a professional, rather than merely as a friend. “I wanted to talk to you about some internship and opportunities for the students. With the summer coming up, we have a slew of students graduating, and others who need life experience or money or both.” Although meta-human status ran in families, it could emerge anywhere, which meant that students came from all walks of life. For every student who came from wealth or even from a solid, middle-class family (prior to the economic crash and slow recovery of the Great Recession), there was another who had no resources whatsoever. “Specifically, I wanted to know what we could offer them and see if I could work with you on an application process.”

[Russell Sands]

When Russell had first come to Pilot Ridge as a teenage thief under court-ordered probation, he had at first hated the place. It was desolate and boring compared to his beloved California, and restrictive in ways he had never known before. However, his mind had matured just as quickly as his scrawny little body had, and he had grown to love the place to the extent that he had never moved back home after graduation. Sure it didn’t have the beaches of California or the bright lights and superb shopping of New York, but it was far more open and accepting than either of those places and both it and the people who lived inside it had given him so very much. He would do all he could to help the place out, especially if it also helped out the people who had helped him get to where he was today. “Of course. You have my number, just let me know, whatever you need.”

Russell gave a soft laugh at Sean’s advice, nodding his head slightly. “Wise, but more coffee would probably just lead to more running anyway. Would that give me double the benefit, I wonder?” The blonde had never been the sort to be able to sit still for very long, to the extent that he’d never been much of a reader because it meant being inactive for too long. Still, his dogs were never short of exercise, that was for certain, and no one could ever honestly claim that Russell’s life was a boring one.

Listening intently as Sean outlined the real reason for his popping in to visit today, Russell mulled the words over in his head. He had worked pretty closely with the school since he had founded his miniature business empire, and as well as the weekly drop-in clinic he had invested in a few enterprises born from the minds and hard work of prior Hammel students. It was an aspect of his work that he took great pride in, and one that he was always looking to expand on. He gave a nod of understanding. “My offices aren’t the biggest in the world, as you know, but I’m sure we could work something out. What exactly did you have in mind? Internships, part-time work, job opportunities in some of the businesses under the flag, developing contacts, that kind of thing?”

[Dr. Sean Neville]

As soon as Sean was able to check in with Josh, and plan with the attorney, he thought that they would give Russell a joint call. He was sure that any help that Russell gave them would be valuable, and he knew that it would be greatly appreciated as well. As it was, he appreciated the offer.

The telepath finished off his chocolate and then wiped his hands on his napkin. “Coffee doesn’t produce fatigue poisons, so they might cancel each other out.”

Sean nodded in acknowledgment of the outlined size limitations. “We don’t have that many students looking for work experience, all things considered, so I think it would come together.” He knew that Russell’s companies hardly rivaled massive temp agencies, or large corporations that employed many low-wage workers. While the telepath expected that the students would make lower wages while employed as students, he and the rest of the administrative staff wanted them to have experience and to work in healthy environments. Knowing Russell as a friend, he knew that the younger man would be able to provide those healthier environments. “A hodgepodge, actually. Some of the students need work experience and pocket money, and they would benefit from more traditional job opportunities. Others need a foot in the door and would benefit from internship models.”

As with so many aspects of life, it varied from student to student.

“We want to put together a portfolio of opportunities before we assist with matching.”

[Russell Sands]

In truth, Russell would likely get a lot back from his involvement in Josh's campaign. It was in no way a business booster at all, but he liked to be able to give back where he could and Sean had been a pretty important figure in his early life, so in some way it would help restore a little of the cosmic balance. That, and Russell did just genuinely like to help out others. It was after all exactly why he had started these little business advisory meetings in the first place.

“They might indeed.” Russell chuckled softly, rummaging in his jacket pocket and pulling out a tennis ball, a wrapped sandwich, a candy bar and another tennis ball before finally finding the Pacman-ghost shaped stress ball he had been looking for. Russell was generally not a stressful person, but he had found that idly fidgeting with a stress ball helped alleviate some of the tension that he tended to feel when he had been sat still for too long. “If they did, that would be great. Just think of how much indulgence could be had then. I'm sure my doctor would love that logic.”

As Sean spoke, Russell made a few quick notes on the subject in the flip-top notebook that he had unpacked earlier. While he did tend to have a pretty decent memory, he had always found that writing things down did help him retain them better. He gave a small nod as Sean finished speaking. “I'm sure we could easily enough come up with something. Even if it's not directly with the offices, there's enough places locally with my name in the books that I should be able to open a fair few doors for the kids.”

Russell was well aware that this would be putting his neck on the line a bit. No business owner wanted a bratty, ill-mannered kid working with them just because the guy who gave them money says so, and the last thing he needed was for ties to become strained. He gave Sean a friendly smile. “I am going to trust your judgement about which kids you put forward, of course. No-one likely to burn the building down because they got written up for being late, that kinda thing.” He underlined Lisa's name in the notebook. She'd been hinting about wanting an assistant for a while. “I'll start getting in touch with people tomorrow; see just how many doors I can get opened up.”

[Dr. Sean Neville]

“Presumably, as a person of science, your doctor would be impressed by the discovery, and, after testing to confirm the results, would recommend it to everyone else.” Sean’s musings were fantastical, although the description was how he, as a doctor, would respond to such a revelation. One had to test to dispose of bad science or bad methodology. Afterwards, one had to adapt for the sake of the patients.

Sean smiled gratefully at the younger man. The rest of the staff would be as glad to hear about the options as he was, since placing the students in internships and jobs could be difficult. Hammel was self-contained much of the time, and, while they had connections, they relied on cooperation from the community in order to achieve their goals.

At the request, he lifted one hand to make the Boy Scouts’ three-finger salute, as though taking an oath. “I won’t be heading up this project, so it won’t be my judgment, but I can promise you that nobody involved in this wants to burn bridges.” Nobody wanted a repeat of the Vincent Verax situation from three years ago, and, even if both Josh and Janice Adams deserved partial blame for that (as they had hired without an interview), such occurrences had to be rare.

This was a program for motivated students and students in need. At the very least, the program had been designed for students who could remember to wear pants.

“Ideally, we want to have the students go through the same paces that they would outside of Hammel. That means writing resumes and submitting them. Going to interviews. And then, after being hired, doing their jobs in the same way everyone else has to.” This was supposed to help them get life experience or pocket money. Child labor laws were to be observed, so that the students were not taken advantage of, but the other side of the coin was that these were serious responsibilities.

[Russell Sands]

Russell gave a soft chuckle, idly fidgeting the stress ball from one hand to the other and back again. It was a soothing movement that really did help to relieve some of the anxiousness he always felt when sitting idle. “That is one experiment I would be willing to guinea-pig for. It’d be fun to be at the centre of such an epic and useful discovery.”

Being as deeply involved in the world of business as he was, Russell could fully understand how tough it could be for someone with no real experience to get a job. Add to the fact that these were kids with no experience who could only work part-time due to still being at school? Yeah, they probably would struggle, especially with the state of the economy in recent years. He was glad that he would be able to offer some of them the chance to get their foot in the door, at least, and get some real-world knowledge behind them.

Sean’s promise that only kids who would be suitable for a real work environment would be selected was a reassuring one, and Russell gave a nod of his head. “I’ll take your word for it, thanks. Once this does go ahead, I can get behavioural and performance records drawn up so you can keep an eye on things too, if that would be of use to you and the others heading this.”

Nodding and making another note as Sean spoke about wanting the kids to go through the whole process, Russell underlined the words ‘full process’. He then looked back up to Sean with a smile. “That’s easily sorted; most of the businesses would want to interview first anyway. I’ll gather up a list of jobs and places over the next week or so and bring it over, if that works for you?”

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean nodded in agreement. “Thank you.” As was standard when they did internship placement for the students, Hammel fully intended to track behavior and performance evaluations. However, anything that Russell drew up to promote standardization and open sharing (while still maintaining student confidentiality and Hammel confidentiality where appropriate) would be helpful. “I have a few students in mind already, and I’m sure that more will come out of the woodwork when the opportunities present themselves.”

Of that, he was certain.

“That would be fine.” In fact, this was more than fine, given the fact that Russell had agreed in the first place, and he did not have to. For this, the telepath was grateful, and he was sure that Yvette would be pleased to hear about the new avenues, when he mentioned them at the next staff meeting. At which point coordination would be out of his hands, since the nitty-gritty was above his pay grade.

Unfortunately, at that time, his watch beeped, alerting him to the fact that he had an appointment in five minutes. Sean reset it, so that it would not bother him with incessant reminders, but he did have to get ready. Rising from his seat, he offered the younger man a handshake. “Thank you for taking the time,” he said, and then he added, “Josh and I will be in touch. We have a fundraiser coming up, and I’ll make sure you get a personal invitation.”

[Russell Sands]

This new line of options he was drawing up for the Hammel kids was hardly part of the standard roster of his work, but Russell had always had rather wobbly lines when it came to standards anyway. The Thursday drop-in sessions were voluntary and unpaid, and he could be spending the time drawing up agreements and hosting functions and in meetings, all of which would be far more profitable for his business as a while. But where the hell was the fun in that? For a few hours a week he got to give something back to the system that had given him a second chance, and if he could do more to help, then he would.

Underlining and them putting asterixes around next Thursday’s date, Russell gave a small smile and a nod towards Sean. “Then we have a plan, it seems. I’ll bring a list of places and application forms next week. You’ve got my number if you need to get in touch in the meantime, right?”

As Sean’s alarm went off and the psychiatrist stood, Russell stood too and met Sean’s hand with his own for a firm but friendly shake, smiling warmly at the mention of the invite. “I’m looking forward to it already. Tell him I wish him well, won’t you?”