Chapter 2

The next day, Jorien went to the hospital to visit the old man. What would he have in mind? Jorien found his room quick enough, with him lying in bed. He was, thank goodness, well. He and Jorien were the only ones in the room.

"Ah, miss! Thank you for coming! Please sit down!", he exclaimed when he saw her. "Thanks for saving me! I thought I was a goner!"

"Oh, it is nothing really, I did what everyone would have done," Jorien said, raising her hand. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, thanks to you. At my age, swimming is difficult, especially when clothed, ha ha. But I am all right, I can leave this evening."

They conversed a little while. Jorien told him her name and where it came from.

"It's a Dutch name. I'm named after my grandmother, who came here to Houston from the Netherlands in the 1930's, because of the threat of war in Europe. Many people who read it can't pronounce it properly. They say "Joe Reen". I had to tell a thousand times at least that the first syllable is pronounced as "Yo" and the "ie" like the "i" in the Spanish word "si". Emphasis on the second syllable. Jorien."

The old man asked her after that about her work, since she had been wearing such fine clothes yesterday. Jorien started to tell about it, her career, and her plans for the future. She always liked to do that.

"Next month, I might get a promotion. It's either a colleague named Ted or me."

"Why are you so eager to make a career? Aren't you happy with what you've got?" the old guy asked, interested.

"I want to make something of my life," Jorien said. "I want to be someone. Someone with influence, with power." She told him what she had always dreamed of since high school, making career. Yes, she shuddered at the thought of being a secretary or a nurse, let alone a cleaning woman.

"Women decide too often that they should place family before work. Why don't men do that? Why can't they take care of their children? It is so unjust!", she said, having developed the same feministic traits over the years as the writers of her cherished books.

"I see it at work. Women become pregnant, and after birth they stay at home to take care of the kids. Why not their husbands? No, I want to make a lot of money and be an influential person and no one is going to interfere with that!"

"You are not married?" the old man asked.

"No, nor do I plan to. Men are too demanding. If I find one that I am sure is different, maybe I will. But I have learned too often that they want to be in charge. But not with me! No, I don't let anyone stand in my way. I want to be someone with power," she said again, a bit upset. She usually got upset when she talked about the war between the sexes. At least Jorien thought there was one.

"And you think you are fit to handle power?" the old man asked.

"Of course. Why shouldn't I? I'm a kind person, who tries to be nice to most people," Jorien replied, a bit offended. What did that old guy think of her?

"Ah, but power can corrupt easily, " the old man said, raising his index finger. "I hear you want to make a career, and that you are quite ready to fight. What if you have a lot of power and influence? Are you sure you are not going to abuse it? Use it against those you think are your enemies?"

"No, never! I can handle power," Jorien said.

"You sure?"

"Sure I'm sure! Take my colleague Ted, you know, that guy who wants the job too! He is abusing his power! Scolding his underlings, especially the women, letting them do the boring work and then claiming it was his effort! He is a bastard! But if I get the job, I am his superior. And if I catch him treating the women like shit again...". Jorien knitted her brows even more than she already had as she thought how she would get him.

"And that isn't abusing power?" the old man said, grinning.

"That is something else!" Jorien said. "I can handle it. I'd get Ted because I don't like people being unjust to others! Ted, he is a...".

"Maybe I know of a way to repay you," the old man interrupted. "Visit me at home tomorrow, I'll give you my address. There, I'll show you my greatest discovery, an invention that I've never revealed, since I felt mankind wasn't ready for it. But maybe you are."

Jorien left the hospital soon afterwards. She was curious what the old man wanted to show her. "Oh, well, it's Sunday and I wasn't planning anything," she thought. "Let's drop by and see what he shows me."