Heads and Tails

Heads And Tails

happyhugo

Romance

18,253 Words

Copyright (C) 05/02/09

Readers score  8.02

Major Jim Reynolds comes home from Bosnia
minus a part of his leg. He applies for work and
looks for love. He finds happiness and satisfaction
in his life.

Major Jim Reynolds, disabled war vet, that’s me. I left the title and part of my leg and all of the foot that was attached to it in Bosnia. That was more then a year ago. Now I was walking into a company that had posted a job in the classifieds. Oh yes, I was walking, for the government had seen to it that I could do that much. However, they said they didn’t need me anymore. They gave me a bundle of cash, transferred my records to the VA and said good-bye. The money for my missing foot and the pension wasn’t going to give me much of a life though.

I walked into a room filled with people whom I suspected were here for the same reason that I was. I crossed to the desk and the receptionist didn’t even look up when she handed me a clipboard with the application attached. She did look up when I didn’t take the pencil from her hand. I waggled my pen at her. This brought a little smile to her face. All the seats were full so I made my way back across the room where I could lean against the wall.

Just as I was completing the form, a man who I assumed was the personnel officer, came out of the next room. The woman at the desk whispered something to him. He gathered up the stack of applications and thumbed through them. He stayed, conversing with her until I laid my application on the desk. He picked it up, put it on the bottom of the stack and retreated through the door.

I thought to myself that it was going to be a long day for me. Reynolds is a long way down the alphabet and he put my application on the bottom. I considered leaving, for the job was a long shot anyway. Just too many applicants ahead of me.

The door opened, “Rupert, step into my office please.” Hey, maybe I have a shot at the job after all. The lady at the desk found my eyes and smiled at me. I watched as Rupert waddled into the open office. She had been one of the two women applicants. The personnel officer gave her seven minutes. She was not hired. Everyone in the room could tell that by the dejected look on her face as she crossed the room and headed for the door. The other woman applicant got up and left with her. Everyone heard the intercom, “Marie, ask Major Reynolds to come in please.” When I went by the desk I got a big smile from Marie.

I went in, closed the door behind me and then stood in front of the desk waiting. “Major, have a seat.” He went to where a coffee pot was set up and took two cups with the company logo on them and filled them. I remained standing. Coming back to me he handed me the cup which I reached for with my left hand. “Hello. I’m Matt Morton.” He shook my hand and then I sat down.

“Drink your coffee and let me look over your application. At first glance I would say you are what the company is looking for. Of course I don’t have the final say, but we shall see.” Bull shit, I thought, he was leaving himself an out. I figured what I had on the application was exactly what the company wanted. I had done some work too before coming in here. Unless I screwed up on the verbal interview, I knew I was as good as hired. It had cost me a few beers. I had gone to the nearest bar and talked to some employees as the shift let out the day before. This allowed me to find out as much about the company as possible from some of those who worked there.

A half hour later Matt pressed the intercom, “Marie, would you tell the remaining applicants that I will not be doing anymore interviews today. Tell everyone their applications are on file and all will be looked at and thank them for coming in.”

Matt started at the top of my application again. He stopped and looked at me. “You didn’t indicate whether you are married or not. Is there a reason for that?”

“Not really. I married my childhood sweetheart. However, I was out of the country on several tours soon after I joined the military and as soon as I received my commission, I flew home unexpectedly to join her for our third anniversary. I found her somewhat occupied in bed with someone else and we were divorced shortly after. No children, and we are still friends of a sort when we meet when I go back to our home town. I never bothered to find another woman, one that I felt I could trust. That is if I was going to make the service my career. I’ll probably start looking for someone to settle down with now.”

“You’re still young enough to raise a family. I think Marie, my secretary, would go on a date if you asked her.”

I laughed, “I’ll keep her in mind. I think she was the one that got me in so early to see you. It was the pen, wasn’t it?”

Matt laughed with me. “Yes it was. You came prepared and confident enough to write in ink. So this disability you have, you don’t appear to be incapacitated.”

“No, I can even run for short distances. There was really no reason for the service to terminate me. I’m glad to be home though. As you can see I was a desk jockey. I shouldn’t have been where I was when I got hit. The convoy needed an officer of my rank to captain it. There were no other of rank available, so I was pulled off my desk and here I am.”

“Okay I’m going to say you are hired. You are now the company Security Officer. Come with me and I’ll show you where your office is located. We are pretty up to date on equipment so if what you need to do your job isn’t in it, just ask and we’ll get it for you.”

I liked the situation and said so. Then I asked, “I’m living out of a motel room. You don’t happen to know of a decent rental or a small house I could lease, do you?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact I do. You might even want to purchase it if you find you like it. Our head of marketing, Alicia Garcia, lives across the street and it is only ten minutes from here. One of our salesmen owned the house, but he quit because of a death in the family. He left to take care of his mother. I’ll take you up to meet Alicia and you can follow her home to see where the house is.”

I stopped a minute at Marie’s desk. “Does the company have a policy about the Security Chief dating those that helped him get hired?”

“Not in this world they don’t.”

“Are you busy Friday night? I’d like to ask you out.”

“I’m not busy and I’d like to have you take me out. I’ll send a memo up to your office with my address. Thank you.”

I was going on a tour of all of the departments. Meeting the department heads and managers, I was given a welcome aboard. The department head of marketing was a woman about my age, maybe a little younger than my thirty years. Alicia Garcia was tall for a Latino and trim with a nicely proportioned figure. Her hair was a shiny black. Her eyes were dark too, and her skin was just a bit dusky. She was dressed in the typical woman’s executive clothes of tailored suit and white blouse. Matt introduced us and said I wished to follow her home where she could point out the house across the street to me. I caught a little look as if she was momentarily disconcerted.

I met the CEO, Colin Benton, and took an immediate dislike to him. He was a backslapper. That never happened in the military and I cringed when he did it twice before I was moved along to the board room. There was a huge office off of it that said Conrad Benton, Chairman, on the door. So it was father and son that ran the company. The father, Conrad, appeared to be in his sixties. Colin was in his early forties I would guess.

The older Benton was tall, distinguished and affable enough, but without the unctuousness of his son Colin. I took to him right away. I hoped he would be the one giving me my orders and the one I would be reporting to. On the way back downstairs Matt said, “The old guy is being eased out of the company. He feels it, but doesn’t know how to stop it. You better hoard up your money because the minute Colin gets total control he is going to sell the company and take off for Paris or somewhere. That is if there is anything left to sell. The damn fool is running it right into the ground.”

I followed Alicia home that afternoon and she pointed out the house across the street I was interested in. “Would you like to see the inside? I have the keys.”

“Very much so. May I take you out to dinner tonight for being so kind?”

“I wish I could but duty calls and I have to work this evening.” That was odd for I hadn’t heard anything about the department heads having to work other than days. I let it go.

I got the keys. This bungalow was some different than the motel room I was staying in and a whole hell of a lot different than a Quonset hut in Bosnia. I immediately made up my mind I was going to buy it. I would get the information from Matt tomorrow and get the ball rolling. When I stepped across the street to give Alicia the keys, she was dressed in a cocktail dress. She was beautiful. I couldn’t help but stare. “Thank you. I meant to tell you to return them to me in the office tomorrow. I’m a little behind schedule, so if you will excuse me, my ride will be here shortly.”

My date with Marie was fun. I think she would have been willing to have my time with her continue longer than it did. I also think I could have found out what the interior of her bedroom looked like if I had agreed to have that cup of coffee she had invited me in for. I wasn’t ready to go that far with anyone in the company yet. We went dancing and we did get damned close, but that was all. Maybe next time.

I pushed to buy the house. It was small, but I had no plans for needing more room. It did have a nice fenced-in backyard. I dropped down and dug into the soil with my fingers. I might even find time to put in a little garden. I was sure it would grow stuff better than what I had attempted behind the barracks overseas. All I got there were a few beans and some scraggly carrots.

While this was going on, I was getting familiar with my job. The factory was a fairly large complex. It had about five acres of factory and six acres of warehouse where incoming raw materials and outgoing finished goods were stored. Across the front of the building, all of the offices were piled to four stories. Just behind that was the manufacturing and behind that were the warehouse and the docks. My office was on the third level in back and overlooked the top of the manufacturing and warehouse.

The old man, Conrad, I saw very seldom as he came and went when I wasn’t around. He never went down into the factory. Colin, my boss, I saw quite often, for it seemed that he was always out on the floor talking with the women. I wondered if he had ever been charged with sexual harassment. It sure looked like he could be. Some of the women seemed to like it, but others seemed to back way off when he was near. Not my business, so I paid little attention.

The first week I was in charge there was a rash of vandalism to some windows and no one was sure if entry had been gained. I was called into the office and asked what I needed to fix the situation. Money? Do whatever it takes. No problem, just make sure it stops. I hired two more guards, installed cameras around the periphery and another person to monitor them. I also purchased two golf carts for the guards so they could get to any point in minutes, if not seconds.

This was simple and I knew I was on top of everything. What worried me were the computers that the company used. It looked as if they could be hacked into easily. Some of our work was very sensitive. I had been out in the field, so to speak in Bosnia, and knew that some of what could compromise us right here in the states affected us to our detriment there. To wake up those that worked at the computers, I sent a memo around and informed everyone to upgrade the safety software and install the appropriate firewall and passwords. Two days later, I sat in my office and still hacked into sixty percent of the systems. Three days later I had it down to seven percent and of those responsible, I had one operator fired and the other one I made sure he had help to get in line.

The call came late in the day on the fourth Friday I had been with the company. “I expect you will be working tomorrow morning. Meet me in my office. Conrad.” I had not planned on working, but this was like a general telling his second lieutenant to make himself available to go on patrol.

I had a date with Marie that night. She always had a wealth of scuttlebutt to pass on. Her first words when I picked her up were, “So you’re working tomorrow. Word is you are in deep shit.”

“Maybe. What are we going to do tonight? We’ve done movies, dancing, lounge hopping and caught a fight. What’s left?”

“We could go to my place and have that coffee I offered you on our first date.”

“Now that sounds like an excellent idea. Shall we eat first or after?”

“First I think. That way if we get involved we won’t have to interrupt anything.”

Later, actually much later, I asked, “How did you know about my meeting tomorrow?”

“You won’t get me or anyone on my level in trouble?”

“No, you are too valuable. I consider you my head of intelligence and I’m going to protect it at all costs.”

“Ohhhh, I get all wet when I hear those military terms.” It took awhile before I got my answer. When it came it was a surprise. “The Chairman’s office is bugged. Whatever is said in there is heard by at least three people that I know of. I’m friends with one of them. I thought you should know. If you said the wrong thing, you might have an enemy that has the power to ride you right out of here. I have taken a shine to you, so you see I do have an ulterior motive for telling you.”

I went to the factory early and was sitting in my car when the Chairman pulled in. He looked at me as we both got out of our vehicles. “You could have gone inside. You didn’t have to wait outside for me.”

“Sir, I have a request to make. Could we have our meeting somewhere besides your office?”

“And why would you want that?”

“So those who have your office bugged won’t know what you say to me. If you are going to chew my ass about something and you want to do it in front of someone, then you can have my resignation as of now.”

“Bugged? My office? I don’t believe it. No one would do that.”

“Then why was I informed last night that I was having a meeting with you. Did you tell anyone?”

“No, this was supposed to be private. Where can we talk that would satisfy you? I’m not saying I believe you, but I do want to talk to you and I don’t want anyone to hear what I say.”

“How about your club? We can go out and watch golfers tee off while we talk.”

“Okay. Get in, I’ll drive.”

It was lunch and then dinner before Conrad and I had wound up our meeting. When we finished I had his written directive to have access to every single area of the factory. This included his office, the CEO and the CFO’s as well. He was leaving no stone un-turned to correct the slide his company had been on in the last couple of years. He gave me six months and all the power of his position to do this. I was to rock the boat as little as possible at first, even though what I was doing was going to cause some mighty big waves before I was done.

I had to have help. Someone in management would be ideal if I could find someone I could trust. I settled on Matt Morton. After I swore him to secrecy and broached the subject of what I wanted, he promised to help, but thought he would be ineffective. However, he promised to get me someone I could trust on the inside. Not only that, this person had a personal ax to grind.

I had moved into my bungalow three weeks before I had my talk with Conrad. I was just sitting down to my evening meal. The doorbell chimed and I opened it to find Alicia Garcia standing there. “I thought I would come over and get better acquainted. I brought you a dessert, but I thought you would be finished with dinner by this time. I’ll leave it and catch you some other time. God, whatever you are cooking smells delicious.”

“Come in. Have you eaten? I have more than I can eat of what you smell. I’ll bet if you made me dessert you planned on having some of it and haven’t eaten a thing.” I was right for she followed her nose right into my kitchen. I spooned fajitas onto a tortilla and handed it to her while I poured three bottles of cold beer into a pitcher and gave her the first glass.

“God, Gram would have killed for this recipe. Can I have it? I’d like to send it to her.” I was laughing. I felt the same as she did when I opened up the dessert she had brought over. It was a bread pudding made with a twelve grain bread, crusts included, and sorghum for a sweetener. There was some Cool Whip to top it with.

We sat in the living room and let things settle. One thing I liked, Alicia was dressed in sweats and a tee shirt, so I felt she hadn’t tried to impress me with her looks. The looks she was well endowed with.

Her face got serious. “Matt said you are looking for some inside help with the company. I have a bone to pick with some of those in the company. He said this was the Chairman’s project that you are involved with. He always treats me with respect and I do like what I do here. Of course I’ll have to tell you some things I have to do on occasion that may make you lose respect for me. I’ll risk it, if you can bring it to a halt.”

“You mean like being blackmailed into being the company prostitute?”

She stared at me to see if I was disgusted with her. “Yes, that.”

“I think I can sympathize with you. Two weeks ago, I was asked by Colin to escort a client, Miriam Walkins for the evening. Last week it was Janet Chamberlin. Next month I’ll expect they will be back for their usual order and I’ll be asked again. At least I only have two clients to take care of. How many do you have?”

“Six. It looks like I get laid more times a month than you do. Did you enjoy it?”

“It was an experience. A woman twenty years my senior wouldn’t be my first choice of a partner, but yes, I enjoyed it. I think it is the lack of inhibition on her part.”

“It sounds like you are more in control than I am. I’ll admit four out of the six I find pleasant to be with, but the other two are pretty obnoxious.”

“Give me their names and I’ll see if I can do something. Would you want to continue this if you didn’t have to?”

“No, definitely not. If there was anyway to get out of it I would. How do you get compensated? That’s the worst part for me. It just drives home what I actually am I suppose.”

“I get a company card for meals and entertainment. The tips I can keep for myself.”

“I do better than you. I get that plus I get a half day a week comp time. That is the only part I like, as I need the extra time for something of a personal nature. With my vacation and the comp time, I get almost seven weeks of free time. I’d hate to give all of that up.”

“But you would, if you could?”

“Yes.” The way she spoke there was no doubt in my mind that she meant it.

“Okay, we can’t do anything about that tonight. You say I can trust you, so I’m going to. I’ve identified three areas that I think can help find out what is wrong that Conrad needs fixed. First and what I think is the easiest to track down, is the things that are wrong with inventory. The company is carrying way too much on its books. I’ll give WalMart* as an example. When they sell something it is automatically reordered. Occasionally stock runs out. You just have to know how long your supplier needs to get product to your door compared to how fast your stock is depleted by sales. You can help with that as it comes in under your department.”

“I know that.” Alicia was getting defensive. “When the cash register rings up, there often is a shortage that I can’t account for. You tell me where I’m wrong and my department will fix it.”

“Don’t get hot. I think there is collusion between your bookkeeping, inventory control and someone in the finance department. Somewhere, someone is doing some very heavy skimming. Would you like to point fingers now?”

“Yes I would. If Conrad fired his son, Colin, and Bill Dover, the CFO, and Peter Williams in warehousing, everything would straighten out. How in hell is that going to happen? Answer me that.”

“It may take awhile, but it could happen if we are patient enough. Let’s leave that for the moment. It also seems there is something wrong with Quality Control. There are way too many returns. Can you tell me what happens to the returns? I see them on paper, but where are they physically?”

“I have no idea.”

“I’ll tell you what I suspect, although I can’t prove it yet. I think someone is rejecting our finished goods and then we send them replacements. The returns are shipped to another warehouse. Then that supposed crap is sold on the open market or discounted to some cut-rate outfit. It would be total profit for whoever was doing the shuffling and our company is picking up the tab. Or maybe the product doesn’t even leave here. It may be marked rejected and eased out. If the person in the warehouse is crooked, there again it would be clear profit.

“The third thing I see is the morale in the whole plant. There is no respect shown for the workers. The company is wide open for a harassment suit, because the females are hit on constantly by those over them. That could involve the Feds and a class action suit. I have looked at the piecework records. Do you know that piecework per worker has dropped fifteen percent just this year alone?”

“You sound like you are more than just a security chief. You seem more like a hatchet man and troubleshooter.”

“Well, let’s say I have been given about as much clout in the company as anyone. I suspect that the trouble lies at the feet of Colin. I don’t know how Conrad is going to take it if the blame does end up there. Right now all I’m after are the facts. It will be up to Conrad to clean house if he wants to save his company.”

I looked at Alicia. “How are you set financially if your tips from your nighttime duties are suddenly cut off?”

“I’d be fine now. I make good money and I never have spent any of the gratuities. I’ve had to do this for almost six years. The thing I would miss the most is the comp time.”

“Not the sex?”

“Some, but if I didn’t have to go out, I could start looking for a man to love me. No man could love me the way things are now. Would you? Love me, I mean under these circumstances?”

“I might if I knew all of the facts. You are a very attractive woman. I also think you are a very nice person. That is what would count with me.”

“I think I am going to like working with you.”

I was thanked profusely for the meal I had provided and was invited for Sunday dinner.

Friday night I again dated Marie and ended up the same place this week that I did last week--in the bedroom. It wasn’t all pleasure, for I switched to recruiting her for some things I wanted done in the company. Being in personnel, she was in a unique position to do what I wanted of her. She became my head hunter. She said some of what I wanted was beyond her, but between her and Matt, what I needed would get done. I met Conrad on the golf course Saturday morning and spent much of the day with him again.

Alicia served chicken for Sunday dinner. I liked that. It was good food and cooked not to impress me, but to feed me. I helped with dishes and then watched the movie Alicia had rented. It was a comedy and I enjoyed it very much. Alicia was a fine looking woman and would make someone a wonderful wife. Maybe not for me, but for someone. I was going do my damnedest to see that she was free to do so.

“Tell me about what Colin holds over you and why you have to be a client escort. And why doesn’t he have you for himself? You are beautiful enough.”

Her head came up when I asked her this. “That’s pretty personal, Major.” She paused and then continued, “I suppose you will find out eventually. You seem to have the knack for uncovering just about everything. I came to work here ten years ago. I was young and just out of community college. Colin came on to me big time. God, I can’t believe how naive I was. Anyway I fell for him hard and ended up in his bed.

“It wasn’t long before I became pregnant which was utterly stupid of me. I ended up with money for an abortion and a year off with pay to keep it quiet. I don’t think he ever expected me back. Of course he wanted nothing to do with me when I did return. When I came back, I demanded a better job and a chance to move up to better ones or I would go to his father. That’s when I saw myself on the film he had taken. I said okay, bring your tape and we will still go see your father. It was a standoff for a week. I ended up keeping my mouth shut about him and I became what I am for a chance to move up in the company with the stipulation that Colin keep away from me. It hasn’t been too bad. I suppose I sold my body and most likely some of my soul. It has let me be able to do something that I feel was necessary, but I had to give up my self-respect. That hasn’t changed.”

“And that would be, what?”

“That would be my secret. Please Major, leave me something. You know more about my personal life now than my mother does.”

“Okay, I won’t pry. If you felt the choice you made was necessary, I believe you. Now I have to tell you something. There is a memo coming down from the Chairman tomorrow that none of the employees are ever required to entertain any of the company’s clients after hours again. The company will now hire an escort service to perform that function.” I watched Alicia to see how she received my information. I was happy to see a smile appear.

“The company is going to have two disappointed women clients next month and they are going to have six disgruntled male ones to go along with them.”

“Good, I’m glad you feel that way. Look Alicia, if you ever get in trouble, would you come to me for help? What I’m doing is going to upset a lot of people and there are going to be repercussions. Just remember my offer if you need me.”

“I’m sure I will be all right. I don’t think anyone will suspect you and I are connected in any way. It is you that is going to have to watch his butt.”

“Umm, maybe.”

The memo came down and it was first tested on Alicia. I got it from her that evening. Alicia said Colin had called her into his office immediately after he read the memo. He wanted to know what the hell was going on.

“I replied, ‘I have no idea. I don’t think it has anything to do with me.’ He then questioned me if I had talked to his father recently and I haven’t and I said so.”

“Sounds like he is a little nervous, thinking his old man is waking up to the way he is running the company. Wait until he gets word that Conrad is out on the floor of the factory. Things will settle down a bit now, for that is the only thing that is going on at the present. I have to get my troops into place. Conrad being out on the floor is just a little morale booster I hope, and will take Colin’s attention off of where the real action is.”

“There are two clients coming in this week that I was going to have to go out with. To throw Colin off, I agreed to take them to the escort service. I called the escorts and they are going to have some young and pretty ones available. The transition from this over the hill ‘prosti’ to them should go smoothly.”

I considered what I wanted to say carefully. “I don’t think I consider you as ever having been a prostitute under the circumstances. I also don’t think you will ever be over the hill.”

“You always know what to say to make me feel better, don’t you? Did you get called in to see Colin too?”

“Yes, and I’m not off the hook. I still have to squire the two women unless I can think of a way out of it in the next two weeks.”

Alicia had a quirky little smile on her face when she asked, “And how hard are you going to try to find a replacement? I suspect you enjoyed yourself.”

I tried to make light of what she said. “Hey, I don’t get laid that often. Do you blame me?”

“Just kidding, but maybe we will have to take care of each other if we are both denied our usual sexual outlet.” I smiled and didn’t answer as the thought had already crossed my mind. I hadn’t mentioned Marie and for some reason I wasn’t ready for Alicia to know about my Friday night dates.

I went in Sunday looking for bugs and did a sweep of all of the offices in Management. I went down the line as far as some of the middle managers. I think I found all of the bugs and I found out who was doing the receiving. This gave me a good picture of who was doing the bugging and why. It looked like it was the CFO, Bill Dover. Now I was going to look to see how that information was being put to use. I could only do that by looking into the different computers.

Oh yes, I had everyone tighten up their security didn’t I? I did this just to make everyone feel more secure--secure from everyone--everyone, but not me. I could still read anyone’s files on any computer as easily as I could before. I had seen to that.

I invited Marie for coffee on Wednesday night. Marie in her position in the personnel office could legitimately go into every department and talk to anyone. I sent her on a quest, promising her that I would pick up any tab that she ran even if it was payment in kind. Before two weeks were over she had what I needed. I then had to pay up. This payment in kind was going to kill me.

She was on top of the world. “Boy, you’re going to be worn right into the ground if you keep giving me things to do. You owe me Major. Why don’t you come on over tonight. I don’t want you to get too far behind on your payments.” That night before midnight, I only had six to go and by the time I left in the morning, I had it down to five. She argued some, saying it should stay at six, but when I suggested that I was willing to pay up once more right then, she agreed to leave the number at five.

One pertinent fact she gave me when we were just talking. She told me that one of the women clients, Miriam Walkins swung both ways. I filed this in the back of mind for future reference.

Two weeks later I had a lot of feedback from Marie’s efforts. She had got next to a representative in every department and had a subversive spying on what went on around them. Marie had shined up to a forklift operator and had him watching who came in from upper management to talk to Peter Williams, who headed up the warehouse complex.

Bill Dover, the CFO, spent a lot of time in the office with Peter. This wasn’t out of the ordinary except for the frequency. I put a bug on Peter’s phone by nightfall and I was into his computer as soon as I had the word. Guess what? Miriam Walkins, my fuck buddy of the month before, was the contact that was screwing our company. The inventory that was being stolen was stored right here in our own warehouse. The pallet of completed goods marked ‘rejected’ would come in from manufacturing.

The pallets were then shunted into a special area and held until there were enough for a full truckload of twenty-four pallets. Miriam Walkins brought the paperwork needed from her company so the truck could go out with the correct weigh bills. She was due to deliver the papers on Friday morning to Peter. There seemed to be approximately a truckload of pallets stolen every three months.

This was Monday and Miriam was due in on Thursday, so we assumed the truck would go out on Friday. It would be loaded late in the afternoon when most of the warehouse workers were thinking about the weekend and not what was going on around them. It was a beautiful scam. I hoped Miriam was a patsy and not a major player. Once you have had enjoyable sex with someone, it is hard to think ill of them.

Marie looked up from her desk as I came in. “I can tell by the look on your face that the number is going back up.” I laughed for I suspected she was right. The best thing was, Marie hadn’t failed me yet. Paying the price wasn’t killing me that much either and was wholly enjoyable. Marie was quite the sexy woman and to her this was like money in the bank.

“What do you need me to do this time?”

“I need a butch dyke, even one that would like to act as a dominatrix if she isn’t one. She needs to go one on one with a woman long enough for some pictures to be taken. Best case she would enjoy another woman and want someone to keep coming back for more.”

“This is going to cost you some hefty bucks, Major, because she will have to come in from out of town, but I can get her I think. When do you need her?” Marie never ceased to amaze me.

I thought of all kinds of elaborate schemes to put Miriam into my control. I ended up just thinking I would ask her. If that didn’t work, I would restrain her and take what I wanted.

Thursday night Miriam and I repaired to her hotel room early. It was just before nine when I asked Miriam if she would be interested in a threesome. It wasn’t until I told her that the third person would be a female that she acquiesced. I helped Miriam into the shower and by the time she was toweled dry, Beth was at the door. I had never met Beth and I was as far off as I could be in what I expected. She was young and petite and blonde. She handed me a note when she came through the door. It was from Marie. “Major, don’t forget the old adage, ‘You can catch more flies with honey than with vinegar’ so here is the honey. Have fun.”

I had never seen two women make love before. I had to admit that Marie was right, for there was much honey flowing. It fast became apparent that this was going to be a twosome and I wasn’t one of the two. I believe the two women, one twenty-five and the other nearly fifty, had fallen for each other. Miriam said by way of thanking me that she would do anything I asked of her.

“May I see the papers you brought with you for Peter?” A fearful look crossed her face.

“You aren’t going to take them are you? Please don’t, they’ll kill me.”

“No, I just want to have them long enough to copy them. I wouldn’t endanger you in any way. Beth has made love to you, why don’t you make love to her? Before you finish I’ll have the papers back and they will look undisturbed. Then I’ll leave you and her together for as long as you like. If anyone asks, I left you right after dinner tonight. As far as your trip here, do just as you have always done and no one will be the wiser.”

I did just as I said I would. It would be three more months before Miriam would have the paperwork for another shipment. The way she and Beth seemed taken with each other, I was almost sure that Miriam would not be ever needing my services again.

In the meantime, my GPS tracking would tell me where our stolen product was ending up. I managed to get devices into thirteen of the pallets of the shipment. They were so small they would not be noticed and when the pallets were broken down, the devices would be discarded with the packing, leaving the recipients unaware that they had been found out.

Conrad was trying to get back the control that he had let his son take out of his hands five years ago. When Conrad made up his mind, he acted. At the monthly board meeting, he made some changes. Mouths opened in disbelief when he made the announcement. “I have leased one third of the warehouse to a start-up company that will complement our own business. They will take over their portion of the space three months from today. Peter, I expect you to have the area cleared. The new company will make their own renovations. Basically this is a cost cutting measure and the company bottom line dictates this. Any questions?”

“Where in hell am I going to put the raw material that we have on inventory now?”

“I have talked to our suppliers. They won’t be making any deliveries for two months. Then those they make will just be smaller and more often. This will smooth the ups and downs and this generally is the way industry works now. We have been way behind in keeping up to the more modern practices.”

“What about the finished goods? Where am I going to store that?”

“There again, it goes to having the right inventory control. You may have noticed that Alicia has been away. She has been talking to the companies we do business with. Most of them are as pleased about this as I think we will be. We will be sending out split loads on our trucks and they will have on board goods for more than one company at a time. When we need any more information we will get it from her.”

I was sitting in the back row watching everyone. I could see a profile view of Bill Dover. He was decidedly aghast at what was happening. The CFO spoke up. “About this inventory, what happens if we get a surge of orders and need product fast? We may not have the raw material we need to make it. Another thing with the work force we have, how are we going to produce it?”

“I have had a consultant time engineer in here doing studies. He has come to the conclusion that our workers aren’t producing anywhere near what they are capable of. He said actually we could reduce our work force by as much as twenty or more percent and still be in line to produce what we are now.”

“How?”

“We will have to increase the incentive of course. The main bottleneck is in getting the parts to make our widgets to the operator. Too often they are still sitting in the warehouse when needed out on the floor. If a machine is down for a half hour and the operator is standing there waiting, they aren’t making money and we aren’t making product. That alone drives our cost through the roof and makes us less competitive. Down the road we may have to double shift some departments. I hope so, but for short term, we will work with overtime when we have to.

“I have fired one floor manager this afternoon and I’m ready to release anyone else I don’t feel is pulling his weight.”

Colin jumped to his feet. “That is my job. I do the hiring and firing in this company.”

“Do you want to bring something like this up in this meeting?”

“Yes I do. You have exceeded your authority and I won’t have it. If you wanted to run this company, you should never have put me in as CEO.”

“That was my mistake. I thought you were ready for the responsibility or if you weren’t you would grow into the job. I won’t say anything more. I’ll talk to you privately.”

“No, talk to me right now. What do you want? Do you want me out? If you do, say so. You know, if I leave I’ll be taking some of the other management with me and you can’t run this company without them.”

“Is that a threat?”

“Take it any way you want to. You are past being effective around here. I’m in charge.”

“Colin, you are making it awful difficult for me to remember you are my son.”

“I don’t care. This is my company.”

“No it isn’t. I built it and you have almost destroyed it. As of right now, you are terminated. Major Reynolds, would you escort the CEO off the premises?” Colin stood there in shock. He looked then at Peter Williams and Bill Dover. They didn’t appear to want to join Colin in leaving as much as his threat implied.

Conrad wasn’t done. “Peter and Bill, you have a choice to make. I think I have enough evidence of your criminal endeavors within the company. If you stay, I will bring charges. If you leave with Colin I will just say good riddance. I would advise you to leave. Major, I have a list here of others in the company that helped in pulling us down. Make sure they are terminated as well. Matt Morton has the paperwork. Please meet me back here in an hour and we will see if we can reorganize. Recess for one hour.”

I didn’t need the list for I had made it up. They were all going today anyway and I had my security in place to enforce Conrad’s directive. The only surprise was Colin. I didn’t think the old man had it in him to terminate his only son and heir.

By the end of the day this company had ten less people on its payroll. Both hourly and salaried employees were affected. Conrad had again assumed the helm with the title of President. Alicia, Matt, myself and three others took the title as vice-presidents. The only department that hadn’t been affected was Research and Development which was made up of engineers and those that worked for them.

I was still Security Chief and I was also Vice-President in charge of the Warehousing. Alicia still controlled Sales and Marketing. Matt was raised to Vice-President in charge of Policy and Finances, which made him Conrad’s right hand man. There was one person named in charge of Procurement and one in charge of Manufacturing. The last was an engineer and he still had the same responsibilities, but now with a title.

What made me the most happy, was Marie. She had been given the Personnel Department, now called Human Resources to manage, which she well deserved. Conrad shut the plant down the following day and had everyone meet in the warehouse, the only place where there was room for all. Donuts by the hundreds were served and gallons and gallons of coffee were poured. Up front he took some responsibility about how the company had been managed. He gave them the new chain of command, and said if anyone, anytime had a problem, they could talk to anyone in management and their concerns would be addressed. The question came from far back in the room, “Does that mean sexual harassment, too?”

“Especially that. I have found out only recently how some of my managers have been conducting themselves. I apologize. If any of you feel you have been wronged irreparably, please come and talk to me personally. Now on a different subject, how many of you would like to have an extra hundred bucks in your paycheck?” He paused while a roar went up. “Would you work just a little harder at your machines--no longer, mind you--just a little harder? That is if we have what you need to produce right at hand for you to keep your machines running.” The workers had to think this over, but finally a cheer went up for that too.

***************

After six weeks the factory was running more smoothly than ever. Our work force had been reduced and the remaining workers were earning more and happy in doing so. The one area that Conrad had worried about was the people that we would have to let go to reduce the workforce. This new start-up company located in the extra warehouse space took care of that. Their work paid more and it was a cleaner operation than ours. We did lose some of our best employees to them, but overall we were satisfied that not one of our original work force was terminated, because they had applied to the new company on their own.

I didn’t often see Alicia. It was necessary for me to be working a lot of evening hours. Sometimes I saw her when she was coming and going from her house across the street. For once, on a Friday evening, I was home early and had just finished my evening meal and was heading for the shower. I was intent on just getting cleaned up and crashing on the couch while watching a comedy or something on the tube. The door bell rang and when I opened it, Alicia was standing there with a bottle of wine.

“May I come in?”

“Sure stranger, and I’ll even help you empty that bottle you have in your hands.”

“What are you up to? I never see you home in the evening very often.”

“Working only. I haven’t had a minute to call my own since the change-over. That is about to get better, though, for I have a couple of lieutenants ready to take over so I can get back to normal hours. How are you doing?”

“Great, well that is except for one problem. I need to talk to someone about it and I have picked you.”

“I hope you don’t want to get laid. It has been so long I’ve forgotten how.”

“Ha, I’ve heard that it is like riding a bicycle--once you learn how you never forget.”

“Well, if I find someone who likes bicycle riding, I’ll try to find out.”

“Christ, if you’re that desperate, why don’t you try me. I can do both.”

“At the same time? I’d like to see that.”

“No silly, ride a bike and make love.”

“How about tonight? I’d like it to be you I make love to and there is no time like the present.”

“You mean I don’t even need this bottle of wine to get in the mood?”

“Nope. Park your bottle in the ’fridge, right next to the one I was going to bring over to see you with. I was heading for the shower when you knocked. Would you like to join me?”

“No, but make the shower a short one. I’ll look around and find your bedroom and I’ll be waiting.”

This was so far from my original plan for the evening. I worried all the while as I was getting cleaned up what Alicia would say when I came into the bedroom on crutches. I had to remove my prosthetic foot to shower and I wasn’t putting it back on to make love to a woman--even one as beautiful as Alicia.

I stopped just outside the door where Alicia couldn’t see me. “Alicia, I’m on crutches. I don’t want to shock you or gross you out. I’m just warning you that is all.”

“I know all about your lack of a foot. Come in and come to bed. I don’t want to wait much longer.”

I don’t think I ever enjoyed making love to any woman more than I did Alicia. We took our time exploring each other and when we finished we were both totally satisfied. “That was a beautiful experience. I’m going to want a repeat--one that could last for the rest of my life.”

“I feel the same way. I’m never going to want to make love to anyone but you again.” We snuggled together and we may have taken a little nap. I held Alicia close and didn’t ever want to let her go. We started making plans for a life together. Her head was lying on my arm. I felt tears running down her face and onto me. “Do you want to tell me your problem now?”

“Yes Jim, you need to know I’ve got an awful lot of baggage. You may not want me when I tell you everything.”

“Believe me, I’ll still want you. Tell me and I’ll help in any way I can.”

“Okay.” Alicia and I were spooned together and she was still lying on my arm. “Do you remember, I told you I became pregnant when I first came to work here. Well, Colin was the father and in fact, he was the one who took my virginity. He gave me money for an abortion and paid me off with a year’s pay.”

“Yes, you told me.”

“Jim, I just couldn’t and didn’t go through with the abortion. I had the baby and he is living right now with my mother. That is the reason I have been doing what I have for the past few years. I did it to not only get money to raise him, but to have the time off so I could spend more time being a mother to him.”

“That’s wonderful. I’m proud of you, sweetheart.”

“That’s fine, but that isn’t my problem. Mom says she is getting old and I want my child to live with me. She isn’t really, but it is time I had my son with me. The problem lies with my child’s name, if I bring him here to live.” Alicia paused and then continued, “I named my son Conrad Colin Benton-Garcia. Colin is listed on the birth certificate as the father. What is Conrad Benton going to say when he hears about Coly? Will he think I’m trying to get money or curry favor with him? I love my job and now that I’ve found you I don’t want to lose you or it either.”

“Alicia, I know Conrad better than anyone else. You know all of these changes that have taken place in the company? All of those changes have been worked out between me and Conrad. You wonder why you don’t see much of me on weekends and many nights? It is because he and I are going over things. I spend almost as much time with him as I do in the factory. Believe me, now that Colin is out of the picture, Conrad will grasp at an heir.”

“He won’t think less of me?”

“I don’t think so. Right now he misses Colin. Colin wouldn’t talk to him after he was terminated and Conrad doesn’t know where he is located. What a damned fool Colin is. Would you like me to break the news to him about having a grandson? How old is your son now?”

“He is going to be nine in a couple of weeks.”

“That is good, in fact it couldn’t be better. That will give the old guy something to rejoice over. I’ll sound him out and then ask him if he wants to go to his grandson’s birthday party. I’m sure he will be tickled.”

“Oh Jim, you give me so much hope. Can I spend the night here in your arms?”

“And all the nights forever, sweetheart.”

The next day I made the ninety mile trip to meet Coly. That is what Alicia called her son. He had his mother’s coloring, but he had the features of both his father, Colin, and his grandfather, Conrad. I was stunned at the looks of Alicia’s mother, Anita. She was as beautiful as Alicia. I told her that Alicia called her old which was the reason she was going to have to take charge of Coly.

“No. I’m not old. I’m young enough so that I want to find me someone to grow old with. It is time Alicia took her son with her. I have had him since I was forty-three. Now I want to live a little before I do get too old.”

“How would you like to be introduced to an older gentleman at Coly’s birthday party? In fact I’ll introduce you to two.”

“Jim, who are you talking about? You don’t mean Conrad do you? That couldn’t happen.”

“Well, he will be here and I’ll introduce him. What about Matt Morton? He lost his wife several years ago.”

“Hey, wait a minute. Don’t be getting me married off just yet. I think I can find my own man.”

“As beautiful as you are, I’m sure you can. I think the copy of you is beautiful and is an original in her own right.”

Both women called me a “flatterer” at the same time. Coly was a well mannered little gentleman, child that he was. I thought suddenly that when I married Alicia this boy was going to become my son. Then I thought, all the more reason for me to make Alicia love me. Yes, and one day I could thank Colin, his father, for this gift, asshole that he was.

When I reached home on Sunday, I called Conrad. I had never been to his home before. He was surprised with the call from me. It was usually the other way around. “Conrad, may I meet with you today? It is something personal.”

“Of course, Major. Why don’t you come here and we’ll have a drink while you explain.” I gave Alicia a kiss and left her shaking with nerves. I would call as soon as I talked with Conrad.

I opened the conversation by asking after Colin and what the situation was between him and his son. “Well, he is still my son and I still love him. God, he makes it hard for me though. Love him I do, but he is an ass.”

“Is he your only blood relative?”

“Yes as far as I know. His mother died when he was fairly young and I was tied up in building the company for him. I should have spent more time with him, but instead I was spending time on what I hoped was for him.”

“How would you feel if you found out he sired a son? One that not even he knows about.”

“Is there such a one?”

“I’m pretty sure of it. The woman claims to have been a virgin when she became pregnant. Knowing Colin, you can guess what he did. However, the woman thought she was in love with Colin and even though he turned her love away and gave her money to have the fetus aborted, she didn’t do as he wished. She went away and had the baby. To give Colin his due, he did give her a year’s salary, not knowing that was what made her able to keep the child.”

“So what does she want now, money?”

“No, definitely not. Knowing that Colin would not recognize the child as his, she named the boy Conrad Colin and hyphenated Benton with her own. I just became aware of this in the last week, because I plan on making the woman my wife and the boy my son. I would still like to work for you and my future wife would still like to work for you. What we are trying to do is not embarrass you or ourselves. That is why I am here today to break the news to you and to find out your feelings on the subject.”

“Where is the boy now?”

“He has been raised by his maternal grandmother. I met Conrad and the grandmother yesterday. I am very impressed with both. She has done a wonderful job with the boy. Of course the mother has been with the boy as much as possible, making the best of a bad situation.”

“I caught that you said this woman works for the company. Do I know her?”

“Absolutely. She is one of your vice presidents---Alicia Garcia. Your grandson’s name is Conrad Colin Benton-Garcia. His mother and grandmother call him Coly. Again I say the reason I’m here is because Alicia and I are in love and plan to marry. Coly will be coming here with us and him having both yours and Colin’s name, we thought it might be an embarrassment to you.”

“What about Colin? Is Alicia going to put in a claim to him?”

“No. He gave up all rights when he paid Alicia to have the abortion, and she wants nothing more from him.”

“What about you? If I recognize the boy as my grandson and you marry the boy’s mother, that would make you almost my son by marriage. Are you still the person I think you are?”

“I would hope so. I think you know me well enough now to know I would never trade on what we have done together in your company. I’m proud of what I have accomplished. That is reward enough.”

“I would never suggest otherwise. When am I going to be able to meet the boy? To tell the truth what you have told me is beginning to thrill me.”

“If you would like to meet Coly, you could travel with us to meet him on his ninth birthday. That will be in two weeks. His grandmother lives about two hours from here. Alicia and I are spending Saturday night there. To tell the truth, I want to see as much of him as I can myself. I plan on spending the rest of my life with him and I’m anxious to begin.”

“Where is Alicia right now? Why didn’t she come with you?”

“She was afraid you might take things the wrong way and that is the last thing she wants.”

“As ever, Jim, you know how to handle things just right.” He peered closely at me. “That was not only meant to be a compliment, but a well deserved thank you.” I knew it for this was the first time he had addressed me as Jim and not as Major. “I don’t suppose Alicia would have a picture of her son that I could look at, would she?”

“Why don’t you come over to the house and see her? I’m sure there are questions you would like to ask.”

“Yes--yes I have. God, I’m just beginning to believe I might have a grandson. Let’s go see her now.”

Alicia opened the door and invited Conrad in. This was not her house, but mine. She looked at Conrad anxiously and then at me. I smiled, letting her know everything was all right. “Conrad, I guess Jim has given you quite a surprise. I have wanted to tell you about this for years, but I didn’t know how you would react. I was afraid you would think I was looking for favors and that is the farthest thing from my mind.”

“I know, Alicia, and I would never think that. You have been one of my best employees. Without you, what has happened in the last few months would not have been possible. I also would like to apologize for the way Colin has treated you in all of this. He has been my biggest disappointment, but with this revelation, my life will get better. May I see a picture of the boy, please?”

Conrad feasted his eyes on the pictures of Coly as Alicia handed them to him. The album that Alicia had was from the day that Coly was born up until last weekend. These taken a couple of days ago showed him standing between his grandmother and myself. Then there was one of Alicia and him and then another one of Coly alone. “You say my son doesn’t even know he exists?”

“That’s right. He wanted him destroyed and I just couldn’t do it."

“When are you going to see the boy again?”

“Not until his birthday in two weeks. Jim did invite you to meet him didn’t he?”

“Yes, but I don’t want to wait that long. Why don’t we go see him tomorrow?”

“Work, remember?”

“To hell with work, this is more important.”

“Coly goes to school. I just can’t have Mom yank him out of school.”

“I know. I’m just not thinking straight. How about we go and pick him up from school and I’ll take you, him and your Mom out to dinner? That would work, won’t it?”

“Okay, but it will be terribly late getting home tomorrow night. You might have to give me the next morning off.”

“Hell, take the whole week off.”

“No! No, listen to me Conrad, I know you are excited about this, but I couldn’t live with myself if I did that. Look, think of Coly. He has never known a father or grandfather. Jim just met him and I told him that I am in love and thinking of getting married. Then if in a couple of days I spring a grandfather on him, he is going to be asking me why I didn’t do this before. Can’t we take it slow and ease into this, please?”

“You are right, my Dear. I am anxious to see him that is all. I’m sorry.”

“That’s all right Conrad, we will go see him tomorrow. I didn’t think this would affect you so much.”

“Maybe it would not have except for how much I have been disappointed in Colin.”

***************

Alicia and I were married. Conrad paid for the wedding, although we asked him not too. When the minister got to who gives this woman to this man, Conrad spoke and said, “I, Conrad as her friend, and her mother do.” Matt stood with me as best man and Alicia had her best friend, Marie, by her side as maid of honor. Coly sat with his new grandfather and his grandmother. It was summertime and Conrad made the wedding coincide with the company picnic so we had many more well-wishers than anyone could dream of.

I had some of my old unit from Bosnia present, as they had rotated home by this time. Alicia and I loved the section of the city we had our homes in, so I had a small addition constructed onto the back of my home. There was now room for Coly to live with us. Anita was moved into Alicia’s house across the street and Coly spent his free time there with his grandmother when Alicia and I were working. Conrad was welcomed into either house and was a constant visitor wherever Coly happened to be.

Conrad had a huge house but it was mostly for show. Soon it did not feel like home to Conrad as much as the two homes on our street. Alicia and I had been married for two years and she was pregnant with my child. Conrad opened his house for Thanksgiving. Alicia and Anita did the cooking and we were just sitting down to dinner. Coly had been coached to say the blessing. He had just finished when we heard the front door open.

“Well isn’t this a homey little gathering?” Startled we looked to see Colin standing just inside the door observing us.

Conrad never missed a beat. “Sit son, we are just ready to eat. I’m glad you are here. We can talk later, but right now, I’m hungry.”

Colin stood there and then asked a question, “Have you room for one more besides me?”

“Certainly.” I stood and went to get two more chairs from the hallway while Anita set two more places. Colin disappeared for a few minutes. We heard two people arguing and finally the front door opened and Colin came in with a very pregnant woman with eyes downcast behind him. I held a chair for the woman, sitting her between Alicia and Anita. I, myself, had moved farther down the table so that Colin would have a seat beside his father.

Looking at the woman Colin had brought in, “Let’s get the introductions out of the way. I’m Colin’s father, Conrad. Colin, please introduce the young lady.” And she was young, not much over half Colin’s age, I suspected.

“This is Trisha Montgomery. Trisha, the lady beside you is Alicia Garcia and the man at the end of the table is Major Jim Reynolds.”

He sat down. Anita spoke, I’m Alicia’s mother, Anita. This boy next to me is my grandson, Coly.”

“We will eat now--talk later. If you will pass your plate I’ll put some turkey on it.”

Trisha was small, dark and scared. She obviously was uncomfortable, not knowing anyone and having everyone curious about the relationship between her and Colin. Alicia tried but couldn’t get her to say much. It wasn’t because she had her mouth full, because she just picked at her food. Trisha tried to help when it was time to pick up the dishes. I watched Colin as he watched this woman he had brought into our midst. I could see love and concern. Some different than the old Colin I had known before.

After pie and coffee, we went into the study and sat before the fireplace. “There are a few things I need to get out in the open with you Colin. First, I have never been so disappointed in anyone as much as I have been with you. That said, we will forget about it for now and we can talk about it in a more private setting. Coly tell this man, my son, what your name is and a little about yourself.”

“My name is Conrad Colin Benton-Garcia.” I was proud of Coly. This was his biological father that he was telling his name to. “Alicia Garcia Reynolds is my mother and Conrad Benton is my grandfather. I am almost twelve years old and I live with my Dad and Mom. My grandmother brought me up and lives across the street from them and has since my dad, Jim, married my mother.”

Conrad was beaming and proud, as only a grandparent can be. “Thankfully, Alicia had more sense not to follow someone’s wishes in the matter of a pregnancy that developed years ago. The boy is your son, Colin, in blood only and that is the only claim you have on him. His father is Jim and I will not have you tamper with that arrangement.” He turned to the newcomer, “Trisha, is the baby you are carrying Colin’s?”

“Yes Sir, it is.”

“Good, then I won’t have to wait ten years to know the child. One other thing, I think you all should know and especially you, Alicia. As long as you have borne me a grandson under difficult circumstances, any child even by Jim will be considered my grandchild also. Trisha, any child in the future you have with Colin, also will be considered my grandchild.”

Colin turned on Alicia. “You worked with me for nine years after you had a child by me and never said anything? You must have hated me to do that to me.”

“Colin, I didn’t hate you. I just didn’t consider you at all. After that, I treated you just as I treated anyone I worked with. You got me pregnant and you made it very plain you didn’t want a child. I did, so why would I have to tell you? I don’t want to talk about it anymore. You gave me something, and when I found someone who loved me and I loved him as well, we became a family. You are out of it totally.”

“Yes, maybe I am, but I notice you made sure that my father knows about it.”

“Colin, they never came to me until they became worried that your peccadillo would be an embarrassment to me. Someday you will get it through your head that not everyone is out for what they can get. Why may I ask, are you here today? Can you tell me you aren’t after something yourself?”

Trisha struggled to her feet. “Come Colin, I can see you aren’t wanted here. Let’s leave. We can make out okay. We didn’t come to grovel.”

“Trisha, please sit down. We are family here. I’m sure we want to get this all out in the open. I haven’t seen Colin for two or more years and I’m very happy to have him here. You too, for you are my family as much as he is now that you are carrying his baby. No one is groveling, and they won’t. We just want to find out everyone’s situation. If you are in any need we will see if we can’t improve the situation for you. It is normal for Colin to resent Alicia and Jim and yes, Coly too.”

“He is right, Trish. Dad, I came to ask you for a job. I have been working in an office and Trisha has been working in a store as a clerk. We are having a hard time making ends meet. If I can get a better paying job, I’m going to marry Trisha. We have been waiting to see if I could support her. We’ve found out if we aren’t married, she can collect welfare as an unmarried mother with child.”

“Things are that bad for you, son? I don’t know if we have anything in the company right at the moment. Major, do you know where Marie is having dinner today?”

“Yes I do. I’ll give her a call.” I crossed the room and picked up the telephone book and looked up a number. Finding it I dialed. “Hi Marie, have we got any openings in management now or coming up shortly?” I listened and answered her question. “Yes he is highly qualified--over qualified at the present for that opening. I suspect he will be moving up and into upper management eventually. Let me ask him for he is right here.

“Colin, would you be willing to accept the position as department head in the stamping department. It pays--.” I quoted a figure.

“That’s in the south wing, right?” I nodded. “When can I start?”

I returned to Marie on the phone. “He’ll take it and he will be in on Monday to fill out the paperwork. It is someone that you will recognize--no, I’m not going to tell you his name. Have a great holiday. Love you too, Bye.”

Conrad was looking pleased. “Well, that went well. When is my grandchild due, Trisha?”

“In about five weeks, Sir.”

“Call me Conrad, Dear. Everyone calls me that, even Coly. Now Anita, I imagine we have the little lady needing a baby shower, but first I think Colin should get on the ball and marry her. Where are you living at present?”

We found out that Colin and Trisha were renting a mobile home in a park. “Well I think you had better move in here. There is an ungodly amount of room. I haven’t stayed here much lately. Too lonely, you know.”

“Where do you stay?”

“I have found an attractive widow that entertains me on occasion. You don’t need to know anymore than that.” Anita was blushing.

“Grandpa, you are making Gram’s face awful red.” Coly was laughing, which made the rest of us laugh, too.

“So Colin, tell me about what happened to Bill Dover and Pete Williams. Those that I terminated when you walked out on me.”

“They screwed me over, big time. I honestly didn’t know how much they were stealing from the company. I thought it was petty stuff. Right after that when we were trying to decide what to do they told me. They wanted to use the money and trade on my name of Benton to take over a company they had lined up. They had plans to bleed that company dry, just like they had planned to do here.

“Believe it or not, the name Benton does mean something to me. I had dragged it into the dirt enough and so I split with them. I have since found out how hard it is to make it out there without your name behind me. Now I just want to make a living for Trish and the baby. I promise I will work hard if you give me the chance.”

“You’ve got it. I’ve seen how giving someone everything isn’t the way to gain respect. I even have Coly working in the office for his pocket money. I consider Alicia and Jim as close to me as you are, but they get no special favors from me. I expect you to do the same now that you are with the company again.”

Colin took Trisha on a tour of the house. I could hear him telling about growing up here. I could also tell that Conrad was wondering about his about-to-be-daughter-in-law. She definitely did not have the polish that even I had acquired, coming from the armed services as I had. We were older, Alicia and I, so maybe we were much like her at her age. Time would tell. She was a sweet thing and Colin certainly adored her. And Colin--God how he had changed from what he had been when I first knew him! Two years ago, he never would have come and asked for a job from his father.

Anita, the ultimate perfect mother, took over and became that to the young woman. Trisha told her how she and Colin came to be together. She related how when Colin objected to what Bill Dover and Peter Williams had demanded, they had severely beat him up. They stopped just short of killing him. The fight ended with him having several broken ribs and various bruises and abrasions.

Trisha had found Colin lying beside the road where they had dumped him. She had taken him to her nearby trailer, where she had nursed him back to health. They had fallen in love, but he found he couldn’t support her in the manner he felt she deserved so he had decided to return and ask his father for a job. She said when we all had been so nice to him, he broke down and finally told her what an asshole he had been and why he had left. He planned on doing the best he could in showing that he was thankful for another chance.

Two weeks after Thanksgiving, Colin and Trisha were married in the little chapel by the church near Conrad’s home. A week later Alicia and Trisha had a double baby shower. Marie had been planning it for Alicia and was curious as to what Colin’s wife would be like. She suspected from Colin’s past actions that his wife would be a bimbo of some sort. She went ahead and put Trisha’s name down with Alicia’s, so it was a double shower. Trisha stole everyone’s heart at the shower, she was so sweet and appreciative.

Trisha gave birth to a baby girl, Karen, on Christmas day and Alicia presented me with a son, Ray, on New Years day. I guess Coly was the one most affected. He was going to be twelve and within a week he had two half siblings by two different mothers. I worried a little, thinking that I might lose Coly to Colin. After all Colin was his biological father, but the two never became more than someone that knew each other. On the other hand Coly thought the world of little Karen and spent much time playing with her. I half suspected he had a teen-age crush on Trisha, but if he did he was discreet about it.

I could understand that, for she was sweet and as she regained her figure so we all knew what she looked like, we could see how beautiful she was. Conrad at first was a little distant with Colin, but when he saw how serious Colin was about making up for all the pain he had caused, he took him back into his heart. A lot of this was because of Trisha. She started calling Conrad “Dad” and as she was his son’s wife he came to adore her.

***************

“Major, we haven’t had a chance to walk around the golf course together for awhile. Let’s meet up and then have lunch and a drink afterwards.” I knew this was important, for Conrad pretty much always addressed me as “Jim” now.

When we made it to the fifth tee he asked me to sit. “Jim, I’m going to be seventy-two shortly. It is time I got away from the factory. We are having this conversation because if it hadn’t been for you, I wouldn’t have had a factory to get away from. I appreciate it more than you know. I want to make sure you get everything that is coming to you. You must have thought about it some. I’d like to hear your thoughts on the subject.”

“No Conrad, it is your factory. This is one time I’m not going to even hint at what you should do. I’ll be happy in whatever you decide.”

“Okay, I suspected that is what you would say. I would ask you to answer me one thing. Do you think Colin is ready to take over as president?”

“Yes I do and without any reservation, either.”

“You won’t be hurt if I raise him up to take over that position?”

“No, of course not. He should take over.”

“Will you work with him as you have with me?”

“Yes, I will. We do get along very well and we should continue to. If the situation was the same as when he left, I would say no, but he is a changed man and has done everything in his power to show you how wrong he was at that time.”

“Good, then that is one hurdle out of the way. I want to touch on something else. Trisha, God love her as much as I do, has had two children, both girls by Colin, and there is Coly. He is as much my grandchild as they are. He and Colin don’t really have any feelings for each other. I have been watching him. Coly is so much like I was at his age and bears my name. You have done wonders in teaching him what he is. I want that to continue. You also have two boys by Alicia. If you remember back to that Thanksgiving when Colin returned, I said then that any children you had with Alicia, I would consider my grandchildren also. I meant that then and it still holds true today.”

“You don’t have to, you know. Alicia and I are well able to care for them.”

“I know that, but I want to do something to thank you for all the years you have been my friend and done so much to preserve my legacy. Besides even if you argued the point, it wouldn’t do you any good. You see, your mother-in-law and I are married. We were married a week ago so half of everything I have is hers.”

“Congratulations, I was wondering what you two were waiting for. You obviously have loved each other from the first.”

“I know, but it took a while to get her to say yes. I think what finally convinced her is when Trisha half in jest, but meaning it, began calling her Mom. Anita loves Alicia and Trisha about equally, the same as I do. So I guess this has turned out to be all about the womenfolk and not about us men.”

*******************

The year Conrad turned seventy-five turned our world upside down. Colin and Trisha went skiing in the Colorado Mountains. They skied off the trail and it started an avalanche. Observers said Trisha was in the lead down the mountain and when the two realized what trouble they were in and knew they couldn’t outrun it, they stopped and waited for it together, clasped in each others arms. They were found still together two weeks later.

This left Alicia and me with the raising of five children. Coly was no problem for he was in his last year at Yale, and would be taking his bar exam later after he graduated. The two girls of Trisha and Colin, ten and eleven and the same age as my two boys were devastated, of course, as were we all. It was the death of Trisha that hurt us the most, for she had come to us scared and unsure, but ended up in our hearts. Talking together afterward we could see that at first she felt she wasn’t up to our standards. She worked so hard to lift herself and did, we were the ones that needed to finally lift ourselves up to her.

It was at a meeting on the fifth tee that Conrad asked me what I wanted to do about the factory. “Jim I’m out of it. You and Alicia have the kids to look after. If you want to sell out and find something more relaxing to do, go ahead. The kids are all trust fund babies now and you have no worries about supporting them or yourself. You saw to that by turning the factory around when you did. Go fishing, go around the world. As long as you aren’t away too long at a time, Anita and I can watch them.”

“You really wouldn’t mind giving up the factory? It has been your whole life.”

“Yes it has but it doesn’t need to be yours. If Coly was more interested and wanted to take over someday, I’d say hang on until then. He and I had a talk about it not too long ago. He said he could come in and run it as well as you have, but said he wouldn’t have the passion that I had to build it, or you to turn it around and rescue it when it went down hill. In other words it would be just a job to him. I’m saying let him find something that he will find more interesting than just a job.”

“Okay, but I’ll have to talk to Alicia. I don’t know how she will feel about it if the factory goes. That has been her whole working experience and she is good at it. Of course if the factory is sold, she might stay with the company or move to another one. Myself, I’d like to see her stay home and raise the kids. Eleven- and twelve-year-old kids can be quite a handful, especially when they are coming into their teen years.”

“Good, talk to her. What will you do? You will have enough money to do pretty much what you want.”

“I think I would like to find a small security firm--one where I could use my digital surveillance abilities. Something where I wasn’t too tied down. I’d also like to own a piece of land and have a horse to ride.”

“Go for it then. Even if Alicia wants to stay in manufacturing it would still be possible.” He shook his head pensively. “Such a change for us since Trisha died.” Conrad paused as if to say more. “You know, Jim, I have a confession to make. I loved my son’s wife and not as a daughter-in-law either. I would have given everything to have had her as my own. I almost declared my love to her several times, you know.

“You knew of course that Anita and I were intimate for years. I told Anita about how I was almost obsessed with Trisha and she understood. She said to save myself I should marry someone else. That was when I proposed to her and moved in with her permanently. At first it was just to get away from seeing Trisha all the time, but Anita was wise. By the time Trisha died, I was over her and fully in love with Anita. I don’t know why I told you this. Confession is good for the soul, maybe.”

I smiled and said, “You aren’t the only one that was obsessed with Trisha. Coly talked to me just before he went away to school in the East. He said he had to get away from where he would be seeing Trisha, for he loved her. He had little feeling for Colin and would like to have him dead, just so he could have had a chance at his stepmother. Please don’t say anything for he talked to me in confidence.”

“How about you, Jim? What effect did Trisha have on you?”

“Let’s just say I had my fantasies. I channeled them into making sure that Colin did everything he could to make Trisha happy. Maybe that is love by substitution. Don’t get me wrong, I never would have cheated on Alicia. But as I say, sometimes late at night a man can have his fantasies.”

“She was something and I miss her. We all will.”

It took eighteen months to sell the manufacturing plant and for me to replace my job with one that made me part owner of a firm that did private investigations. Alicia became a stay-at-home soccer mom full time. I did get my horse to ride, which was a boyhood dream of mine. I don’t get much chance to ride, for one of Trisha’s girls Karen, is on the horse every chance she gets. The other girl Bonny, wants to be a veterinarian and hangs out at the clinic just down the road from us.

My boys, Ray and Roger, have their own interests. Ray hangs out with me and wants to be a PI just like I am. His biggest moment was the day I received my license to investigate. My youngest, Roger, is into baseball and I have had to take him to games to see the one he wants to emulate. Some player named Clemens. But Christ, all the way to New York. We did get to spend some time with Coly while we were there. He is working for some Wall Street firm as a corporate lawyer.

The property we bought is only fifty acres, but we all call it the ranch. Conrad and Anita wanted to be around the kids and to spoil them while they grew up. They bought the property adjacent to ours, to the south. Alicia liked a little cottage that was up the road a mile to the north. It came on the market and she persuaded me to purchase it.

"I asked her, What she wanted that for?”

“I want to be a landlord and I know just the person to rent it to.”

“One of your old boyfriends, I suppose.”

“No, but it is someone I used to work with. You’ll find out soon enough.”

I did. Two weeks later I was in my office and heard someone come in the front entrance. I heard my partner say in answer to a question, “He’s in there.”

I looked up and Marie was standing there in the doorway. My partner was watching over her shoulder as I said, “Oh shit, can’t I ever get away from you? I suppose you are here to collect what I owe?”

“I’ve waited long enough.” She stood there without any expression on her face and then came stalking towards me. I pushed my chair away from the desk. Marie turned and sat down on my lap and put her arms around me and kissed me as hard as she could.

Alicia came in and was standing beside my partner asking him, “Don’t they make a lovely couple?” He stood there with his mouth open. “Okay you two, that’s enough. Any more and I’ll have to start worrying.”

“Jim, this is our new tenant who is living in the little cottage you bought for me. Marie told me months ago that she wanted to be near us. It has worked out perfectly.”

I shook my head and then introduced Marie to my partner, George. Marie at fifty was still all woman. So she wasn’t quite as trim as she had been when younger, but she still carried herself well. After almost twenty years, I remembered how wild she was in bed. “George, Marie and I used to be lovers until Alicia came along. She claims I still owe her several nights in bed for past favors she has done for me over the years. Under the circumstances I’m afraid that is a debt that never will be paid.”

Marie, always the flirt, said, “You know Jim, I’m up here all alone. You could introduce me to someone. That seems the only way I’m going to get paid what I’m owed.”

“Marie, I think I just did, right Alicia?” My mind had been working overtime and knowing Alicia as I did, I figured that she was up to her old matchmaking tricks.

I was right when Alicia asked George to dinner that night with the comment that we all needed to welcome Marie into the community. Conrad and Anita had already been invited. The kids would all be there except Coly and they all knew Marie. She always had been a frequent visitor at our home before we moved here, so the welcome would be a genuine one.

A great affection developed between George and Marie and they were often in each others company. I supposed eventually they would marry. I questioned George about it. “Look I love Marie, but she has turned me down. She said she has only one true love in her life. Unfortunately the person she loves is in such a position where he can’t come to her. So we are friends and we do have a good time together. That’s it, although I could wish for more.”

We were a happy conclave. I had a friend in George and Alicia had Marie. Conrad was slowing down, but was extremely happy with Anita there by his side. Alicia and I were set now to live out the rest of our lives in comparative quiet. We did for three years and then it all turned to crap. The four kids were all in high school when I woke up to the fact that Alicia wasn’t well. You know how you are used to acting the same way and if it changes ever so slowly it takes a long time to notice the difference.

“What’s going on, Alicia? You are keeping something from me.” We had never talked much about the love we had for each other. It was a given and we felt we never had to be demonstrative about it before others. The family knew and of course Marie and George knew how deep our love for each other was. And between us our only ritual was to say to each other first thing in the morning and the last thing at night, “I love you.” That was when Alicia told me she had been diagnosed with cancer.

“How long have you known?”

“Since just before Marie came to live here next to us. What I have is CLL. It is a form of leukemia. It isn’t unusual and is not too dangerous to have. It just has to be watched. The trouble is, it can turn aggressive which has happened in my case. I may have only six weeks to live.”

“Alicia, we can beat it. We’ll get the best doctors and the best treatment.”

“No we won’t. The treatment is worse than the disease itself and is hardly ever successful. What I would prefer is for you to go away right now and keep me in your mind as I am right now. I know you won’t so I am going to have you by my side and I thank you for that. Just treat me the way you have always done and we won’t mention what is going to happen shortly.”

I tried and I did most of my crying alone where Alicia couldn’t see how sad and broken up I was. I informed Coly and the kids they would be losing their mother. This was especially hard on Colin’s and Trisha’s two girls. They had already lost one mother and were about to lose another. Marie was there for all of us. I contacted several friends--mostly those that we had worked with over the years. They stopped in ostensibly to visit Conrad, but just had to say “hi” to Alicia before they left. One day Alicia said, “enough” for she knew I was behind so many friends showing up. After that it was just family.

I do believe it was me that got her through the last few days and kept a smile on her face. Thankfully the sedation she needed was effective. It was me that held her when she awoke during the night and when the fears of the unknown made her tremble. How I wished I could tell her not to worry and everything would be all right. I didn’t, for I couldn’t find the words. Just being there with her was enough after awhile, and then she came to accept the inevitable.

Coly and I, one or both, were with her constantly and she drew strength from that, even when others were in the room. The afternoon that we all knew was going to be her last and before she slipped into unconsciousness, Alicia said, “Mom has a note for you, Dear. Please read it sometime soon. Now hold me and tell me again how much you love me. I have been so blessed all these years and you have made me so happy. I love you, Jim.”

I caressed her cheek and said, “I love you, Alicia.” Those words were the only thing I could say as Alicia’s eyes closed and within a few hours I was left alone.

***************

The heart went out of Conrad with Alicia’s passing. He couldn’t understand why God was doing this to him. He had lost his only son, he who had returned and made him proud before he was killed. He had lost his daughter-in-law Trisha, a very young woman whom he admitted having lustful thoughts for. Now he had lost Alicia, the one whom he loved only as a man can love a daughter who has given him a grandson. Conrad would come into the office and talk, often asking questions about life I couldn’t answer for him.

I guess my military background helped me. I had seen much of death in Bosnia so many years before. Not so much of people I knew, but those of the different ethnic groups that were still looking for a chance to get even. Even if the wrongs had been committed centuries in the distant past. It didn’t matter whether it was Christian or Islam, death was the ultimate pay-back in their minds. So death to me was something that happened. Don’t get me wrong, I missed Alicia everyday, I just understood it more than Conrad might have.

Three months after Alicia was buried, Anita came into the office and handed me a packet of letters. “Jim, Alicia wanted you to have these. She asked me to wait until the pain of her passing dulled a little before I handed them to you. They are pages of the thoughts she wrote down after different events that happened to her in her life. I have read them as she asked me to, so they aren’t that private. There is a request at the end. Actually it is a suggestion, and not binding on you.”

I took the pages from Anita and said, “She said you had something for me, but I had forgotten. Thank you.” Anita gave me a hug and kissed my cheek as she left.

I turned the packet over in my hands and then I laid them out on my desk. Either Alicia or Anita had kept them in chronological order. I got up and locked the office door. The first few pages were of when Colin first came on to her and followed through his seduction of the naive young woman. She wrote about her telling her lover of her pregnancy and how crushed she was when she found out just what kind of a person he really was. How she felt when he gave her money for the abortion and paid her off for the year with a salary. (Stupid Whore) That is what she felt he had made her become.

She wrote about her decision to have the baby and how her mother had conspired to help her daughter. When she returned to work in the factory, how she had been pressured into accepting evening work keeping clients happy. Doing this to have time off to be with her bastard son, Coly. Her low self-esteem showed in many of the things she wrote down. My name appeared after ten years. She told how Marie (her true friend as she called her) called her and told her about a man that had just been employed. He was on the way to meet everyone in the plant. I was described as interesting.

Alicia wrote how bad she felt when I had returned the keys after seeing the house across the street and had to tell me she went out on company business in the evening. (He must know now I am a whore.) Then she felt bad when she found out that I had actually gone out with clients myself, but--I wasn’t any worse than she was, now. Then how she felt when Marie described about taking me to bed and telling about my only having one foot. She wanted to see that for herself.

The night I made love to her for the first time took up two pages, and ended with the comment, “I’m in love!” This brought on a disagreement and strained feelings with Marie, for Marie, her friend, thought I was her own personal property as she had got to me first. Then Alicia told how Marie and her made a pact that if for any reason Alicia and I ever married and then split, she--Alicia would do everything in her power to see that Marie would have a chance with me again.

There were several pages of when Colin was terminated and of the reshuffling of management, which resulted in all of us having more power with Conrad in running the factory. More pages still of when Colin returned on Thanksgiving bringing a pregnant woman into the family. There were glowing descriptions of me when I became a new father with my son Ray.

Smart woman that Alicia was, she wrote about how everyone lusted after Trisha--Colin, her husband, and Conrad, old enough to be her grandfather. Yes, and she made note that she wouldn’t be too terribly surprised if Trisha was the sort to make a play for me, that she might lose me to the younger woman. She knew Coly was growing up when she could see the lust in her son’s face when he looked at Trisha also. Alicia and I had made the unanimous decision to see that Coly went as far away as possible to keep temptation from him.

When Trisha died Alicia was sad as were the rest of us. There again, I didn’t find any reference to Colin. He apparently was a non being as far as Alicia was concerned--alive or dead.

Alicia gloried in the time she and I spent together after the factory was sold. Also she wrote when she was first diagnosed with the fairly benign cancer condition. That was when she worked so hard to have Marie come to live nearby. (Jim may need a spare wife someday--oh, I hope it is never necessary!) The pages were actually covered with tears when she was told by the doctor the cancer had become aggressive. And again when I recognized that something wasn’t right.

The last pages written were her talking to me directly. About what a wonderful husband and father I had been and how much she loves me. Her handwriting was becoming almost illegible and the last page was written out by Anita. “Jim, I love you, oh so much. You have followed my wishes all of our time together. Would you just consider this one? If you could, would you finish out your time here on earth with our friend Marie by your side? She has waited all of these years for you, for she loves you as much as I have. To be honest, we tossed a coin to see who would get to marry you many years ago. I won that toss when I said, “Tails,” but it is her turn now. When you go to her just tell her the coin came up, “Heads,” and she will understand. Goodbye for now, I love you always, Alicia.

Tears were streaming down my face when I finished. It was dark outside now for I had spent many hours reading what my love, my wife, had written. When I arrived home Anita was there and looked at me with a question in her eyes. “I believe I will follow Alicia’s wishes. It will be soon but not too soon. Does Marie know anything about this?”

“No, but I’m sure she is hoping you will turn to her. Karen and Bonny need a woman here and that will be your excuse to ease Marie into your life.”

Two high school girls in their teens were more than I could keep up with. At first I planned on not talking to Marie for at least a year. When five months had passed I decided it was time. Marie had been coming over two or three times a week to make meals and see that everybody was doing as well as could be expected. Karen and Bonny were going to her with questions and I could see that she had their respect. Why wait? The boys were with me constantly and didn’t seem to need a woman’s touch like the girls.

I called and asked Marie if she was free for the evening. She was and wanted to know if I had a problem. “No. I was thinking about Alicia all day and I need company for awhile. I’ll come by and pick you up.”

Anita worked all day getting a simple meal ready. The table was set and the candles were ready to light. The kids were all over to Conrad’s with Anita and she would explain to them what was going on. She assured me that they all would love to have Marie in their home and take over as the mother figure. I hoped so.

I seated Marie and poured her a glass of wine. I sat across the table from her. “Marie, I have been dreaming of Alicia a lot. I dream of you and her tossing a coin. When you both look at it, joy washes over both of your features. You turn and tell me that the coin came up heads. I then take your hand and we walk together up the stairs. I look back and Alicia is still smiling and blows me a kiss. That is my dream.

“Anita gave me some notes Alicia left for me just before she died. It was her wish that you and I walk into the future together. Would you consider it?”

Marie sat looking at me. Then she said, “Jim, is this what you wish? It is nice that Alicia thought of me and you have always followed her wishes. God knows I love you, but I want you to want me for myself, not because she directed you. It will never work out if you just follow her wishes in a matter like this.”

“I know that and that is why we are talking. I have given this a lot of thought. When Anita gave me the note from Alicia months ago, my first thought was to come to you immediately. I had to know for myself if I could get beyond Alicia and love someone else. I believe I have done that. When you come over lately, I hate so much to see you walk out the door and go home. I’m asking you to stay here with me tonight. Twenty-five years ago we had a good thing going. I would very much like to go back and resume our friendship that we had then.”

“I would too and I would like to stay the night. We can talk about it in the morning, but I think my answer will be that I will stay forever.”

The End

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