Taking Texas By Storm
by: E Walk
(© 2009 by the Author)
 

The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...

Chapter 8 

The Board Meeting

The new security and record keeping system was so slick that we almost didn’t need to break stride when we entered the building.  I took Juan and Greg to the Pit Stop and Tripp was beaming. “Mr. Waller, what can I get you and your friends?”

“Tripp, I’ll have a café latte and cinnamon/raisin bagel with cream cheese.  I’m treating my drivers, so give them whatever they would like and I’ll spring for the charges.”

After the three of us had our orders, we parted ways.  I went to the office with my café and bagel and was going to try to get caught up with the things that fell through the cracks yesterday.  I was surprised to find Tammy, Joe and Grant already there.  I looked at my watch.  “Did my watch stop or what?”

Tammy looked at me, “Mr. Waller, do you even know what day it is?  I have to take the boys to a dentist appointment at eleven, so I decided that I had better come in earlier so Joe wouldn’t dock my pay.”

Joe looked up at me, “Boss, this system is going to work great.  Grant  and I spent hours working last night on how to manipulate the reports so we can tell exactly how many hours each of the employees spends here each day.  We can send them a copy when we dock their pay for any time they missed without taking sick time or vacation pay.  Sympathetic bosses won’t be able to cover for them anymore.”

Joe added, “Boss, did you know that Ozzie was here more than sixteen hours yesterday.  He can’t work that kind of schedule every day.”

I shook my head, “Guys, let me talk to Ozzie and see how we can stop him from having to work so many hours.  I very much appreciate the work that the two of you have done, but I have to ask, how long did you work on the charts last night to be able to determine that you could track when the people were here at the company?”

Grant chuckled, “Even with me molesting him, Joe was able to figure out how to track the hours for everyone.  It was after midnight when I finally was able to divert his attention to more important business.”

Tammy was laughing, “And what might that important business have been.”

Grant was spared from having to answer because Marlene stopped in, “Mr. Waller, President Odom would like to speak to you.  Tammy, would you please fill in for me during the board meeting today, since Patty is out ill?  All you will need to do is answer the phone and take any messages.”

Tammy looked surprised, “I’m surprised that you would have me do that, since I’m the new kid on the block.”

Marlene chuckled, “Yeah, but you’ve impressed the right people, and President Odom suggested that I ask you to fill in for me.  Surely, Grant and Joe could make sure the office doesn’t fall apart.”

When I arrived at President Odom’s office, his door was open and I heard him talking to someone.  Marlene motioned, “You’re to go right in, sir.”

I went to the door and knocked to let the people know I was there.

“Good Morning Ed, Mr. Machesney and Mr. Hoffmeier wanted a chance to speak with you this morning, since they are going to be leaving immediately after the Board meeting luncheon this afternoon.”

Mr. Machesney nodded, “Ed, I’m just overwhelmed at what you have been able to accomplish in the short time you’ve been back from Algeria.  Hans and I are going to be sending some of our staffs to see what you have done.”

Mr. Hoffmeier grinned, “It’s too bad we can’t clone you.  We would ask that you find time to visit our facilities and make recommendations.  Mr. Odom, tells us that you formed your team with some very unlikely suspects.  The check-in this morning went exceptionally smoothly, considering that the system has only been in existence for two days.”

Mr. Machesney nodded in agreement,  “I agree with Hans.  I want to commend your people for how clean the facility is.  It’s a far different facility than when I was here the last time.”

“Thank you for the kind words, gentlemen.  My people have been working very hard while I've been playing cops and robbers.  I was informed that Mr. Thompson, who is in charge of the cleanliness of the facility and the food department, was here for 16 hours yesterday.”

“Mr. Blank and Mr. Grant Gump spent a number of hours last evening, working on a way to track how many hours an employee works each week.”

That sparked Mr. Odom's interest, “I’ll be interested in seeing the first report next week.”

Mr. Odom switched gears, “Ed, how is your leg this morning?”

“It was little difficult getting moving this morning.  Brahim practically had to dress me this morning, because I was so stiff.  It’s feeling somewhat better now.”

Mr. Hoffmeier stood, “Ed, thanks for coming to talk to us before the board meeting, we’ll see you there.  Adam, I’m going to go get another café latte from the Pit Stop.  Can I bring anyone else something?”

When I went to the office, Steve was standing there talking to Joe and Tammy, “Oh good, there you are.  Ed, after what happened to you yesterday morning, Myrabelle, Greg and I have decided that we should probably have two metal detectors similar to what they have at airports to prevent weapons from being brought into the building.”

“Steve, let me talk to President Odom about that.  Everyone is extremely impressed with how well the check-in went this morning.  I just returned the President’s office and talking to the visiting dignitaries from Europe.  They’re going to be sending some of their staffs to see what has happened here.  Has anyone seen Oz?”

Steve answered, “I know he’s here, because he and I walked in from the parking garage together this morning.  He wants to talk to us about what to do with the cafeteria.  He said he had some things that he needed to check.”

I looked at the clock, “I need to go to the bathroom before the Board meeting.  Where’s Grant?”

Joe pointed, “He’s in his office meeting with a client.”

After I visited the bathroom, I went to the Board Room.  I had no idea what to expect.  When I walked in, I didn’t know anyone except Dad, of course, President Odom, Mr. Hoffmeier and Mr. Machesney.  Marlene arrived right after me and pointed, “Mr. Waller, your name tag is next to President Odom’s.”

I frowned, “Marlene, I haven’t a clue why I’m here.  I know nothing about board things.”

Marlene chuckled, “Well, Eddie, my boy, you’re about to be indoctrinated.  Just make sure that you don’t fall asleep.”

President Odom went to the head of the table and rang a bell, “Ladies and gentlemen, according to my watch, it is now ten o’clock and everyone is present.  Please find your seats.”

When everyone was seated, I found that I was seated next to President Odom and my Dad.  Dad leaned over and whispered, “I guess I’ve been put in my place.”

Mr. Odom looked around, “Before we begin the meeting, there are some people whom I need to introduce.  Mr. Hans Hoffmeier is from the office in The Hague and Mr. Ralph Machesney is from the office in London.  They have some information that they would like to share with you. The gentleman next to Marlene is Hans and seated next to him is Ralph.”

After a round of applause, Mr. Odom turned to me.  “Ed, please stand.  This is my Executive Assistant, in Charge of Special Projects.  He had the audacity to push Roger Reed and me to the ground last Wednesday and in doing so was shot in the leg.  He wasn’t satisfied with that, he turned around and challenged two hoods here in the building yesterday and got shot in the other leg.”

I could feel my face getting warm, “Not only that, he has caused a number of people to be relieved from duty and he still isn’t finished  clearing out the dead wood.  We’ll be hearing a report of how much money he has saved the company so far, later.”

“I hope you noticed how the building sparkled when you came in through the new security check-in system, which his people installed this weekend while he was off visiting his parents at their ranch.  He took some very unlikely people and welded them into machine that produces very good results.  Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Edward Waller.”

I must have been bright red because Dad quipped, “Eddie, how often do I have to tell you to wear the proper protection when you’re out in the sun.”

A lady board member picked up on Dad’s comment, “Ed, did you get your job here at Shell because of your relationship to Al.”

Dad answered before I could, “Madeline, I had nothing to do with Ed being hired here at Shell.”

“Ma’am, I didn’t know until this weekend that Dad was even on the Board of Directors.  I have my degrees in petroleum engineering.  I’ve worked here at Shell for just over a year.”

President Odom took control of the meeting, “Ladies and gentlemen, we need to get on with the business at hand.  Mr. Hoffmeier and Mr. Machesney have to leave by two o’clock, in order to catch their flights.  You can visit with Ed at lunch.”

The meeting was going along very smoothly when Tammy entered and handed President Odom a note.  He looked at the note and announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, lunch is being served in the executive dining room.”

Dad  spoke up, “We don’t usually have lunch served at these board meetings?  We usually have time to go have a leisurely lunch.”

President Odom looked at Dad, “Stop complaining, Big Al.”

We went to a dining room that I didn’t even know existed.  Of course, I wasn’t familiar with the 49^th floor, having not spent much time there  until the past week.  When we went into the dining room, the Madeline person grabbed my arm, “Mr. Waller, you can be my escort for today.  I’ll have to say that your Mother and Dad sure produced a handsome stud when you were conceived.”

She guided us to an empty table and I helped her get seated.  We were joined by another female board member.  I helped her to the seat on the other side of me. She commented, “Madeline, you’ll have to share this prime piece of beef with me.”

When I was seated, the Madeline person introduced herself, “I’m Madeline Sanders and your other lady friend is Leanne Carr.  She’s from the Big Apple and I came the whole way from Houston.  Leanne stays with us when she hits town.  So, Ed, are you married?  I notice you‘re not wearing a wedding band.”

Talk about being put between a rock and a hard place, well that was my case.  I decided to be honest, “I’m not married in the traditional sense, but I have a partner who has a eleven year old brother, who calls me Dad.”

Madeline asked, “Do your parents know?”

“Yes, and I get the distinct impression that they love the two guys more than do me.”

Madeline laughed, “I doubt that.”

We had been joined by Vice-President Reed, Mrs. Lawrence from Human Resources and Mr. Taylor, the Comptroller.  Madeline greeted them. “Hi, Viv, Dwight and Rog.  I assume that you’ve met our young stud friend.”

The three people laughed, and Mrs. Lawrence added, “You mean the punk who is responsible for turning this into better place to work.”

A gentleman arrived at the table and started serving a cold raspberry cream soup sprinkled with fresh raspberries.  I looked to see who it was.  I almost fell out of my chair.  It was Ozzie.  He had on black slacks, a white shirt with black bowtie.  He was even wearing white cotton gloves.  I looked at the other people who were serving.  Joe, Grant and Tripp were serving the soup at the other tables.  They were similarly attired.”

They returned with a slawed carrots with raisins with a cream sauce and warm rolls.  This time it was Tripp who was serving our table.  I looked at him, “Who’s manning the pit stop?”

“Tripp is.” 

“Wait a minute, how can you be two places at the same time?”

“I’m not in two places at the same time.  I’m here, and I’m not Tripp.  I’m Trigg.  The entrée choices for today are chicken cacciatore, beef burgundy or bake tilapia fillet in a tomato sauce.” 

Trigg went around the table and placed a white marker in front of people who wanted the chicken, red for the beef and blue for the fish

As soon as the soup, which was wonderful, had been consumed, the guys whisked away the bowls and our entrees were placed in front of us and our drinks were refilled.  It was as if they had been doing it all their lives.  Well, maybe they had, because I really knew nothing about their backgrounds.

While we were eating, Ms. Sanders commented, “I assume that the people around here know of your arrangement with your partner as you described him.”

Vice President Reed, nodded, “Yes, many of us have even had the opportunity to meet Brahim and Allie.  You might better watch yourself or you’ll lose your partner to them.”

Ms. Carr asked, “I assume that President Odom knows about this?”

“Yes, he and his wife were at the house we’re going to be buying, last night.  They’re even coming to an Algerian dinner at our house tonight, before Mrs. Odom takes Brahim to audition for a part in an opera.”

Ms. Sanders frowned, “What is you partner’s last name?”

“Safi, why do you ask?”

“I’m on the opera guild and all Caroline could talk about yesterday at our meeting was the two very talented singers she had met.”

After everyone had finished eating, the guys came and cleared the table and brought trays with dessert.  There was a choice of chocolate angel pie or home made rice pudding.

I had the chocolate angel pie, and it was something to die for.  As we were finishing the meal, President Odom stood, “Ed, I think you should introduce our servers, since most of them work for you.  It was Mr. Thompson who arranged for this wonderful luncheon and he’s one of your people.”

I stood and the four servers were standing against the wall in an at ease position waiting for us to leave.  I started, “Ozzie is the person who is in charge of the cleanliness of the facility and our food and beverage person.  He’s our hotel manager.”

Ozzie stepped forward and put up two fingers in acknowledgement.

Joe was standing next to Ozzie, I introduced him, “The young man standing next to Ozzie is Joe Blank,  He’s my administrative assistant.”

Joe waved to the people.  I continued, “Next to him is Grant Gump.  He’s my Public Relations director.”

Mr. Hoffmeier asked, “Why would you need a Public Relations Director?”

“Sir, we need to have someone who people can come to talk to and not fear retribution.  We’ve uncovered two instances where our employees’ rights were being abused.  Had there been someone whom people would have felt free to talk to, we could have prevented some of the problems from ever arising.”

I continued, “While I have not been formally introduced to our last server, I have met his brother.  Mr. Trigg Wakefield.”  I motioned toward Ozzie, “Mr. Thompson, perhaps you would care to share who prepared this excellent meal.  I don’t think the four of you did this by yourselves.”

Oz grinned, “Nope, we just served it.  Trigg, go get your parents.”

Trigg returned with a couple who looked to be in their middle fifties, “Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. and Mrs. Wakefield prepared your wonderful lunch for you along with help from Trigg.”

The couple was dressed in white with a hairnet and cap.  “I’d like to introduce Mr. and Mrs. Tristan Wakefield.  They just lost their lease on the restaurant that they have operated for as long as I can remember.  It seems the building where they had their restaurant was condemned.”

“When we uncovered this facility over the weekend and got it cleaned up, I decided to see if we couldn’t put it to use.  I talked to President Odom yesterday afternoon, and he suggested that we give it a trial run.  I hope you ladies and gentlemen enjoyed your lunches”

There was a hearty round of applause.  One of the board members asked, “Mr. Thompson, isn’t that double dipping since three of you are being paid by Shell Oil to do a job?”

Ozzie was ready for that question, “Sir, I can assure you that neither Grant, Joe nor I will be receiving any money for serving this meal.  We have all worked as waiters previously so we volunteered, or I should say. I volunteered the other two to work  since the Wakefields only found out last night that they were going to be doing this.”

Joe snickered, “We ain’t getting paid for working over our lunch hour, but  we did get a delicious free meal.  Mom, I guess Dad will have to fend for himself tonight.”

President Odom stood, “We need to reconvene the meeting.  We’ll meet back in the board room in fifteen minutes.  We have some important business to discuss before Mr. Hoffmeier an Mr. Machesney need to leave for the airport.”

I stopped by my office to see what was happening.  There was a young woman sitting there eating a lunch that the Wakefields had obviously prepared.  She looked at me, “Sir, how can I help you.”

I looked at the young lady, “I’m Ed Waller.  Who are you?”

“Sir, I’m Sarah Wallace.  Joe called and asked me to fill in for him since Tammy is filling in at the President’s office.  I have a number of messages for you.”

I quickly looked through the messages and there were two from Bra.  I was thinking, ‘I need to get Bra a cell phone so I can contact him.’

There were four messages that, at first, I didn’t quite understand what they were saying. Then it dawned on me that they wanted to know why the condom dispensing machines were gone.  As I was walking back to the Board Room, I was thinking, ‘Don’t tell me I’m going to get shot for taking the condom machines out of the bathrooms.’

To be continued... 

Editor's Notes:  Well, so far he seems to have squeaked past getting shot, during this chapter, and since it is now finished, I guess we can assume he will be all right for the rest of the day.  Of course, things could change before we get to see the next chapter.  Let's keep our fingers crossed that everything will work out well.

See you next time, soon, I hope!

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 01/01/10