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 11 

Watch Out Waller Is Here

When I walked into President Odom’s office, Marlene frowned. “Mr. Waller, you need to get a pager or cell phone so we can contact you.  Do you have any idea how much work you caused Tammy and me, to track you down?  President Odom and his guests are awaiting your arrival.”

When I entered President Odom’s office, Mrs. Odom. Mrs. Carr, Ms Sanders and lady I hadn’t previously met were talking.  Ms Sanders stood, “It's about time you arrived, Waller.  Let’s bust out of this place and get some decent food.  We have reservation at Le Chateaux for lunch, by the way, Ed, this is my partner Melanie Crabtree.”

When we arrived at Le Chateaux, which I didn’t know even existed, we exited the company limousine.  Ms Sanders and Ms Crabtree took my arms and President Odom was stuck with his wife and Mrs. Carr.  When we approached the maitre d’s podium, Trig greeted us.  “Ah, the Waller party has arrived.  We were beginning to think that you were going to be no shows.”

We had hardly sat down when Ms Sanders started on me, “Ed, when do we get to meet your son?  We understand that he is every bit as talented as his brother.”

Before I could respond, Mrs. Odom spoke up, “Madeline, I’ll tell you what I’m going to do.  I’ll have a dinner party tomorrow evening, since I believe the guys are scheduled to go to Big Al and Liz’s ranch this weekend.  Brahim was at our house last night, when he dropped me off, so he can make sure that Little Al and Ed get there.  We’ll eat at 6:30.  Ed, please invite the Daniels, as well.”

It was the strangest thing, “We never even ordered, and we were each served a bowl of French onion soup.  Ms Sanders grinned, “I took the liberty of ordering our food ahead of time.  We figured you guys would get antsy if you were away from the office for too long.”

The soup was followed by a small fresh fruit plate with cheese and crackers.  The main course was baked filet of sole in a white wine sauce.   For dessert, we had a small decadent French pastry.  Dinner conversation was very interesting, to say the least. 

Mrs. Carr lost her husband five years ago.  He was a big investor on Wall Street and had made a bundle of money.  He had bought a number of shares of Shell Oil very early in the game.  The Carrs never had any children.  Leanne, as she wanted to be called, devoted her time and money to the arts in New York City, even though she lived in Connecticut.  She claimed that she was so untalented that she had to do something to make up for the deficiency.  I was to find out that was not exactly the truth.”

Ms Sanders had been married but divorced her husband when she realized that her thing wasn’t being married to a man.  Ms Sanders laughed, “What really happened was that my husband couldn’t keep his prick in his pants.  He didn’t care if his sex partner was male or female.  I made him pay, and he’s still paying, through his nose.”

Ms Crabtree smiled, “Unlike Madeline, I was happily married, but somehow knew there was something better out there.  I didn’t find out until after my husband’s death what it was.  Madeline and I have been living together for twenty years.”

I saw Ms Sanders motioned to Trig and hand him a card.   Trig returned and I watched as Ms. Sanders signed and said something to Trig.  Trig nodded.  Ms Sanders started to stand, Trig was holding her chair for her, so I held Ms Crabtree’s while President Odom and another waiter helped Mrs. Odom and Mrs. Carr. 

The limo was waiting for us and as I climbed out at the headquarters, I kissed the four ladies, since the limo was to take them someplace.  As President Odom and I were going into the building, he commented, “Ed, you learned more about those ladies than I have in the five plus years that I’ve known them.”

When I arrived at the office, did I ever receive a hard time.  Tammy started on, “Trig called and said you were on your way back, after being wined and dined by four older ladies.  He wants to know if you’re peddling your wares?”

“Look, Mrs. Grimes, I still have no idea exactly why I was invited to lunch with them.  They’re more interested in my son and his brother than they are me.  Where is everyone else?”

“They’re all waiting to talk to you.  I suggest you start with Joe.”

I looked in Joe’s office, “Good afternoon, Mr. Blank. I understand that you wish to speak to me?”

“Yes, Mr. Waller, I would.  Ed, it took me two hours to find a copy of the company’s sexual harassment policy.  It is antiquated and only refers to situations involving males harassing females.  It needs to be totally updated.  While I was searching, I found a policy on discrimination.  Again it is also out of date.  It primarily refers to the issue of race discrimination.”

I looked at the policies and started to cringe, “Joe, make five copies of these, please.  We need to get them updated as soon as possible.”

Joe departed and Tammy stuck her head in the door, “Grant wants to know if you have time to talk to him and Don now?   What do you want me to do with Mrs. Kimball?  She says she has an appointment to meet with you?”

I went to the door, “Katie, I’ll be with you shortly.  Perhaps you and Tammy can share war stories since you both have two sons.”

Grant arrived with the 'Don' person, I stood, “Good afternoon, I’m Ed Waller.”

The young man, whom I guessed to be about 25, stuck out his hand. “I'm Don Wagman.”

I motioned for Grant and Don to be seated.  When they were seated I looked at Don, “Sir, I know you explained your predicament to Grant, but would you please tell me why you came to us.  I would like to hear your story in your own words.”

Don took a deep breath, “Mr. Waller, I started to work here at the headquarters about six months ago in the Real Estate Development Division.  I was assigned to Mr. Rudolf who was to train me to be in charge of the Canadian operations.  Everything was proceeding on schedule until about three weeks ago, when he started to spend a lot of time in positions where he would be in physical contact with my body.”

“It got so bad that he started to follow me to the bathroom.  Our offices are on the thirtieth floor.  The closest bathroom to the offices was one that had glory holes.  I didn’t realize that they were there until one day I had to relieve my bowels.  I was sitting taking care of business when a penis came through the glory hole and a voice whispered, “Make it feel good.  You can use your mouth or take it internally after you finish taking your dump.  I have a condom.”

I was going to say something, but Don continued, “I ignored his overture, but when we were back in the office, Mr. Rudolf leaned over me at my desk and hissed, ‘Look, I know you’re queer.  I saw you and your boyfriend dancing at that gay club.  Either you take care of me, or you’re going to be looking for a new job.’”

I interrupted, “Don, are you saying that you’re gay?”

“Yes sir, my partner, Sammy, and I are in a committed relationship.  We have been ever since college.”

I had to ask, “Don, does you significant other work here at Shell?”

Don shook his head no, “No sir, he’s in charge of the Children’s Theatre.  He’s a frustrated actor.”

I grinned, “They’re the worst kind.”  I switched gears,  “What is Mr. Rudolf’s first name and what is the extension where I can reach him?  I have the distinct feeling that the man will not be employed here at Shell much longer.  He sounds like a complete ass.”

Don responded, “He can be reached at extension 3017 and his first name is Jim.”

“Don, go back to work and act as if nothing is happening.  Grant and I will do our best to remedy the problem.  But in the meantime, I have another person waiting to talk to me.” 

I shook Don’s hand as he left.  I walked into Tammy's office, “Katie, I’m sorry to keep you waiting.  Tammy, why don’t you join us so you can take notes.”

Tammy looked at me as if I were nuts, “Mr. Waller, I don’t take dictation.  Besides, who’s going to man this desk?  I swear, everyone in the world wants to talk to you or someone in the office.  Just leave the door open so I can eavesdrop.”

I took Mrs. Kimball into my office, “Mrs. Kimball, you made some very strong accusations this morning.  Would you care to explain them?”

“Mr. Waller, I don’t know how long you’ve worked here at Shell, but I’ve been here for over two years.  During that time I have not been promoted, even though I know I’ve been outperforming nearly all of the people in the Human Relations Division.  The men in the division think they are the people in charge.  Since Mrs. Lawrence was made the Division chief, it’s as if the department heads, who are all males by the way, have been trying to make her look bad.”

I put up my hand, “Katie, stop right there.  This is bigger than you and me.  Come with me and we’ll see what we can do to fix the situation.”

We walked into the reception area, “Tammy, we’ll be in President Odom’s office.”

Marlene looked up as we walked in, “What are you, a mind reader or something?  President Odom just asked me to call and have you come to talk to him.”

“Marlene, would you please call Mrs. Lawrence and ask her to join us.  There are some things happening that she and President Odom need to know about.”

Mrs. Kimball was very definitely not very comfortable about what was happening, but I was determined to rectify the situation.

When Mrs. Lawrence arrived, we went into the Conference Room and were joined by President Odom and Vice President Reed.”

I introduced Mrs. Kimball and the meeting got under way.  After she told the assembled group what she had told me, it was apparent that President Odom was upset.  “Vivian, why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“President Odom, I had no proof that I was being sabotaged.”

I was surprised when Katie spoke, “Mrs. Lawrence, Mr. Crosby was so sure that he was going to get your position, that he has been spreading his venom ever since you were promoted.  He has convinced most of the department heads that women are not capable of being in positions of power.”

Vivian frowned, “I knew something wasn’t right, but I had no idea who or what was causing it.  It was like pulling nails to get the information to present to the board, yesterday.  Mr. Tailor mentioned that his people were also stalling.  He, like me, is new to his position.”

The reaction was much different than I thought it would have been.  President Odom looked at me, “Ed, what are you going to do about the situation?  This is why we’re paying you big bucks.”

I took a deep, deep breath, “President Odom, for starters, you’re going to need to authorize that I add Mrs. Kimball to my staff.  There are some other issues that you need to be made aware of.”

“Sir, I hate to tell you, but I would estimate that the number of people who are employed here at the headquarters can be reduced by ten to twenty percent.”

President Odom looked at Vice President Reed, “Rog, this was under your bailiwick.  How come you didn’t do anything about it?”

Vice President Reed was put on the spot, “Adam, I can’t do anything about a problem unless someone brings it to my attention.”

President Odom turned his attention to me, “Why should I authorize the addition of Mrs. Kimball to your staff?  What exorbitant salary would you be asking for her to receive?”

I knew President Odom was playing a game, so I answered, “I thought that the amount being paid to my executive assistant, Mr. Blank, would be appropriate since she is going to be my associate executive assistant.”

President Odom wasn’t finished. “Ed, are you trying to take over the company or what?  Why would you need a married broad with two kids working for you?”

“President Odom, that would send a signal that we are an equal opportunity employer.  I would have three married men, one widowed lady, one married lady, one person of color and some others on my staff.  No one will be able to accuse me of discrimination.  Speaking of which, I have another set of problems that I would like to discuss with you.  Katie, go back to the office and call housekeeping and tell them that you need a desk.  You can move into the conference room for the time being.”

A dazed Mrs. Kimball departed, and I started.  “I had my assistant, Mr. Blank, track down the company’s sexual harassment and discrimination policies today, and they are antiquated.  Here are copies of the existing policies.  As you can see, they are definitely outdated.  This is first project that I’m going to have Katie and Joe work on.  Since both areas logically fall under Mrs. Lawrence‘s area of responsibility, we‘ll coordinate our efforts with her.”

President Odom looked at Mrs. Lawrence and Vice President Reed, “I take it neither of you were aware of or thought about these policies?  Ed, I would appreciate it if you keep me up-to-date with everything that you and your people are doing.  Now if you will excuse me, I have some things I need to take care of.”

After President Odom had departed, Mrs. Lawrence looked at me, “Ed, I should really be p.o.’d with you for not discussing this with me before bringing it to the President’s attention.  However, I’m not.  I am relieved that you have uncovered these problems and are going to attempt to solve them.  At this point, I’m not sure exactly who I will be able to rely on in my division.”

I nodded, “Mrs. Lawrence, my cohorts and I will be arriving in your division on Monday, for a no-notice inspection.  Be prepared to watch some fur fly.  I had planned to start in another area, but because of recent developments, I think it is imperative that we start in the Human Relations Division.  I would like to meet with this Crosby person beforehand.”

Mrs. Lawrence shrugged her shoulders, “That shouldn’t be a problem, since he’s the deputy director of the division.”

I took in a deep breath, “Well, that explains how he was able to keep you from realizing what was happening.  He could sweep problems under the carpet, so you weren’t aware of them.  You’ll probably have a new deputy director before this mess is settled.”

Vice President Reed started to laugh, “Ed, I can see why President Odom thinks so highly of you.  Vivian, let me know when the fireworks start to fly in the Human Resources Division.  I think they may reverberate throughout the entire headquarters.”

When I arrived in my office. Juan and Steve were moving a desk into the conference room for Katie.  Not only that, she had a computer that she could use, and a phone.  Katie looked at me, “Mr. Waller, I’ll give you this.  When you want something done, it gets done.  The other divisions should react as fast.”

Katie got a funny grin on her face, “Mr. Waller, you still haven’t told me what I’ll be making in this position and what you expect of me.”

I pointed to Joe, “You’ll be making the same amount of money as Mr. Blank.  The first thing the two of you are going to do is to write policies on sexual harassment and discrimination.  On Monday, we’re going to go tackle some good ole boy problems in the Human Relations department.”

Tammy followed me into the office, “Ed, you look tired.  Why don’t you go home?”

“Tammy, I’m more mentally tired than I am physically tired, and the wound on my leg is starting to itch like crazy.  I’ll be fine.  Let me take care of these calls.”

I was on my last call when there was a knock on the door, I motioned for Katie to come in.  After I hung up, I asked, “Something wrong already, Mrs. Kimball.”

“Yes and no.  Joe told me what he was going to be paid.  Were you serious when you said I would be making the same as him?”

“Katie, why would I joke about something like that?”

She shook her head in disbelief, “You do realize that amount is more than twice what I am now making.  There’s got to be a catch.”

“Believe me, Katie, there’s no catch.  President Odom is the person who decided what each of my people are going to be making, and he has approved adding you to my staff.  You, your husband and two sons will be able to do some fun things, if you can get any time off.”

Grant knocked, “Ed, what are we going to do about the Rudolf person?”

I shook my head, “Grant, it’s too late to do anything today.  We’ll take care of him first thing in the morning.”

I stood, “People, it’s already after five o’clock, let’s head for the homesteads.”

To be continued...

Editor's Notes: I do believe that Ed is taking Texas, or at least the personnel at Shell Oil, by storm.  He is a no nonsense type of guy, and he is not going to take any guff.  He is exactly the kind of person that I would like to work for.  If someone working for him does their job and takes some initiative, Ed will show them the respect and admiration they deserve, but if the person is lazy or crooked, he had better watch out, because Ed will not take any prisoners.  

I am ready and waiting for another wonderful chapter of this great story.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 01/22/10