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

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Chapter 13 

Crustaceans vs. Crabby People

As we were getting ready to depart for the Odoms’ house, Brahim commented, “I guess it would seem tacky if I took a textbook with me, wouldn’t it?”

Dr. George Daniels answered, “Brahim, I’m sure that the Odoms would understand, but why not leave it here?  We can always say that we need to leave because you have some class work to do, if we get bored.”

Allie giggled, “I like the way you think, Dr. Daniels.”

I had no idea what to expect, since I hadn’t seen the Odom's house, previously.  From the front, it didn’t look that big, but it was a two story colonial style house with a three car garage.  Dr. Daniels parked in the driveway beside a Cadillac.

We were greeted by President Odom. “Good evening, the lades are on the veranda sipping daiquiris.  If you will follow me, I’ll take you to meet them.”

We walked through the house and it was definitely suited for entertaining larger groups of people.  When we reached the veranda which was quite large, Mrs. Odom looked at us, “I thought I said casual.  You’re all way overdressed.”

President Odom motioned to me, “Ed, why don’t you introduce everyone to George and your son while I fix your drinks.”

I started, “Dr. Daniels and Allie the lovely lady on the right is Ms Madeline Hansen.  Seated next to her is Ms Melanie Crabtree and the lady next Mrs. Odom is Mrs. Leanne Carr.”

I was pleased to see how Allie responded.  He started with Mrs. Odom, He shook her hand, “Thank you for inviting us, Mrs. Odom.”  He shook Mrs. Carr’s hand, “It’s a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Carr.  Dad says you live in Connecticut.  He moved to Ms. Hansen and shook her hand, It’s a pleasure to meet you Ms. Hansen, I believe I saw you the day I sang at the University.”

Ms Hansen nodded, “Yes, I saw singing from a distance.  I didn’t realize that you were Mr. Waller’s son.  You’re the spitting image of  Ed.”

Allie giggled, “I’m not sure whether I should take that as a compliment or an insult.”

That caused everyone to laugh.  He moved to Ms Crabtree and grinned, “It’s a pleasure to meet you Ms Crabtree.”   As he was shaking her had he grinned, “I didn’t realize that Crustaceans grew on trees.”

Everyone was laughing and Ms Crabtree answered.  “The name comes from having crabby people hung on the tree.”

That caused Allie to double over because he was laughing so hard.

After everyone was seated and had their drinks, two young waiters appeared with trays of hors d’oeuvres that could be eaten with the fingers.  So all we needed were napkins.  It was nearly seven o’clock when one of the waiters appeared and announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, dinner will be served in the dining room when you’re ready.”

Mrs. Odom led us to the dining room and there were name tags telling us where we were to be seated.  Mrs. Odom commented, “I seated people so the men couldn’t talk business.  Since there were five men and five women, everyone had members of the opposite sex on either side of them.  Bra was seated between Mrs. Odom and Mrs. Daniels.  Allie was seated between Ms Hansen and Mrs. Carr and I was between Mrs. Carr and Ms Crabtree.

The dinner was wonderful and was similar to what we had encountered on the cruise ship.  I think everyone who didn’t know my two guys was thoroughly impressed.

After we finished the meal, the Odom’s led us to a large great room that had a piano.  President Odom served those people who wanted an after dinner drink and the fun began.

Mrs. Carr pointed to Allie, “Young man, I want to hear that wonderful  voice of yours that everyone is raving about.  I’ve heard your brother and know he’s very, very talented.”

Allie looked at me and I nodded that it was okay.  He looked at Mrs. Carr, “Ma’am what would you like me to sing?”

Mrs. Daniels looked at Mrs. Odom, “If I may use the piano, I can accompany Allie with whatever he would like to sing.”

Mrs. Odom nodded, “Be our guest.  I’m sure you are the most accomplished pianist present.”

Mrs. Daniels went to the piano and motioned for Allie and they were talking.  Mrs. Daniels started to play and Allie did a medley from the Sound of Music that included The Sound of Music, Do Re Mi and Edelweiss. 

Everyone applauded.  Ms Hansen spoke, “Allie, I heard that they wanted you to sing the role of Oliver in the show.  Do you know the songs from the show?”

Allie grinned, “There is only one major song that I would be singing if I were to do the show and that’s Food, Glorious Food.  I do know it.  Would you like for me to sing it for you?” 

Everyone said yes.

Allie looked at Mrs. Daniels.  Allie sang the song as if he were on a stage and when he finished, the three ladies and Mr. Odom and Mr. Daniels were standing applauding. 

After everyone was seated, I remarked, “As President Odom knows, my guys and I had the opportunity to make our trip to the United States on a cruise ship.  Bra and Allie did a number of the shows.  Guys, I think you should do the medley from Westside Story to really show the ladies how talented you are.”

Allie started to complain, “But Dad, it’s getting late.”

Ms Hansen smirked, “What’s the matter, kid?  Afraid you’ll screw up.”

Allie arched his eyebrows and sighed, “No, I’m afraid Bra will.  Come on, Bra, we’ll drive them out the door.”

Bra reluctantly joined Allie and they did four songs from West Side Story that really showed how much talent the two guys had.  When they finished, Allie announced, “Ladies and gentlemen, we really need to go.  It has been a wonderful evening, but some of us need to get up early and Dad and Bra need their beauty sleep.”

As we were leaving, the guys were really great.  Mrs. Carr took me aside, “Ed, I’ll meet you for lunch at noon tomorrow.  I’ll meet you in your office.  We’ll go have a nice quiet lunch.  I have some things I would like to discuss with you.  Don’t say anything about this to anyone, especially your guys.”

On the way home, I guess I must have been too quiet for Allie, “Dad, is something wrong?”

I wasn’t sure how to answer, “No, I was just thinking about everything that I need to do tomorrow.  I had a great time tonight, but it has been a long week and it isn’t over yet.”

It was almost eleven o’clock before Bra and I finally crawled into bed.  I decided that I needed to have some fun before I went to sleep to help me relax and Bra was glad to oblige me.”

When I was awakened by the alarm, I just wanted to stay home and spend the day with Bra, but that wasn’t possible.  Bra looked at me, “Ed, I think I’m going to need my own car when you start to drive to work.  My schedule is going to be such that I will need to drive myself to school when the Daniels move.  That way I can be here and help Allie.  He shouldn’t have to do all the cooking.”

Bra didn’t realize that he just opened another bucket of worms that I would need to take care of.

When I arrived in the office, everyone else was already there as was Mrs. Lawrence.  She looked at me, “Honestly, Mr. Waller, it would seem that you could get to work on time.  I don’t have all day.”

My staff was laughing.  “Mrs. Lawrence, might I ask why you are parked in my office instead of supervising your Division or should I say what’s left of it.  Come into the office so we can talk without everyone eavesdropping.”

Mrs. Lawrence followed me into the office, “Ed, the reason I’m here is that I need to know what you think I should do about filling the vacant positions, since we’re not making any new hires at the present time.”

Mrs. Lawrence, “Human Resources is not one of my strong points.  I have a suggestion; why don’t you post a notice saying that you have some vacancies.  Inform those interested that they need to submit a one page resume and that they will meet an interview team.”

Mrs. Lawrence asked, “Who’s going to be on this team?”

I rubbed by chin, “You’ll be the head of the team, of course.  I think we should have Katie Kimball be a member since she’s familiar with the division.  I think Oz Thompson should be a member, not only because of the color of his skin but he has had some experience in hiring people.  I would suggest Joe, but someone might know that he is your foster son and that could cause a problem.”

“I think that we should have Steve Carson or Juan Gomez on the team.  I can’t spare them both at the same time.  I’ll run it by them and see what they think.  You won’t be able to start the interviews until next week and by then there may well be some more positions to fill.”

“I’m sure you’ve heard that there are some openings for major positions in the Real Estate Division, as well, that will need to be filled.  You’re going to be one busy lady.”

After Mrs. Lawrence departed, I had Tammy call everyone to the conference room or rather Katie’s office.”

I was surprised when Steve and Juan both appeared,  I looked around the table, “I want to thank all of you for all the hard work that you have been doing.  I know that you all have been working more than 40 hours a week.  After what happened to Grant last evening, we all need to be vigilant about what’s going on around us.  I am not the most popular person here at Shell. So by association the rest of you are in jeopardy, too.”

I continued, “Believe me, people, I am completely out of my safety zone right now and it is only because of you people that I am still treading water.”

The meeting was interrupted by the arrival of Marlene, “Mr. Waller, President Odom would like to see you in his office, immediately.”

“Tell President Odom I’ll be there shortly.  I have some things I need to talk to my staff about.”

Marlene gave me a funny look and left.  Steve commented, “Ed, I don’t think that was a good idea to say that we were more important than what President Odom wanted.”

“Steve, I agree that it wasn’t the best thing to do, but if it would have been something critical, President Odom would have come here or called.  Now, let’s get on with business.  Oz, how is everything going in the hotel division?”

“We have all of the cleaning crews in place and I have some reliable people to head them.  I plan to do spot inspections in the facility and would ask that you all do, also.  The Wakefields are excited about only serving lunch in the executive dining room.  They have made up menus offering only two entrees each day.  They are set to start on Monday.  They have a wait staff of four people who work from ten until two.”

“The Pit Stop has been a huge success.  I have been talking to Steve about the renovations to the old cafeteria.  I have four fast food chains that are interested …

All of a sudden a chair was beside me, and President Odom looked at me, “May I sit in?”

I indicated that he should make himself comfortable and looked at Oz, “Please continue.”

“I have four fast food chains who are interested in renting space in the old cafeteria space.”

President Odom asked, “They won’t be competing with the Pit Stop will they?”

“No, sir, there would be a shop that would provide pizza, another would provide burgers and dogs, the third would be a Chinese food place and the fourth one would provide fresh sushi.  Since Tripp doesn’t make any of those things, I thought they would give the employees adequate options.  Tripp is going to operate the Pit Stop from seven until two.  The other eating places would be open from ten until six.”

President Odom started to laugh, “So you’re saying the employees can eat their way through the day.”

Oz grinned, “Steve and I have been talking.  We’re planning to knock out the wall so that it would a situation similar to the eating area in a mall.  The patrons would be visible to anyone who was nearby.  We could install cameras so Miss Miller’s people could monitor the amount of time people spent in the area.”

Myrabelle started to complain, “We’re already short handed, now that we have to guard all of you hot shots.”

I looked at Myrabelle, “Seriously, how are things going?”

She looked at me, “The new systems that Steve and Juan had installed are working great.  The only problem is the safety of some of you.  We may need to make it so you all exit by the side door. It was one of my people who was able to get the license of the vehicle who shot at Grant yesterday.”

I grinned, “So there would not be a problem if you were to become the Director of Security and reported directed to me?”

Myrabelle looked perplexed, “I thought that Greg was going to be my supervisor?”

“Nah, he won’t have time to worry about security, since he’s going to be the head of Transportation Division.  Tammy will be sending out an announcement to that effect after the meeting.  Won’t you Mrs. Grimes?”

Tammy stuck out her tongue.  I ignored her. 

I turned to Grant, “Grant, have you had other people talking to you  about problems, other than Mr. Rudolf?”

“Yes sir.  It seems that sexual harassment is far more prevalent in the building  than anyone had thought.  How soon will the new sexual harassment and discrimination policies be in the hands of the employees?”

President Odom answered, “Grant, they’re at the printers and are scheduled to be distributed to all employees this afternoon.”

Grant continued, “Mr. Waller, I would like to send out a letter telling the employees that my office is available to listen to anyone who feels that they’re being sexual harassed or being discriminated against.”

I nodded, “Work with Tammy and develop a letter that can be sent to all employees, even the President.”

“Joe,  I would like you to go snoop around the Legal Division today, and report what you find.  Katie, I would like you to scope out the Finance Division and see what you find.  I’m going to be spending time in the Real Estate Division.”

“People, I can’t tell you how pleased I am with what you have done.  You have all gone way above what other people would have done.”

President Odom added, “People, I agree with Mr. Waller.  You have done a lot to make this a better place, in the past two weeks.  I commend you all.”

After everyone departed, even Katie, I looked at President Odom, “I believe you wanted to talk to me, sir?”

He looked as if he was confused, “I did? … Oh, yeah, I wanted to tell you that a team would be arriving next Wednesday to talk to you and your people.  I sent a note to the head people in The Hague and London about what had been happening here.  It seems that our two visitors from yesterday have been doing a lot of talking about what you have been doing.”

President  Odom looked at the clock, “I’m to meet with the Mayor and group who are trying to raise funds to renovate the downtown area.  I’ll talk to you later.”

I walked the President to the door and Tammy lit into me, “How, come you highlighted everyone else but me?  I guess there wasn’t much about me you could say.  Do you know that I’m going to be making almost as much as Marlene?”

“Tammy, I have no idea how much people are going to be making.  Quite frankly, I don’t even know exactly what my salary is.  It keeps changing by the minute, like the stock market.”

I didn’t realize what time it was.  The door opened and Mrs. Carr announced, “Mr. Waller, I’m here for our luncheon date.”

I looked at Tammy, “If anyone calls or asks where I am, I'm having lunch with Mrs. Carr.  I’ll see you in an hour.”

As we were going down in the elevator, I wondered, ‘What is this all about?’

To be continued...

Editor's Notes: I, too, am wondering what the meeting is all about.  I have a guess, but I don't want to say, because it might be considered a spoiler.  My guess is based on one of E Walk's other stories, but I won't say any more, because, as I said, it might be a spoiler. Whether my guess is correct or not, once the situation occurs, I will let you know If I was correct.

I hope the next chapter will be ready soon.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 02/05/10