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

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Chapter 46 

The Chameleon

My team and I were in the technical divisions and the team members were having a field day tearing some people a bigger body part.  I watched and Eric sure didn’t take long to get into the groove of what was happening.  I stayed back and watched the proceedings.

It was odd but no one paid any attention to me.  It was as if I was a fly on the wall. I was just about to go back to my office figuring that Joe, Katie, Oz, Eric and Todd would let me know if they needed my help.  Then I decided to go into one last division, to see what was happening.  I hadn’t seen anything that had given me any warm fuzzies, so far.

I met Oz as I was walking in an office.  I whispered to him, “They must have received a warning that we were in the area.  Everyone appears to be gainfully employed.”

A group of people were gathered around a table, discussing something.  Oz and I went to see what they were discussing.  A tall, very good looking gentleman looked up, “Welcome to our home away from home, President Waller, and I believe it’s Mr. Thompson, isn’t it?”

He stuck out his hand, “I’m Stewart Wall, head of the advanced planning division. Let me introduce my associates to you.  I have to say this; you’re even better looking close up, in person, than when you’re on the stage, on television or exposed on the front of the newspaper.”

Oz started to laugh, “Don’t tell the President that, or he won’t be able to get his pants off tonight.”

That caused the people who heard his comment to laugh.  Mr. Wall was showing us around and introducing us to the people in the office when J. R. appeared, “President Waller, Grant is having a difficult time with two groups of irate people in the office.  They can’t seem to understand that you are not going to be making any statements about, or discussing what happened at the Civic Center, until after the meeting tomorrow.  I think you’d better help him out, because both groups seem determined to stick around until they talk to you.”

I excused myself, “Mr. Wall, I would very much like to talk to you some more.  Would you be available to meet for lunch?”

Mr. Wall shook his head no.  “On Wednesdays, we meet as a division and have a working lunch.  We take turns providing the lunch.  It’s surprising what creative ideas come up when the body’s needs are being satisfied.”

I threw up my hands, “Mr. Wall, I’ll give you a call after lunch and maybe we can get together after lunch.”

As Oz and I were headed toward the elevator he had an evil grin on his face, “Boss, I think you should make it difficult to let these two groups get their way, by being so demanding.”

“What do you suggest I do?”

Oz nodded, “Let’s go to the Pit Stop.  They have just what you need to help you pretend that you’re somebody you aren’t.”

“Oz, you’re not  making any sense.”

“Trust me, Ed.”

We went to the Pit Stop and Oz went up to Tripp, “President Waller wants a Shell hat and large black Shell sweatshirt.  Put them on my tab.”

I had no idea what Oz had in mind.  After Tripp gave the hat and sweatshirt to us, Oz took me to the maintenance office. “Take off the tie and put this sweatshirt on.   Mess up your hair, and put on the hat, so the bill is on the side like a young high school student might wear it.  When you get to the office, act as if the President had sent you to find out what was happening.  I’ll go ahead, so the visitors don’t suspect who you are.

As I opened the door, I had no idea what to expect.  After I had a chance to look around, there were two men, dressed to indicate that they were important persons, but I wasn’t getting good vibes from them.  There was another group of four persons, a couple of them looked familiar and a single gentleman whom I recognized as being a media person.  I decided to play the role to the hilt.

I sat on Tammy’s desk, “Hey babe, did you miss me?   The boss sent me to help Grant handle all of these unbelieving people that the boss meant what he said and that he won’t be discussing his presentation yesterday, or answering any questions until after the presentation has been shown again tomorrow, so people can see that it was the media who made it sound as if he said the city employees were corrupt.  They may well be corrupt, but that is not why President Waller did the presentation.”

I turned to Grant, who was having a difficult time keeping a straight face, “Grant, baby who are these people who don’t understand English, so’s I can tell the Prez who’s here?”

Grant motioned to the two gentlemen, “These two gentlemen are here as representatives of the City Government Employees Union.  They came to advise President Waller that he has caused the city employees undue stress, and that they’re going to press charges against him.”

“President Waller will enjoy taking them on in court, since everything he said was on the videotape that is going to be shown tomorrow.  If the city employees are feeling undue stress, then it’s probably because they know that they can’t afford to be scrutinized.”

I motioned to the four people sitting in another area, “Grant, who are these four people?”
 

“They’re four of the City Council members.  They claim that President Waller made them look bad by pointing out that they weren’t at the presentation yesterday, thus telling their constituents that they weren’t paying attention to business.  I haven’t had the opportunity to talk to the gentleman who is sitting by himself.”

“That’s okay, Grant.  I know who he is.”

The proceedings were interrupted by the arrival of Mr. Odom, “Ed, what are you doing in that ridiculous outfit?  Actually, you look rather cool.  Where can I get an outfit like that, so I can wear it to a Halloween party on Saturday night?  Oliver, what are you doing?”

One of the Council people answered, “We came to talk with your President and he obviously has no respect for the people elected by the citizens of Houston to run the city.  He went so far as to identify that certain of us council people who weren’t at his presentation yesterday.”

That was more than I could take.  I took off my hat and straightened my hair, “Excuse me, Mr. Oliver, whoever you are.  I could not possibly have identified which council persons were at the presentation yesterday.  The only one whom I know was there was Councilman Bradford, and only because he identified himself.  I don’t even know who the council persons are.  Please identify yourself, so at least I know to whom I’m speaking.”

Oliver glared, “I’m Oliver Pennington, I represent the Post Oaks area.”

“Mr. Pennington, I couldn't care less as to what area of the city you represent.  I’m not impressed that you happen to represent one of the richest areas of the city.  Who are the rest of your friends?”

I wasn’t making a friend of Mr. Pennington, but he continued, “On my left is Councilman Al Hoang. On my right are Councilwomen, Anne Clutterback and Melissa Noriega.”

I turned to the two gentlemen, “Do you gentlemen have names?”

The younger of the two answered, “Even though it’s none of your business, my name is Evan Pester and this is my friend Emmanuel Jackson.”

“Thank you, Mr. Pester.  I’d like for the rest of you to meet one of the journalists who was responsible for the article that appeared in this morning’s paper about the presentation, Mr. Keith Crowley.  Mr. Crowley, this should give you some good information for a follow up article.  I can see the headlines, Houston City Employee’s Union officials and city council persons threaten to retaliate against President Waller of Shell, for making a presentation on the economy saving activities that have been taking place at Shell.  President Waller is threatening legal actions against the six named individuals for slandering him, in the presence of witnesses.”

The six unwelcomed visitors made a hasty exit and Mr. Crowley looked at me, “You don’t really want me to write such a story, do you?”

“Heck no.  What brings you here?”

“I came to apologize for some overzealous journalists who added their own thoughts to the story, this morning.  The editor has already lit into us.  I was sent to apologize and find out if there was anything that you would like to have printed to rebuke what was written.”

“Keith, I want to stay away from the situation as far as possible.  Let’s see what happens after the meeting, tomorrow.  There are going to be a lot of people with some red faces.  Thanks for being here today.  I guess the stores are going to be busy selling clean underwear the rest of the day.”

After Mr. Crowley had departed, I looked at Mr. Odom, “Sir, did you enjoy the act?  What can I do for you?”

“I just wanted to warn you that the headquarters has accepted your offer to host the meeting here.  You need to assign someone to handle the project.”

“I figured that I would give that job to Eric and Greg.  Greg could make the travel arrangements and Eric would be in charge of  the accommodations and special events.  I’d get Oz involved, but he’s already working too many hours.”

“What do you know about Stewart Wall?”

“Stew has been around forever.  I know that Roger Reed thought very highly of the gentleman.  I’ve only met him once or twice.  Why do you ask?”

“I was very impressed with how he was running his division.  I’m meeting with him this afternoon to talk to him.  Would you like to sit in?”

“I’ll be out of the building most of the afternoon.  Just keep me advised.”

“Oh, by the way, you can buy a hat and sweatshirt at the Pit Stop.” 

I looked at Oz, “Where did the idea of selling Shell memorabilia come from?”

Oz looked so innocent, “I thought it would be a good way to show spirit on Fridays.  Besides, I was running out of gifts to give my nephews and nieces.  All you need to do is add a yellow cape with red trim and you could be Super Shellman.”

After lunch, it was finally quiet and Grant briefed me on the calls and visitors he'd had in the morning.  I went into the office, “Tammy, call Mr. Stewart Wall and ask him when he would be available to talk.”

Tammy called through the door, “Mr. Wall is on his way.”

I was going to ask Tom to come in, but decided not to.  When Mr. Wall arrived, Tammy showed him in.  After thirty minutes of talking to Mr. Wall, I knew that this was a man that I would feel comfortable having as my Vice-President for Technical Services.  I decided not to pussyfoot around, “Stew, I’d like to offer you the position as Vice-President for Technical Services.”

There was no, I’d like to think about the offer, but a flat refusal.  “President Waller, I’m flattered by the offer, but I am not interested in taking on the role.  For starters, I’m older than I look.  I’m 61 years old, and as soon as I hit 62, I’m going to be out of here.  I figure that forty years of work entitle me to some time of leisure.  Besides, most of the technical division chiefs have let their divisions fall into disarray which I’m sure you’re finding out.  I’d like to make a recommendation for someone, if you aren’t prejudiced against women in the technical fields, to be in charge.  Her name is Kitten Graybill.  Actually that’s Dr. Graybill.  She would be ideal for the position, and she isn’t afraid to stand up against anyone.”

“So if I call her Kitten, she’s not going to deck me?  Does she have a name that would be more appropriate for me to address her by?”

Mr. Wall laughed, “Her name is Kitrina, but at the University she’s know as Dr. Kit Graybill.  I just thought of a very good reason I can’t be your vice president.  What if someone stuttered, Tammy and J. R. would have a difficult time trying to figure out if the person want to talk Mr. Wall or Mr. Waller.”

“Mr. Wa Wa Wall, please don’t mention this conversation to the Kitten.  I’d like to do some checking and I’d like to have an informal meeting with Dr. Kit before I make any judgments.”

Mr. Wall laughed, “Ed, be prepared.  She’s a pistol packing mamma if there ever was one.”

After Mr. Wall had departed I went to the Human Resources Department and pulled Dr. Graybill’s dossier.  She was forty two, single and had worked at Shell for the past ten years.  Her record was exemplary.  I went through the information a second time, trying to figure out what it was I was missing.  When I arrived back at the office, I had Tammy call and make arrangements for Dr. Graybill to be in my office at eight o’clock in the morning.

It was almost five o’clock, when J. R. stuck his head in the door, “Boss, Allie’s on the phone.”

Talk about my stomach falling, “Hi son, what’s wrong?”

“There’s nothing wrong.  I wanted to see if we could go out for dinner.  Grandpa Darryl and Uncle Tom are going to dinner with Doctor Cochran and some of her other patients that Grandpa Darryl has gotten to know.  Brahim has practice as usual.  We need to get some treats for the Trick or Treaters if we’re going to be here.”

“Allie, we certainly can go out to dinner.  You pick a place.  I should be home about six o’clock.”

When I arrived at the house, Allie followed me into the bedroom and was talking the entire time I was changing clothes. “Dad, I don’t understand why you people make Halloween such a big deal.  What significance does it have?”

“Allie, it is just another holiday that has been commercialized by the candy, treat and costume manufacturers to sell their wares.  If you ask the children who come to the door what Halloween meant, they would tell you that it was to get as many goodies as possible.”

As Allie and I were eating at a Turkish restaurant that was nearby, We were trying to decide what kind of treats we should buy.  I asked, “When is Halloween?”

“It’s really on Sunday, but the city has declared that trick or treating should be done on Saturday, so as not to disrupt people’s Sunday.”

Allie had just finished answering when our waiter appeared as a Turkish gentleman wearing a fez.  I looked at Allie, “I think you should have a Halloween party.  You dress as someone from Algeria in a dishdashah with all the trimmings.  You have one already and it may be the only time you’ll get to wear it in the United States.”

“Dad, I’ve never had a party.  I wouldn’t know what to do.”

“The first thing that you need to do is invite some people and we can always do the rest, later.  Why don’t you have the party from seven until ten on Saturday night?”

“Dad, how many people can I ask?”

“I would say that ten is probably the maximum that our living room could handle.”

“Can there be some girls, as well as boys?”

“Allie, I have no problem with you inviting young ladies as well as young gentlemen.  Everyone needs to understand that there will be no messing around.”

“Dad, that’s a given.  Let’s go see what we can find to pass out to people who come to the door.  I’d like to get something besides candy.”

That was the signal that we were going to have three busy days at home, in addition to whatever might happen at Shell Headquarters.

To be continued...

Editor's Notes:  It certainly was refreshing to notice that at least one of the divisions was being run properly. 

Mr. Wall seems to have a very good head on his shoulders.

I have a good feeling about this Kit person.  It will be interesting to meet her.  Let's hope she turns out to be as good as Mr. Wall said she is.

In all honesty, I have a confession to make.  I actually have already read the next chapter.  I hadn't noticed that the chapter number was ahead by one, and so, when it arrived, I dived right in.  When I saw that there was a chapter missing, I notified E Walk and he re-sent me this chapter, which, as far as I know, never arrived.  So, I have already met Kit.  I will not say any more, since that wouldn't be fair.

I will just say that it is quite satisfying.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher

Posted: 10/29/10