Open Sesame

By: Hank Horne
(© 2018 by the author)

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

HHorne@tickiestories.us

Chapter 21

The next couple of weeks were taken up with the mundane business of negotiations for the land we wanted and reviewing the drawings that were being emailed to us of the building layouts and overall land use suggestions.  In two or three months, we should be able to bring the architects back over to physically see the lay of the land, both from the air and on the ground.  {A helicopter – not a flying carpet, Jamal!}  We’ll have the surveyor’s measurements and can zero in on exactly where we will want to place each building and street. 

The attorneys completed the federal and state requirements for forming a Close Corporation.  Gerald Gaither Richards was listed as Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer, Majid Yahya Mustafa was designated Chief Creative Officer and Creative Director, Hassan Faisal Zafir Hassan would hold the position Chief Personnel Officer, and Dildar Jumah Fadel was named Chief Security Officer. 

A packet from Goldberg and Tyner, Attorneys, with purchase approval from the property owners {plural} for the various parcels of land we’re interested in, as well as approval from the county for our planned development arrived by certified mail.  Maji and I read what seemed like volumes of crap; but the summary from Goldberg and Tyner was much clearer. That includes “private dwelling, multi-occupancy apartments, video production offices and studios, restaurant and private nightclub facility (not within one thousand feet of any school or religious house of worship), acreage for a nine-hole golf course and garden space.  All acreage not used for the above stated purposes shall remain in natural wooded or undeveloped land.  Financing will be arranged privately, and the State and County will not provide any funding or incentives for purchase or development.  Needed water will be taken from the Chattahoochee River and filtered to meet Federal, State and County standards.  Waste water will be processed and filtered to same standards before emptying back into the Chattahoochee River.  Electricity will be provided by solar energy, or Atlanta Gas and Light will provide both electricity and gas at buyers’ expense.  Other development costs will be developers’ responsibility.  Local, state and federal taxes will be at standard rate for stated types of development.  Any further governmental approval will be discussed later.  Request to include Buzzard Roost Island and/or Powers’ Island in purchase is denied.”

The only item we wanted added to the stipulations is that “no school or house of worship can be approved to be established within that thousand-feet space for as long as we operate our businesses on that site.” 

One afternoon at lunch, someone brought up the subject of street names within the complex.  Then all of us started suggesting names – all starting with “Crystal or Rainbow.”  We temporarily agreed that the main divided road all the way from the entrance to the far end of the property would be “Crystal Rainbow Parkway.”  The most difficult would be short streets in the apartment complex of seventy-five apartments, and the clubhouse.  We had discussed with the architect two options for the clubhouse:  one, including all the business offices in the same facility, or creating an external duplicate across from it for just corporate offices.  He seemed to favor the second choice.  He suggested the clubhouse on the left of a divided hundred feet at the entrance with an entrance easy for the staff to get to, and the corporate offices on the right, so outsiders could reach it easily.  Dildar suggested the main street that made a loop around the apartment complex be named “Crystal Rainbow Circle.”  The streets that led off that to fan out with other apartments take other descriptive names.  “Crystal Court.”  “Rainbow Road.” et cetera. – et cetera. – et cetera.

* * * * *

The next day was a Saturday, and my mobile phone rang about midmorning.  It was Ethan Wilson, my BankAmerica Trust banker.

“Hello?”

“Good afternoon, Grant. It’s Ethan Wilson, BankAmerica Trust.  I hope I’m not disturbing any ballgame you’re watching on the tele.”

“No, Ethan, not at all.  What can I do for you?

“We’ve got a bit of a sticky wicket here that I would like to discuss with you in private.  I have an idea which I hope might be favorable to both of us and would appreciate it if I could have about an hour of your time next Saturday, if you could spare it.”

“I gather you’d prefer to discuss this in person rather than on the phone, Ethan.”

“Indubitably!  I’ll have a young man with me who has recently taken over your account.  I’ve been promoted and transferred Majid’s and your accounts to his care.  He is extremely capable, and I want you to meet him.  That’s really all I can say at this time.  I’ll be very happy to give you full details when I see you.”

“Of course, Ethan.  I’d like to see you again and look forward to meeting this young man.  Let me know when your flight arrives and do plan to stay with us here at the house.”

“Oh, no!  We won’t impose on you.  We’ll get a hotel in Washington,” Ethan argued.

“I won’t hear of it.  You will stay with us, and that’s final.  After all, it’s my account we’re talking about,” I said chuckling.

“You’re sure it won’t be an imposition?”

“Of course not.  Do you have a flight yet?”

“No, but I’ll let you know when I get one.”

 “See you both next Saturday.  I’m anxious to meet him.”

“Until Saturday.  Cheerio.”

“Bye.”  I turned to Maji.  “That was odd.  Ethan Wilson, one of the bankers who handle our accounts, assigned them to a young man, but there is some internal problem and he wants to discuss it with us.  They’ll spend Saturday night with us.  Ethan will let us know what flight they’ll be on. We’ll arrange to meet them at the airport and bring them here.”

The following Saturday, Maji and I were at Reagan National by 2 p.m., parked in the hourly lot.  We found the gate and using our press passes were allowed to go to the waiting area.  Ethan recognized us as soon as we did him.  He had a very good looking young man with him, about five-ten and had the stocky build of a gymnast or wrestler.  We greeted Ethan and then he introduced his companion.

“Grant, Majid, I’d like for you to meet Scotty Jonas.  Scotty is from Toronto.  He got his bachelor’s degree in accounting at Columbia and his masters from Yale.  He’s been with us for a couple of years and seemed to have a great future with the bank.”

“Scotty, it’s a great pleasure to meet you.  Let’s get you to the car because I want to learn more about you.”

“Mr. Richards, it’s a thrill for me to meet a television news celebrity, and Mr. Mustafa, I’ve admired your cinematography work for a long time. Photography has been a hobby of mine since childhood.  I got my first camera when I was in Junior School and then a cinema camera when I graduated High School.”

“The car’s over here.  Scotty, please sit up front with me so you can talk with all of us at the same time.”

Ethan started the story of why they were here.  “We had a bit of a shake-up at the corporate level a few months ago.  I had sort of taken Scotty under my wing when he came to work for our department last year.  So, when I learned I would be making a change, I assigned Scotty to your accounts, primarily because I thought he could handle it and they were good money-makers.  I kept my name on them as supervising advisor, but they were his accounts.  Then came the fly in the ointment.  A woman, who has been at the branch for nearly as long as I have, was put in my former position.  That was when she started to show her true colors.  Oh, she’s competent enough, but she is single, by choice I’m sure, and enjoys taking it out on good looking younger men.  Scotty, would you pick up the story from there, please?”

“First of all, I do not care to be flirted with by older women, and she was constantly coming on to me.  Everything she would say to me seemed to have a sexual undertone.  I question whether she’s truly interested in me or just harassing me because I don’t hide that I’m gay.  I passed my probation period with a positive review, and my accounts have prospered.  My recent review from her was all negative.  When I questioned her about some of the items she chose to review me on, she admitted she based it on what she expected of me over the next quarter rather than the job I had done the previous quarter.  I was furious and refused to sign off on the report.  That was when I mentioned it to Mr. Wilson — uh —Ethan.” Scotty started to tear up.  “Sorry, but when I think how she has treated me, I get more than angry.  I just want somebody to fuck up the damned muffer bitch!”

“I read the review, and it’s definitely unfair,” Ethan added as he patted Scotty’s shoulder from the back seat.  “This is why I called you.  Is there anything you can do to help him find something that matches his talents away from the banking industry?  If I referred him to any of the financial institutions of our type, he would be required to wait several months before he could handle any accounts – there’ve been too many transfers recently where the account manager took the clients with him.  The standard, everyday bank would start him as a teller.  So, we’re here to get your thinking on this situation.”

A questioning look had covered Maji’s face.  Quietly, Ethan asked him, “What?”  Maji asked, “Muffer?”  Ethan replied, “Muff-diver?  Dyke?  Lesbian?”  A smile of comprehension replaced the furrowed brow as Maji nodded his head.

“Scotty, I’m really very sorry that you would have been placed in such a situation.  No one should have to deal with that sort of thing when all they want is to do their job the best they can.  Ethan, do you remember our first conversation in your office?” I asked.

“Vaguely.  We talked about your account and how we’d set it up.  Was there something else?” Ethan commented.

“It had to do with a conversation you and Landon had at the cocktail lounge, which a friend overheard.”

“Oh, my god, you don’t think ….”

“Why would I not think that?  A set-up with a plant to learn where the money is coming from.”

Scotty genuinely looked puzzled but said nothing.

“No! No!  I swear this is nothing of the sort.  If you really believe that, then take us to the nearest hotel and we’ll stay there until our flight back tomorrow.  There is nothing farther from the truth.  Scotty, what Grant is saying is that Landon and I questioned whether the two of us were being set-up for an exposé of our being gay and living together, sharing information between our employers.  I swear to you, and The Almighty, that is not my intent.”

“Mr. Richards, everything I told you is true.  I just want a job where I’m not ridiculed and humiliated because I’m gay.  If you don’t believe me, then you won’t trust me, even with your account,” Scotty commented.  “Please let me out and I’ll get back home some way.”

“Grant, give them a chance,” Maji interjected.

“If I thought there was even a possibility of that scenario, I would have raised more questions before they flew all the way here,” I countered.  “Scotty, I do believe you — {I reached over and put my hand on his shoulder} — and I agree no one should be faced with that situation.  We’ll talk about a corporate position that I know is available for a CFO.  The whole corporation is gay, and horny for a muscle stud with a hot bod and a baby face that could cause an iron rod to melt – regardless of how hard it is right now.”

“Yeah, right!  Some corporate board of directors is going to give a young fag some important position like CFO of their company.  It’s bullshit!”

“Scotty, I think he’s serious,” Ethan commented.  “Let’s play this hand out and we’re here for the rest of the day and part of tomorrow until our flight home. What do you say?”

“Whatever,” Scotty replied, unenthusiastically.

“What’s the corporation, Grant?” Ethan asked.

“Crystal Rainbow.  It’s a close corporation.  Gerald Richards is the Board Chair and CEO, Majid Mustafa is the Creative Director, Hassan Hassan is Chief Personnel Officer, and Dildar Fadel is Chief Security Officer.  What the corporation needs is a Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer.”

“How’s this Gerald Richards related to you, Grant?” Ethan asked.

“He’s so close to me he could be my twin brother – but he’s my first name.  Grant is my second name.  We’ve just gotten clearance to buy land just west of Atlanta to establish a Crystal Rainbow complex.  We need a financial expert to guide us through this – and he has to be gay – or at least bi.”

“You’re joking!” Ethan said. 

Maji shook his head.  “For real.  We got the legal paperwork this week.  So, we really need a financial whiz kid, who is sexy, brilliant, a hunk, and maybe even likes to wrestle.  That’s our second favorite pastime.  We’ve been wondering who might be interested.”

That got Ethan laughing and Scotty smiling.  By that time, we were on Connecticut Avenue in D.C., passing the Avalon Theater on the left and Safeway Grocery on the right.  As we progressed around the Circle, I pointed out some of the churches nearby.  Then we were home.  I U-turned at Bradley Lane and pulled in the front driveway – you know how it is with first-time guests, especially when they’re hesitant about even being here.

Dildar and Hassan were at the door to meet us.  Greta was fixing dinner.  I introduced our guests to everyone; Greta went back to cooking, I showed the guests to our two-adjacent guest rooms and told them to come on down to the office when they freshened up.  Dinner would be casual.

When they came into the office, we showed them the legal stuff about the incorporation and some of the drawings of the buildings from the architects. 

“Do you believe us now, Scotty?” I asked.

He nodded his head.  “I’m sorry.  I just don’t need to be body slammed anymore, and not be able to fight back.”

I took him in my arms, giving him a big hug.  “Scotty, lad, the last thing I would ever do is to deliberately hurt someone.  I even try to make penetration easy.”

Ethan and Scotty were both shocked, then laughed at my comment.  “Maji, on the other hand, is pretty big, first time in.”  I opened the bar and asked what everyone would like to drink.  Then our guests began to really relax and become chattier.  Greta buzzed me when dinner was on the table, so we all went in to eat.

To be continued... 

Posted: 11/30/18