Fern's Fancies

by Lillie Ammann

CHAPTER FOUR

  He held her hands, palms up, in his and made a production of examining them. No burns on her hands, but would he be the one to be burned? He'd been surprised when she joined in the silly game. Now he realized how much more dangerous the situation had become. He could probably control his lust, but how could he resist a woman who shared his ridiculous sense of humor?

  But resist her he would. No way would he put himself in a position to be accused of sexual harassment. He'd seen a good branch manager destroyed by such a charge. The male manager admitted to an affair with a female technician, but he claimed it was by mutual consent. When the relationship ended, the technician had claimed sexual harassment, saying she had engaged in the affair only because she feared for her job if she refused. Whether or not she had ever been willing, the company had fired the male manager and reached a cash settlement with the female employee. Ultimate was in an expansion mode, and the company wouldn't risk the adverse publicity a court case would bring.

  How long had he been holding her hands while he was telling himself to resist her? He had to end this here and now. He dropped her hands and asked, "Is that coffee ready yet?"

  She nodded and walked to the counter. She took two cups from the mug tree, filled them, and handed one to Pen. "Creamer and sugar are on the table."

  They sat on opposite sides of the table. Fern took the foil wrapped tacos from the bag and peeked into them one by one. She placed two on her plate and four on Pen's plate and announced, "You have two potato and egg and two ham and egg. You'll be glad to know I didn't get any chorizo-that's a spicy Mexican sausage."

  "Good." He felt relief there would be no spicy food or conversation this morning. It was time to get down to work. "Will the technicians be coming into the office this morning?"

  "Yeah. On Wednesdays, everyone reports to the office. The technical staff attends class for an hour or so first. I was planning to teach a class on customer service."

  "The corporate development guys told me about your training program." He wadded up the foil wrapper from the first taco and opened the second. "I'm eager to see you in action. In fact, your training was a strong pro in the list of the pros and cons for the acquisition of Fern's Fancies."

  He looked at Fern's face and realized he shouldn't have mentioned the list, as it was called in the corporate office. The corporate development staff created a list of advantages and disadvantages for every potential acquisition. Such a balanced evaluation made good business sense, but he could tell from Fern's eyes that she didn't agree. Flashes of green among the hazel reflected indignation, or was it hurt?

  "Okay, now you've told me something positive. Isn't it good management to cushion constructive criticism by starting with a compliment? So what were the cons?" She looked away from him and unwrapped another taco.

  "Remember, I wasn't in the Southwest region then. And I didn't mean to start a conversation about pros and cons. You mentioned the classes, and I just thought you might like to know the Ultimate corporate office was impressed. Those guys aren't easily impressed. After all, we have thirty-one branches now." He laid his taco on the foil and looked straight into her eyes. "You should be proud your training program impressed them."

  He had seemed so critical yesterday. Or was she too sensitive? After all, this business wasn't just a job. It was her baby. She had devoted ten years of her life to it, and it was the symbol of her independence. Accepting the supervision of a regional manager was harder than she would have thought had she thought about it at all. He was holding out an olive branch and she had to take it.

  She smiled. "Yeah, you're darn right I'm proud. Not just of the training program either. I'm proud of everything about Fern's Fancies."

  Pen raised his eyebrows but didn't respond to her comment. Instead he asked, "Does everyone report at eight o'clock?"

  "Everybody starts at eight. People will start coming in any time now. Hannah is usually here shortly after seven and always makes the coffee." She chuckled. "Everybody hates her coffee-it's just colored water-but nobody hates it enough to get here early enough to make it themselves."

  He looked at his wristwatch and said, "It's a few minutes after seven now. I want to be in the front office when everybody comes in."

  "Okay, I'm done," she answered.

  He gathered up his wrappings and stuffed the trash into the empty bag. He held the bag out for Fern to add her trash. After he threw it in the garbage can, he poured himself another cup of coffee. "This coffee's perfect, by the way. You either need to make it every morning or tell Hannah your secret."

  He didn't wait for an answer but left her refilling her own coffee cup. She followed him down the hall to the office that had been hers alone for years, the office she now had to share with Pen.

  Thank goodness it was temporary. She wasn't sure she'd ever be able to do much work around him. His body seemed to be a magnet and hers iron filings.

  He strode into the office and sat at her desk. Something didn't seem right, but it took a few seconds for her to realize he'd already moved the desk and small file. He had brought in an extra chair from the conference room.

  He patted the end of the desk in front of the extra chair, "You can sit here for now. We'll get another desk today, but neither of us will be in here much today so it won't matter."

  Fern didn't sit. If neither of them were going to be in here much, why didn't he sit at the end of the desk in the odd chair? Why was he confiscating her desk and her chair? Some kind of executive power play no doubt. After all, she was a peon now. Besides, he probably couldn't function under tough conditions. If he thought the lack of a desk was going to crush her, he had another think coming. He'd have to come up with something worse than that.

  He was looking at her as if he were trying to figure out what was going on in her mind. She hoped he wouldn't notice she was biting her lower lip again. He was looking at her so intently he couldn't miss it, but maybe he wouldn't guess it meant she was biting back her words.

  He knew exactly what she was doing. She looked gorgeous, even if she had already eaten off all her lipstick. He felt a stirring in his body when he looked at her. Today her hair was loose-coal black masses of riotous curls. He wondered how she had managed to tame it all into that little knot yesterday.

  She wasn't wearing her company uniform today. She had on some kind of pants that looked like a skirt and a tailored blouse that was a swirl of pastel colors. On another woman, it might look businesslike. On her, it just looked alluring. But he was beginning to believe that she'd look alluring no matter what she was wearing.

  What was he thinking? Employees were going to start coming through that door any second now, and he had to be the ultimate professional manager. He'd never let a woman distract him before. No matter how serious a relationship might become, it never interfered with his job. He'd never had a fantasy about a woman that took his mind away from business. Why now? Why this woman?

  He willed his mind to return to business and his body to return to normal and said, "Tell me about the technicians-name, time in the job, and an analysis of strengths and weaknesses." He pulled a pen from his pocket and reached for the tablet on the desk.

  "Susan is the maintenance supervisor. She started as a tech eight years ago, and she's been a supervisor for about five years." Fern continued naming and describing the eight technicians who maintained plants in client businesses.

  Pen made notes, but he didn't comment except to ask an occasional question. Fern felt more at ease-he was finally asking for significant information with no apparent criticism.

  Her composure shattered, however, when he reached into his briefcase and took out a file. He opened it and laid it beside his notes. He seemed to check what she said against what he had in the file. He didn't ask her those questions to learn something-he asked them to check up on her. He didn't trust her.

  How had she thought she could get back on track with Mr. Bigshot Executive? The only track they'd ever be on was the rut they
were in-she would spend the next two weeks biting off everything she wanted to say. Please, she begged silently, let me keep my mouth shut. If I say what I'm thinking, I'll lose my job, and then what would I do?

  Fern was relieved to hear the front door open and Hannah call out. The bookkeeper stepped into Fern's office and said, "I was surprised to see your car here so early. Oh, good morning, Mr.-"

  "Pen, remember? How's it going today?"

  "Fine, Mr. . . . I mean, Pen. I'd better get the coffee made." Hannah started to back out of the door.

  Pen held up his coffee cup and said, "I was too impatient to wait."

  "Oh, I'm sorry. I can get here earlier tomorrow."

  Fern saw Pen give her a conspiratorial wink before answering. "No need. Believe it or not, Fern makes a fine cup of coffee. If we're here before you, she'll take care of it."

  Of course she would. What was wrong with him? If he wanted coffee, he could make it himself. Okay, so she'd offered to make it today. That didn't mean she was volunteering for a permanent job. She put so much energy into containing her anger that she didn't even realize Hannah had left the room. Well, she'd been standing here like a tree long enough-time to do something constructive.

  "May I get into the file drawer of the desk? I need to get my class materials, and then I'll get out of your way. You can have the office to yourself while I'm teaching class."

  Pen rolled the chair away from the desk so she could open the drawer. He said, "I'm going to class with you. I want to meet everyone as much as I want to watch you in action."

  He was watching her in action right now. She bent over to reach in the drawer and presented a tantalizing view. She straightened up all too soon.

  He didn't mean to say anything, but suddenly he heard words coming out of his own mouth. "What's that you're wearing? Is it a skirt or pants?"

  He saw Fern's mouth open in an O. She couldn't be any more surprised than he was. He had no business talking about a woman's clothes. He'd only been around this woman a few hours, and already he'd made more big goofs than he usually did in a month.

  "It's a split skirt, if-"

  "If it's any of my business, which it isn't," Pen interrupted. "Sorry, I was just curious." Curious was one way of putting it. His body could probably think of a few other words that described just how that split skirt made him feel, but maybe she'd buy curious.

  "I'm going to the conference room to set up for the class. We start at eight," she said as she sashayed out.

  He closed the door after she left. He didn't want to socialize with the employees before he had met them all on the job. Tomorrow, he'd sit in the lunchroom and chat over coffee. By that time, he'd have met everyone.

  He reviewed the corporate employee report and his notes from his conversation with Fern. The corporate report contained the bare facts, but Fern's description gave him a much better image of each person. He could say something appropriate to each person when he was introduced. Years of experience had taught him that every employee must feel valued and important if the transition from a small single owner business to a branch of a huge conglomerate were to succeed. Fern's Fancies would become a stellar branch of Ultimate-his career depended on it.

  Shortly before class time, he stepped into the reception area and spoke to the receptionist. "Morning, Maria. Fern went ahead to set up for class. Can you show me where the conference room is?"

  Maria returned his smile and directed him down the hall to an open door opposite the clerical office. "I guess I could have found it myself," he said with a chuckle. "Just follow the noise."

  The noise stopped as, one by one, the employees looked at him standing in the door. Fern jumped up from her chair at the head of the table, and stepped toward him. "Everybody, this is Pendleton Morgenthal, the new regional manager."

  He told them to call him Pen. Then he said a few words, expressing that he was glad to be in San Antonio and looking forward to getting to know each one. Fern introduced each person at the table. He made a suitable comment as each employee was identified.

  "Susan, it's great to have a supervisor who's been with the company eight years. You're the most experienced supervisor in the Southwest Region." He noticed Fern shaking her head and winked at Susan. "Of course, you're also the only supervisor since this is the first branch in the region."

  He grinned at Susan and she smiled. Then he added more seriously, "But you're one of the most experienced supervisors in the company. We're pleased to have your experience on board with us."

  The positive comments he made to all employees surprised Fern. That he gave her credit for many of the compliments amazed her.

  "Fern tells me you've had perfect attendance all year. That's super," he told one tech. "According to Fern, you're a whiz at pruning," he said to another. "That was a great idea you had ?"

  All the workers received pats on the back, and Fern recognized how pleased and proud they were. They could have easily been intimidated by such a powerful executive. She knew they must feel as vulnerable as she did. Would they keep their jobs? Would the new company make changes they couldn't handle?

  After the introductions, Pen turned to Fern and asked, "Is it okay if I take about ten minutes of class time to bring everyone up to date on the company?" When she nodded, he asked, "Can the office staff join us?"

  "Sure." She stepped to the phone, pushed the intercom button, and asked the office staff to report to the conference room. "I'll sit here so I can answer the phone or the door if needed," Fern said.

  After everyone had arrived, Pen stood at the head of the table. "Welcome to Ultimate Plant Service," he said. "I know Fern's has been a member of the Ultimate family for several weeks, but this is my first chance to welcome you. I've just been appointed Southwest Regional Manager. There's been no Regional Manager because this is the first branch in the region. However, we'll have several others within the next two months."

  He went on to relate, as he had told her yesterday, his experience as a Regional Manager for the Northeast Region. "You'll see some changes around here in the coming months. The first thing you'll notice is that we'll be phasing out the name, Fern's Fancies. Everything will be under the corporate name."

  Hannah raised her hand, surprising Fern who knew how shy the older woman was. Pen acknowledged her, and she asked, "You mean I'll have to change invoices and everything? Why?"

  "Good question, Hannah. There are lots of advantages for a national company, but two are most important. First, we have national contracts with other national companies. Hyatt Hotel, for instance, expects Ultimate to be their plantscape company, whether they're in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, New York, or San Antonio. It would be too confusing for a master contract to include Exotic Foliage in New York, Fern's Fancies in San Antonio, and so on."

  Fern felt some of her anger slide out of her body. It made perfect sense when he explained it like that. Why had he been so sarcastic about it yesterday? Naturally, she was sensitive about the name. It was her name, and losing that identity really brought home the fact that the business wasn't hers anymore.

  Pen was still talking. "The second reason is the same thing on the vendor side. We get better deals on plants, materials, and supplies by buying in volume for all the branches. Again, the suppliers want everything bought in the name of Ultimate to go to a location with the Ultimate name."

  She noticed he looked around the room and made eye contact with several people before continuing.

  "We'll have a new sign installed today, and paperwork and forms will be here in the next few days. Fern and I will visit the major clients to explain what's happening, but you may have to answer questions from smaller clients. It shouldn't come as a surprise because they were all notified of the merger when it happened."

  She was grateful he used the word merger instead of buy-out or purchase. It wasn't really a merger, of course-she had no ownership or management rights anymore. But merger probably sounded better to her employees. At least they didn't know
that this was the first she'd heard that she and Pen would visit major clients. Hadn't he told her it was her responsibility to notify the clients?

  "I'll be inspecting this branch for the next couple of weeks. Don't look so worried. Inspecting is a poor choice of words."

  Sure it is, Fern muttered under her breath. She quickly glanced up to see he hadn't noticed.

  He stepped up to the marker board and started writing with a bright red marker. "Observing is a better word. I'm here to learn how you do things. We may make some changes. Remember, although Ultimate Plant Service has only been around a few years, we're a division of Ultimate Services International. Some of our divisions, Ultimate Pest Control and Ultimate Delivery Service, are forty or fifty years old."

  He made a list on the board of the various divisions of the conglomerate. Fern saw that her employees were as impressed as she had been when the corporate staff had first shown her the list of Ultimate companies.

  "Some of the plant service companies that were acquired by Ultimate have been in business for as long as eighteen years. Sometimes we make changes based on the experience available at the corporate level. And of course, to operate most efficiently, there needs to be a certain amount of standardization in how the branches operate. So that may lead to a few changes."

  Omigosh. Her ten years of experience couldn't compare with all that, especially since she had been a one-person operation for nearly two years. What changes would they make? Would they destroy the notion of personal service that was such a source of pride for her?

  "On the other hand, Ultimate acquired Fern's Fancies because we recognize it as the premier plantscape company in the San Antonio area."

  Fern's head popped up in surprise. She hadn't expected such a sweeping compliment. The man never said or did what she expected.

  Pen continued, "Corporate development carefully researches the market before they go into an area. They only approach the top company in the market. Nothing second best in this company. So, corporate can learn from you. That's the other reason I'm here-to learn from your experience."

  Fern could tell he had the employees in the palm of his hand. They were looking for reassurance that their jobs were secure. Not only had he given them that, but he'd even said he could learn from them.

  Her mind wandered as he explained the additional benefits the employees would enjoy. Getting these benefits for her staff was a key reason for her decision to sell the business. She could never offer the insurance, vacation, and other benefits a giant company could. Just thinking of the advantages to her employees reminded her why she had sold out.

  After answering a few more questions, Pen sent the office staff back to work and turned the class over to Fern.

  She announced the topic for today was dealing with difficult customers and asked for volunteers to role-play. "For each example, we need one difficult customer and one tech. Who wants to go first?"

  "I'll be the difficult customer," Pen volunteered. With a cocky grin, he said, "I'm an easy guy to get along with, but somehow I've got a reputation for being difficult with certain people. Why don't we just go around the room so everybody gets a chance to deal with me?" He sat in one of the two chairs she had placed in front of the room.

  Although Fern worried that Pen would be too difficult-he certainly had been with her-he made a perfect difficult customer. In one vignette, he complained that "all his plants were dying" because there were a few yellow leaves on a plant in reception. He acted irate, but he did respond when the tech explained that a few yellow leaves were normal and promised to give that plant some extra vitamins and hormones to help overcome its stress.

  With another tech, he griped because she was late. The tech with the least experience tried to handle the situation, and she was so nervous she stuttered and stammered. Instead of criticizing, as Fern feared, he said, "Why don't we reverse roles? You complain to me, and I'll respond."

  The tech was so flustered she sounded furious. Pen handled the situation with charm and grace. The complainer and the observers were all smiling when he finished.

  "Her reaction seemed all out of proportion to my being a few minutes late, didn't it?" He waited for nods and affirmative answers. "But we all know people do react this way sometimes. First, take a deep breath and remind yourself that she's probably mad at her husband and you're just the first person she can vent her feelings on. Instead of getting upset because she's treating you unfairly, challenge yourself to see if you can make her smile. Not only will you deal with whatever she's complaining about, but you'll make life better for everybody who has to work around her the rest of the day."

  Although he was looking around the table, Fern had the distinct feeling he was talking to her. She stood and faced the group. "Pen just gave us a good example, a wonderful lesson. Just remember it's not always a she-a he can be just as difficult."

  Pen laughed. "Probably worse. Now, who's next?"

  The rest of the class passed quickly. Fern knew it was one of the best classes they'd ever had, and she didn't like it one bit. He said he was there to learn, but he was taking over.

  At the end of class, she issued assignments for the day. On Wednesday, most techs didn't have plant maintenance scheduled. They worked in the warehouse, helped with installations, or did special projects on their accounts.

  Pen didn't say anything while she assigning duties, but after she finished, he asked, "Why did you send Cindy with Toby to make those replacements? It seems to me one person could handle it."

  She silently counted to ten before she answered. "Yes, one person could handle most of the work orders. But they have to climb a fourteen-foot ladder at The Gardens Grill. I normally send two people-it's easier and safer. Besides, Cindy needs more training on insect treatment, and she'll get good experience spraying all those hanging baskets for mealybugs."

  "What chemicals are they using for mealies?"

  She explained the chemical treatment. "There was an article in Interiorscape Magazine last month that recommended this program. So far, it seems to be effective."

  He rose and walked toward the door, saying over his shoulder, "It's effective, but Ultimate's policy is to use organic controls whenever possible. We need to visit City Center. I understand there's a severe mealybug infestation in the atrium. We're going to start using organic controls."

  She hurried to catch up with him-again. When she reached the office, he was already sitting at the desk. He looked up and asked, "What's your schedule for today?"

  "If you'll slide my appointment book over here, I'll tell you. It's right in the center of the desk."

  He slid the book to the end of the desk. "I have an appointment to give a proposal to a law office downtown at one o'clock. Otherwise, I kept the day open for you." She didn't feel guilty about the little white lie. The only reason she hadn't scheduled to be available was because she hadn't read her e-mail in time to know he was going to be there.

  "Okay, let's order furniture and go over the books this morning. I'll go with you to your appointment and we can look at the City Center atrium on the way back."

  "Shouldn't we just rent a desk? Surely, there's no need to buy a desk for you to use only a couple of weeks."

  "Didn't I tell you?" He rolled his pen between his fingers. "I have to report to corporate for a few weeks after this visit. Then I'll be moving in. The regional office is going to be right here at the San Antonio branch."