“Forty-three percent.”
“And we each own fifteen percent?” Lori asked, waving a hand between her and Marnie.
“Yes but your actual share, along with your brother and sisters,’ is held by your father.”
Lori waved off the detail impatiently. “So just how much of everything goes to Doofuss? I mean, the way he’s been acting you’d think he had inherited half of everything!”
“Is there any way he’s acting on Henry’s behalf?” Tyler asked.
While Georgie and Lori didn’t think so, Marnie believed it was a distinct possibility. Or at least possible that Lou believed he was acting in Henry’s best interest.
It was Marnie who stood this time. She was like a general, gathering the last important facts before delivering her battle plan. “Debbie, you said Georgie’s share is forty-three percent. What’s mine, in hard numbers?”
Debbie flipped through a few pages. “This is just a rough estimate but assuming Henry’s portion of the estate is distributed as promised, and God bless him not too soon, then you, Lori, Stella and Leslie will hold fourteen percent of the entire estate each. Lou will inherit eleven percent. The difference can be attributed to your house at Eighteen Mile Creek. For Leslie, it was the condo.”
“If you’re wondering,” Kira offered, reading from the estate documents, “Danny left a provision in his will for Lou. While the family estate is owned by the company, it guarantees him a five-acre building lot too.” Flipping to the photocopy of the site plan, she let out a loud low whistle. “So this is where the big family home is?”
Lori moved over beside the recliner and, planting herself on the arm, pointed out the details for her. “Now that rectangle is the big house. That’s what we call that big monstrosity old Luigi built for us. Don’t get me wrong, I love the place, but I think Marnie and Jack’s house is much cooler! It’s that big square over here.” She pointed to the five-acre plot that had been subdivided for Marnie’s use. “We call it the Glasshouse. It even won some awards back when they first built it.”
“Sounds nice. I’d love to hear all about it. At the moment though, the baby’s standing on my bladder. If you’ll excuse me.”
Lori helped her up and out of the recliner before turning her attention back to the group. “Tell me Marns, have you got a plan?”
“Actually no,” she admitted, collapsing back onto the couch. “Come on guys, let’s figure this out. He’s moving money around like crazy but we can’t actually find anything missing. It’s just in the wrong place. He’s been cutting jobs and programs and projects all over the place and now he’s getting appraisals? If I didn’t know better I would assume he’s preparing to sell the company and assets. Why would he want to do that?”
“Tyler,” Georgie said. “You think he…for Henry? Approval or…anticipation?” she asked, while shaking her head. “Misguided.”
“You’re right,” Tyler acknowledged. “This may very well be a misguided attempt to earn Henry’s approval. How, I can’t imagine. Policy in publically traded corporations is usually driven by profit. After all, your first responsibility is to your shareholders. There is no such requirement in a privately owned company such as yours. Currently DME policies are driven by a vision of responsibility to family and community. That includes customers, employees, the community within the Greater Buffalo area, and the marine industry.”
“Yeah,” Lori confirmed. “With us it’s always been about quality and responsibility. It’s not like we run things at a loss but profit is…”
“No!” Sounding shocked, Georgie looked to have figured something out. She gave Tyler’s arm an appreciative squeeze before trying to explain.
Suddenly Marnie stood too. “That S.O.B.!”
“What?” Lori asked, gesturing to Marnie to sit back down.
“All right you guys, add this up for me: a consecutive increase in profits every year for five years; a decrease in labor expenses; a reduction in R&D costs; a reduction in manufacturing costs; increased offshore production, and let’s not forget international licensing. Put it all together and what have we got?”
Debbie suggested, “It sounds like he’s preparing for an IPO.”
“Bingo! Is that what you were thinking?” Marnie asked Georgie.
She nodded while Lori’s hand gestures made it clear she had no idea what they were talking about.
“Initial Public Offering,” Kira explained, as she waddled back in the room. “Help me back in the chair there, Queen of the Amazons!”
Lori was happy to get her settled, speculating, “So, he wants to take the company onto the stock market. Is that right?”
Debbie nodded, explaining that it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. “IPO’s are usually staged to raise cash, usually a lot of cash, and very quickly. A company with a financial record like yours could easily raise fifty million in an IPO.”
“Then why don’t we do it?” Lori wanted to know.
When Marnie just groaned, Georgie explained, “Double-edged sword.”
It didn’t take long for Debbie to explain the risks of stock price volatility to her.
“Yikes! I’m running a tight ship now. I’d be screwed if the stock fell below the opening price.”
“Which is why it’s a strange move for such a well-established company,” Tyler noted and Georgie agreed.
“We have our why,” Marnie noted. “All we need to do now is figure out what we want to do about it.”
“And soon,” Lori added. “The annual board meeting is only six weeks away.”
“Girls…” Debbie warned them much as she would have with her own daughters. “I don’t think you can wait until then. This mess with the employee pension fund could blow up in your faces, and soon!”
“Agreed,” Georgie said plainly.
“Okay,” Lori said. “So it’s down the rabbit hole. Yay!”
Marnie gave her a slap on the leg. “Before we do anything we need to get Lou out of the office.”
“I could get him out to the boatyard and keep him busy for a day,” Lori offered.
“We’re going to need more than one day,” Debbie warned. “You need a full audit and you’re going to have to have someone sit down with everyone in his department to sort this out. I’d say weeks but probably more like months.”
“Damn!” Marnie stood, asking Debbie, “I know you’ve got your own business to run, but is there any way you can take point on this, at least until Kira’s baby comes?”
“Not a problem. It’s a slow time of year for us. But I may need more help depending on what we find.”
Plainly, Marnie now had a plan in mind and she grinned. “If he wants to play head honcho, I say we let him. If we up our presence on the boat show circuit, you know, really go big, then we’ll need someone from senior management on hand.”
“I thought Debbie said we couldn’t wait, that we had to do something now?” Lori asked, looking more confused than ever.
“No,” Georgie offered. “No games. We sit down…Henry, Leslie too.”
Groaning, Marnie collapsed back into the couch. “I know you’re right. I was just hoping to avoid a confrontation. If we call the Board before Miami, he’ll freak. If it turns out he is actually up to something, we’ll be giving him time to cover his tracks and…wait,” she said, thinking of something else. “Not if he calls the meeting! You two—” Marnie pointed an accusing finger at Georgie and Tyler. “You two have to knock it off, understood? I’m giving you each an employee warning!”
“What, wait, Marnie. I told you on the phone—” Tyler started.
Lori and Kira began tossing in questions too, trying to figure out what Marnie was on about.
“Stop! Listen, all of you. I am not saying you two cannot continue to see each other. I’m just—”
“Whoa there people!” Kira interrupted. “Am I getting this right? You two are a thing?”
“Yes we are,” Tyler stated, fiercely proud. “And we are not going to let Lou Phipps or anyone els
e dictate the terms of our relationship!”
Marnie smiled at her stance while Kira and Lori continued to pepper them with questions.
Debbie Marsh, watching the exchange with interest, offered casually, “I think I get it. You’re going to get him all riled up about these two, so riled up, he’ll call an emergency board meeting?”
Nodding, Marnie sat back, explaining, “Lou is a reactionary man and he’s quite vain. For whatever reason, he has been working hard to capsize any chance of Georgie taking over. If he finds out about these two, he’ll want to present his motion immediately.”
“You really think this would be catalyst enough?” Tyler asked.
“If he really wants to take the company public, he has to convince Henry, and Henry has always voted with Georgie. Trust me, if he thinks he can use this against her, he will.”
Lori had to ask, “How exactly do we execute this plan? I mean, he’ll smell a rat if any of us spill the beans.”
“Zoe,” Georgie said simply.
“Oh right on Bender!” Lori said, “I forgot about our little Mata Hari! Still, we have the same issue. How do we let her know without tipping our hand?”
“Let me take care of that!” Tyler said. Picking up her tablet, she opened a new app and began to edit the profile details, showing the changes to Georgie.
Her face colored a little but the smile made it clear how happy those few words had made her. Nodding, she gave her agreement for Tyler to update her Facebook status.
A second later the notification sounded on Kira’s cell phone. Just as curious as everyone else, she opened it up to read Tyler’s Facebook status change. “Oh my God! My sister’s in a relationship! This is so cool, but you didn’t say with who?”
“She doesn’t need to,” Lori explained for everyone. “If I know Zoe, she’ll be on the phone the second she sees that, and digging for all the juicy details.”
“Well that’s it. Let the games begin, or as Georgie would say, we’re good to go.” Satisfied that the plan was in motion, Marnie stood, offering, “Debbie I want to thank you and your family for your hospitality. I’ll see you bright and early Monday morning in my office. You too kiddo,” she said to Kira. “I know you’re ready to pop that baby out any day now. You’ve got a sharp eye. I’d like you in on this. More than that, I’d like to talk to you about something more permanent. That is, after your maternity leave.”
Turning back to Lori she urged, “Come on, Wonder Woman, I’d like to get home before the football game is over and the boys and their father descend on my kitchen.”
Chapter Thirteen
Georgie rattled around the empty condo. She hadn’t realized until now how little she had in the place. Her books were here—some of them. She had filled an entire wall in the machine shop with her engineering texts. It made more sense to store them down there where her team could have access. Sitting down on the old leather couch that had once graced her grandfather’s office, she patted the cushion beside her. Maggie retrieved her squeaky toy from her bed before climbing onto the couch beside her, and curling up for a nap. This was their routine but for some reason Georgie was out of sorts. She was still bothered to learn of Lou’s misguided direction but that wasn’t the real problem. She was missing Tyler.
Unable to sit, she paced to the window but it was too dark to really see anything. Instead she sat on the wide windowsill. With arms crossed, she surveyed the empty space. The New Year’s decorations still hung in place while two large panel carts, heavily laden with folding tables and chairs, had been pushed into a corner. Monday morning Stella would have her maintenance staff focus their efforts on getting the condos, hers, Henry’s, Leslie’s, and even the empty unit, back in shape. Still, the caterers had done a pretty good job cleaning up. She should really thank them. Whenever her apartment was set up for a party, the place took on a functional look. Here, now, with everything gone or folded up, it just looked vacant. How had she lived like this for so long? The room, like her life, was completely empty except for a few mementos from before Afghanistan. Actually, all were either from the military or from her life before she met Margaret.
Margaret! How the hell had she fallen for a woman like that? It was a question she had asked herself a million times. Suddenly the answer was as clear as day. She recognized in Margaret a facet of her own singularity. Margaret was an only child of a man who had lost his wife early on. It was easy to see in her that lone part of herself. Wanting to fill that void, she imagined Margaret would do the same for her. Of course it had been the exact opposite. Margaret’s only interest in her had been about what Georgie and her family could do for Margaret and her father. Georgie had never really put it all together until this moment. How long had she wanted what she had seen so readily within her whole family? Lou always had Leslie, just a year older, to lean on; Marnie and Lori were inseparable and had been since sharing a crib. The fact that both women had remained such steadfast friends, when both had grown up to be such different people, was a testament to the strength of their bond. Georgie hadn’t realized until that moment just how much she craved that type of friendship. Intimacy too, had to be part and parcel of the package for her. If that was all she was after, Tyler would be the hands-down winner! But the woman was so much more than that. Who was she kidding? Tyler was amazing! Beautiful and brilliant, she understood family, but more importantly and quite unfathomably, Tyler understood her.
Frustrated with her thoughts and feeling terribly alone, she pushed off the window ledge, unsure what to do with herself. Tyler was meeting Zoe for a drink, and to confess to her affair with Georgie. She bristled at the term affair. It wasn’t an affair. It was a “thing.” Tyler said so! She groaned at her own assertion. What the hell is a thing? Georgie had taken that to mean they both had serious feelings for one another. She groaned again wishing she’d asked more questions. Of course, the last thing she wanted was for Tyler to have to define everything for her.
Plunking herself back down beside the sleeping dog, she picked up her phone, hoping Wiki could explain the stages of a lesbian relationship to her. When that turned out to be a bust, she searched the Internet, stumbling onto the site for the Other Team. Their advice was fun and full of interesting tidbits for getting a girl, but none for keeping her. She closed her browser and speed-dialed Lori. Like her, Lori was no expert on relationships, but she did have a long line of women vying for that coveted spot.
“Hey Georgie Porgie! You’re missing your girl, aren’t you?”
“No.”
“Yes,” Lori laughed. “Oh, I knew you had it bad. Well, if it’s any consolation, I think she’s crazy about you too!”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah! So stop worrying. It’s why you called, isn’t it? Let me guess: you don’t know what to do next, not without a checklist. Am I right?”
“Yes.” Georgie’s response was full of shame. “I…”
“I know. You don’t want to screw it up. Hey, I get that Bender. There’s no shame in that. Especially with this one. I gotta hand it to you, I really think she’s the one. So, I take it she’s still taking libations with Mata Hari?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay, that’s good. When she gets there, she should be good and hungry. You can start by taking her down to Leslie’s for a nice romantic dinner.” When Georgie didn’t immediately reply, Lori questioned her. “You did invite her to come over, didn’t you?” Georgie’s groan was all the answer she needed. “Oh buddy, do I have to teach you everything?”
“No…Yes…”
“Don’t stress it. I’m here for you. Okay, here’s what you’re going to do…”
* * *
When Tyler walked in the door she saw Georgie asleep, sprawled on the old leather sofa. Maggie, sensing her presence before she entered the apartment, was at the door to greet her with a wagging tail. She followed Tyler, happily supervising as she quietly set the takeout bags on the large kitchen island. Shucking her coat, she tiptoed over to the couch, pleased to see
Georgie out cold. She wasn’t surprised. Considering it was well after eleven and it wasn’t as if they had gotten any sleep the night before. That thought immediately put a smile on her face. She sat down on the edge of the couch, wanting to be close but not ready to wake her. While she seemed to sleep deeply her face looked troubled. Her hands repeatedly clenched and unclenched. Taking those troubled hands in hers, she kissed each one.
“Tyler…Okay?” Georgie asked quietly.
“Hey, I didn’t mean to wake you. Have you eaten? I brought food.”
As she sat up she shook her head, then wrapped her arms around Tyler in a welcoming embrace.
It was funny how easy it was to return her affection. She had wondered if it would be awkward between them, even worried about it. Things were so easy with Georgie. What a difference a month could make. She marveled at how open and accepting she was and how quickly that had happened. The truth was, they had achieved a level of intellectual intimacy almost immediately. With that had come trust and she now understood that trust was everything for Georgie. No wonder! Not after everything that had happened. The best part was that she knew she could trust her with anything, maybe everything.
She took a deep breath, savoring the moment. When she felt Georgie’s lips on her neck slowly making their way toward her mouth, she leaned back abruptly, questioning with humor, “Does this mean you missed me?” Judging by the look in Georgie’s eyes she more than missed her, she wanted her. Tyler couldn’t hold back a smile, silently thanking all the gods in all the heavens. She gave Georgie a quick kiss. One she was sincerely tempted to deepen, but giving in to her logical side, she wanted to deal with their more basic needs first. “I called Leslie to find out if you had eaten, she told me you were waiting for me. Thank you, baby. That was so sweet. I hope you don’t mind but I brought everything up here.” Standing, offering Georgie a hand up. “Guess we can eat here on the couch?”
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