The Story of Charlie Mullins

by Jim Wygand

  Paola had surpassed her last endeavor for Charlie and Gina with a filet of sole Florentine that was exquisitely light and absolutely delicious. Over lunch Charlie told Carlo about his findings so far and the loss of margin and competitiveness of the operating divisions. Carlo listened attentively.

  When they finished lunch they retired to the living room for espresso and sambuca. Gina told her uncle about her recent activities, her tutoring at the school and the planned art show for Emily. Charlie was quiet and immersed in his own thoughts about what Carlo had said. He was wondering if he could really do what Carlo had proposed and he knew that it was really his only option. After a second round of espresso and liqueur Carlo said, “I think you kids have a lot to talk about. Why don’t you come back for lunch next Sunday after you have had time to think about all we have discussed today?”

  Gina looked relieved and Charlie could hardly wait to talk to her about the things Carlo had said.

  “Thank you, Carlo. It was a marvelous lunch and you have been most helpful. I truly appreciate your time and your interest in our future. I will discuss all this with Gina and think things through very carefully. I will have an answer for you next week. Thanks,” Charlie said.

  Carlo gave Charlie a warm embrace and then turned to kiss Gina goodbye. “Until next week my beautiful child, never forget how much I love you.”

  “Thank you, Uncle Carlo. I love you too, and I want you to know that I am truly happy.”

  Charlie and Gina took their leave and Charlie grabbed his disguise as they headed for the kitchen. “So long, Frankie.” Gina said, “Give my love to the missus and the children.”

  “Thank you, Miss Gina,” Frankie replied as he opened the driver side door for her.

  They left the house through the battery of agent/photographers and drove back to Gina’s apartment.

  Once in the apartment Charlie said, “Whew, Gina your uncle really messed with my head. He’s right of course that getting this assignment changed nothing as regards our future. No matter what Phillip Shaw does or does not do, I will be out of a job once our relationship becomes known. In fact, I could be out even faster if the new owners bring in their own management team. And as for walking away from our relationship, that is not on the table. Definitely not!”

  Gina had tears in her eyes and said, “Charlie, I know this has to be difficult for you. You are a man of high principles and ethics. You will have to betray some of those and it will be because of our relationship. Will you be able to live with that five years from now?”

  “Look, Gina, until now I had not thought through the question the way I should. I have to admit that my high principles, as you call them, were largely a function of my own complacency. I didn’t have to question anything because I was really going nowhere with my emotional life. I know it’s a cliché, but you can’t make an omelet without breaking some eggs. I have decided to take my own life into my hands and every major decision requires that we evaluate our principles and ethics. I have never taken a thing that did not belong to me and as I think about it that’s probably because I never really had to. I had never come to a crossroads where that kind of choice presented itself. Even your uncle started out taking no more than was due him. Someone was taking what actually belonged to him. He simply took it back and used the only means available to him. It’s nice and it’s comfortable to see the world in black and white terms, but that is not the real world. Is it more evil to overcharge on a government contract than it is to fix a football game? I don’t think there is an answer to that, at least not in terms of ethics. Is there anything evil about my loving you and wanting you for my wife? I think there is something evil about not being able to live my love for you because of an accident of birth. I am the same guy I was before I met you. I have the same principles I had before we met. But if those principles get in the way of my happiness, then what purpose have they served? I’m sure I can live with whatever I have to do to be happy with you. I will never look back. I’m sure of it.”

  Gina was now crying. “I love you so much, Charlie, and I know what you are going through. You have all my trust and my love and your happiness means more to me than even my own. I will support you no matter what you decide.”

  “The decision is already made, Gina.”

  Gina kissed him passionately. She had nothing more to say. Charlie had made his choice and she would support it for the rest of her life. Charlie returned her kiss with equal passion and they made their way to the bedroom where they made love and then fell asleep in each other’s arms.

  * * * * *

  That same Sunday, Sharon Gallagher was on the phone with the woman who had seen Charlie and Gina in Philly. “Sharon, I could swear I saw Charlie Mullins entering a South Philly Italian restaurant with a woman.”

  “Describe the woman, Ethel, what did she look like?”

  “Well, she looked like she had a lot of money, that’s for sure. You don’t buy the stuff she was wearing in a department store basement. And the shoes and the purse, holy cow!”

  “Did she have shoulder-length wavy black hair?”

  “Yeah, and she was attractive enough. I mean she looked like she had class, know what I mean?”

  “It’s the same girl that others have seen him with. I’m certain. Was he holding her hand or kissing her?”

  “No, he was just holding the taxi door. I’m not even sure it was Charlie. The guy had on a blazer and a shirt with no collar. That’s not Charlie Mullins’ style. You know, he is always so preppie looking.”

  “Oh, it was Charlie all right. Maybe his girl friend has changed the way he dresses nowadays, but the description of her matches everything everyone has told me so far. Yeah, it was Charlie. Listen, thanks Ethel. I don’t want to pry into Charlie’s life,” Sharon lied, “but I don’t know what he finds wrong with hometown girls. I just wonder if he is not making another mistake like he made with Mary Jo.”

  “Well that was some time ago, Sharon. He’s hardly on the rebound now.”

  “Who knows, Ethel? Who knows? You know men. A nice figure and a pretty face, and they don’t look beyond. I’ve seen that girl and she is as pretty as everyone says she is. She probably has poor Charlie wrapped around her little finger. She’s probably a gold digger. You can bet on it.”

  “Well, anyway I just thought I would let you know. I mean, you once did try to fix me up with Charlie before I got married. He is a really nice guy. I have to go Sharon, it was nice talking to you.”

  “Same here, Ethel, regards bye.” Sharon rang off to call Diane Simms.

  “Diane, Ethel just called me to say that she saw Charlie in South Philly. From her description of the girl with him, it was the same one.”

  “Sharon, don’t you think we should drop this whole thing?”

  “No way, Diane, the lights at Charlie’s house keep going on and off like he was home and we know he is not. Why the big secret? He never talks about this girl. He has never brought her over here. There is some mystery here that I think we need to uncover.”

  “Jeez, Sharon, it’s just a girl friend.”

  “My point exactly! If it’s just a girl friend, why all the secrecy and subterfuge? Why does he need to give the impression that he is at home when he is not? I mean it’s not like he is doing something wrong, or is he? I think we need to find out. Who is this mystery woman that she requires such elaborate efforts to hide their relationship? I think we need to start checking on Charlie again.”

  “I don’t know Sharon…”

  “Don’t be such a wuss Diane, we will just check it out and see for ourselves. Come on, you know you can’t resist.”

  “OK, Sharon, but just to see the girlfriend, OK? I don’t want to get into trouble. Bob doesn’t like this kind of stuff.”

  “Bob’s not going to know, Diane. Let’s just do it, OK?”

  “All right, but just to see the girl, OK?”

  “I’ll call you later, Diane. We can work out a plan and start next week. All right?”
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  “I guess so. Talk to you tomorrow, all right?”

  “Good, bye Diane. See you tomorrow.” Sharon rang off.

  XXXII

  Charlie Mullins spent the next week working on his white paper. For the first time in his career he was grateful that Fred Perkins was such a sycophant. Fred did not venture from his office except to go to the toilet. He was keeping as far below the horizon as possible for as long as Phillip Shaw was out of the office. This allowed Charlie to work uninterrupted on his assignment.

  He put together a series of graphs of return on investment, ROI, for each operating department. He then analyzed the graphs showing that ROI had been increasing in decreasing increments. The reason, he showed, was because investment was declining faster than revenues but both were suffering incremental reductions. If new investments were made, the ROI would decline in the short term until revenues caught up. But if the current situation were allowed to continue, revenues would eventually grow more slowly and ROI would decline. With excess cash in the till, a declining ROI would make the company even more attractive to the financial “sharks” who would want to buy the company for its cash.

  He observed that the oldest division, cutting tools, had serious supply problems. The division was buying from US suppliers whose prices were no longer competitive when compared to foreign suppliers. It appeared that it would be financially attractive to begin purchasing from abroad for the high-carbon steel the division needed. This was now a commodity business and cost reduction was the single most important strategy the company could follow.

  The steel shot and blast cleaning division had the same problem. Buying its shot locally was no longer a financially viable strategy. The company could either acquire a foreign supplier or outsource via purchasing contracts. This would allow the company to reduce the price of the blast cleaning service without compromising profitability.

  Two other divisions, the paper industry machinery division and the food processing machinery division needed new equipment to remain competitive. No acquisitions seemed to be necessary for either division to achieve an appropriate level of competitiveness.

  Finally, the industrial chemicals division needed to upgrade its technology. The flavors and food additives business needed a better research arm and it would make sense to acquire a small research company or hire new researchers and expand current research facilities. The same was true of the industrial cleaning solvents business. The quality of product in this area was a subject of constant concern in the customer service reports that Charlie had reviewed. The cellulose capsule business needed new machinery. This was a high-volume, low-margin business that purchased raw material from the company’s customers in the pulp and paper business. Higher output per revenue dollar was necessary to ensure that the company could afford to stay in this business.

  Charlie put all of his findings into a draft report that he would discuss on Friday with Bill Cummins and Warren Carpenter. He would have to work with Bill to identify acquisition targets and flesh out the costs of new investments to upgrade the other divisions. He felt reasonably sure that he could employ the company’s excess cash in the requisite investments while ensuring that the acquisitions and the new machinery and equipment would enhance profitability over the longer-term. Under those terms, the company would prove attractive to investors who would want to manage it as an on-going business and unattractive to anyone who wanted to buy it for its cash value.

  * * * * *

  While Charlie was developing his analysis of the company, Sharon Gallagher and Diane Simms were busily developing their analysis of Charlie’s private life. The two met for lunch on Monday to plan the resumption of their surveillance. They decided that they would see where Charlie went after league night on Wednesday. “Diane, let’s do the following. We will park near the bowling alley and see if Charlie leaves before the other guys. If he does we will follow him. He will either go home or he will not. If he goes home, we can just stop right there. But if he doesn’t go home, we will follow him. OK?”

  “OK, Sharon, but what if he doesn’t leave before the guys? I don’t want to be out for too long after Bob gets home.”

  “Then we’ll just go home and try again on Saturday after softball practice. I don’t want to be out when Bill gets home either.”

  “OK, that sounds good. But, what will we do if he goes to Philly? That’s half-an-hour each way and we will get home late.”

  “No, if it looks like he is heading for Philly, we will follow him on Saturday. Bill and Bob cannot know that we are out together late at night. They might suspect that we are back on Charlie’s case. We don’t want that.”

  Charlie showed up for the regular bowling league night on Wednesday. He went first to his house to pick up his gear and change clothes. He turned off the timers so the lights would not go on while he was at the bowling alley. Alleging a backlog of work, he begged off the pizza and beer and left before the others. He didn’t see Sharon and Diane parked nearby. While he drove home, they took another route to his street. When Charlie pulled into his garage, Diane Simms said, “OK, Sharon, we can go home. Charlie is in his house.”

  “No, Diane. We are going to wait to see if he stays in his house. Then we will see where he goes. If he heads for Philly we will come back and see if his lights are on and we will pick him up again on Saturday.”

  Charlie entered the house, turned on the lights and stowed his bowling gear. He then set the timers as usual and went back out to his car to drive to Philly. Sharon said, “Look Diane, he is leaving again. Let’s see where he goes. I’m willing to bet he’s going to go back over the bridge to go to Philly. Want to bet?”

  As Charlie pulled out of his garage and closed the door with the automatic control he did not see Sharon and Diane just around the corner. He drove off calmly and Sharon followed from a safe distance. There was no need to follow closely because they only needed to know if he was going to drive back over the bridge to I-95. Charlie watched in his rear view mirror and saw a car in the distance that might be following him. He watched closely as he came to the approach to the bridge but the car continued on and he concluded that he was not being followed.

  “See, Diane? He’s going back toward Wilmington and I’m willing to bet he will pick up I-95 to Philly. Let’s drive by his house now to see if his lights are on and then we’ll go home.” They drove by Charlie’s house and the lights were on. “See? He’s not home and the lights are on. We don’t even have to hang around to see if he comes back. We know he won’t. Didn’t I tell you? I’m telling you, Charlie Mullins has a secret life. This is exciting.”

  “Do you think he might be going back to his office? Maybe he forgot something.”

  “Come on, Diane! Even if he was only going back to his office, why would he leave his lights on? Wake up! If you want to hang around to see if the lights go off even if he doesn’t return you can do that. But I can tell you right now, he is not, read my lips, not coming back. So, if the lights go off, he has a ghost in his house or he is playing a game.”

  “Sharon, you think Charlie might be a spy or something? The company does have defense contracts, you know.”

  “Oh Jesus, Diane, come off it. Charlie’s not a spy! He’s going to that girl’s place. For heaven’s sake, Diane, wake up! Spy! How ridiculous. That’s not Charlie Mullins. He doesn’t need money and he’s not the type. I’m telling you it is the girl. From what everybody said, she dresses well so she is probably some kind of professional – maybe an attorney or something like that. She’s certainly got some money so she probably has her own apartment. Maybe she’s divorced. Or maybe she is just a single career woman. But Charlie is living with her, of that much I am sure. I want to find out who she is.”

  They drove by Charlie’s place on the way home and as Sharon had predicted, the lights were on as if Charlie was still at home. “Didn’t I tell you, Diane? Now if you doubt my word, just hang around until the lights go off. Charlie won’t be home and Casper the Friendly Ghos
t will turn off his lights.”

  “I’ll take your word for it, Sharon, now let’s get home before our husbands arrive and wonder what the hell we are doing.”

  “Right,” said Sharon, “and Saturday we will follow Charlie if he leaves town. Make an excuse to Bob because we might have to drive to Philly and be out for most of the afternoon.” Sharon pulled up to the curb in front of Diane’s house. Bob Simms had not returned home and was probably still having beer and pizza at the bowling alley. Diane took a deep breath and said, “OK, Sharon, see ya. I’ll tell Bob we are going to go shopping in Wilmington on Saturday. He won’t suspect Philly.”

  * * * * *

  Charlie arrived to Gina’s place, parked in the garage, and took the elevator up to her apartment. Gina was waiting with dinner and an open bottle of wine. “Hey Mullins, did you knock those pins all over the place?”

  “Oh yeah, I did OK. How was your day?”

  “Same old, I worked with the kids at school and called Emily to see how her painting was coming along.”

  “And…?”

  “And she is progressing. In about a month or two she should be ready for a show. How’s your report coming along?”

  “I’ve got a draft together. I’ll revise it tomorrow and Friday and then present it to Bill Cummins and Warren Carpenter Friday evening. It looks pretty good and should be just what Phillip needs to justify an aggressive investment strategy. By the way, I guess I must be getting paranoid. I thought I was being followed out of Shoreville but the car behind me kept going after I turned off for the bridge.”

  “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean someone is not really following you, Charlie,” Gina laughed.