by Jim Wygand
When softball practice was finished he begged off the pizza and beer telling the group he had another meeting with an old friend. He drove back to his house and went through his regular routine of setting the timers and washing and drying his uniform and then headed off for Philly. He drove once around the block and saw Sharon’s car again. However, Sharon did not follow him and simply drove away quickly.
He arrived to Joey’s building at two-fifteen . The doorman let him into the vestibule. Charlie took the elevator up to Joey’s apartment. Joey had opened the door and Charlie walked in, closing the door behind him. “Hey Charles, want a beer?” Joey tossed him a can.
“Thanks, Joey. How was your week?”
“Busy as hell now that I am trying to find acquisitions for you guys,” he laughed.
“Just make sure you get some good ones, OK?”
“Hey Charlie, changing the subject for a minute, are you screwing some guy’s wife or something?”
“What? What the hell are you talking about Joey? Where did you get an idea like that?”
“My doorman, Charlie.”
“Your doorman? What the hell does he know about my sex life?”
“Nothing I suppose. But two broads came by here last week asking him if he knew you. They asked him if you ever came by here with a girlfriend. They even described some woman that sounded a bit like a description of Gina. He told them he’d never seen you come here with a woman and that if they wanted to know anything else they should talk to you directly. He told me about it the other day.”
Charlie did not know what to do. He never expected that Sharon and Diane would have the guts to show up at Joey’s building. “Did the women give their names?” Charlie asked.
“No, the doorman said one was a blonde the other a brunette. He said the blonde did all the talking and she was even pretty aggressive. He said he thought you might have been screwing the blonde and she was trying to check up on you or something.”
“Christ, Joey! This is ridiculous. Those are two busybodies from Shoreville who are, God knows why, sticking their nose into my private life. Man, I’m sorry they bothered you.”
“Well, they didn’t bother me, but the doorman was sure as hell confused. Are you leveling with me, Charlie? You’re not screwing some guy’s wife are you?”
“Hell no, Joey! I don’t even screw the single women in Shoreville. It’s such a small town, the whole place would know about it in a New York minute. Man, what a fucking drag!”
“Well, you got some blonde broad pissed at you for some reason, Charlie. And according to the doorman she was not even much of a looker,” Joey laughed, “You chasing ugly pussy, Charlie?”
“C’mon, Joey, you know me better than that.”
“Yeah, I’m just giving you a hard time. But it was really weird, Charlie. And the description of the woman they said you were going out with sounded like it was Gina they were talking about. Are you serious about Gina, Charlie? It would be good if you were. She’s really top notch.”
“No, I already told you that we have a strong friendship. I like Gina but I’m not looking for a relationship right now. We are good friends and we have gone out once in a while. Maybe that’s where the whole thing got started. Maybe they saw me somewhere with her or something.”
“Well they’re sure going to a helluva lot of trouble to poke into your life Charlie. I mean asking my doorman if you ever came here with a woman…Are you sure they’re not a bit nuts? Did you ever screw one of them? I mean what reason would they have to be poking around like that?”
“You know Shoreville, Joey. It’s a small place and I’m an eligible bachelor with a good job and a good income. Those two women have tried to fix me up with friends and I’ve refused to go along. But, hell, this kind of stuff is really over the top. I’ll check it out when I get home. Jesus, I’m sorry this wound up literally at your front door, Joey. I’m embarrassed.”
“Nah, Charlie. I’m your buddy. I just wanted to know if you were gonna get shot by some jealous husband any time soon. I figured maybe you just got horny and decked some guy’s wife, you know.”
“Well, thanks Joey but I’m not into messing around in my own backyard. You know how I operate. If I want pussy I go down to Atlantic City. I don’t shit where I eat, you know that.”
“OK, well forget about it. I just wanted to give you a heads up. The doorman said they were a weird couple of broads. Seems to me you’re being stalked, Charlie. Watch your ass, OK?”
“Thanks, Joey. Now what about some lunch?” Charlie really didn’t have much appetite after hearing about Sharon’s most recent escapade, but he couldn’t afford to let Joey in on his relationship with Gina. He was mad as hell and even more concerned but he couldn’t show it.
Charlie and Joey went down to their favorite sandwich shop and talked about the acquisition search. Joey said he had alerted his M&A people at the bank and that they were already beating the bushes for targets. He commented that he liked Bill Cummins and thought they could work well together. He thanked Charlie again for making sure he was on the search team and would be the point of contact for Cummins. He said his management treats him a little differently now.
Charlie was pleased that Joey was benefiting from the assignment and he regretted having to lie to his friend about his situation with Gina but the stakes were too high for even the slightest risk.
Charlie took his leave and drove to Gina’s. He checked along the way to make sure he was not being followed. He was hopping mad about Sharon’s behavior and wondered if he should confront her. He would have to talk this over with Gina.
* * * * *
By the time he reached Gina’s place Charlie was fuming. When he came through the door his expression told Gina that something was wrong. “Charlie, what’s the matter? Did something happen over in Shoreville?”
“No, baby, I’m ready to blow up. I just came from lunch with Joey Esposito…”
“Something go wrong on the project, Charlie?”
“No, Gina, the project’s moving along just fine. Joey told me that those two crazy broads from Shoreville went to his building and asked his doorman if I had ever shown up at Joey’s place with a woman. They described a woman they thought I would show up with and Joey said the description matched you pretty closely. I am so goddamned mad I can’t even think straight. Who the fuck does that bitch think she is going around like that? I’d like to wring her goddamned neck!”
“Whoa, Charlie, calm down. What did you tell Joey about the description?”
“Oh, I told him that they might have seen me in Philly at one time or another when I was with you. I told him what I had said before, that you and I were very good friends and we had gone out on a few occasions just to talk. You know – the same stuff I said before. I’m pretty sure he believed me.”
“OK, so now let’s think about what the wacky ladies are doing. Charlie, Sharon Gallagher is baiting you. She wants you to get pissed. I’m sure she thought you would find out that she was asking about you. You said she and that other nut have been stalking you in Shoreville – showing up at the softball practice field and hiding around the corner from your house, right?”
“Yeah, right, Gina. I’ve got a good mind to just confront her once and for all!”
“No, Charlie, think with me on this. Why did she go to Joey’s place?”
“Because she’s a nosy damned bitch, that’s why!”
“No, no, she is a nosy damned bitch that’s for sure. But that’s not why she went to Joey’s place. She went there because she doesn’t know where else to go. That’s why. She wants you to know that she can find things out about you no matter what you do. Because you are wise to the surveillance and frustrated her last attempts to follow you, she’s got to do something to get you off balance. You see that?”
Charlie started to calm down, “Yeah, I guess so, but I am really pissed.”
“That’s exactly what she wants, Charlie. Suppose you confront her. She will just deny that i
t was her. You would have to get the doorman to look her straight in the eye and say ‘yeah, that’s her’. Otherwise, she will just say you’re crazy. She wants to create a scene. She wants you to get angry enough to make a mistake. Maybe you will take it up with her husband again. Then she’ll deny, deny, and deny. What if the doorman had told her that you had been to Joey’s with me? What do you think would happen next? I can tell you. She would then try to approach Joey. The fact is, Charlie, she doesn’t know a damned thing more now than she knew before. Before she talked to the doorman she knew about me. She saw us together at least once, right?”
“Yeah, right.”
“OK, she described the girl she saw you with to the doorman. What did he tell her?”
“Well, Joey said that the doorman said he had never seen me enter the building with a woman and that she should take up the matter with me if she wanted to know more.”
“Good! So the only information she got was that you never went to Joey’s place with me. Now tell me truthfully, Charlie, how much more does she know now?”
“I guess you’re right, Gina.”
“Of course I am. What you are really worried about is that she raised a question in Joey’s mind.”
“Yeah! You’re right, Gina. I was afraid she had made our relationship public. Joey has no idea that you and I are in love with each other.”
“Exactly! And what did you tell Joey?”
“I told him that we were friends, good friends.”
“Does he believe you?”
“I’m pretty sure he does.”
“So as far as Joey is concerned this is some personal matter of yours that does not concern him, right?”
“Right, he even asked me if I was screwing Sharon and she was jealously chasing after me.”
“So, see Charlie? Sharon got nothing. She’s just as frustrated as she was before. Her gamble didn’t work and now she is the one who is exposed. Do you think the doorman gives a shit if you are screwing her? I seriously doubt it. He probably thinks she is just a nut case.”
Charlie was calmer, “Well, that’s what Joey said.”
“Sure, because that’s how she came across. As far as he is concerned you just laid some woman and then left her for someone younger. That’s not exactly something new in this world. She came across as some desperate broad who is trying to get information on a two-timing lover. A week from now he won’t even remember the incident.”
“I hope you’re right, Gina. I’d love to give that bitch a punch in the face!”
“She knows that, Charlie. That’s exactly what she wants you to feel and maybe even try. That would give her a lot to talk about and maybe even get the entire town on her side. She would make herself a victim. She would claim she never did a thing to upset you. She would say you were stressed on your job. She would say you are delusional and the worst part is that a lot of people would believe it. Confront her and she will provoke you further to make herself a victim.”
Charlie heaved a deep sigh, “You’re right, Gina. If I make an issue of this, she will say I am imagining things and obsessed with her. So what do I do?”
“To start with, you should ignore the incident. Make sure you keep your eyes open to see if she tries to follow you. If she does, do what you did last time. Go back to Shoreville. She has a family and a home to take care of. She can’t be on you 24/7. There’s just no way she can do that. She is expecting you to do something, so surprise her – do nothing! She has no idea that I am Carlo Rizzo’s adopted daughter. She didn’t know it before and she doesn’t know it now. Remember that your only vulnerability is my name. If my name was Betty Smith you could have taken me to Shoreville, introduced me to your friends, announced our engagement and told Sharon Gallagher to fuck off. But that’s not the way it is. I am Gina Ferelli, Mafia Princess. Being engaged to me or maybe even just dating me could bring your career to an abrupt end. You now have something to hide, Charlie Mullins. So you can’t afford to make a mistake. You have to be careful who you challenge. And because that woman has no idea what is at stake she is more dangerous than someone who does know. She’s just trying to find out who is the mysterious woman in your life. She has no idea what the stakes are so she is like a bull in a china shop. Don’t challenge her. Lead her astray. Keep her away from what counts. In short, put up with it!”
“Holy cow, Gina, you’re right of course, but how did you learn all that stuff? You’re a real strategist.”
“Charlie, remember who I am. I’m not just Gina Ferelli, daughter of a Sicilian couple who died many years ago. I am the adopted daughter of Carlo Rizzo, alleged Mafia ‘don’. My uncle taught me well. Don’t you think the ‘suits’ tried to approach me when I was a child? When I got my first job after Bryn Mawr my income tax was audited three years in a row. That’s when my uncle convinced me to accept his financial help. It took the ‘suits’ five years to figure out that I was just a young woman and not some kind of ‘moll’ working for my uncle, picking up numbers slips, or privy to his secrets. For years I had people asking about me, poking into my personal life, provoking me to see if I would say something that could be used against my uncle. What you are dealing with is small change, Charlie. They finally left me alone after having tapped my phone, investigated my finances, checked out my personal life, trying to get agents to date me, and so on. That woman is just a nut case. Dealing with her is easy compared to what I have been through.”
“Like I said Gina, I guess I have a lot to learn. I’m calm now, but I was really out of it for a while there.”
“I understand Charlie, I really do. You have to look behind the incident to see what really happened. In this case, that woman got nothing – n-o-t-h-i-n-g! Zilch! She still doesn’t know who I am so nothing has changed.”
“Thanks, sweetheart, I would have challenged her and probably have blown it.”
Gina kissed Charlie, “You’re a good man, Charlie. You know what’s right and you stand up for it. But the world I lived in is not as black-and-white as yours. What’s ‘right’ often gets lost in the shuffle. That woman thinks she has a right to find out what you are up to. She thinks you might be doing something wrong. You think you have a right to privacy. As far as each of you is concerned, you are doing the ‘right thing’. You are not going to change her. You’ve got only to neutralize her, and even so for a limited period of time. Don’t waste time on her. Just keep her where she is right now – still in the dark. The Feds will show you what invasion of privacy is really about.”
Charlie stepped over to the bar, grabbed a bottle of scotch and poured himself a drink.
“There you go, Mullins! Have a drink and forget about it. Mind if I join you?”
“Oh jeez, sorry Gina, let me pour you a drink.” Charlie poured her a measure of scotch and they clinked their glasses together, “To us!”
“Yes, to us!”
XXXVIII
The next three business quarters were marked by a flurry of meetings with operating department heads, preparing proposals for acquisitions and listing new suppliers submitted by Joey Esposito’s bank, due diligence investigations of the target companies and suppliers, and writing reports to be submitted to Phillip Shaw. Charlie met weekly with Warren Carpenter and Bill Cummins. They reviewed the financials of all the companies that Joey Esposito brought to them and checked out the management and owners of all of them. Phillip Shaw’s strategy to expand the company while locking it in to long-term relationships and using up Shaw’s excess cash was beginning to take shape.
Phillip Shaw made sure that Fred Perkins was brought in to deliberate on the potential acquisitions and supply relationships. Fred proudly strutted around the company making sure that everyone was aware of his “special relationship” with the CEO. Charlie watched Fred doing his cock of the walk routine with mild amusement. The operating department heads humored Perkins and pretended to defer to his judgment and his ego knowing full well that Phillip and Charlie, the latter behind the scenes, were running the entire s
how.
From the companies targeted for acquisition, Charlie made up a “short list” of the most attractive candidates. He did the same for new suppliers and Warren Carpenter drew up long-term supply contracts that included heavy penalties for cancellation by either party. The acquisitions would also be locked in with contracts that prohibited Shaw from “flipping” the companies for a quick profit. Charlie and Bill Cummins provided their recommendations as to the best companies to acquire and Phillip Shaw accepted their recommendations and approved the deals.
Warren Carpenter set up an offshore holding company that would negotiate the sale of the real estate holdings that were on the company’s books but used exclusively by the family and hold the funds until just before the IPO was to take place. The properties would be taken off the company’s books and the company reimbursed for all mortgage payments made on behalf of the Shaw family members. The new owners would get a clean balance sheet and a re-vamped and highly lucrative supply chain.
Sales personnel submitted customer reports indicating that Shaw’s customers were very pleased with Phillip’s announced strategy. Customers swore fidelity and praised the company for its aggressive posture. The sales personnel did not know which companies would eventually be acquired but they knew acquisitions were on the table and informed customers accordingly.
Charlie continued his twice weekly trips to Shoreville for bowling and softball and kept up the innocuous ruse of having his lights and TV turn on and off. He really didn’t care if it worked or not because he now had a method for dealing with Sharon Gallagher and Diane Simms. Gina had been right. There was no way the two women could watch Charlie on a continuous basis. They had families that kept them busy. Whenever they tried to follow Charlie he had only to double back and head for Shoreville again. Because of his busy schedule he and Gina did not go out as often as before so the risk of being seen in Philly by someone from Shoreville was reduced. He would occasionally stay overnight in Shoreville at random intervals so anyone watching the house would not know if the lights were on because he was there or because of the timers. Sharon was consumed with frustration and remained obsessed with discovering the identity of Charlie’s girlfriend. She was just waiting for an opportunity. Diane, however, was beginning to tire of the game. Her attempts to back out of the surveillance of Charlie Mullins were unsuccessful as Sharon bullied her into staying the course.
