Lilies and Roses

Ted stopped long enough to look at Greg and say, "Hey, dipshit. If you're reading a magazine, shouldn't you have it turned right side up? God, what an idiot. I wish I knew some people with common sense."

The look on Greg's face was priceless as he first reacted to being called dipshit and then realizing that the magazine was indeed turned upside down. He started to sputter some retort, but Ted had already turned and walked through the door into John's office without knocking.

John was sitting in an easy chair by the window. He smiled at Ted and said warmly, "Hey Ted. Come on in and sit down." Looking past Ted he said, "Betty could you get some coffee for us and then close the door? I don't want to be disturbed. Thank you."

Ted sat down in the other chair by John. The two chairs were arranged facing the window and had a small table between them. The window overlooked the outside work yard and was John's favorite view. A small sofa was against the wall on the other side of the office and the only other chair was John's behind his desk. After looking around for a moment, Ron went and sat on the sofa. Nobody said a word until Betty brought the coffee service and set it on the table by John. "Greg is still waiting to see you John," she said. "Apparently he thinks he should be in this meeting."

John looked up at Betty and said, "Thank you, Betty. I think that Greg's appointment has just been superseded and no, he doesn't need to be in this meeting. If what he needs to see me about is that important, he can wait until I'm done in here. Oh, and please call Martha to see if she is ready for tonight's dinner at the Elite or if she needs me for anything else."

Ted had fixed coffee cups for himself and John, then leaned back in the chair. Ron sat on the sofa waiting and getting more pissed by the moment. Mr. Harvey hadn't even acknowledged his presence yet and Ted had just ignored the fact that he was fired.

After about 5 minutes of silence, John looked at Ted and asked, "What did you need to see me about?"

Ted replied, "Ask him" and tossed his head towards Ron. "I've got work to finish, an appointment with the printer concerning those new brochures we talked about, 2 salesmen coming in, and I still need to get ready for that damn dinner thing tonight."

Without looking around John said, "Ok, Ron. Come over here. What's the problem this time? And please don't yell, my head is acting up."

Ron got up and strode across the room to stand by Mr. Harvey's chair. Angrily he started by saying, "First of all, what brochures? I'm the supervisor here and Ted works for me. Why don't I know anything about any new brochures? Secondly, for the third time this week, Ted has come in over an hour late with no excuse or reason. He has also left work early every day this week. For the last two months he has been working overtime and has still been unable to get the reports done that are due on Friday afternoon before the end of the day. I fired his ass for showing up late again and he ran up here to snivel and whine to you. I have the authority to hire and fire the people working in my department and he is terminated as of 5pm today. I called security and told them to escort Ted out of here as soon as he packed his personal belongings."

Ted and John sat quietly during his tantrum, sipping their coffee. When Ron finished talking, Ted finally looked at him. That weasel face was still red and now he was sweating with the exertion of trying to yell without yelling.

John put down his cup and scolded Ron saying, "I requested that you do not yell. I already knew about this morning because Callie called Betty and told her. I know about the missed deadlines for the last 2 or 3 months. In fact, I know everything that happens in this company because it is my business to know."

John had a coughing fit just then. Ted went to his desk and got the box of tissues. After a moment, John continued talking to Ron, "I also know how you have been transferring people out of Ted's team and piling additional work on him. Now why would you do a thing like that? It is almost like forcing him to quit if he doesn't get fired first. Lastly, I know first hand that you are one of the most abusive, obnoxious, and inefficient individuals I have ever known. The reason I told Jensen in HR to set up the sensitivity training for all employees is due to your workplace behavior. I am not going to tolerate your behavior any longer and I am also not going to let a valuable employee sue me or the company over your immaturity. Now, I am going to make things official here." Mr. Harvey had his intercom remote sitting on the table. Pushing the button he said, "Betty, have Pound and Jensen come in here now, please."

After a moment the door opened and the HR manager, Jim Jensen entered.

"Ah, Jensen. First, are the sensitivity training sessions I told you to arrange for all employees ready to go and when can we get started?"

Mr. Jensen looked at Ron, then answered, "Yes. The extra people I received were efficient and we are ready to go. I would like to have a trial run next week and then we can start training everyone the Monday after next. I have also set up a schedule for employees so that sections or departments are not totally shut down while we get everyone on board."

"Excellent. Thank you for a job well done," said Mr. Harvey. "Now since the sessions are set up, send everyone back to their original work places immediately. Now, when did Clark here tell you that he was going to fire Ted?"

Mr. Jensen looked surprised that Mr. Harvey would know about that. Ron had told him to keep it quiet and as far as he knew, it was only the two of them who had discussed it. Mr. Harvey was looking at him like a bug on a glass slide and then said, "Well? When did he tell you?"

Mr. Jensen replied, "Last month, just before I started working on the sensitivity training for you."

"Ok, let me get this straight," Mr. Harvey mused, "I tell you that I want sensitivity training sessions for all employees. Clark tells you he is going to fire Ted. Then, one at a time, Clark pulls people from Ted's team and sends them to you so that you can get your project done. Is that correct?"

Jenson's face had turned noticeably pale. "Yes, sir. That sounds about right, but I'm sure..."

Mr. Harvey cut him off with a wave. "Did you request assistance from any other department or section in the company?"

"No, sir. Ron... er Mr. Clark gave me all that I needed before I sent out any requests for assistance."

"You are the HR Manager for this company. Why did you accept people from Clark before any requests for assistance were issued? You don't work for Clark, you work for me. Ted is the Marketing Manager for this company and his people are all trained in marketing and that is what they are paid to do. We have secretaries and administrative assistants all through this company. Why did you need to use marketing people as administrative staff? This was a poor use of resources."

Betty opened the door and brought in Mr. Pound, the CFO. He strutted in and smirked at Ted.

John looked at Pound and asked him, "Well, what is it you have to show me?"

Jim opened a file folder and handed it to John saying, "These are financial statements from our credit card companies. Ted here has been buying hotel rooms at the Marriot and fancy dinners at the Elite restaurant for the past several months and hasn't paid for any of them. All the charges were submitted on his personal expense account for the company to pay. I believe we have enough evidence here to charge Ted Johnson with fraud and embezzlement. Do you want me to call the police now and turn the evidence over to the DA's office?"

John sighed heavily and replied, "Damn it, Ted. Was this a way to get back at me for hiring this asshole over you? Never mind. As of right now, you are terminated. Sorry, Ted. Security will escort you out of the building with your personal belongings. Give me the evidence folder, Pound. I'll contact the DA's office myself. This is my company and I will press the charges. Jesus, Ted, what the hell got into you. I thought you were my friend. Get your stuff and get out. Just don't leave town."

Ted got up to leave, looking as downhearted as he could. As he reached the door, he looked back to see Pound, Jensen, and Clark smirking at him. The only thing keeping him sane was the knowledge that it was all over now.

Then John said, "Oh, and tell Betty she can send Greg Howard in now."

Greg almost raced into the office behind him and slammed the door.

Walking into his office, he saw his team back together for the first time in months. They all had worried looks on their faces. Callie jumped out of her chair as he entered. Ted thought she was going to either kill him or kiss him and didn't think even she knew what she was going to do. They all started talking as he walked in the door.

"Whoa, whoa, settle down people," he said as he held up two hands. "I'm glad to see that everyone is back here from your long vacations. Now I know you all have questions and I would like absolutely nothing better than to sit here and cover everything."

"Are you still here or did that asshole really fire you," begged Callie. "I have to know before anything else."

"Officially, yes I have been fired."

He lunged and reached out to block the door saying, "Stop! I mean it, Callie, stop!"

Callie stopped in front of him, her eyes glowing hot and her face flushed. "I won't let them do this to you. They aren't going to ...," she started to say. Ted held his hands up in front of her, waiting for her to stop and listen.

"I understand how you all feel and what is going on here and I thank all of you. Things are not as they appear, but I can't say anything else. Please, Callie, I need you now more than ever to help me out. You know what you need to do this afternoon, right?" He watched her face as she struggled to first regain control and then saw the questions on her face as what he had said finally registered.

"Not here, not now. Remember what I said?" he quietly asked her. She nodded after a moment. "Don't blow it for me now. Please, do the best you can. I'm already done for the day anyhow. This is part of the plan that you can't know about, so please, I'll see you tonight. Just don't let me down in the meantime, regardless of what you hear. I need you to act innocent and if you don't know what I haven't told you, then it will work. Ok?"

He paused a moment while the rest of the team struggled with the events. "Now, you are here where you are supposed to be working. Jenny," he said looking at her, "you are now officially my replacement. I chose you and John concurred. You are from today responsible for making sure the work gets done and taking care of your people. Callie knows where we are and will get you back to speed."

Then addressing the group again he said, "I need all of you to work together at this today. Callie will help Jenny get started, but she is off this afternoon for some prior appointments. Oh yes, and Callie, book the conference room for a Monday morning meeting at 900am. I don't know anything about it because I don't work here. You don't know why it is booked, either. Just call Betty."

Ted paused a moment to get his breath back, then smiled at the team.

Just then a tall slender man with a briefcase walked into the office and looked at everyone present. Then he asked, "Which one of you is Mr. Ted Johnson?"

Ted replied, "I am."

The man opened his briefcase and handed Ted a stack of legal looking papers saying, "You are served, sir. This is your copy of the divorce action between Johnson and Johnson."

He closed his briefcase and walked out. Ted amazed everyone and even himself when he just smiled. The security guard arrived then and Ted said, "Ok, people. Get to work now. I've got things to do."

++++++++++++++

Chapter 10

Wrap it up in a red bow

He caught a quick lunch and thought about calling Megan at home. She must know when he was going to receive the divorce papers. Would he be able to get into the house? He decided against calling Megan. She'd made her final decision and everything else was moot at this point.

Ted headed to a classy men's store and went in to buy a tuxedo. He had never felt the need to get one, but now that he was the public owner of the Harvey Construction Company, he knew that his life was going to be different. The sales people were helpful when he came in and started looking around. Finally he decided that he was wasting too much time, so he went to the back counter of the store where three people had been talking quietly.

"May I speak with the manager, please," he inquired.

One of the clerks raised his eyebrows and said, "Speaking. How may I help you?"

Ted smiled and said, "I need a tuxedo for a formal dinner tonight. Sorry for the short notice. I'm thinking that Armani would be a better choice. Here are my measurements. I need the pants hemmed now and I will take the tuxedo with me when I leave. Can you take care of this matter or do I need to find a different store?"

The manager's eyes opened wider as he gushed, "Oh, no sir. We can take care of everything right here. Our seamstress is working on a different order, but I am sure she will be able to fix this immediately." His eyes narrowed a little as he asked, "You do realize that this service will cost extra?"

Ted replied, "Yes, I do and I like to be pampered. I am willing to take what I can get for now, but I will be back in the next few weeks and would like to receive some more pampering along with some tailored suits. May we get started now, please?"

Within an hour he was leaving with his new tuxedo in a garment bag. It actually felt good buying himself new clothes and Ted felt that he could get used to this. As he got into the car, his cell rang. Checking the caller id, he answered.

"Hi, daddy. Timmy and I are here and mom just left. She is really pissed off. Please hurry home as we are both dying of curiosity. She said you two were getting divorced."

"Ok, honey. I'm on my way now."

About 15 minutes later, he walked into his living room and both kids jumped up from the couch.

"Hi guys, I'm glad to see you. Yes, your mom had me served with divorce papers at work," he started. "You also need to know that officially I was terminated at work, and John has an evidence folder to turn over to the DA's office showing how I used company credit cards for fraudulent purposes and also embezzled funds from the company. Boy, am I glad we got that folder."

Looking at their shocked faces, he then said, "Don't worry kids, it is all a frame job and that folder was the last evidence we needed. Your mom joined in this conspiracy with some people at work as well as the Howards. And, also you should know now that she has been cheating on me for over 6 months with Melissa's dad, Ron. I'm way ahead of them. I'm not going to jail. Believe me when I say that I didn't have any intention of putting you in the middle of this. It just so happens that I tumbled onto this mess just last Friday night and I've had one nasty week since."

"Now, come on, we need to go. I'm glad you remembered that I said we all had salon appointments and wore casual clothes. We are going to attend a very fancy dinner tonight. Tabitha Clark and I will receive plaques from the mayor. A lot of people are going to be surprised tonight, including your mom. That's why I didn't want you to go with her."

Turning to Joan he asked, "Did Melissa get a dress and stuff?"

Joan giggled and looked at the blush starting on Timmy's face, then replied, "Yes, daddy. She got a dress and some accessories. She came in with us on the same flight. She and Timmy held hands the whole way. Her mom called her last night and told her some of the things going on, so we weren't real surprised. We just didn't know about the divorce, and mom didn't give us any details."

They went out and got into the car and drove to the salon where people were waiting for them. He and Timmy were relatively easy since they both had rather short hair. Ted asked the stylist to update his a little bit. After watching the stylist put in the styling gel, he tried it himself. He liked how he looked younger. Timmy decided to switch haircuts also, so he got the same treatment. Joan had her hair in an upsweep baring her long neck and she was really gorgeous. Ted drove them home to get dressed in their new clothes.

Finally, they were all dressed up and ready to go. Standing in the living room, Ted looked at his grown up children and remarked, "You two make me proud to be your father. You have grown into responsible adults and I expect great things from you. All parents reach a certain point where they look back and reflect on how their lives turned out. I know that I had some failings as a father and a husband. Please know that I did my best or what I thought was best at the time. I also think it is about time that I told you what you should have known all along."

He paused a moment to collect his thoughts then said, "Kids, I'm rich. You are rich. We are rich. I've had a trust fund since before I met your mom. I must apologize to you for all the years when we didn't have the latest fads and newest cars and so forth. I thought the way to raise you was to value hard work and satisfaction in a job well done." Both kids gaped at him as though he had lost his mind. "I had a talk with Tabitha and told her how guilty I feel about this. Your mom won't find out until tonight at the dinner how rich I ... we really are. Again, I am really sorry for messing up your lives."

Joan stepped forward and hugged Ted close to her for a minute, then stepped back and looked him in the eyes. "Daddy, it doesn't matter if we're rich or not. We're proud of you. You were there for us when other daddies were out golfing or doing anything but being at home with their kids. Timmy and I know a lot of people who wish they had parents like we did growing up. Instead of you apologizing, we should be saying thank you."

Timmy stepped in and hugged them both and just said, "Yeah, dad, me too."

Stepping back for a moment, Ted then said, "Timmy, I have a present here for you. I never owned a Rolex watch, but I want you to have one. I am really proud of you, you know."

Turning to Joan he said, "I have been keeping this through the years. I hope I haven't waited too long. This necklace was your grandmother's favorite jewelry pieces. She gave it to me before I met your mom and admonished me to give it to my wife that it would give her much joy and pride. Her great grandfather made it for his bride and gave it to her on their wedding day. It has been in the family ever since and the tradition is that the son gives it to his wife on their wedding day. I don't know exactly why, but I could never give it to your mother. I always had a feeling that it would disappear. I want you to wear it tonight, but you don't get to keep it." Ted leaned over and placed the diamond and silver necklace around Joan's neck.

With her black dress and brown hair as a frame, it blazed in glory around her long neck. She turned towards the mirror and touched it as she looked at her reflection. When she turned back, she had tears in her eyes. She gave Ted a hug saying quietly, "Thank you daddy. I love you so much."

Timmy stepped up and gave him a hug too. Ted saw the tears in his eyes, but they didn't need to speak. Timmy held the car door for Joan before getting in himself while Ted got in to drive. Nobody spoke on the way to the restaurant.

As they approached the Elite, Ted reflected how the last week or so had turned out. He saw the florist shop was still open and opted to pick up a bouquet of flowers. Just like last week. The clerk smiled at him as he came in and asked for lilies and roses. He paid with cash and left.