Saving the Company Ch. 04

"Okay," she frowned. "Brad senior had me working closely with the finance area since he returned. I touched base with them and the area is pretty status quo. I should be caught up on my other work by the end of the week, but I'm a little worried about Karl's old area. There is some sort of conflict going on there."

"Judy was just telling me that before lunch," Bradley sighed. "Karl's leaving seems to have started an in-house war between people in his area."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well," Bradley said, scratching behind his ear briefly. "Karl relied pretty heavily on two of his employees. Tim and Sara-Jane are as close to assistants as Karl had."

"Karl wasn't one to make friends with his employees, but he was close to Tim. The three of us occasionally went out to dinner," Bradley continued.

"According to Karl, Sara-Jane is very competent, but doesn't really mesh very well with the rest of the area. He always talked about firing her, but she was just too damn good to let go."

"And now that he's gone these two are having a turf war?" I asked knowingly. I didn't know Karl's area very well. He didn't like me around his people.

"Exactly," Bradley answered, but Bethany frowned.

"I think there is more to it," she said carefully. "I haven't heard anything specific, but there are rumblings. Tim is doing things that seem to be upsetting more than one person in the area."

"Like what?" Judy asked.

"Well, he's changed a whole bunch of priorities," Bethany answered.

"That may be reasonable," I shrugged. "Different people see different things as important."

"Yes, but too many of his changes are moving resource from key clients," Bethany replied. "From what I've heard, that's when Sara-Jane started arguing with him. It's going to come to a head very quickly if we don't head it off."

"I could handle it," Bradley said carefully, but then sighed and shook his head. "But I'm not sure I should."

"Why?" Judy asked.

"Well, first of all, it's Karl's area," he replied. "He was a friend of mine for years."

"Was?" Bethany asked.

"Of course," Bradley snorted. "I don't stay friends with people who get in fights with my father."

"I'm sorry," I put in. I didn't like Karl and never had, but Bradley did. I didn't understand the reason, but I was old enough to feel bad when someone I knew lost a good friend. They were so hard to come by.

"Thanks," Bradley shrugged, but then changed the subject. "The point is that my opinion's of both Tim and Sara-Jane are colored by my talks with Karl. I'm not sure I can be fully objective."

"Then let Joe handle it," Judy said. Bradley frowned and turned to me.

"Don't you already have enough on your plate?" he asked.

"Well, actually, I just promoted Clark. I can dump most of my current responsibilities on him as long as I'm available to help," I answered.

"Planning for when father gets back?" Bradley smiled. I shrugged. There was a good chance Clark would get the entire area dumped on him soon. If I could help smooth the way, then so be it.

"I think it's a good idea," Bethany put in, getting us back on topic.

"Me too," Bradley said, and then grinning added, "It will give me time to catch up on my class work."

"Three thousand miles seems like an awfully long way to go just for a quiet place to study," Judy laughed.

"Oh, I don't plan on just studying," Bradley said. He was talking to Judy and something in his tone caught my attention. I glanced at Bethany and she nodded ever so slightly. I shook my head, but kept silent.

"What else do you plan on doing?" Judy asked.

"Well, I was thinking about visiting some of my favorite restaurants in the area," he replied. "Care to join me for dinner?"

"Sure," Judy replied offhandedly. She obviously wasn't getting the picture because she turned toward Bethany and I and asked, "What about you two? Why don't you two join us?"

"Judy dear," Bethany smiled. "He's not asking you to meet to go over some work issues. He's just asking you to dinner."

"What do..." Judy began, but then froze as the truth hit her. She blushed furiously and finally said, "Oh my! I didn't realize."

"Do you want to change your answer now?" Bradley asked, offering her an out. Judy looked at Bradley in dumbstruck silence.

"Well," I smiled. "Are you going to answer the poor man?"

"Yes," Judy finally said. "I would like to go out to dinner with you." They both were smiling rather broadly. Bethany and I looked at each other and rolled our eyes, fighting back our laughter. Judy noticed.

"Don't you two dare!" she snapped. "Or shall be talk about your little issue?"

"It's almost resolved," I answered.

"No, it isn't," Bethany insisted. Judy looked at us and shook her head.

"I think we'd better get back to addressing work issues," she said.

"Agreed," I sighed, and then turned to Bradley and added, "I don't have a problem reviewing Karl's old area, but I have to know what kind of limitations I have."

"What do you mean?" Bradley frowned.

"Well, I pretty much overstepping myself by promoting Clark, but he deserved it and I was pretty confident that your father would do the same thing once he returned," I replied. "But I have no idea what your father plans for Karl's area. Or should I say areas? He was in charges of both product development and customer support. In either case, I don't want to do anything that may disrupt your father's plans."

"Such as?" Bradley asked.

"Well for starters, reorganizing it, reprioritizing the work and shifting resources," I answered. "I may even find it necessary to shift some people between my old area and Karl's."

"Don't forget the possibility of actually having to fire someone. This battle between Sara-Jane and Tim is pretty bad," Bethany put in. Bradley looked at each of us.

"They're right," Judy sighed when his eyes met hers.

"You know," Bradley began slowly. "I had a lot of time to think about my tenure here as CEO since I left. It didn't take long to realize that I didn't do a particularly good job. I'd like to think part of it was inexperience, but I'm not really sure that's true."

"It was the bulk of the problem," I offered.

"That and you relied on Karl too much," Bethany put in.

"And not enough on Bethany," Judy added. The two women exchanged a smile.

"Whatever the reason," Bradley smiled sadly. "I don't feel comfortable running this company anymore."

"I came back for this two weeks because my parents asked me to and they seldom ask anything of me," he continued. "But, the truth is that Joe was supposed to take my father's place in less than a year."

"That's highly unlikely now," I said somberly.

"You may be right," Bradley shrugged. "But you're still a far better fit for the role then me."

"That still doesn't give me the right to make changes that your father will have to cope with when he returns," I argued.

"No, it doesn't," Bradley said. "But what does, at least in my opinion, is the fact that you're here and father isn't. There are decisions that have to be made while he's gone and you're simply the best qualified to handle them."

"Joe, stop arguing and do the job," Bethany put in when she saw me open my mouth. I looked around the room and saw all three smiling.

"Okay," I finally sighed, and then turned to Bradley and added, "Thank you. I'll try not to change too much until your father returns. It's only a little over a week."

"Do what needs to be done," Bradley replied. He was putting an awful lot of trust in me considering. I would do my best to make him feel good about it later.

"Do you need anything?" Judy asked.

"Well, yes," I replied after thinking a moment. "I could use someone who knows the people is Karl's area. I'll be meeting with them, but a little prep would make me feel better."

"Sounds like a job for Bethany," Judy shrugged.

"Done," Bradley said before Bethany or I could open our mouths. "Actually, it probably makes sense for you two to work together on this issue. That is if Bethany has the time?"

"I can make time if it will help," Bethany said after a moment.

"It will help," I admitted.

"Well then, why don't you two go meet somewhere? I'd like to have a brief conversation with Judy alone."

"What for?" Judy asked.

"Well, we still haven't decided on which restaurant we are going to visit tonight," he replied with a smile. "And then there's tomorrow night to think about." Bethany and I quickly made our exit.

"It's nice to see Bradley finally ask her out. He's liked her for years," Bethany said as we walked to my office.

"Why didn't he ask her out earlier?" I said, not really putting much thought into it.

"Well, unlike some men I know," Bethany said pointedly. "Bradley doesn't believe in dating people who work for him."

"You don't work for me," I frowned.

"Then Bradley didn't just agree to make me your assistant for the next week or so?" she asked. My frown deepened.

"He told us to work together," I replied.

"So then," Bethany smiled. "You think he meant that I should make the decisions on what's to be done with Karl's area?"

"You get to help make those decisions."

"That's called assisting," Bethany said triumphantly.

"Fine, you win," I sighed before looking at her pointedly and adding, "But then again, you quit on Monday and didn't come and tell me. So that whole 'we can't be together because we work together' is pretty obviously just an excuse."

"Why don't we focus on work," she sighed, no longer seeming so triumphant. "This is a conversation for another place."

"Certainly," I replied. I wasn't in the mood to talk about it either. There was a lot to do.

We were barely in my office two minutes when someone came for Bethany. She was needed. Bethany returned twenty minutes later to find me in conference with Clark. We were going over his new responsibilities. An hour later I searched her out and found her in a meeting with a couple of people from the finance area. This went on until after the normal office hours ended.

"I'm pooped," Bethany sighed as she plopped down in a chair across my desk.

"It has been a busy day hasn't it?" I smiled.

"Yes, and we still need to plan on how to handle Karl' old area," she groaned.

"Well, I'm hungry, so why don't we discuss it over dinner?" I asked. Bethany looked at me carefully.

"This is not something we should do in a restaurant," she said. "We'll need to go over a lot of things and probably need to take notes."

"Your place or mine?" I grinned.

"I don't think so," Bethany said with a shake of her head.

"Oh, relax!" I laughed. "We both need food and you're right, we can't really have this meeting in a restaurant." Bethany frowned, but then sighed and nodded.

"Meet me at my place in an hour," she said. "And bring something to eat. I'm too tired to cook."

"Does Chinese sound good?" I asked as I stood and grabbed my stuff. Bethany stood as well.

"That's fine," she shrugged. "I'd like some ribs."

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather do this at my place?" I asked, unable to resist. I was tired and needed a laugh.

"Why?" she asked.

"Well, for one thing, I have the hot tub," I teased. The look she gave me was priceless. We left my office and made our way down the hall.

"Unlike Bradley and Judy's dinner, ours will be a working meal," Bethany said succinctly.

"Of course," I replied as we arrived at the turn off to her office. She started walking away from me. I couldn't resist calling after her, "But then again, there is always after dinner."

"Don't count on it!" she called back. I couldn't help it. I laughed again.

* * *

We ate dinner and planned how to address the issue with Karl's old area. He actually had two main areas of responsibility. One was product development and the other support. Each of them had sub areas.

For instance, product development could be broken down into upgrades and research and development for the next generation of the product. You needed to stay focused on both of those if you planned on being around for a while.

The support area was the same. There were problems reported by the clients that needed to be addressed under the contract and then there were requests for changes by these same clients that fell outside of the contract.

"We'll meet with the staff and let them know I'm temporarily taking responsibility for the area first thing in the morning. After that, I'll start reviewing priorities and contracts," I summarized. "That will give you the day to finish catching up on your normal work and me the weekend to digest what you've told me about the people. Monday we start meeting with the staff individually."

"I should be able to work in drawing up an organization chart with the changes we've talked about," Bethany said, and then quickly added before I could interrupt, "I know it's still very rough but it will help to see it on paper. You've got some major changes planned."

"The company's gotten bigger over the years," I shrugged. "It needs to restructure if it's going to keep doing that."

"I'm not disagreeing," Bethany said, and then smiled and added, "I can't wait until Brad gets back and sees what you've done!"

"Actually," I sighed. "I don't plan on making any changes in the next week. I've thought it over and I think the best approach is to write up a plan and hand it off to Brad when he returns."

"Chicken!" she teased. I rolled my eyes, causing her to laugh.

"It's not like Brad and I haven't spoken about the need already," I said. "He agrees in concept, but wasn't comfortable with some of my ideas. I think it's more a matter of style and preference."

"I get your point," Bethany said more seriously. "I guess it makes sense to wait."

"I'm glad you agree," I replied, and then changed the subject by asking, "Can you find the time to also touch base with Sally?"

"Sally?" Bethany frowned.

"Well, she's the queen of the rumor mill and right now that's all we have," I shrugged. "We'll get to the bottom of what's going on with the interviews next week, but Sally may know something that will help prepare us."

"Okay," Bethany sighed. "But you'll owe me one."

"Why?" I asked.

"Sally didn't become the 'queen of the rumor mill' by being shy and unassuming. She'll be asking pointed questions about us and hinting about an early June wedding all during our conversation," Bethany grimaced.

"What? You don't like June weddings?" I asked with a grin.

"Sure, just as long as it's not mine!" Bethany snapped.

"So, what months do you like for a wedding?" I asked, and then quickly added, "I know! I know! You're never getting married again. But if you were, what month would you choose?"

"You're mad!" Bethany snapped, leaving my question unanswered.

"Obviously," I shrugged. "Why else would I quit a perfect good job and then go back to work behind the boss's back?" Bethany shook her head.

"It's getting late. You should be going," she said. "We're going to have a long day tomorrow."

"I don't think so," I replied.

"What?" Bethany asked in surprise.

"I said, I don't think I should be going."

"I know what you said!" Bethany snapped. "But why?"

"Because it's time," I said, no longer laughing or smiling.

"Time for what?"

"Time for us to talk," I said carefully.

"And if I don't want to?" Bethany asked.

"Oh, you want to," I said, reading her expression. "You're just afraid."

"Fine," Bethany said succinctly. She was obviously getting angry. "If you want to talk, then lets talk."

"Bethany, cut it out," I sighed. "Getting angry won't make this any easier. Actually, it will probably only make it worse." Bethany looked at me and then let out one long slow breath.

"You may be right," she admitted grudgingly. "So, where do you want to start?"

"Oh, that easy," I replied, surprising her. "I love you."

"And I love you," Bethany said with some difficulty, but she did say it with out my prompting this time. I smiled.

"So then, what are you afraid of?" I asked.

"Too many things to list," she replied with a shake of her head.

"Try," I insisted. Bethany proceeded to list quite a number of things. I waited until she was done before saying, "Look, I think that all boils down you being afraid of losing your freedom."

"Yes, but that's not all," she replied.

"I know," I sighed. "You're also petrified of me breaking your heart." Bethany looked at me, but remained silent. Neither one of us spoke for a whole.

"Let's go sit in the living room," she finally said. "This isn't the type of thing that should be discussed at a kitchen table."

"Actually, I think it's more of a bedroom type of conversation," I joked poorly. Bethany didn't even bother to respond. She just shook her head and led me to the living room. I thought I saw a brief smile flit across her face, but I couldn't be sure.

"You do know that there is nothing you can say to alleviate my fears?" she said once we were both seated. She made sure it was on opposite couches.

"Yes and no," I shrugged. "The first fear seems a bit irrational to me. You've been an independent woman for years. There is nothing I could do that could take that away from you."

"During my marriage..." Bethany began, but I cut her off.

"Bethany, I know you were hurt badly by your first husband, but..." I interjected. She interrupted before I could finish my thought.

"And I know you're not him," she insisted. "But that doesn't mean the same thing won't happen!"

"I disagree," I said with a shrug. "But let's say for a moment that I am just like your ex and that I'd try to find a way of taking away your freedom."

"Okay," Bethany said with a frown. She didn't know where I was going with the conversation. She was a bright lady, but she was so afraid that she couldn't think clearly.

"Bethany, no matter what I did to try and dominate you, it simply wouldn't work."

"It might," she insisted.

"No it wouldn't," I argued. "Actually, it couldn't. You're not the same woman who married your ex-husband. You'd never allow yourself to fall into that trap again."

"How can you be so sure?" she asked. I smiled sadly. She wasn't afraid of me taking control. Bethany was actually afraid of her allowing me to do it.

"Bethany, you have a career, a home and investments of your own that would always give you the freedom to leave if you wanted. You aren't an out of work, untrained mother with a baby and no savings," I explained. Bethany looked at me and smiled tentatively. I nodded slowly.

"But there is still the second issue," she said after a moment.

"Of course," I shrugged. "It's a possibility that everyone who falls in love is forced to accept. I'm just as afraid of you breaking my heart as you are of me breaking yours."

"That's not possible!" Bethany insisted. "If it were then you wouldn't be trying so hard to get us together."

"Of course I would," I replied, surprising her. "The difference between you and I is that I've already accepted that we really do love each other."

"So?" she frowned.

"Bethany, if we're already in love, than it's already too late. We can either be with each other or break each other's hearts. There is no middle ground."

"But it will only get worse the more time we spend together," she sighed. I shook my head.

"You think it can get worse?" I asked in amazement. "Worse than both of us walking out of jobs we love? Worse than the feelings we felt after I dropped you off on Sunday?"

"Yes, worse!" she cried. She was crying now. I hate it when women cry.

"But Bethany, the only way it can get worse is if we get closer. If we get closer, why would we break up?"

"I don't know!" she cried.

I made to move to her couch and take her in my arms, but she held up her hand and forestalled me. I could see her fight to regain control of herself. She wiped her tears and then looked at me.