Laura's Big Win (34 page)

The next afternoon, with Laura and Ryan
helping a bit, Alice and Vinnie packed her required “take along”
belongings into the coach, said their farewells, and virtually
sailed off into the sunset with the big cruiser. Waving goodbye,
Dennis called out: “Hey, Alice, where ya goin’?”

“With him, Dennis, with him,” and the
big coach glided away, for the moment.

Chapter 19 – A Step
Closer

At their usual workday morning meeting,
Laura and Ryan finally got around to discussing exactly when they
would like to be married. The excitement of the previous Saturday’s
events with Alice and Vincent had made them realize more acutely
they were losing precious time in their own lives. Working on his
morning neck massage, Laura decided to bring up the subject, ready
or not.

“I know we’ve talked about a lot of
things, but we never did quite get around to deciding when we’ll be
married. You know” as she wrapped both arms around him “I don’t
want to let the big one slip the hook. You’re not thinking of
bolting, are you?”

“Nope, not a bit. In fact” swinging
around in his chair while still managing to hold on to both her
hands “I’m not so sure who caught who. Anyway, I’ve been thinking
about that myself, and I think you’re right. After seeing those two
lovebirds Saturday, it’s as happy as I’ve ever seen Alice. He’s a
heck of a guy and I’m sure they’ll have a great time between the
two of them.. Sort of puts to rest all those ad’s for ED drugs for
middle aged men; he’s a real poster child for virility in late
life, isn’t he?”

“True, but how’s that related to our
setting a date? Feeling weak these days, or just
threatened?”

“I’m aging more every day, and the
thought of going off on our honeymoon with a cane or a walker just
doesn’t seem right. So, I think we need to pick up the pace,
okay?”

It had now become more banter than
conversation, but the two of them enjoyed the repartee and the
closeness it brought as they understood each other even more. Arms
intertwined, Ryan finally got specific.

“You know we’re heading for the holiday
season, Thanksgiving, Christmas, all those festivities. I was
thinking maybe we go for it on the Saturday between Christmas and
New Years Day, mid-afternoon, reception and dinner to follow. To
tell the truth, I don’t want to wait any longer than that for a
number of reasons, my own personal desire to be married to you
being number one on the list. I don’t want you to make a break for
it when you regain your senses. How about it? You willing, or are
the feet getting chilly now that I’m getting serious?”

“Not a chance; you’re not getting away
that easy, Big Guy. That’s what Cindy calls you, the ‘Big Guy. How
ya doin’ with the Big Guy? Makin’ any progress with the Big Guy?’
She just went nuts when I told her we were engaged. We have to
invite her, okay?”

“She’s in, but you didn’t tell me if
the date is good. Better hurry. I’m thinking about going to Wendy’s
and see if any of those models are still around.”

“Yes, yes, yes; that Saturday is fine.
I still have tons to do, but if you’re threatening to go to Wendy’s
and look around, guess I’d better hurry. By the way, when Alice and
I ran there the other day, I did a little shopping myself; you’ll
see. So, how do we tell people the date; grand
announcement?”

“Grand announcement. I’ll do that; you
get a move on with the invitations. Marcia can help.”

“But Marcia…”

“I know, I know; Marcia is supposed to
be doing company business, but this involves two officers of the
company; what could be more company business than that? Besides, if
you tell her she’s invited, she’ll do anything. In the meantime, I
need to go see Roger about our annual meeting with staff. Maybe we
need to set it up a little this year. Probably wouldn’t hurt to get
it clear before the holiday pace sets in and takes up all our time
partying. Okay?”

“Okay. Kiss me enough to last
until…..mmff.”

“Enough?”

“No, never, I’ll be back for more.
Guess I really should do something for the company now. See you,
love you.”

“Love you too”

“I forgot; one more thing. Remember
when you told me the headhunters would call, and I didn’t believe
you. You were right; I shouldn’t have doubted. Anyway, I’m not
going anywhere, so don’t get your hopes up on escaping
me.”

“I’ll refrain from the obvious, but
really, it makes sense. Myself aside for the moment, Windmere is
fortunate you’re here; we want to keep you.”

“So, how about you? Do you want to keep
me?”

“Sure, if you want to be a kept woman.
I have some things in mind on how you can earn your
keep.”

“I’ll bet you do. Now go back into your
den. No…..wait…..replay. It didn’t last long enough.” Ryan
complied, willingly, but had a lot to do in the next few
hours.

Ryan made the short trip to Roger’s
office, greeted him, and settled into a chair. It had been the
custom at Windmere to combine the annual employee/stockholder
meeting with a non-designated holiday event. The nature of the
company staff was such that there was an assortment of religious
beliefs, races, colors, creeds, ethnic background, nationality, and
a little of everything else. So, it was a general meeting,
non-descript in name, although everyone knew it was “The Christmas
Party,” with a festive air. This year would just be a little more
festive. Ryan outlined his plan to Roger; set up the meeting date
to the coming Saturday, and suggested they let everyone know as
soon as possible, then turn the staff loose on the preparations.
Roger was enthusiastic from the beginning, setting the “can do”
tone in his response.

“We need a staff meeting with everyone
here right now to get this in place. I had sort of been aiming
toward three or four weeks from now, but you’re right; we always
seem to get caught in a holiday time crunch of some sort. How about
I rally the troops for a brief sitdown to get the basics in
line?”

“Sorry to drop this on you at such a
short notice. We just sort of decided we need to get on with our
lives and, well, Alice and Vincent made us a little jealous I
think; maybe that was what we needed. Anyway, think we can swing
it? Your call.”

“Marcia, can you do an all call for a
meeting in the kitchen at 9:30 this morning…..just people already
here…..great. Thanks…..Now, you were saying? Gotta tell you, I have
always loved being here and being a part of things, but since Laura
has been here, the place has its life back, and so, by the way, do
you my friend. I’ve seen you watching her; you might fool her, but
I know why you want to get married so soon. Little backed up on the
testosterone are we?”

“Not that it’s any of your damned
business, but, maybe a little backed up. You think that’s a
problem?”

“Not from what I can see. I don’t blame
you. I was your age once, although it’s getting harder all the time
to remember that far back. Anyway, what else do we need to talk
about?”

“Can we get Cal to have the private
accountants send us a statement, to date plus year end forecast? I
haven’t looked in a while and I want to see if we have some wiggle
room to maybe give some bonus money out this year. Work for
you?”

“You’re the boss.”

“Shhh. Only about a dozen people
actually know that, and for now, that’s enough. I haven’t discussed
it with Laura yet; time just didn’t seem right; but, I’ll get that
far soon enough. There were just a lot more important things to
handle first, like convincing her to marry me. Strangely, I think
maybe that was her idea and it just finally soaked into my thick
skull. This whole thing has been like it’s orchestrated or
something; things seem to fall into place. I mean, that episode
with the Duesey; who did the kids see? I’m sure they saw someone;
it wouldn’t occur to them to make up a story like that. Guess we’ll
never know. Anyway, let’s see if Cal can get a hard copy, then meet
back here maybe this afternoon and see where we are.”

“Works for me. By the way, my daughter
said she saw Alice and Laura in Wendy’s the other day. I think they
were shopping for Alice, but from what she told me Laura was
looking at, you better start your vitamins now.”

“Lecherous old man!”

“Stallion!”

The staff meeting in the kitchen was
somewhat raucous but good spirited. Everyone dealt with the early
date in their own way, quickly adapting their time frames to fit
the shortened schedule. Roger suggested they notify their
“travelers” as quickly as possible, and make the meeting optional
because of the short time frame. He also suggested as an incentive,
that Windmere provide a breakfast for the morning meeting. The
actual meeting, he anticipated, would take less than hour, but
suggested they leave time for informal discussions. Doris would be
there to bake iced cinnamon rolls, on the theory that if her baking
could melt the minds of a couple of crotchety old auto parts execs,
they could do anything. Doris agreed, but countered that they
should also have an omelet line since Henry needed Christmas money
to buy things for her and only Fernando was really qualified to
make a Spanish omelet anyway. Roger was an easy sell, with fond
remembrances of Fernando’s culinary skills. Daycare would be
provided if needed. The meeting would start at 9:00 AM, after
everyone was well fed, coffeed, pottied, and so on. Spouses were
included as usual. Pagers, cell phones, land lines, and data lines
were hot for the next hour to get the information out, while Laura
sat back a bit and again watched in amazement at how this team
could function like a greased rocket when the need arose. One thing
for sure, she felt more at home here than she had felt at any other
place in her adult life, with the sole exception of her own
parent’s home; even there, she realized that being in Ryan’s
consciousness was more important than her physical
surroundings.

By mid-afternoon, the numbers were hand
delivered to Cal and he went to meet with Roger and Ryan. Although
the general accounts and daily operating funds were accessible to
everyone who needed them, the capital and major operating accounts
were maintained by a CPA firm in Conyerville. Ryan had hired them
back when the operation was starting out and he and Mary didn’t
have the time to do bookkeeping. As Windmere developed and the
accounts grew in size, the accountants did less and less of the
daily work, functioning more as financial advisors handling major
transactions as properties were acquired and the business spread
its wings. Only they knew exactly who the stock holders were, and
since the company was privately held, no one else had access, even
Laura and her growing IT operation. What mattered was that the
operation was on solid footing; the chief accountant was tasked to
watch trends in operations, and to flag anything he believed to be
significant, much as Laura was doing with the daily operations. If
there was a difference in operation, it was only that they had far
fewer, but much larger, accounts to watch over.

Taking a seat, Cal handed out the
copies of the annotated operating statement, along with the year
end predictions. As a long term employee with an excellent track
record, his opinion was highly respected, as was his discretion
with information. The three sat back and quickly scanned the
numbers. Their chief accountant had sensed what they needed and
delivered the information in blocks: money in, money out, what’s
left over at the end. He did take time to separate the various
operations Windmere conducted, such as held and operated
properties, properties operated for other owners, their procurement
operation, and more recently, Information Technology services
provided on a membership basis. Roger was the first able to speak
after reading the numbers.

“Ryan, elope. Marry that girl right
now; lock her in her office, do something so she can’t get away. Do
you see those numbers on the IT operation? And that’s for only part
of a year; can you imagine a whole year at that rate?

“Ryan, I agree with Roger. Watch those
headhunters. This is a whole field we’ve never been in before, and
it’s looking great. I can’t say that I know much about it, but I do
know what she’s done for my end of the operation is wonderful. We
were sort of plodding along like everyone else, getting things
done, moving the numbers around. Now I can negotiate on-line with
multiple sources, send everything to one file I can watch build on
the second screen, place my order, send break-bulk shipping orders,
and never break a sweat. While the other guys are looking for
something to write on, I’m done and off to the next thing. No one I
ever talked to has heard of using two monitors at the same time to
make things easier and certainly faster. She said it’s something
she learned from taking a basic CAD system class one summer, told
our IT system suppliers what she wanted, and, viola, here we
are.”

“Damn. What can I say? I mean, I know
she’s got brain power; I just never…..well, you know. I’m as
floored as you are. I’m almost afraid to tell her; hard telling
what it would cost us. Suddenly Cinderella could run the whole
place; well, maybe not the whole place, but a couple of major wings
anyway. I really don’t know where to go from here. Should I tell
her?” It was one of the very few times in his life Ryan Williams
was unsure.