Corporate Wars Part One

DIANA
“How many corporate takeovers have you participated in?” Terry asked me over dinner the night following his screw-up with Max’s Saudi client. Obviously, both of us had thought of little else today.

“I’ve been in companies that have been bought out twice. A company I worked for bought another. More layoffs and reorganizations than you can shake a stick at and one company replaced the President after a bankruptcy. Why do you ask?”

“I want you to help me keep my company.”

“I’ll do anything you want me to do. God knows, I’ve seen enough political infighting and wrangling for position in the companies where I’ve worked. It’s time for that knowledge to be used for the good guys.” I cupped the side of his face in my hand and smiled at him. “You’re the good guy.”

He leaned into my hand with his strong jaw; I felt his words and heard them. “The military isn’t much better, but that was a long time ago for me. With Luthan, I was in the field much of my time and missed the fun there. When Dino and I started Thorne and O’Reilly, it was easier. For all of his energy, he was content to let me take point on corporate decisions.”

I covered his hand with mine. “I know I don’t need to tell you this but …. The stakes are high on this. We can’t do the normal corporate raider strategy of take no prisoners. Takeover specialists identify the key players they have to keep and do whatever’s necessary to keep from alienating them; everyone else is expendable. Max is a key player, and he is the other side. Dino and Sooze are also necessary to the firm. We have to win this the right way with all concerned coming out of it with feelings and integrity intact, and Max still in place. This will be so much harder than any other fight I’ve been in because of that. You may have to rein me in if I lose sight of that primary goal.”

I took a deep breath before continuing. I was treading new ground for me. “You may not like some of the things I need to say to you.”

“I gather this is where my request for you to kick my arse as needed comes in.” We smiled at each other.

“Not this very moment, but when we start talking about things to do to demonstrate your leadership, probably. If you want me to be your strategist, I’ll have to be absolutely honest with you, and I might not consider my words in the moment. Are you sure you want me actively involved?”

I disengaged from him to leave him to his thoughts as I wandered through my own. I’ve always been fascinated by corporate politics. I could always tell when a reorg was coming; the atmosphere in the company changed like there were more electrons in the air molecules. There was a tangible imbalance.

If there were a buyout in the works, the Facilities guys would have been the first to know if they had recognized what to look for. At the first sign an offer was under consideration, the companies I worked for that were being bought changed the toilet paper dispensers in the rest rooms. I ran an informal survey with friends who’d also gone through ‘being bought,’ asking the question about changes around their facility shortly before the sale became known. Sometimes I had to prompt them about the johns, but in 90% of the cases, the toilet paper dispenser change had happened. Some changed from single sheet dispensers to small rolls, others from small rolls to single sheets. The actual types of changes didn’t follow a discernable pattern, but the toilet paper holders changed. The reason was the same in all cases – cost-cutting attempts whether or not a savings actually resulted. The dispenser change was a tangible manifestation of a proactive management. We called it the TP Indicator.

Terry was still considering my challenge, and I let my thoughts roam farther afield. Having grown up in LA, monitoring show business is as natural for me as watching automotives is for someone who grew up around Detroit. As early as ’03, most people who watched the entertainment industry sensed changes were beginning; I certainly did.

New technology threatened traditional distribution methods; market share for movies was eroding; there were no sure-fire hits. Variety and Hollywood Reporter had several speculative articles about how the studios would adjust to these challenges. I’d watched the entertainment world in fascination during the summer of ’06. That was the year an entire industry readjusted its talent salary structure. The days of sweet deals for actors where their pay only had upside potential ended; the studios forced the actors to share the risk for any movie they made. Even though I was fifteen hundred miles away I have every expectation the TP Indicator was apparent. Soon the actual corrections began.

First, a couple of movies that had been green lighted were shelved – one with prior box office gold actor Jim Carrey. He couldn’t buy a movie between 2005 and 2007. Next, Paramount dumped Tom Cruise’s production deal. Granted, his antics that year played directly into Sumner Redstone’s, head of the conglomerate who owned Paramount, hand, but until that point Cruise had been a money machine.

I imagined meetings between studio emissaries in out-of-the-way restaurants to discuss how to cut the payroll. Hell, the restaurants didn’t even have to be out-of-the-way; these were the unknown executives who put the ‘business’ in ‘show.’ They aren’t celebrities; their faces are unrecognizable. They are the people who control what we see.

They didn’t even have to arrange to meet anywhere. They could stand on the sidelines at their kids’ Saturday morning soccer games and talk. If there were any ‘discussions,’ the emissaries probably spoke in veiled terms in case the Securities and Exchange Commission or Fair Trade Commission came looking; that was highly unlikely as the suits were dealing with highly paid celebrities, some of whom could act. Highly paid actors wouldn’t garner much sympathy in public perception, and the Feds needed all the help they could get that summer. The suits could deny any type of conspiracy to fix salaries. Hell, they didn’t even have to discuss anything; they all saw the series of circumstances that allowed them to maximize their profits, and they jumped on them.

How do you restructure a compensation program? You force the top earner, in this case Cruise, to take a cut, and everyone below has to fall in line as long as you stay above minimum wage. I imagine every agent who negotiated an A-lister’s contract that summer was grateful for what was possible. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for some of those meetings.

Agent:	Well, my boy got $20 mil, pay or play, and 5 points from first dollar on his last movie.
Studio:	He can keep the five points but they start after we recoup production costs. Salary is $5 mil. Take it or leave it.
Agent:	The points include merchandising.
Studio:	What merchandising? There won’t be any, but thanks for the idea for future boilerplate. Do we have a deal?
Agent as he leaves the table:	I’ll get back to you.
Agent (muttered):	Fuck you, Tom Cruise.

The dominoes fell the summer of 2006. You could almost hear the housing prices in Malibu dropping as opulent, mortgaged-to-the-next-big-picture, beach houses went on the market.

I started thinking about Terry’s project. I still had Andy Byers phone number in my Contacts list. He’d been with one of the big consulting firms; we’d worked together on a corporate takeover, and he’d impressed me with his knowledge and subtlety. It might be easier for Terry to work with someone who had more objectivity. Andy wouldn’t come cheaply, but I could offer him as a consultant if Terry thought we were too close to work well together.

Terry’s touch brought me back to him. “I’ve almost begged you to keep me on the straight and narrow; I’ve not heard a word of criticism come from your mouth …recently. You’re already integrally involved with my work. I want you to advise me how to repel Max’s challenge. All I can ask is that you’re gentle with me.”

“I’ll try, but you know how prone I am to bark orders. The make-up sex will be astounding though. We must win this game, Boomer, unless you’re ready to retire or start a competing business. We lose, and you’ll have to walk away from TEO. I’ll walk with you, but the T comes off the door. No CEO who loses this kind of power play gets to stay in the company, not even as a VP of Business Development.”

His look conveyed the question, ‘What the fuck?’

“It’s where they shuffle lower level executives who are on the way out the door. The guy gets a ‘promotion’ to VP until he can find another job; that makes the ‘Business Development’ valid.”

Motivation is a funny thing. Every person’s motivation is different. Terry’s motivated by achievement and success; I’m motivated by fear of failure. My first activity tomorrow would be to draft his resignation press release that he would never see. Those words would be the stick driving me to keep Terry’s company his.

“That would leave them as EOR. Sounds like a character in The House at Pooh Corner.” Terry’s light comment fooled neither of us.

“It might leave nothing. I don’t think you’d want that. I don’t. You are this company.”

“I can’t do any more on this tonight, Lady. It’s enough to know you’re with me. We’ll do our serious talking about where to go from here tomorrow night.”

“You had to know I’d support you. I love you, Terry.”

“I suppose I did, but it was good to hear you say it.”

“Here comes one of those things you won’t like.”

“Go on.”

“There are a few things you have to start doing right now. You have to hear them tonight; you have to start emphasizing them tomorrow. Normally, once one of the combatants has had enough, there’s a quiet period while everybody gets ready for the fight. From what you said, the countdown started yesterday. Once the actual struggle gets started, our goal is to settle it quickly. I hope this phase doesn’t last too long, but some corporate infighting has lasted for years; TEO’s too small to sustain that kind of strife. I’d like to see this settled within a week or two once Max makes his intentions known. I’d like to think he’ll reconsider, but we’re not going to count on him doing that.

“Your workload until this is over will be huge. You’ll have to manage the company more than you normally do but invisibly, as well as demonstrate your leadership. You have to keep Dino on your side, and pissing Sooze off would be disastrous. You have to know everything that's going on in the office, and it has to look easy.

“I can’t start popping into the office; it would signify a change, and the last thing we want at this point is anyone to start thinking about change, even subliminally. You’ll have to be our eyes and ears; when you come home at night, I’ll want a data dump about everything that happened that day. This will be harder work than digging fence post holes all day, but that’s why you pay yourself the big bucks. You’ll be as tired as you’ve ever been on a mission.

“You have to be your normal, matey Aussie bloke self. Grumpy Terry is not allowed in the office. Pensive Terry doesn’t get to show up either; your thoughtful look can be interpreted as annoyed because often you are annoyed when you get surprised. From now until this is settled, no one at the office interprets what you’re thinking or feeling; there can be no confusion as to your intentions in Max, Dino, or Sooze’s minds. Over communicate to some degree if you must. If they have to interpret, you may lose the message you’re trying to convey, YOU are the right man for the job.

“When you get pissed off, and you will, you have to act like nothing affects you negatively. Don’t make the situation any worse by letting the stress show. You have to push your reactions to the hassles aside until you get home. Once you walk through our door, you’re safe to blow off steam.

“I know how much you hate a defensive position, but that’s where we are right now. You are the Chief Executive Officer of Thorne, Espan, and O’Reilly; Max has to challenge you for the job and take it from you.”

“Anything else, Coach?”

“Yeah, go to bed. We’ve got a big day tomorrow.”

For the second night in a row, I took the lead in our loving. Last night Terry was too filled with remorse over his actions in losing a client to be terribly interested; tonight he was preoccupied with concern. For the first time since we spent the night at his apartment, his sleep was fitful. Thank God, rubbing his ear still soothed him, and sleeping on top of him reminded me when I’d quit. As soon as I fell asleep and stopped working on his ear, he rolled towards me, folding me in ways a human body was never designed to bend. He never woke up. I rearranged myself as best I could under him with my fingers on his ear lobe, and with Terry finally quiet, I fell asleep again.

I spent the morning at the downtown Dallas public library reviewing basic business management books; it had been a long time since my MBA. I’d developed many specialized skills over time, but we needed a basic business reference book among other things. I racked my brain for nasty corporate takeovers and management changes in the last few years, found the newspaper articles online, got the names of the executives involved, and started looking for their autobiographies with the juicy bits about what happened in their companies that their non-disclosure agreements allowed them to reveal. Whether the exec had won or lost was immaterial; we needed to know the full array of recently used strategies. Library books were fine for the short term, but Amazon would love the Thorne-Walker household this month with all our purchases.

TERRY
Diana rounded the corner from the kitchen with the dogs trailing her, knocking over a significant stack of books along the way. “I’m glad to see you. I was finishing the flow chart for what needs to happen between now and when Max makes his move. I didn’t want you to waste your energy on anything superfluous.”

Diana was nothing if not eager to take on this challenge. My mood didn’t match hers; I was fucking tired. I dropped my briefcase at the door, soaking up renewal with her energetic hug and kisses, whilst Diana relieved me of my coat and tie and draped them over the saddle sitting on its stand in the corner of the dining room.

“Beer or scotch?” Diana dropped her energy level back closer to mine and asked the question that would become our nightly greeting for however long this took.

“I think it’s a scotch night.” I dropped to the sofa where Holly made herself comfortable next to me to help in any way she could. Diana also draped herself over my shoulders with her cheek next to mine.

“If you only think it’s a scotch night, you need a beer.” With another kiss, she retrieved our beer. “Boomer, we have not yet begun to fight.” She mimicked an historical, American Naval officer; I’m too tired to try to recall the name. “Tell me what went on today.”

As I gave her a blow-by-blow description of my day at the office, her look of confusion increased. “It sounds like a pretty normal day at any office to me. Compare it to normal for TEO.”

“In all honesty, it was ordinary. I looked at it askance because of your pep talk last night.”

“Terry, I’ve seen you happy, completely spent, hurt, mad, jealous, doubtful. You’ve been determined, devilish, so sexy I can’t keep my hands off you, and tender. I’ve never seen you scared before. What happened?”

“Your admonitions last night made me realise how much is at stake. I love what I do. I’m good at it. I finally have everything and everyone I’ve ever wanted, and now all that’s in play.”

“Not all, Boomer. I’m a sure bet however this turns out. How do I give you a boost? I can’t take back what I said last night; I’m not sure I want to retract any of the advice I gave you. It’s valid. Be clear in what you say. Let the best side of you show. Pay attention to what’s happening in the firm. That’s what you do already.” She turned and pointed to the pile of books beside the desk. “That’s the advice all those library books about company warfare say; our own copies will arrive tomorrow. I guess I learned something along the way if the experts agree with me.

“We’ve got lots of options.” She was ticking off possibilities on her fingers. “You can leave the company now, and we all can avoid all the turmoil. You could concede now voluntarily and turn the leadership of the firm over to Max, Dino, or Sooze. You could rotate leadership among you. The best choice, in my mind, is you make fucking sure they all know you are the right man for the job. We can find the right solution to this, Boomer. We’re only getting started. Did Max say anything today?”

“Of course he did. ‘Good morning.’ ‘May I refill your cup?’ when I ran into him in the coffee room and the pot was still in his hand. ‘Good evening.’ when he left for the day.” Diana smiled at my sarcasm but ignored it. She was proving she would keep me safe here, that I can be whoever I bloody well please at home. “He was cordial when I had to ask him about his regional financials. He seemed fine with clarifying his potential bookings.”

“That’s good. He wasn’t overly civil. It may not be as bad as I painted last night. He might decide against the additional burden of managing the company. C’mere, Big Guy. Let’s see if I can’t get your shoulders unknotted so we can have dinner. We have a lot of work to do tonight.”

“We need to figure out why Max feels the need to challenge your leadership. We can devise the most elegant block to his bid, but if it doesn’t answer his concerns, we’re toast. Besides your ill-advised comments in front of the Sheik, are there any other lurking issues that could be bothering him?”

“None that he’s spoken. He has the ongoing concern of your marital status, but we’re scrupulous about separating our private lives and not allowing either of the two different relationships to affect the other.”

“I think …. It may be possible …. OK, this may be some of those statements you’re not going to appreciate hearing from me, and some of it we have already hashed out, but hear me out. Will you do that for me?”

“I wouldn’t have asked for your help if I wasn’t willing to listen to you. Remember, be gentle.” She brushed my lips softly with hers. I smiled and nodded. Even for all her warfare and battle metaphors, she can still be tender.

“There were a couple of rough patches between you and me that Max may be projecting onto work issues.”

I rested my head on the sofa back and closed my eyes. “Let’s take a look at them.”

“I think you’ve already started fixing this one. Sometimes, not always, you have your mind made up, and you won’t look at another viewpoint. You’ve done it to me once. You may have done it at work as well.”

“Diana, you know as well as I do, sometimes a decision must be made with less than full information. I stand ready to make adjustments to those when warranted.”

“I’m not talking about when a decision has to be made. I’m talking about opposing opinions to yours in discussions. You need to try to be more inclusive when you can.” I took a deep breath, let it out, and opened my eyes to look down the sofa at her. Her long neck had telescoped into her shoulders, and her chin had come forward. “Was that gentle enough?”

“Yes.” She straightened, wriggled her shoulders, and smiled in relief. I knew better than to reach for her; Diana is in work mode. We may be meeting in our own comfortable lounge, but in her head, the surroundings might as well be a formal conference room. There would be no more sweet moments between us now that she had a feel for how much I could take tonight.

“Nothing about identifying Max’s issues will be easy since we’re guessing at his motivations. Oohh, oohh, oohh! What do you think of this?” Inspiration has struck her. It’s a joy to watch.

“Once you can identify that he’s making his move, ask him why he wants to lead the firm. It could throw him off for a bit. He won’t be expecting you to try to understand his view, particularly if he’s thinking you wouldn’t entertain a different viewpoint.”

Max will be expecting me to be in bunker mode; a surprise question like that could accomplish several objectives. I can show him how open-minded I can be, and we can begin tailoring the solutions needed to fulfill his demands. I nod with a slow smile. “You will put this on the flow chart?”

“Yep, as soon as we finish tonight.”

“Let’s do it as we go along. We don’t want to miss any of our nuances.” Diana pulled her laptop from its case, had me boot it up whilst she copied what we needed from the PC to disk, and returned to me.

We had a bit of a tug of war over the disc before she released it to me. “You have to be sure to keep our strategizing separate from TEO resources. I don’t think its right to use company assets to pay for either side of this fight. I can’t influence Max; I can say the words to you. It’s bad enough that this dispute is happening at all. At some level, it will affect everyone’s productivity.”

“There’s no need to impact Dino and Sooze’s income because Max and I are squabbling. Now where were we?”

“We were discussing Max’s possible motives before I jumped to how to handle something that will happen late in the game.” She laughed at her own natural brainstorming technique. “The other possibility is Alex Ross and your almost unilateral decision to fire him.”

“Max may see that as a rash decision and worry that I have a few more in me.” We were back in sync and would bounce ideas off each other now.

“Exactly. And Max may worry about your making other business decisions based on inappropriate and irrelevant personal feelings. I think you fired Ward, not Ross. I want you to put me further down your list of considerations whenever you make any future business decisions. What’s good for TEO has to come first; if it impacts me, I’ll deal with it, and we’ll find a work-around.”

“Max could see sacking Ross as another facet of the alternate viewpoint issue. I did consult with Dino but not to the extent I should. He went back into military mode and acted on an order that wasn’t spoken. I need to mend that fence with both Dino and Ross.”

“Does that mean putting Ross back on retainer?”

“I’ve learnt my lesson. That will be Dino’s choice.” Diana typed on her laptop. Though I type faster than she does, I haven’t any idea what template she has set up. Once I’ve worked my way through her files, I’ll take over the transcription duties.

She looked back up when she’d finished. “That leaves the Sheik.”

“I’ve no idea how to get that business back. Now isn’t that a pisser? The only concern we’ve positively identified Max as having is the one I don’t know how to correct.”

“While losing the dollars has to hurt, I don’t think the monetary consideration is primary. You may have offended his uptight, Old Roman ass. Why don’t you exercise your public speech versus locker room talk? Here’s your topic. Was the woman in the gym really that much like a Barbie doll?”

Diana must have been an exceptional manager in her day. She’d assessed her student, given me the energy I’d needed to focus on the new task she envisioned, presented the new knowledge without belabouring the point, and designed the learning module with a recent, practical application. Fuck if I know whether dinner had been with my consultant or my love; she is both.

“Right then. Locker room first.” I had visions of unsnapping her bra and relieving her of it without so much as ruffling her T-shirt, my own beginning to a zipless fuck, and the girls in my hands as I practiced. Her laughter stopped me before I started.

“No, no. You know how to talk dirty. You need to work on your euphemisms.”

“If I had the same situation as a redo, Dino and I wouldn’t have discussed her at all. His own imagination is fertile enough.”

“Good answer. I knew that was the case. The man I know and love is too smart to be surprised a second time. He knows appropriate.”

“Are we done then? For tonight?” I was most interested in becoming ‘appropriate’ in another setting.

Diana sighed resignedly; she slid farther away from me, putting temptation out of reach. “Almost. You need to look at the charts I put together today. We’ll work on them in detail tomorrow night.”

The first one she showed me appeared to be a profile of a fish skeleton.

“This one charts the three underlying causes that we’ve identified of why Max wants to take over, and tomorrow we’ll brainstorm more. We’ll also start working on the solutions. This flow chart will keep us on track for what you have to do every day to win if the situation stays civil.” She quickly flipped to a third chart that closely resembled the first flow chart. “If it gets nasty, we’ll work from this plan.”

All three charts had significant amounts of information on them; Diana had been a very busy woman today. I have no doubt our bathroom mirror will have additional reminders and aphorisms on it, this time with each day’s goals for TEO rather than equitation improvements. I’ve peered around stickies before to see my face whilst shaving.

In essence, Diana had developed her own version of battle plans with contingency plans. All pages had the same several lines below the unmistakable titles.

        Lead
Stay above the fray
        Be your best self
        Pay attention to details
        Never let them see you sweat

She waited until I closed the file to continue. “If forced, we’ll pick a talking point for each day. Once Max gets started, I don’t want you to have to respond to any attack he makes. The trick will be anticipating what issue will need the attention. The plans will be a lot more detailed then. We’ll even plan what you wear to work to support that day’s message. I hope it doesn’t come to that.”

That made two of us.

REAGAN
“We must talk.”

Oh, shit. I know that tone in his voice, I know what he wants to discuss, and I know I’m not going to enjoy it. It was Saturday morning, and I’d been looking forward to a day of harassing the building contractors who were now down to the finish-out work on our new home’s interior. I didn’t have any realistic hope that the house would be ready and we’d be moved in before the baby was born, but the sooner it was completed, the sooner we could get out of the cramped quarters in the little farmhouse. I sat at the breakfast table and took a sip of my tea as I looked across the table at Max.

“All right. What’s on your mind?” He didn’t answer immediately but looked out the window at the dogs as they played in the fenced yard. If he was hesitant to respond, perhaps he’d just let it go. I was on the verge of standing and going on about my own plans for the day when he finally looked back at me.

“Though it is not my true desire, I feel I must challenge Terry for the position of Chief Executive Officer.” I flashed back to the one and only conversation Dee and I’d had on this subject; as I’d said to her, we both knew this was coming.

I’d honestly prayed my husband would never broach the topic with me because I couldn’t support him in his bid for supremacy. I had little doubt he would see my lack of support as betrayal. In realistic terms, even if I wanted him to be CEO, I wouldn’t be of much use in the planning department because corporate raiding and hostile takeover just isn’t my forte. The best I might be able to do would be analysis of specific behaviours if I saw them; note that I said saw them, not as reported to me. Max was looking at me, and some sort of reaction/response on my part was clearly required. Rule number one in any situation is to know as much about the other party’s motivation as possible. I knew part of it, but I also knew there were things my husband knew that I didn’t. Perhaps if I knew ‘the rest of the story,’ I’d be more successful in my efforts to discourage him.

“I see. Well, if it isn’t your true desire as you phrase it, why do you think it necessary to challenge Terry?”

“You know of the loss of Sheikh Ahmed AlFouad’s account.”

“Yes. What else?”

“You recall the situation with Alex Ross.” I nodded. “Terry terminated our relationship with him without consulting Dino or me. He made a unilateral decision in a situation that should have had joint consideration followed by a determination made on its merits. Worse, his decision was based on personal rather than professional concerns.”

“Is that all?” He took a swallow of his coffee and put down his cup before reaching across the table and taking my hand in his own.

“You will likely think me foolish on this point, and perhaps that is true; however, I have heard comments – gossip – regarding Terry and Diana.”

“What does gossip have to do with the firm?” I knew what it had to do with the firm, but if Max was going to stick his neck out on that issue, he’d better be willing to face the repercussions that went with meddling in someone’s private life, and that meant taking names and kicking ass.

“I understand it is their business, but you know as well as I that when a man of Terry’s age – and a woman the age of Diana – live together without benefit of marriage, people talk. This is particularly the case when the man is in a position as visible as Terry’s.”

“Did people gossip when you and I lived together before we married?”

“Yes, but minimally. I was not CEO of a high profile firm; Terry is. There is also the fact that you and I were wed by the time we had lived together as long as Terry and Diana.”

“I didn’t think you were one to be so concerned with the petty mewlings of others.”

“If they were truly petty, I would not trouble myself. Such is not the case.” That last comment got my attention, and I sat up straight.

“I think you need to clarify that for me. What has moved gossip about Terry and Dee out of the ‘petty’ category?” He sighed and shook his head.

“I had hoped it would not be necessary to speak of it to you.” I gave him what Ted Ackerman calls my put-up-or-shut-up look and waited.

“Two weeks past I had lunch with Jonathan Hershberg; you remember him, do you not?” I remembered him. Jonathan was a criminal courts judge, and he and Max played racquetball together once a week. Jonathan is a nice enough man, and I’m fond of him. His wife Camille is a bitch. We stopped socialising with them because I just couldn’t tolerate her vicious tongue. Personally, I’ve never understood nice men who put up with a bitch for a wife any more than I understand women who tolerate a bastard for a husband.

“I gather Jonathan had something to share.” That got me a look.

“Sarcasm ill becomes you, Cassandra, but yes, he did. He asked first if Terry and Diana were planning to marry. I replied that such matters did not concern me, that it was not my business. He agreed but felt I should know that their liaison is being discussed by some in a position to cost us accounts.”

“What?”

“The improvements to Diana’s farm have been noted and discussed by the wives of those in a position to refer clients to us …the covered arena, the new fencing, the additional 500 acres. The social circles in which we move constitute a small village, Cara, and talk – much of it disparaging – has become rife in recent months. Her new truck and horse trailer have been observed, as has the fact that she has new furnishings in the house …her love seat and the flat screen television are topics of discussion. How these women learnt of her new furnishings, I have no idea, but they know. Perhaps one of them observed her as she shopped. Perhaps she and Terry were observed when they purchased their television. The fact that Diana is – as far as others know – unemployed is well known; others are unaware of her income from boarding horses and other sources. It is presumed that she could not afford these things without financial assistance. Terry is believed to be the source of that assistance. She is perceived as …as a kept woman.”

“Are you telling me that the wives of some of these men are calling Dee a whore?” I could see the pain in his eyes when I asked that; he truly is very protective of Dee and loves her as he would a sister.

“Not in so many words; however, the implication is much the same. It is said that Terry is being led round the city by his cock, that he has fallen prey to a scheming woman. The corollary is that if he has such poor judgment as to be manipulated in his private life, surely his professional judgment is also suspect. Cara, it is the women who are saying these things, women who dislike Diana for reasons unknown to me, but they do dislike her – even as some of them dislike and have maligned you in the past – and their husbands will listen. If they can damage Terry professionally, they can damage her at the personal level, and that appears to me to be the ultimate goal. Unfortunately, damaging Terry in this way also damages the firm. I cannot in good conscience permit that to happen. If he would but make up his mind to marry her, the gossip would die under its own weight.”

I was horrified. Those silly bitches hadn’t seen Dee's financial records; she didn’t need Terry’s money. She hadn’t bought a single thing for the house in the entire time I’d known her; she isn’t the acquisitive sort. Commenting on anything she bought was more than a bit disingenuous of those talking about her; those women redecorate as often as they have manicures. The irony of them considering her a whore wasn’t lost on me, particularly as those I knew were doing the bulk of the character assassination – Camille Hershberg, Gema Bowyer, Toni Langham – had exhibited sex-for-pay attributes themselves. The fact that you married for money doesn’t make you any less the whore than the women plying their trade on Harry Hines Boulevard; it only means that you’ve restricted your client base. It was also obvious that none of those doing the gossiping knew anything of life north of 635. They knew nothing about Dee's financial status; she didn’t need Terry’s money. They assumed she did because none of them was self-supporting prior to their marriages. They only knew her because of Terry. She hadn’t been on any of their radar until she met him and began moving with him in their circles.

It was difficult to believe anyone would say such wretched things about Terry and Dee, but I also knew Max would never lie about something so serious. Max wouldn’t lie for any reason …not even to save the lives of those he loved most. He may not tell you everything he knows, but he will not lie. I stood so suddenly that my belly hit the table and jostled it, splashing coffee and tea all over the cloth. Max was on his feet immediately, one hand going to my shoulder to support me in case I was off balance, the other to my belly to protect it.

“Cara! Have care that you do not injure yourself!” I pulled away from him, pacing the kitchen as he watched.

“I’m fine …no, I take that back. I’m not ‘fine!’ I’m flat, fucking FURIOUS! Jesus, why the Hell couldn’t she just have said ‘yes’ on one of the occasions he’s talked about marriage?!” I turned to see the look of surprise on my husband’s face.

“Terry has asked her to marry?”

“He’s all but said the words on two occasions of which I’m sure …she just can’t make up her mind to encourage him sufficiently that he’ll actually frame the question so that she could say yes.”

“If she loves him as she appears to do, why would she hesitate?”

“I don’t know all the gory little details, but I’d bet a lot of money it has to do with the way her parents manipulated her …and she and Terry are paying the price. I thought it was only her personal price, but now it appears her stubbornness may be hurting him – and the rest of you – professionally.”

“I will speak to her.” I shook my head at him.

“No, Max, you won’t. You will not say one single word to either of them about this. If Dee had any idea that her reluctance to marry might have the potential to or actually has damaged Terry professionally, it would be evidence that all her father’s negative impressions of her were correct.”

“Surely she could be made to understand ….”

“No! I’m in deadly earnest, Caro. Finding out something like that would literally destroy her, and Terry would go down with her. You may want to see them married – so do I – but that’s a topic you can never use as a point of challenge. Promise me you’ll not mention it to either of them or to Dino or Sooze. Whatever else you feel you must do, I understand, but you cannot use that knowledge. Promise me.” He took a deep breath and looked out the window into the grey morning sky. He finally gave a slight shake of his head and turned back to me.

“I give you my vow. I have no wish to cause them pain.”

MAXIMUS
It had been my intention to use Terry’s unmarried status as one reason he was less than ideally suited for his position. Yes, we live in a large city and in modern times, but convention still expects men in positions of power to show their stability and suitability for public service by having a wife and family. That is why generals in my time were permitted to marry though the remainder of the Army was not. A general with a wife and children was seen to fight for Rome and for the sanctity of the Empire and all that entailed, i.e., honour, and honour for a Roman male of my class included marriage.

The common soldier was viewed as more able to uphold his duty to the Empire if he did not have the encumbrance – or the worry – of a wife and family. He would be more willing to fight and die for Rome if he did not fear leaving his family destitute. Generals were viewed as more willing to fight and die if they had family responsibilities as well as their duty to Rome. The opposing concepts made perfect sense to me – to all of us – during the second century. Looking back on that aspect of our beliefs, I cannot imagine how we managed to find logic in any of it.

I pondered why some of the women of Dallas disliked Diana so intensely as to use her to damage Terry and our firm. I confess the workings of the female mind are largely beyond my comprehension; my conversation with Cassandra indicated the same was likely true for her. It has been my experience that whilst men may find the machinations of their wives to be foolish, many will yet bow to the wishes of their women in an attempt to maintain peace within their marriages. Jonathan’s words were a warning; pulling business from TEO would hurt Terry and thus Diana. Terry and TEO – and the safety of our clients – were clearly expendable in whatever grudge was held against Diana.

My wife was too upset after our conversation to pursue further my intent to challenge Terry; I must wait until her distress abated. She is too close to her term for me to upset her unduly. She left the farmhouse shortly after we spoke with the intent of – to use her words – harassing the contractors into finishing our new home prior to the start of the third millennia.

I finished my coffee, rinsed the cup before putting it into the dishwasher, and walked to the new house.

She was in the kitchen speaking with the plumber when I arrived. She was clearly unhappy.

“I’m sorry they delivered the wrong sink, but do NOT install that one. If you do, you’re going to have to rip it out when the correct one arrives, and I promise you my husband and I will not pay for the reinstall.” Her tone was reasonable and would remain so if the man did not attempt to treat her as one with cognitive deficits. I had seen the result of that tactic when the foundation was placed; though not a pretty sight, it was memorable.

“Mrs. Espan, are you sure you can’t be happy with eight inches? Most of the houses I work in, well, the ladies are happy with four inches.” Had I not known the frame of reference was the depth of the kitchen sink, I should have escorted the man off the property having first beaten him severely. She must have heard my approach, as she turned toward me.

“Max, could you do all of us a favour?”

“What would you have me do, Cara?” At this stage of her term, I would do anything she asked of me short of murder. In an extreme event, it is possible I would consider that if it would allay her distress.

“I’m going to call the Home Depot in Red Oak …if they have a 12-inch deep stainless steel double sink in stock, would you go pick it up for me? Eddie here is ready to install the sink, and the one that was delivered is eight inches. That’s not what I want, it isn’t what I specified, and it’s NOT going to be installed in my kitchen.”

I had my phone in hand and hit the number for Home Depot; the number was now in my directory. This was not the first time I had been requested to procure something there and bring it home. I spoke to the person answering the phone and waited whilst my call was transferred appropriately. Three minutes later, I disconnected and smiled at my wife.

“They have three in stock and will hold one of them for my arrival. Is there anything else you require?” She smiled up at me.

“Not a thing. Drive carefully, and remember that I love you.” The round trip took just over an hour and two hours later, the contractor departed after having installed the appropriate sink. The so-called ‘eight inches’ was in the back of his truck for return to his supplier.

NOTES

Pay or play	Most A-list actors have some projects scheduled five years in the future. A delay in any one movie during that time can have a significant affect on an entire career and earnings. A contract will have a clause included that will require the actor to be paid full salary even if the movie is not made for any reason.
Points	Percentage. There are as many variations of the percentage an actor can be paid once the movie is in theatres as there are agents and accountants. Percentage of gross profit is the norm; this opens significant risk of creative accounting on the studio's part. Points from first dollar means when the first moviegoes plunks down their ticket price, the actor starts earning their percentage profit. Studios will often cap first dollar at some amount based on how much money they calculate the actor will bring in on his or her own reputation. Points can be paid after production costs are recouped.
Harry Hines Blvd.	The traditional area in Dallas where street prostitution can be fully seen.
635	An outer loop freeway surrounding Dallas. It is also known as LBJ. It is slightly less dangerous than Central Expressway (75) in that during rush hour, 635 is virtually a parking lot.