Chapter 62: Dinner, a Meeting, Grandparents, and a Race

August 12, 1989, Chicago, Illinois

"What the...?" Kurt gasped as Kathy spit her wine back into her glass.

I started laughing, as did Jessica, Kara, and Abbie.

"How the heck did you manage THAT?" I chuckled.

Jorge, Trish, and Henry were shown to our table. They had Matthew with them, and he was in his 'goth' makeup, with a black shirt and pants. Jorge was in all black but didn't have any makeup on.

"I talked to Elyse yesterday when you visited your sister," Jorge said. "I came up with the idea, and Elyse agreed."

"That's hysterical!" Kathy said. "What's next? Jesse as a punk rocker?"

"No way!" Jorge said. "Jesse would never do anything that Steve didn't do. Even Jesse's suit has suspenders like his dad's!"

"I can't believe Elyse let him out of the house that way!" Kurt said.

A busboy brought a high chair for Matthew, and everyone else sat down at the large round table.

"Matthew, do you like dressing like that?" Kathy asked.

"Yes! Like Abbie and Henry! Fun!"

"You should have seen him the first time," Abbie said. "I put him in one of my black camisoles like it was a dress."

"Steve, can things get ANY weirder at your house?" Kurt laughed.

"Don't dare him, honey; he might just try!" Kathy said, her eyes twinkling.

"Kurt, have you met Trish?" Jorge asked. "And Kathy, have you met Henry?"

"Yes, at the Fourth of July party," Kathy said.

"I didn't really have a chance to talk to you guys," Kurt said. "Would you mind explaining the whole bit with the makeup?"

Henry laughed, and that started a discussion that ranged from music to philosophy. The waiter came and took our orders and delivered our food before Henry finished. Both Kurt and Kathy had asked questions and listened to what he had to say. Occasionally, Trish or Abbie added something to what Henry said, but for the most part, they let him talk.

It struck me that Henry was engaging and intelligent and that he had the potential to do more than manage a record store if he wanted to. But he didn't want to, any more than Abbie wanted to have a career, be a wife, or be a mom. On the other hand, Trish had enough ambition for the three of them. Well, Patricia did; I didn't really know about Trish.

Jorge listened, but I also noticed him watching Trish out of the corner of his eye. I was also fairly sure they were holding hands under the table, but I couldn't be sure from where I was sitting. I knew he understood her, and the fact that he had been able to convince her to show 'Patricia' to the group on Sunday said that there was some kind of connection. It appeared to me that my little sister's blow-up had indeed caused the very thing she had feared was already happening.

As I ate, the more I thought about it, the more I thought Stephanie might have been right. Jorge's comments about Trish, his ability to get her to show her Patricia persona to make a point with Becka, their apparent connection, and even bringing Matthew with him told me that perhaps my sister had detected something. As far as I knew, she was wrong about them having sex, but she may well have been right about an emotional connection.

"How did you meet Steve?" Kathy asked Abbie about halfway through the meal.

Jessica and Kara looked at each other, smirked, and started giggling.

"Never mind!" Kathy laughed. "I can guess."

Abbie smiled, "Well, yes, but it's more than that. He stayed at my parents' bed-and-breakfast and listened intently to everything I had to say, and he was fascinating to talk to."

"That's what you remember from that night?" I teased.

"The sex was really good, but the talk was great. You were the first person outside my circle to truly listen to what I had to say. And you even understood about the music."

"What about the music?" Kurt asked.

"Music speaks to me," Abbie said. "It's the only thing that's eternal. Steve talked about a Greek philosopher whose name I can't remember..."

"Aristoxenus," I added.

"Yes, him. He and Pythagoras understood that music was the very fibre of the universe. Steve told me about them, and I went to read about them at the library. I was amazed at what I read. And that's when I knew I needed to see Steve again and get to know him."

"And corrupt his son?" Kathy laughed.

"Matthew asked her," I said. "You should have seen Jesse. He had this look on his face of utter shock."

"I like makeup!" Matthew said.

"Elyse is going to kill you," Jessica smirked.

"No, she's OK with it," Jorge said. "Matthew is only allowed to do this on special occasions. But if I know Steve, he's OK with it."

"Yes, I am, but Elyse has the final say," I said. "The kids will be free to explore their personalities, but there are always limits. I just set those boundaries much further out than most people."

When we finished dinner and dessert, Jorge announced that he, Trish, and Henry needed to leave because he had promised to get Matthew home by 7:30pm. I invited Kathy and Kurt to the house, and they accepted, though they would need to leave by 9:30pm to let their babysitter go home. I suggested a sauna, and they quickly accepted. Fifteen minutes after we arrived at the house, the Jaegers, my wives, and I were sitting in the intense steam.

"Where's Abbie?" Kathy asked.

"I invited her, but she's not quite ready to let anyone but me see her without makeup. To her, that's like revealing her innermost self to someone. A self that I've only seen a couple of times."

"But she seems so open!"

"She is, and she isn't," I said. "It's like Trish and her alter-ego Patricia. The person you show to everyone, and the person you show only to your closest friends. We all did that back in High School and, to some extent, do it today. Our public lives versus our private lives. It's just not quite as obvious."

"I suppose we all wear masks to hide who we actually are," Jessica agreed. "And the only way anyone can ever really get to know us is when we take the masks off and become our true selves."

I smiled. Jessica had done just that with Kara and me. And it had saved our marriage.

August 17, 1989, Chicago, Illinois

"The Board is waiting for you, Steve," Kimmy said from the door to my office.

"Thanks, Kimmy. I'll be right there."

I saved my work and walked to the conference room to see the assembled Board. Joyce, who was nearly eight months pregnant, was sitting at the head of the table; my dad was to her right, and Karl was to her left. Next to them were Beth and Doctor Lambert. The management team was assembled, including Elyse and my sister, and Kimmy took her place in a chair against the wall. She took out her notebook to keep the minutes. Jamie, the last to arrive, came in just before we were ready to start.

Joyce called the meeting to order and asked Elyse to give the financial report.

"First off, I want to thank Kimmy, who filled in for me while I was on maternity leave. She completed this report for me. Please turn to the 'Financial Statement' page, and we'll begin."

Detailed financial review was the part of the meeting that I detested, but one that was completely necessary. Elyse had given me a summary while we lay in bed cuddling on Tuesday night. She wasn't ready to make love yet but wanted the closeness. I very much enjoyed having Michael on my chest, sleeping while Elyse and I cuddled close.

Elyse finished her report, and Joyce asked Cindi to present her sales pipeline report. I'd also seen this one, and what had leapt off the page was the significant increase in revenue from consulting. While it had yet to reach the level of the combined revenue from Waukesha and Purina, it was quickly approaching it. One of Cindi's footnotes was the key to the report — consulting revenue was growing so fast, and there were so many opportunities that we'd need to hire several people or start turning down work.

That footnote generated quite a bit of conversation, and Julia ended up asking Dave and Charlie to come into the meeting to address a number of questions. The main thrust of the discussion was whether we were losing our focus again and, if so, what the solution might be. As Karl rightly pointed out, our revenue from consulting, while nice, was still significantly smaller than the revenue from the legal software and less reliable. Julia, Dave, and Charlie talked about the change to the team structure, which had the consultants reporting to Julia directly through Charlie rather than through Dave, and the fact that he didn't feel that his team was starved for resources.

That led, as I had expected it would, to a lengthy discussion about staffing levels. It was clear to everyone that we needed more consultants beyond just the one we'd be hiring in Los Angeles. In addition, Dave would need two more programmers to support legal and medical software development due to the conversion to Windows. Cindi's pipeline report had indicated low interest to date, but we'd expected that. Our challenge was supporting two full versions, one DOS and one Windows, as well as making the move to Microsoft SQL Server. We certainly had the money to do it, even though the developers didn't generate direct revenue.

The final item was a discussion of the remodeling of the offices to ensure we had sufficient space. Cindi and Julia had conspired to present the plan that showed my office having a private bedroom and sauna, which caused quite a bit of laughter and teasing before she produced the 'real' plans. We had initially planned to make the changes once we'd completed the sale of the logistics software, but we'd held off because of the space freed up by moving Mario and Ralph to Pittsburgh. The Board approved the plans, and that was the end of the meeting.

"The shareholders meeting will begin in about fifteen minutes," Joyce said. "We have to wait until the published time to start."

Everyone took a break, and I had a few minutes to talk with my dad. He'd arrived just before Jamie, so we had yet to have a chance to speak. We went to my office and sat on the couch.

"How are things between you and your sister?"

"Better. We had lunch on Tuesday and talked some more. Honestly, I think getting out of my house is really good for her. She moved from your house to my house. I had the chance to be on my own. Yes, Elyse and some of my friends were here, but it's different from living with your dad or even your older brother."

"I think you're right. I'm having lunch with Elyse tomorrow while your mother is with her, your wives, and the kids. How much longer do you have Veronica?"

"That's a good question. If I read between the lines, her boyfriend will ask her to marry him at some point, and then they'll plan a blow-out wedding, so if I had to guess, at least a year. But who knows? We'll have plenty of time to sort it out when the time comes. How are your hips?"

"Bad. I have the replacement surgery scheduled for next April. I've put it off long enough, but I don't want to be laid up while Julia has her baby."

"You OK to walk to and from the office? And to Medici for dinner?"

"It's actually sitting in the car that's the worst. Your mother drove because I get so uncomfortable. But other than that, I'm in pretty damned good shape for being seventy-two in ten days. One hundred isn't out of the question."

"That sounds good to me! The way things are going, you'll have a bunch of great-grandkids by that point!"

"Changing the topic, did you see they found the plane Congressman Leland was on that crashed in Uganda?"

"It was in the paper here on Tuesday. There weren't too many details other than finding the plane and getting to it took a week."

"Supposedly, they flew into a mountain in bad weather."

"That'll do it every time," I said. "It's why Patrick Shaughnessy is so careful about weather. He told me about Samantha Smith dying in a plane crash in Maine."

"The little girl who wrote to Andropov?"

"Yes. I see Julia signaling us. It's time for the stockholders' meeting."

We went back to the conference room, and the stockholders gathered around the table — my dad, Joyce, Julia, Dave, Cindi, Elyse, who had Penny's proxy because she was home with her baby, and me. Joyce called the meeting to order, and we quickly went through the short agenda. All board members were re-elected unanimously, and the audited financial statement was approved. The only item that generated any discussion was the Employee Stock Ownership Plan, and the discussion was mercifully brief because we'd discussed it at a previous Board meeting. Once it was approved, the meeting was adjourned.

"I'm going back to the house with Stephanie and Elyse to see the kids," my dad said. "We'll see you at Medici at 6:00pm."

I returned to my office, and a couple of minutes later, Julia came into my office.

"I'm going to set up a meeting with Jeremiah Brown and his dad for next week to work out a construction plan and schedule. Do you want to be there?"

"I don't really need to be, but I probably should for relationship purposes. I know my schedule is crazy, but try."

"I will. Based on the meetings, I strongly suspect we will be hiring again. Two programmers and two consultants. Cindi says we're OK with regard to telephone and on-site support at the moment. With the additional consulting work, we'll probably have to add someone to Elyse's team by the end of the year."

A silly idea popped into my head, and I wondered if it was even possible and, if it was if it was a good idea. I'd have to think that one through.

"OK. Just get the ball rolling. I'll be in California in a couple of weeks to interview and to visit our biggest customers."

"You and Charlie are going to LA together, right? Julia asked.

"Yes. It's Charlie's team, after all. Barbara, Cynthia, and Andy are screening the applicants, and Charlie and I will see between four and six and decide from there. She'll only be there two days, but I'll be there until Friday."

Julia left to return to her office, and I returned to work. I only had about an hour before I had to meet the Board and management team at Medici, and I wanted to finish the module I was coding. I finished just before I had to leave, saved everything, and walked over to the restaurant. Everyone else was there and seated, and I took the empty chair between my wives. We had a lovely meal and a good conversation. When we finished, my parents, my wives, Elyse, Stephanie, and I walked back to the house.