Chapter 9: Opportunity

Iris spent the next four weeks trying to put out fires left and right. Her taking over production, even on an interim basis, met with the stubborn resistance of Gunderson’s cronies. They stalled and blocked her wherever possible. Report deadlines were ignored, paperwork could not be found, inventory lists were neither current nor complete. Line managers were late to work and early to leave as she found out.

Fortunately, Maggie had been able to get an early termination at her consulting firm, and she joined Iris only three weeks after the big blow-up. For all intents and purposes, she was an outsider and as such she had unbiased views. She was also backed by Tilda. Therefore, by extension, whatever Iris and Maggie decided had the matriarch’s backing. The most recalcitrant line manager was given his papers for repeated unexcused absence, and suddenly the others began to tread lightly around them.

The internal audit found ample evidence for skimming in the production division, not only by Hiram Gunderson, but also by two more managers. An emergency meeting of the board of directors terminated Gunderson as VP and appointed Iris to the post of interim VP of Production. At first, Gunderson threatened with legal action, but Tilda made him back down in a private phone call, giving him a full dressing down in the process.

Still, the costs for litigation and damage control would be terrible. Determined to make use of the current constellation, Iris announced to the board that there would be no dividends that year. Briefed beforehand by Maggie, Tilda seconded this, and the other shareholders had to accept with more than a little grumbling.

Being officially in charge of production and charged with cleaning house, Iris culled half of the management in that division over the next four weeks. Maggie helped her determine the candidates based on their qualifications and some performance parameters, but the main source of information was Tom. Iris shanghaied Maggie into playing babysitter for Cor for a long Memorial Day weekend while she took Tom on a short vacation to Cancun. Mellowed by good food, excellent drink and most of all wild monkey sex all over their suite and once even on the beach, Tom answered her questions about Villier’s production without reservation, giving her a good perspective of what was going on.

Back at her desk on next Wednesday, she sat with Maggie and finalized the culling list. Two men would be offered early retirement at year’s end rather than termination, but no fewer than three line managers and five foremen would be let go. From Tom, Iris had also gotten the scoop on some promising lower level employees, and from their ranks she picked three women and two men to step up into supervisory function. Line managers would be more difficult to come by, but they would advertise the open positions. The current economic climate would help them to fill the empty slots pretty quickly.

Through all this, Iris managed to have halfway predictable work hours, also thanks to Maggie who managed Iris’s schedule and shielded her from unnecessary meetings and discussions. Being a Cornell alumnus herself, she was not in the least cowed by Moran’s LSE credentials and restricted his access to Iris to what she deemed necessary.

Iris was amazed by how much she could get done without the constant demands on her time. She had also managed to forge a mutually beneficial contract with Peter Salieri to have the Palmer Street plant step in for their production needs. In amazingly short time, Tom had managed to get the Palmer Street facility certified by the federal and state agencies. The first batches for the impending clinical trials were already in storage, and at least that part of Villier’s business was looking up.

Now, if only she could hire Tom back to run production! Even so, the way things were now, they still had far more interaction with each than before, not only in their private life but also at work. Her main job as head of production was to farm out parts of the work to Tom and to coordinate things.

Production at Villier was still a mess. The equipment, after years of shoddy maintenance and repairs, was prone to malfunction, and with all the costs they’d had to bear, Iris had not the capital to invest into new machinery. Morale among the employees was low.

After some arm twisting, the board had agreed to a 25% reduction of their compensation, and the officers had grumblingly agreed to a 15% pay cut. Iris herself only drew pay as CEO, saving another $235.000 that would have been hers as acting VP for production. The company limousines were sold and the chauffeurs laid off. Iris retained her longtime driver, paying him from her own pocket. She could feel the crunch on her private income, and the running costs of Villier House were high. She and Tom had discussed selling the mansion, but it would be difficult to find a buyer in the current financial climate.

This was her mood when she left the plant for lunch on a Wednesday noon. Usually, she would meet Tom at one of their regular places, but he and Salieri were travelling that day to visit a start-up in Princeton, to pitch their production facilities. Therefore, Iris was sitting alone at a table during the busy lunch traffic when a man she knew approached her table.

“Hey, Iris! Can I sit with you?”

“Hi, Edwin! Sure, have a seat.”

Edwin Villier sat down and grinned at her.

“How’s the pharmaceutical business?”

“Lousy right now, and you know it,” Iris answered with a touch of annoyance. Edwin was a cousin, Junior’s grand nephew in fact, and the black sheep of the family. Refusing to work for the old man, he had started his own business, a chain of nightclubs, and when that proved a declining business, had reinvented himself as producer and online purveyor of pornography. Still, he owned 6% of the Villier stock for which Tilda held the voting rights.

“Yes, I know. I received the warning that no dividends would be paid this year. That’s not going to change soon, is it?”

“No, it’ll take me at least two more years to get Villier back to profitability. You know what happened, don’t you?”

“Yeah. Tilda had a cow. The police searching Junior’s holy company! Damn! If the stock was public, it would get a junk rating right now.”

“That’s nonsense! We have a ton of assets, and we have a plan in place to rebuild.”

Their food arrived then, and it was a few minutes before Edwin spoke up again.

“Say, you wouldn’t want to buy my shares, would you?”

“You’re serious?”

“Sure. I can’t sell them at the stock exchange, with those stupid by-laws. Tilda won’t buy them and insists I should keep them. I mean, I gave her the voting rights, so why should she buy? She knows I don’t have the time for joining the board.”

“Honestly, I would like to buy your shares, but I’m taking a hit on my income, too. Seriously, I’m even thinking of selling the big house. We’re a family of three, and we have sixteen rooms and eight bathrooms. It’s lunacy. So, right back at you, you wanna buy the mansion?”

Iris was only joking, and she was surprised when Edwin looked interested, even excited.

“You sure?”

“Not really, but make me an offer!” Iris shrugged.

“How about a swap, the house against my shares?”

“Only the house?”

“The house and the furniture.”

“You mean the old furniture, not the stuff Tom bought for our rooms?”

“Sure. I can go to Ikea myself if I want particle board stuff.”

Iris shook her head. “We need a valuation for the house and for the stock. I need some numbers before we continue this discussion. The house is definitely worth more.”

“That can be handled. This would be a business expense for me.”

“Wait, you’re not planning to make a Playboy Mansion out of the house?”

“Nah, too much costs. I can earn a tidy bundle renting out parts of the place for filming though. All those streaming services now start their own productions, and with the lawns and the park, it’ll be in high demand. There’s also room enough for my corporate headquarters, and that allows me to unload some real estate in the city.”

“You’re planning to shoot porn there, admit it!”

“Well, maybe that too. Why not?”

Iris actually grinned. “Why not, indeed. You know, this will kill Tilda?”

“So?” Edwin grinned back.

“Just to be clear, the paintings are not part of the deal.”

“Oh, damn! I hoped you’d forget those! Just kidding, Iris. Those must be a major drain, with insurance and security.”

“Tell me about that!” Iris sighed, but then she looked up. “Why the hell I’m keeping them, I have no idea. Tell you what: I’ll talk to Tom. I just bet, he’s all in favor of moving to some normal place. I’ll have the property assessed. You do the same for your stock. Then we’ll sit and talk business. How’s that?”

“Sounds good. I take it you’ll use your majority to shake up things?”

“You mean replacing board and officers? You bet!”

“Damn! Let me keep ten shares, will you! Then give me a one-year term on the board. This I’ve got to witness!”

“That’s all going to be part of the negotiations,” Iris laughed.

It took Iris all of five minutes to convince Tom of selling the paintings and even less to reach his consent for moving out and selling the house. He had only two demands.

“Let’s keep Mrs. Pound. We need somebody, and she’s great with Cor.”

“Of course! Neither of us has the time to cook and clean, and she’s a great housekeeper.”

“I also want to be the one who gets to fire Castro.”

“Deal,” Iris laughed. “Let’s keep quiet about the deal for now. I don’t want Tilda to get wind of this before everything is neatly wrapped up.”

“Why ruin a perfectly nasty surprise?” Tom asked with a grin. “She’ll know as soon as you’ll put the paintings up for auction.”

Iris shook her head and grinned. “I’ll infuse the proceeds into Villier. We’ll do a capital increase. She can chip in and keep her small majority. That’ll give me even more funds for a thorough modernization, and it’ll be moot once I get Edwin’s stock.”

“That’s ... Machiavellian, but brilliant,” Tom admitted. “Wow. I’m glad you’re not after me with this newfound cunning.”

“Oh, but I am after you, just not after your money.”

The talk with her cousin had electrified Iris. Suddenly, she saw a clear path towards gaining control of Villier and turning it around, and she did not brook any delays. A week after the chance meeting she invited Edwin for dinner at the house. Tom and Cor were there while they ate, but afterwards, she gave her cousin a tour of the house. She could see that he liked it.

“It’s even better than I remembered it,” he admitted. “Did you get it appraised?”

Iris nodded. “The real estate was valued at 16 million. The guys from Corby’s looked at the furniture pieces and came up with 1.2 million.”