Chapter 46: The Beth Claire

Claire, continued

Over the next few weeks, Claire spent many evening hours and weekends with Joe Mansard and his daughter. The business mogul encouraged her visits in more than a casual way. During several dinners, Joe regaled Claire with his travels and business exploits over the past three years. She’d always shown an interest and after she knew him, she’d invested some of her savings in his businesses to good end. His early focus on China had been a coup in two of his businesses, getting a decent market share of a huge population. Somehow, he got his Chinese and Japanese subsidiaries exchanging parts for some of the sensitive devices his companies would make; a difficult partnership under most circumstances.

Beth talked of her role in supporting her father, being far more than eye candy when they visited or entertained. She had taken on the role of the entertaining wife in many ways, as well as a vice president of business development for Mansard Enterprises, the holding company for much of the business. Beth also had a knack for avoiding taxes in the various jurisdictions they did business. Joe proudly explained how she had saved the enterprise several hundred million dollars in only the past week by relocating part of the manufacturing from one Latin American country to South Korea. Beth looked pleased he’d noticed her work.

Joe explained that Beth had started to travel on her own increasingly, meeting with various government entities and negotiating tax deals in exchange for guaranteed employment levels. He said, “If you can create jobs, hundreds or thousands of them, it’s amazing what some countries will do for you. It’s partly about trickledown economics. You give them prime jobs, and each job provides other jobs and an income stream to a dozen others.”

Claire had no qualms about asking personal questions that dove deep into someone’s thinking. She asked Joe, “But what really bothers you, inside I mean – not about your businesses?”

Joe was taken aback by her temerity, but thought about it. He admitted, “I guess what bothers me most is that I’m all about business – seven days a week, and just about every waking minute. I always have been. I’m overcompensating for growing up poor.”

She teased, “Do you know how to relax or take a vacation?”

He responded, “I’ve always thought of those times as wasteful. I could be making money.”

Claire asked, “Well then, how much money do you need until you’re happy?”

Joe looked up at the ceiling. Claire knew his personal worth ran to many tens of billions of dollars even on a bad day in the world’s stock and commodity markets. He had homes in many countries and cities, and had a personal staff of a couple of hundred doing non-business-related jobs. Finally, he answered, “For me, it’s not about some level of money in companies, a bank, or investments, it’s about the power and the process of making it. I love the power and the process.”

Claire poked him further, “Then you’re powerful and happy all the time you’re working?” Her acute sense of reading someone’s inner mood had told her that the balance had shifted the other way in Joe’s life.

Joe studied Claire with an odd look. “I’m not, and you probably know it, too. You were always so intuitive, and now I’m remembering that about you. The business stuff I know about – I can control that, and even fix those situations. Sometimes though, there’s a shadow over that. I think I judge some people too harshly. I’m not a good mentor.”

“Can’t Beth help you?”

“I do ask her advice occasionally. It’s also my way of training her to takeover this kingdom I’ve built. Few other men did that successfully with their daughters, particularly the really rich ones.”

Claire asked out of curiosity, “Name one?”

“A father-daughter pair? Well, one I know of first hand was Hugh Hefner and his daughter Christie. She’s in her sixties – a little older than I am, and her Dad’s was in his mid-eighties and still fucking some of the bunnies before he died.”

He went on, “Hugh started her working at Playboy right out of college where she was Phi Beta Kappa. He put her in charge of stuff, big stuff at the age of thirty – Beth’s age. He mentored her as she built up confidence in her business dealings. Did everything go well? Of course not, but he made sure she learned from each bad decision, and that her role in what happened didn’t go by unexamined. Note that he had sons, but they didn’t have the brain power or business acumen that Christie had in her gut.”

“Realize that it was Christie who expanded Playboy beyond the printing of a good magazine. She put Playboy on the Internet, did DVDs, expanded some of the clubs, exported the brand overseas, created video games and concept stores, and got in Vegas and Shanghai with entertainment venues. She took over from Hugh so he could play with the bunnies and be the front man for the operation. But, all along the way, Hugh made sure she got good counsel until she turned the tables and was telling him what to do and doing a good job at it, too.”

Joe paused and added, “I knew both of them. We had a couple of joint ventures in the entertainment industry.”

Claire said, “Do you know what Hugh did that you don’t?”

Joe looked puzzled by her question. She clearly knew something he didn’t.

“He parties. He goes on vacations to beautiful pleasure spa around the world. He has bunnies all around to fuck anytime he wants, and that’s often. He relaxes in his famous mansion or at one of Playboy’s spas.”

After an awkward silence, Joe studied Claire and finally spoke in a low voice, “Point well taken.”

Jim

I sat watching out the window of the elegant corporate jet. I’d noticed when I boarded the tail number was ‘ME2’ – Mansard Enterprises jet number two. I wondered how large a fleet of aircraft he had. We were expecting one other passenger – Claire, one of the loves in my life.

I looked out the tinted window and saw one of Joe Mansard’s white limousines pulling through an airport security gate and heading in our direction. It stopped at the bottom of the stairway leading into the plane. The chauffeur hopped out, ran around the front of the car to the rear door, and opened it, offering a hand to the gorgeous woman inside.

Claire appeared, and I could see her thanking him for his assistance, even shaking his hand. She never treated someone badly or as though they were beneath her. She thanked shop people for their help, absolutely loved Nadia – our housekeeper back in Tennessee, and went out of her way to leave an extra tip for waiters and waitresses – she’d been one about ten years earlier and remembered those lean years.

As the pilot welcomed her at the top of the stairway, I could hear Claire ask him, “Are you allowed to tell me where we’re going. Neither Joe nor Beth told me; all I got were instructions to bring warm weather clothing and swimwear, prepare for possibly cools night, be prepared to party, and where to meet you.”

The pilot chuckled. “He likes to do that. We’re headed to the Galapagos Islands off the South American coast. Joe is flying in from Beijing by way of Tokyo where he’s picking up Beth, and then Hawaii for refueling. They’re in the air now, so we should get there about the same time. I talked to their pilot by satellite phone a couple of hours ago a while after they left Hawaii. For them, it’s a forty-six-hundred-mile trip.”

Claire asked, “Are we off now?”

“Yes. As soon as we get our ATC clearance.”

Claire came around the bulkhead near the cabin door and suddenly saw me. She looked puzzled; I shouldn’t be here; I should be at some studio making my part of a movie called Downslope. My presence didn’t compute. She cocked her head to one side in confusion.

I stood, and Claire came into my arms and kissed me. “You rat. You could have told me last night or this morning, or whenever this little junket got planned. I assume you’re going with me?”

Jim laughed, “It was more fun this way, and yes, I’m going along for the long weekend. Joe Mansard made it sound like a command performance. Besides, he’s the only billionaire I know, so I thought he’d be an interesting person to get to know.” Claire sat, and I flopped down in the seat across the narrow aisle from her. We both buckled in.

Claire asked, “What’s going to happen down there. I just found out where we’re going.”

I said, “Well, I’m told that some young woman Joe Mansard loves kept poking a stick in his eye trying to get him to take a vacation. So, we’re all going on vacation. He was exceptionally pleasant on the phone, and I briefly got to talk to his daughter Beth, too. They were both very cordial and welcoming to me.”

Joe and Beth’s new Gulfstream 650LR was already on the ground when our aircraft landed at Puerto Villamil. Our pilot had circled the Galapagos once so we could both get a feel for the islands, the volcanoes, and the isolation of the Galapagos from other land – none in sight. On the ground, it became obvious that long-term aircraft parking was discouraged; there were no parking areas for aircraft. Besides Mansard’s two jets, one battered twin engine plane sat on flat tires in a remote corner of the small airport.

Joe and Beth came down their boarding ladder simultaneously with Claire and me. The four of us met in the small space between the two aircraft.

Joe shook hands cordially and said to the two of us, “Thank you for putting up with that long flight to get here. We had favorable winds and a fast turnaround time in Hawaii, so we’ve been here for two hours – taking a nap to try to adjust for the change in time zones from Asia.”

I expressed appreciation for the invitation, and shook hands firmly with Joe, meeting him face-to-face for the first time. I felt both a cold and warmth about him – conflicting feelings, maybe from a confused man. Beth got introduced, and we hugged by way of greeting.

Claire had pestered me on the flight about how I’d been invited to this trip; however, I stuck to my promise to Joe not to divulge anything further. She gave up in frustration, and read a pile of magazines and napped for the six-hour trip from LA.

Joe said with a lilt to his voice, and his arms spread wide, “I am on vacation. This is the first vacation I’ve taken since I was fourteen years old, and that one was forced on me by my parents. I didn’t earn twelve dollars because another kid took over my paper route for that week.”

Claire motioned with her hand between Joe and Jim. Joe explained, “Well, I know you’re in a romantic relationship with Jim, you’re in a romantic relationship with Beth and me, and we’ll see what develops between the four of us. We’re here for three full days starting tomorrow, and leave early on the fourth to head back to LA. The smaller plane will leave us here, the large one will try to stay if we can convince the authorities about overnight parking. Either way, we’ll have to stop on the way back, since jet fuel is unavailable here.”

Claire said, “But you didn’t explain why you and Jim know each other.”

I smirked. Joe said, “Well, until today we didn’t. I just thought we needed a fourth for bridge.” He turned to a Jeep with flapping canvas sides that had just pulled onto the airport property. He said, “Ah, this is probably our ride to the boat.”

Claire exclaimed, “Boat?”

We picked up our bags and backpacks and put them in the rear of the Jeep and climbed aboard. As we did Beth explained to Claire, “Joe had his new yacht directed here. Only a few people know about it. It’ll easily accommodate us in much better comfort than any of the tourist camps on the island, plus it’s more private and more secure. Moreover, we can use it or one of its tenders to prowl around some of the lesser-populated islands if we want.”

Joe said, “What about our guide?”

Beth allowed, “He said he’d meet us first thing tomorrow morning at dockside in Puerto Villamil. Tomorrow is the volcano crater. The helicopter should be ready first thing, too.”

Claire exclaimed again, “Helicopter?”

Beth went on, “Yes, if we’re to pack in as much as we can in three days, we need a whirly bird to move us around. Joe is impatient, and deemed a hike up the volcano would take too long. Besides, the chopper can give us some perspective, drop us at the rim of the volcano, and pick us up later.”

A dark skinned South American welcomed them in broken English, and then drove them carefully over terrible dirt and ancient macadam roads through the small town. Over the noise of the Jeep’s engine and the wind, Beth explained further, “So, tomorrow we’ll get to see some of the rare animals that are only found here and near the volcanoes. The day after that I’ve lined up some scuba diving lessons in the morning, and a prowl around a shallow wreck in the afternoon if the sharks aren’t too bad. We can also get some beach time in. The third day the yacht will take a lazy course through the islands, and then we’re heading home on the fourth day.”