Chapter 4

I woke up and Ashley was on my arm. I looked at her and just could not believe her beauty. I looked over at the clock on the wall and saw it was 6:00 a.m. I always woke up early. It came from getting up to drive for so long. I turned to Ashley and kissed her gently on the lips. Her eyes popped open and she smiled the sweetest smile.

"I hope you got a good night sleep, darling." I said.

"I don't know when I ever slept better. With a reaming like I got last night, I am likely to have more of a wiggle when I walk."

"I don't know if I can stand that. I already get aroused watching you walk as it is. You know, baby, we have to get rolling. We have that meeting at 1:00 and I have to prepare for the meeting."

We got up and took a shower together. By the time we got dressed it was 7:00. I called the lobby and they said they had a typewriter. We ran out to the office supply store that the hotel told us about. We picked up the paper that would show well in the projector.

"May I ask what you are going to use this paper for? It is only good for use with a projector," the store manager said.

"Yes, we will be using a projector," I answered.

"We have a typewriter that prints one half inch letters. It types really dark, so it will show up a whole lot better if you would like to use it."

They took us to the typewriter. Ashley sat down and I said, "Okay, babe, we don't need a lot of words on the paper. It needs to be easy to read and to the point. On the first page put this:

* NEW WAGE FOR LABOR: $3,500/month

(based on a 40 hr. work week) $3 EXTRA per hour for work over 40 hrs/wk. HIGHER PAY to be given DEPENDING ON SKILL

That should be good for the first page. Now I am going to speak first and when I look at you, put the page we just finished in the projector. Next we want to do number two:

* HEALTH CARE & DENTAL WILL BE

PAID FOR BY COMPANY

* RETIREMENT PLAN: If you pay up to

10%, the company will match your 10%

(You can retire after 40, 30, or 20 years

at 65 years old)

That should do page number two. When I look at you change from page two to page three. I am going to speak the same way I did between the first two pages. Now I will start page three this way:

BRING BACK the V-12 BRING IN: NEW BODY STYLES NEW DRIVE TRAINS NEW WHEELS NEW STYLE OF TIRES NEW STYLE TOP NEW STYLE OF AD * PUT IN MORE ELECTRIC POWER

"That should do as far as pages are concerned. Can you think of anything else I need to bring up?"

"No, I think you covered everything."

"Have you ever spoken to a large group before?"

"Yes, I did in college."

"Good. You are going to introduce me. Think you can handle it?"

"Yes, that won't be a problem."

I went over what I wanted her to say as we went to the Fisher Building and checked out the conference room. We moved the stage around to suit us. We worked together to put a pad and pencil on every seat. We had an hour, so we went to the cafeteria to eat. I stopped and called Billy Wayne, "Billy Wayne, do you have everyone coming?"

"Yes, I let everyone know. They seemed very excited."

"Okay, we are eating in the cafeteria now, so we will stay here. They have only one chair on the stage. Can you sit on the front row? My secretary is going to be running my projector."

"I should be able to have a chair on the stage, too. I am going to introduce you after I tell them about you. After all, they need someone they can relate to," Billy Wayne pled.

I said, "I plan on making the entrance in a different way."

"I guess that will be all right. Nobody knows you though."

"They are about to."

"Okay, if you say so. I guess you can make your entrance any way you want to, after I introduce you."

"I am going to let my secretary introduce me."

"That is even worse." He argued.

"You sit on the front row and if I need you, I will call on you. Do I make myself clear?" I snapped.

"Okay, if you want to lose them right off. I know them."

I just hung up. "Looks like I am going to have to look for another GM. I can see right now, Billy Wayne is going to have to go."

"Oh my, do we have another Master Bobby on our hands?" Ashley giggled, and we both cracked up.

When we walked into the back of the conference at room at 12:45 we were surprised. The room was full. I grabbed Ashley back and we eased off and moved down the hall. We stood in the shadows and watched to see who was last to go in.

I looked at my watch for the tenth time in ten minutes. "Okay, baby, you go down the aisle and I will wait for you to introduce me. Then, I will run down the aisle to the stage.

I stood at the back and watched her go down the aisle. I don't think a single person missed her. Ones that were talking got punched and told to look.

She walked up onto the stage, went over and picked up the microphone, "Can everyone hear me!" She shouted into the microphone.

"Yeah," went up across the room.

"That was pathetic! I said. Can you hear me!" She shouted louder this time.

"Yeah!" went up across the room a lot louder this time.

"I want to introduce you to a man that is going to change the car industry. You will especially be proud because that change is going to happen to you. Coming down the aisle now, is none other than Ted Knight of Knight Industries; now, also, Ted Knight of Packard Motor Company."

I started jogging down the aisle and up onto the stage. I looked over the audience trying not to miss anyone. I had always had that gift to look someone in the eyes and tell if they were sincere. I watched a few get antsy. That is when I saw the gray haired man on the front row on the opposite side of Billy Wayne. He had that look of sincerity for which I was looking.

I had confidence that Ashley would miss nothing. So, pointing to him I said, "Stand up, what is your name sir?"

"Skye Fargo," he said.

"What is your job here?"

"I'm the Assembly Line Supervisor."

"Okay, everyone in here please get the pencil and tablet I left on your seat and write one name on that piece of paper. I want you to write Skye Fargo or Billy Wayne Ward and pass it to the side."

"You can't do that!!!" Billy Wayne jumped up and shouted. He never looked back at the ones in his employ.

"Would you give me one good reason I should let you stay on as GM of my company."

"Because you gave me this position when you bought the company!" He shouted, sounding even more perturbed.

"You know, Mr. Ward, you have questioned my judgment twice. With me, that is once two much." I looked over at my body- guards and nodded my head. They walked over and grabbed him and escorted him out.

The thing that surprised me was I got a standing ovation. I looked back at Ashley.

"I hated to do that, but I have but one goal. I want to make this company the largest and best car manufacturer in the world. First and foremost, I want you to be with me. Look on the screen. You can't be with me if you have financial problems. As you see, you are, as of now, going to be paid well. I know the UAW has been nosing around. They can't touch what I want to do for you.

My starting pay as owner will be $500 more a month than they claim they can get you. Secondly, they want to restrict you to doing one job. I want you to find your best skill and explore it. That is how you will succeed. As you see, you will not have to work more than eight hours a day, but you will be rewarded if you do. Health and dental care will be covered by me."

I was rewarded with a standing ovation, loud cheering, and clapping. I looked back at Ashley again. "As you can see on the screen, you stay with this company I am going to put together and you will have a retirement plan. The retirement age is 65. For those of you who are already there, I can't do much for you. But if you are 45, I will help you put together a plan that will give you a little nest egg at 65. If those of you who are between 45 and 65 can hold on for as long as you can, I will help you as much as I can. If you can't, due to physical problems, see me and I will try to find some way to help if I can. For you younger ones, I will do the same for you on a retirement plan. You will just have more money if you can stay 30 years. The plan is: For every amount you pay, up to 10% of your paycheck before taxes, I will match.