Chapter 21

Beep, beep, beep, beep

I woke up and realized that it was already time to get up. I know I had gone to bed early, but was awake for an extra hour, plus being played with and then finishing with Jules. I moved to get out of bed, and Jules kissed me and said, "I love you, Brad. You do give in to me more than you should, but it does make my life fun. Let's work out, and don't tell everyone that we're going to meet them in twenty minutes. Give us a half hour so you can take care of your woman."

We were up and dressed in our workout clothes and in the sitting room by five forty. Yori and Michi came from their room with Michi rubbing his eyes, as Kelly came from her room dressed in workout clothes. Another human followed Kelly, and said, "Golly, you guys get up early around here. I love to work out, but usually go in the evenings."

Fuck, that is Kitty. She smiled at me, and said, "Your women were a treat last night. Kelly says you won't even do her on the road. That's no fun, so I'm the one who will take care of the two women when you're being shy. Yori and Michi are also nice hunks and provided some playtime."

The two security men both blushed at being found out.

I said, "Well, the exercise suite is on the fifth floor, so let's work out before we go get breakfast."

We did just that. There wasn't a lot of equipment, but enough that we were able to do our exercises within a little over a half hour timeframe. Kitty grabbed her bag and followed Yori and Michi into their room when we were back in the suite. Kelly was shaking her head at how crazy Kitty was.

Jules and I showered, with her enjoying some muff-diving and a very strong thumping, while she stood with her bottom pushed out at me. She whispered for me not to dump in her so that she wouldn't leak all day. She slid to the floor when I pulled out to spray her back, and sucked it all from me. She was smacking her lips when she rose up to kiss me. She said, "You should have saved that for Kitty. I don't think she can get enough."

We ate in the Sheraton restaurant, and drove to the office with Kitty following us for a while. We were first in and were greeted by the walking security guards. I had made coffee, and was going into the Manager's office when Kitty came in with a big box of pastries. She showed us the goodies – the pastries, not her other goodies – and offered them to us before she put them in the break room.

John and Anita walked in and said good morning. Eloise came back to the Manager's office and said hi to us. Frank walked in, and said, "My four will be here by eight, and are looking forward to having some fun selling custom homes."

Burt and Melissa came a little before eight and were both smiling. The office was going to take shape.

I called the home office and spoke to Dan. I told him of yesterday's problems and the results. I advised him that I had a decent core, but hardly any employees. He checked his employee roster and said, "That's not what the payroll says. Why didn't the bookkeeper advise us of the misuse?"

"Don't get mad at the woman, Dan, because she tried to warn everyone by putting an 'F' in front of every invoice that she felt was fake. She gave everyone who she thought wasn't a real person an 'F' as a middle initial. She wrote a note to payroll up there to investigate all the middle initial 'Fs'. She was in fear for her life, so what should she do? Our own legal guys were even fooled and intimidated. I was so mad at the guy yesterday that I almost shot him. I was able to get him in jail, where he is under investigation for more than what he did here, and he's also a person of interest in a homicide investigation."

Dan said, "You know that we should have just closed that place. You're doing your magic up there, but letting other offices slide to do it. Do what you can and keep me informed, Brad. I like what you've done in Seattle in the short time you were there. Do it in Portland real quick and go see about Salt Lake City."

I told the man, "I need another Manager for here. Don't send a wimp or the bad guys will turn him into a punk like the last two. He doesn't have to be the best trained man we have, but a guy with character and some guts to face down some assholes if they show up. The people who are here all want to make the place happen and will help a new guy learn."

Dan said, "I may have that guy as an Assistant in South Jersey. He's only been out of the Army a year and is a hard worker. He's unattached, so he could be there right away. Want to try him?"

"Set it up, and I'll make sure everyone here knows he'll be a project, but is sharp enough to keep the place organized. Have him ship his car with his junk in it, but fly him here immediately. He knows how to get it in gear and land on his feet, so get him here. Be sure to give him my cell number. I'll try to have the office departments working for him by the time he gets here."

"Way to go, Brad. You're fixing us up. Now tell Dorothy what I'm doing."

"Hey, Dorothy, how are you?"

"I'm fine, Honey, where are you?"

"Portland, and we're making progress. Dan is getting the kid from South Jersey for me. I'm asking for a guy with enough gonads to stand up and get the job done."

Dorothy said, "That kid should do it. He had three deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. His Manager says he's sharp and should be ready for a small office soon. I guess he's going to be tested. That's the way to do it, though. Find out if they can cut it right away."

The executive secretary asked, "How is Sheila doing in Seattle? I think she's ready for an office, but the Manager she's been working for is hesitating because she's a female. You might consider her for Salt Lake if you need a new Manager there. It's a real low pressure office that would be great to train a new Manager. A person could learn all the tricks to make a place profitable, and then move to a larger office to practice everything they learned."

"Good ideas there, Dot. I'll check the place out either later this week or next. I need the new man in Seattle to get settled. Sheila's going to be there for at least another week, maybe longer, depending on how long the new guy takes to get there. Moving a family is a big deal."

Dorothy said, "He may be faster than you think. He asked me if he can ship everything, including his car, so that he can get there right away. I think he wants to take advantage of our deal to buy him an inventory home and move in instantly. His wife doesn't work, and he's anxious to make that place his. They will probably stay in one of the hotels that have facilities for families. He knows he has his company credit card to use for travel, rental car, and expenses. He's quickly going to be pretty well settled there if he's as smart as I think he is. Build an inventory home if they don't have one, and make it a nice one. We need men like him for a long time to come."

"Thanks for lining him up, Dorothy. You gave him my cell number, didn't you?"

"Sure, he's probably saving the call to surprise you when he's in town. I'll bet he's there by Friday."

"That would be good, Portland is like the Wild West, but I think it will settle down fast. The people who were freeloading are almost all in jail, and the former Manager isn't going anywhere fast. I'll get the kid from South Jersey caught up as soon as he's here, and run to Salt Lake. It's not supposed to be that bad, but we'll see."

Dorothy asked, "Umm, you, ah, now are a party of five? Who's the fifth person?"

"Oh yeah, that's Michi. He's like Yori, but we were having too many problems, and Dai, the big security Kahuna, wanted another man with us. Remember that I'm traveling with Hideki Kamatsu's granddaughter. He is very protective. Dai is Hideki's head of security, and decided Yori needed help. It does give us all peace of mind."

"You are so off the wall that no one here can believe it, Brad. You give the company Cadillac away one day and you show up in a BMW the next. You're out looking for an apartment, and then say you're renting a room in a fifty million plus dollar home in an exclusive gated neighborhood. Then you're hosting dinner for a partner and his wife, along with Hideki Kamatsu and his wife. You're an entire gossip magazine. How about some pictures? Oh, and the folks in Vegas say you arrived in your own limo with your own driver. What am I missing, Brad?"

"Patience, Dot, it's all part of my rent. It will all come out and everyone will know everything one of these days soon. Let me get these offices operating again meanwhile."

The woman – who's in touch with everyone in the company – said, "I'll get your people to you. You're going to have to babysit them a little. The cheese here in the home office want to keep that airplane out there for you to use until you get it all put back together. Shoot, they may just give you the airplane by the way you're creating sales."

I had to laugh at that. "It is convenient and a faster way to get around. Let me get back to the nuts and bolts of this office."

Dorothy called about an hour later, and said, "The kid from South Jersey is going to take a flight in about two hours and be there this evening. Get him a room where he can stay for a while until he gets his own place and his stuff arrives. Rent him a car or give him your rental. He assured everyone that he could move out of his studio in an hour. I called the car transport company and the car will be there Monday or Tuesday with his things stuffed in it. I think he's anxious for his own office."

"Do you think?"

"This is good. We're making progress and have found a title company that wants to be bought. I sent everything to legal and acquisitions, and they both said it looked like a slam dunk. I have a Sales Manager, and we are rounding up salespeople. The advertising agency is supposed to be here to work out advertising for the weekend and for the next few weeks any second. We'll be adding to staff as we need them, but we're going to be balancing it all with sales."

Dorothy said, "I'm sure you know it, but your LA office is so far ahead of projections that we'll have your statue in front of our building here in Indy."

"That's the staff in LA. They want to make it succeed, and they are doing it. Do you know we will be at a 360 percent increase in construction payroll this week? It will be worse next week, because I've authorized another group of crews to build more homes. What amazes me is that our inventory homes are now at almost three million, and our custom homes are averaging five point five million. We're making enough for all the increased costs plus the bonuses that will be due when everything shakes out. I'm really excited for the folks down there."

"See," Dorothy said, "You're not talking about what your bonus will be but talking about what the peoples' bonuses will be. That's why everyone wants to work for you, Brad."

"Yeah, well, I need my people to feel the appreciation. I'll get mine, but I want to make sure they get theirs."

I looked at Kelly after I finished the call, and said, "I'm hungry. Can we eat early today?"

Kelly said, "Early? You know that it's almost two. Everyone is hungry, and has been pushing nonstop to make more progress. What do you want, Subway or something else?"

"Subway is fastest. I'll run through the office to get orders and go pick them up." I began on the second floor and wrote orders down for Melissa and her two girls, then Burt and a new girl sitting with him. I was able to corner Frank and get his order, along with those for the four salespeople he was trying to teach about selling custom homes. I was able to get Kitty's order, along with a wink, and then took Eloise's and Jules' orders. Michi and Yori told me what they wanted, and I gave the order to Kelly. She called it in and said, "They should have it in twenty-minutes."

I was going to go by myself, but Yori rode with me. On the way he asked, "Do you have someone who can handle what might be out there against what could be coming?"

I gave Yori the rundown on what I knew about the new man coming here and the man heading to Seattle. He was nodding and smiling when I told him. He knew that we needed someone strong. He said, "Men having combat experience will have a better chance against street criminals like these people have been. Your company seems to select some very good men to work through being an Assistant."

I visited with each entity after lunch, and explained to each about Phil Mosely who should be here about the time we close for the day. They all were excited to get an enthusiastic young man to lead them toward the success they felt the office could have.

Some people were giving the former Title office a thorough cleaning, while an older, very prim-looking woman was observing. She looked at me and swept me with her eyes from my shoes to the hair on my head before asking, "Are you someone I should know? I'm the Manager of the title company Mooney bought. The owners seemed excited to dump me and the girls."

I told her, "I'm Brad Johnson, and I'm here helping to get this office back on its feet. I have to tell you though, that I'm excited to have you and your people. I'm sure you're probably very adept at soliciting business. I think that you'll be very happy between what you can solicit and what we will be giving you. Do you have a name?"

The woman colored a little as she blushed, and said, "That wasn't very friendly of me, was it? I'm still a little flustered by being traded like a baseball player. Those men, the owners, had us clean our desks out, and already have a moving company loading files and our electronics. There are only four of us, and the other three women are making sure that what is part of the title business is moved here. I see these desks have phones, but I think you might consider some new PCs, as the ones here are very old. We can use the ones being brought over, but they are also out of date."

"What is your name, Ma'am?"

"Oh yes, I am going on and on, aren't I. I'm Clare Friendly, and I try to live up to my last name, although even my husband says I'm a little stiff, ha, ha, ha."

"It's nice to meet you, Clare. You might be able to meet the new Manager later today, depending on how long it takes to get you moved in. He's coming from Philadelphia, and was trained in our South New Jersey office. These people are taking care of cleaning; come upstairs and meet the Finance group and Accounting. You and your people need to fill out some applications. Accounting handles the human resources stuff for our offices."

I introduced Clare to Burt, and then Melissa. Jules was in the office, helping Melissa finish some sorting of invoices, and checking on who the invoicing company really was. Melissa said, "This is going really well. I've heard that you have a new man arriving soon and that we now have a Title office once again. I think we were sending some of our closings to you, Clare."

Clare said, "Yes, we have been closing some of your transactions. We'll close them all now."

I told Melissa to review wages with Clare and her people to make sure our scale was comparable. I told Clare, "Visit with Melissa and get the applications for you and your people to fill out."

"Do you have an IT company you worked with, Melissa? We need a lot of equipment to bring the office up to date."

My accounting person told me, "We used to have the data guy from California come up when we needed a lot of equipment. He would haul a van full at a time. He was able to get better deals than we could."

"Good, I like that guy, and he's an employee. Have Phil Mosely, the new man, get hold of our data man when he gets here, and tell him that I'm authorizing the same equipment for here as I did in LA."

I went down to Sales and found close to a dozen men and women listening to Frank as he talked to them about Mooney's method of doing business. I didn't want to interrupt, so I went to the Manager's office where Yori and Michi were both reading from their iPads.

Michi looked up and said, "I think the danger that requires two of us has passed. Dai said I could head back home if you're agreeable."

I looked at Yori, and he nodded. I told him, "Take off. Do you know the flight schedules?"

"Dai wants me home bad enough that he's sending the airplane for me. It should almost be here by now."

"Is there a problem at home?" I was alarmed, and I was going to be on my way too if there was.

"Hideki is having some very special people from Japan visit him through the weekend, and he wants extra security for the visit. He did ask me to ask you to keep Jules and you together so that Yori has an easier time protecting you both. Dai knows that you're capable of dealing with most problems, but he likes Yori to be at your side."

I smiled and said, "I'm beginning to feel lonely if Yori isn't there." All three of us smiled at that. Michi made a call for a taxi and walked to the front after smiling and saying goodbye.

Kelly said, "Your man for Seattle, Kurt Hosto, is traveling with his wife and son. He will probably be at the office in the morning. Sheila said she will want to work with him to make sure he's settled in. Dorothy called to confirm that Phil is in the air and will land at three thirty. He's supposed to use a taxi to get to the office. I have a room for him at our hotel. You'll be able to introduce Phil around and work with him in the morning."

Some wonderful person had made fresh coffee. I went to get a mug after asking Yori and Kelly if they wanted some. Kelly told me to pick up our data tech on line one. "This is Brad."

"How much equipment do you need up there. Our supplier has an outlet there and in Seattle if you need equipment. I can come up to make sure everything is operating correctly, if you want me to do that. The network equipment in Portland is newer than in Seattle, but is still older. They are just like all the California offices and use the home office server for some things. I wouldn't give the salespeople key server access if you were going to use laptops in either place, but I would give them access to all the employee and sales tools. All those aren't a security problem."

"I'm going to make a request that you can do or not do. How about flying up here, figure out what we need here, order it, and then do the same for Seattle. I'll probably have you do Salt Lake City too, but I haven't been there yet. Hire a local to do any wiring you have to do. What kind of schedule do you have?"

"Everything is caught up in California. I'm going to Reno soon to install some new network equipment, but that stuff is back ordered from Cisco. I'll fly up tonight or in the morning, and then fly up to Seattle from there. I've never been to Salt Lake, but that can be for either Friday or next week. I'll have to come back to both places to install the new equipment and get rid of what they have now. It takes a while to get all their personal files into a new PC. I have to be home for a family thing Saturday, so I won't stay over the weekend."

"That will work. It will give the two new Managers good equipment to work with. I want to make everything as smooth as I can for the new people to make some sales. I may see you tomorrow. Thanks for working with me on this."

"Hey, you be da Boss, Brad. I be da data guy for you for all the West Coast if you're over it all now. I'll just be a little busier."

I went through my mental checklist and walked down the hall to see if Kitty was in. The woman now had three more people in her office. She looked up at me, and smiled. "I've sold enough jobs to keep two more decorators busy. I'm pretty popular with a lot of companies because I work hard to make their customers happy. These two ladies are good decorators, and this young thing I brought in is a temp to perm, so that I can see if she's cut out to be our assistant. We're going to need someone to keep us on schedule. I have an architect on a string until you want to hire one. I want to see if we can sell enough custom homes to justify that."

"Great, Kitty. I need to talk to you about something. Come to the Manager's office for a minute."

She looked worried, but followed me. Yori wasn't in the office, but Kelly was at the secretary's desk. I sat with Kitty at the conference table, and said, "There's a new man going to be here to be the Manager in a few minutes. I want to make sure that you know my rules about your hobby. Please leave this kid alone at least for a few months, and then make sure it is nowhere near the office if you decide to play with him. He's a young guy and may not be able to separate a toy like you from business. You're a hell of lot more than a run of the mill decorator. You have business sense, and look what you did. You went out and found enough business to justify three more people. You are a good businesswoman in addition to being a good decorator."

Kitty shook her head as I finished. She said, "Don't worry. I won't corrupt a new Manager, and I know not to become intimate with someone I have to work with. Last night was fun, but you guys aren't going to be here long and not often. I know I sort of go crazy sometimes, but having a bunch like you guys was too much to resist. I'll make you proud of this office, Brad."

"Thank you, Kitty, I'm sure you will."

Kitty asked, "Can you get me some PCs for my new people. They can use their laptops for right now, but could you plan on getting them some? Even used ones would work. I have the software license for what I like to use for decorating, so I can share it on their laptops and any PCs you get."

"My data guy is coming up to modernize everyone here and in Seattle. Let's see if he fixes you up the way you want. Listen to him as he knows how I feel about having the right tools to work with."

Kitty grinned, winked at Kelly, and said, "I love this guy. He's gonna make me some big bucks."

She started to get up, but sat back down and asked, "Was that all? I don't want to rush out of here if you still have something to talk about."

"Go back to your group and get ready."

Clare from the title people came in, and said, "The truck is here with our files. Come and make sure I put them where you want."

I went with her to the office on the other side of the break room and looked at the room. I wondered where the former title office files went to. I'll bet they are in Finance. "I don't know how many you have, but I'd put them on the wall on each side of the room so that you don't block your windows. You'll have plenty of room if you have to add clerks."

Clare said, "There are only three full file cabinets and nine more that are empty. At least you were able to get some extra equipment. I have a Bizhub network scanner/ fax/copier that is under contract. They are moving it today too. The whole office can use it if they need a network scanner. The thing is really an asset. I'll need a fax line though."