Chapter 5

In the Spring of Randy's final semester, he and Jeff sat on the balcony of their apartment, watching the girls walk by and talking about their futures.

"Have you decided about what you will do when you graduate, Jeff?"

"Hell, I don't know. I have interviewed with a number of corporations, and the positions that they have available seem to be cookie cutter entry level management jobs with no authority, no decision making and most importantly, no intellectual challenges."

"What about the company that Sharon's father runs? Didn't he offer you something??"

"Yes he did, and it was really the ideal challenge, everything I could ask for in a first job."

"Well, then?"

"Every time I see him, or his wife, I think of Sharon and then I get sad, and then I am not worth anything to anyone."

"Look, you need to accept the fact that she is gone, and the period of mourning her is long past. She would not want you to go through your life moping about her death. If she was as special as you have described to me, I am certain that she would want you to move ahead in your life and find happiness."

Jeff thought about that for a minute without responding. Finally he asked, "So, what do you want to do after graduation?"

Randy laughed. "Well, first several of my friends from my school in England are going to get together and vacation for a while."

"Really? Where are you going to go?"

"So far as I know right now, the plan is to visit about thirty five countries around the world. I don't really know all the details, but we want to get the feel of living in each of them, so it will probably take most of a year, maybe a little longer."

"Does your Dad know about this?"

"Oh yes, certainly, and he's heartily in favor of it. Think of how it will broaden my knowledge of world trade issues. Think of how beneficial it will be to be able to say, during a negotiation with a foreign trading partner, that I lived in your country for a time, when I was first out of school and ... can you imagine what an impression that would make?"

"So, you're just going to pack up here, head across the pond and then vacation with your buddies for a year or two?"

"That's pretty much it, yes. After, I think my dad wants me to start in the European Division, something that I would very much enjoy. I imagine at some point, he will want me to come back here and run the U.S. division."

But you didn't tell me what you want to do after graduation."

"Truth be known, I know nothing of my father's company, and have no interest in learning. What I would really like to do is teach literature at a college somewhere, or even at the prep school level. But that's never going to happen. My dad wants me to learn the business so that I can take over for him. He has had some health issues of late and they are troubling to him and to my mother and me."

Randolph Jefferson Atterbury was awarded a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree, with the appropriate honors designation in June of that year. His scholastic position was 37th in a class of 1,243, and he could not have cared one bit. He had received his degree, as he had promised his parents he would, and would now, after his extended vacation, begin to acclimate himself to the world of the family business. On the same day, Jeff Myerly was awarded a Master's of Business Administration Degree. There was no one in the audience to applaud either graduate.

The two men lolled around their apartment for several days after the graduation ceremony, in no particular hurry to make the transition from student to employee. Jeff rounded up a few girls for companionship and the resulting party was recognized as the last gasp of student life. When the last of the stragglers finally departed late the following morning, Randy, Jeff and the housekeeper/cook all began the sizeable clean up. Once that was complete, the only tasks remaining were packing up their personal effects. When the limousine arrived to take Randy to the airport, the two men shook hands firmly and promised to keep in touch. As he had done before moving to Scranton five years earlier, Jeff separated his belongings into three groups: things to take in the car, things to ship by truck with a hold for delivery note attached, and things to donate to charity. A new chapter in his life was about to begin.

The corporate offices for the Dickinson Distributing Company were located in a northern suburb of Chicago, one that was conveniently accessible to the airport, to downtown, and, of course to the wealthier residential suburbs where many of the employees resided. Jeff's first challenge was to find living quarters somewhere. He was pulled between the ridiculously high priced suburban apartments near the lake and the equally ridiculously high priced apartments downtown. Downtown won the skirmish because of its activities and potential for entertainment. There was a very active nightlife every single night and young people visible everywhere. It did not take him long to locate places that interested him and that were conveniently filled with attractive young people.

Perhaps it was that he had been raised in a smaller community, or possibly never found the time nor the money to live a life of artificial extravagance, he didn't know for sure, and it really didn't matter. What mattered, he decided, was that he did not like phony people, and most of the people that he was meeting just struck him the wrong way; they were arrogant, flashy, and sometimes even haughty! No thanks, he thought. I'll stick to making friends another way. For now, he would concentrate on his work.

He began his employment with an orientation tour by the Human Resources administrator, an attractive woman slightly older than Jeff, but who seemed to be genuinely pleased at this arrival and presence. After several obvious attempts to begin a social relationship with him, Jeff finally told her that he was in a committed relationship and just could not be honest with himself or anyone if he was to begin a relationship with her as well. Of course, none of that was true, but the effect was nearly the same as the old "companionship with sexual relief" approach that he had employed in college. One of the tenets of success that had been repeatedly drilled into the minds of he and his classmates the previous year was that establishing a sexual relationship with a fellow employee was a certain path to termination. For the first time in several years, Jeff allowed his big head to overrule his smaller one.

Richard Dickinson maintained a hands-off approach to Jeff as he worked his way through the more critical areas of the company, choosing instead to keep abreast of his progress over dinner at the Dickinson home periodically. Jeff looked forward to these dinners, obviously because it further cemented his relationship within the organization without broadcasting that to everyone, but also because of the bond he felt with Meredith, Sharon's mother, and Richard. Jeff had been working with the marketing staff on a new proposal involving yet another emerging relationship. The unnamed company manufactured and distributed mechanical devices for use in chemistry labs and manufacturing operations. The products were of extremely high quality, but their marketing efforts, especially in the United States, were more than a little weak. Jeff's challenge essentially had been to review all of the collected data from the marketing staff and the operations and logistics people, and then prepare a report for the executive committee with his recommendations. The project, the culmination of nearly a year's effort by more than a dozen employees of the company now rested in the evaluation of the merits of the original idea, and Jeff, to avoid outside influences or departmental favoritism, opted to hole himself up in a motel room for a week, paperwork and documents scattered and askew everywhere, while he existed on room service meals and made-in-his-room coffee until he was completely satisfied with the conclusions and could fully document and support them.

Emerging from his hideaway, after generously rewarding the cleaning staff for not disturbing him during the week, he called Richard and set up a meeting to discuss the proposal. He was not really surprised when he entered the conference room and saw, already seated, in addition to Richard Dickinson, the two investment advisers that he had met that evening when he had returned the hundred thousand dollar check. The presentation went well, and once again Richard was able to shake Jeff's hand and commend him for his good work.

"Okay, Jeff. Here's the plan. You will fly to London to meet with the owners of the target company. They are aware of interest in their operation by an unnamed American firm, but our sources tell us that they are resistant to a pure buyout, per se but may be interested in a joint marketing venture. While the first option is your goal, the second idea may be just as lucrative in the long run. I will leave it to you to decide which avenue to pursue as you wander down this path. There is no hurry to conclude this deal; you have no deadline, therefore pursuing the optimum agreement is the most beneficial avenue to take. Are we clear?"

"Yes sir. I understand completely. Do you have the names of the individuals involved so that I might learn a little more about them?"

"Certainly. We withheld this, obviously, for security purposes, but I can share it with you now. The company is called Atterbury Chemical Manufacturing Company, and is headed by a Dr. William Atterbury. The good doctor is apparently a brilliant man, both as a chemist and as a mechanical engineer. He has been honored numerous times by various industry groups both for his inventions and his manufacturing techniques. He may attempt to deflect your efforts by having you be involved with his son, who, from what we have learned, has very little knowledge of his father's business and is just now returning from an extended holiday trip around the world."

Jeff laughed and smiled broadly. "Is the son's name Randy?"

Richard looked through his notes quickly. "Why yes, do you know him?"

Jeff continued to chuckle, "Yes. Randy and I were roommates in college for four years. I know him very well."

"That's a very interesting development. What impact do you think that will have?"

"Randy is a very smart person, brilliant in some respects. Hell, he speaks about a dozen languages, can quote passages from any famous book that you've ever read and can put thoughts onto paper better than anything I have ever written. He told me when we graduated that he and some friends were going to spend a year or so travelling the world, calling on his customers and learning about their countries. If he is just now getting home from that, I would say he still has very little firsthand knowledge of how his father's company actually works. He will have, however, an intimate knowledge of how well it and their products are regarded by their customers."

"Wow! All the more reason why you need to insist on meeting with the father primarily."