Chapter 94: Setting Up The Future for Business and Family

Mark

I sat in my posh office with Andy Martin, my number two in the company, and Tom Power, a superb executive and leader I’d discovered purely by accident in St. Croix. Less than a year later I recruited him and put him in charge of a burgeoning start-up in nanotechnology we’d discovered in Silicon Valley; a great idea by several profs from Stanford but with no management talent to get it going and to market. Over the subsequent two years, he’d turned some hopes and dreams into a real business that continued to grow at fifty to a hundred percent a year with large profit margins.

Of course, Tom was also a good friend and one who frequented our sexy house parties where he was a welcome lover to all the women who attended. We’d met Tom purely by chance when he asked Cindy to dance at a club down on St. Croix years earlier. That dance had blossomed into a night of sharing Cindy and Elsa, and then into the longer relationship and friendship the girls and I had formed with him.

Tom walked from painting to painting in my office reading the small cards beside them that told who the artist was and what the title of piece of art was. Each painting had been done by one of my ‘wives’ – KC.

He looked back at me, “KC did all of these? They’re phenomenally good – excellent. These paintings reach my soul. I’ve seen her works at the condo and The Meadows, but somehow I missed these. I must remember to praise her tonight when I see her.”

I told him, “I would buy everything she paints, but she will only allow me every tenth or twelfth piece she paints. She tells me that she had to have a wide variety of her art ‘out there, ‘ otherwise it just appears to be hobby that she shares with the family. She got twenty grand for a large painting last week. We’re quite proud of her, and selling to the public does wonders for her self-confidence and sense of worth.”

Tom nodded and so did Andy. Andy, Melanie, and I had talked about what we wanted to do with Tom, and this was the meeting to talk about that. Tom knew something was afoot. Melanie had him briefed by our three creative engineers on what we’d shortened to call GCT for Gigabit Cellular Technology – getting a huge bandwidth piggybacked onto basic narrowband cellular service. The rationale for the briefing had been to keep the top management of our subsidiaries up to speed on what else was going on in the company that was leading edge. The technology would do wonders for high-speed broadband service in remote areas around the world, especially where extending wires or fiber was cost prohibitive. All the major wireless carriers would be on this like white on rice.

After a few more pleasantries, Melanie joined us. She gave Tom a welcome kiss and a warm hug of true affection. He’d come in on the red eye from San Francisco and told her she was sight for sore eyes. The four of us then sat around my coffee table. I deferred to Melanie, who’d become a new director in the company reporting directly to me. I was curious how she would sell the idea to him.

She started, “Tom, you are the best manager in company except for these two.” She gestured at Andy and me, and I wondered if I was secretly being patronized. “When I was out there with Andy a month ago, I noted that you had created a strong number two who could take over for you. Do you agree?”

Tom frowned slightly, “Yessss.” I could see that he knew my pretty Director of Project Development – her current title according to her business cards, was leading him astray. Actually, she did whatever she wanted in the company from being my Executive Assistant to what she was doing now, making a strategic personnel move to foster a burgeoning technology.

Mel went on, “And, you sort of admitted over dinner that evening that you didn’t have any other strong ties to the Bay Area?”

“Yessss,” Tom said again, realizing that the primrose path was surely underfoot.

Mel said, “So, if the right opportunity presented itself you could relocate to another area of the country, for instance, right here in this city?” I noted she was posing her statements as rhetorical questions and making them the kind Tom had to agree with.

“Yessss. I have a feeling I know where this is going.”

Melanie smiled, “Well, we are hoping that you’d think kindly of moving here and taking over the GCT program – soup to nuts. Free rein. You’d become a vice president and a director of the commercial electronics division.”

Andy spoke up, “Marty Winthrop, the head of that group, wants to retire in two years. Mark and I would like you ready to move into that executive position. It would also then put you on the board of Worthington Industries. If the GCT program plays out the way we think, you’d just be well into commercializing that technology and raking in the dough. It’d be the perfect timing since that’ll become the showcase for that division. We figure GCT will pull our other electronic product lines along with it as it becomes a widely deployed technology. It’ll put us on the map with a unique and desperately needed technology”

Mel jumped in, “Besides, you’ve become like a member of our family in so many ways, and the family is here not in Silicon Valley ... or have you got something cooking back there? We all miss you except for your rare visits.”

Tom laughed, “I have a number of friends ... with benefits, but nothing serious. Coming back here where Mark’s family is nearby is a big chip to play in your offer. As I got to know your entourage I’ve longed to be around here more than I’ve been.”

I spoke up, “I’ll sweeten it even further. You could move in with us, or if that’s too close you could even take over a floor in our condo building. The residents on the twenty-eighth floor told me they planned to list their condominium come spring when the real estate market starts to heat up again. They have the whole floor – around ten thousand square feet. That’s right below the two penthouse floors I have there. I asked them to check with me before they went public, and they told me they would honor that request. In any case, if you don’t buy it, I will.”

Mel jumped in, “You’d have two offices too. One on this floor, and one near the program team that’s working on the prototype. I might add that they’re all smart and motivated. Right now, there are about thirty people on the GCT team, and for the most part they’re leaderless. They have the technical talent, but not the management talent to get them humming along and to market. There’s a PM from that division holding it together from the technical side, but just barely cutting it on commercialization side of things. It’s not her forte. They need someone like you to bring out their best and get the whole effort on a fast track.”

Tom said, “I ran my own numbers on the technology after I got briefed over the teleconference link last week. This plays to my strength more than the nanotechnology endeavor did. I’ve been more of an electronics man than the nanotech stuff. This one could be really big bucks on an international scale.”

Andy, Mel, and I sat and stared at Tom. The ball was in his court and the decision his.

After a long silence during which Tom studied each of us, he said, “I’ll do it. What kind of timeframe were you thinking?”

Melanie smiled and sweetly said, “Yesterday.”

Tom, Melanie, and I came up to the thirtieth floor in my private elevator. The doors opened and we stepped into the foyer and immediately into the living room. We were on the late side since Andy and the three of us had gone out to dinner.

We came to a stop, because of the shrieks and moans coming from Julie. She was naked and riding the sybian Elsa had bought a while back when we were vacationing on St. Croix. KC seemed to be holding the control in her hand; she was also naked, her rounded body starting to display her baby bulge. Carter, Deke, Cindy, Elsa, Marcia, Stacy, Mike, and Ryan were nearby watching Julie’s orgasmic show. James stood behind her with his arms extended holding her modest breasts and obviously tweaking her nipples as the machine cranked and vibrated Julie towards orgasm after orgasm. Julie’s entire body was almost out of control and in obvious pleasure, rolling from peak orgasm to orgasm.

Tom gawked. “Who’s that? She’s beautiful.”

I said, “That’s Julie. Our nanny.” I smiled because I too thought Julie was one of the most beautiful women in the world.

“Wow. How come they never had nannies like her when I was growing up? I meant what I said. She’s positively the prettiest and most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

Melanie gently elbowed Tom in his side. “What are the rest of us, chopped liver?”

Tom immediately got differential, “No. No. Not at all. It’s just that I instantly am drawn to her. If I have a ‘type, ‘ then she’s it – Julie, you say? I love all of you, but...”

Melanie moved to a chair in the dining area and slowly disrobed so she could join the others. I asked Tom what he wanted to do. He pointed at the sex show where Julie popped off another noisy orgasm. He said in a firm tone and added a chuckle, “I want to meet Julie. I can’t do as good a job as that damn machine she’s on, but I can sure try.”

I motioned for him to follow me and to bring his roll-on suitcase. We hurried down the hallway towards the guest bedrooms. I set up Tom in the one nearest to the living room. He’d been here many times before, so didn’t need much of an orientation.

I told Tom, “I’m getting out of my suit and heading out to have some fun with my family. I suggest you do the same. I’ll be naked, just to set the dress code for those of us who just arrived home.”

Tom laughed and I left him to his own devices. By the time I reached the living room, Tom was already there getting welcoming kisses and hugs from the others. Melanie was now on the sybian and Carter had the control in hand with a maniacal grin on his face. There was a lot of laughter from everyone except Mel who’d obvious just had her first machine-induced climax of the evening.

I caught up with Tom and led him over to where Julie’s nude body lay in repose on one of my white sofas. She was gasping and panting from what had probably been a fifteen-minute ride on the sex machine. James had been stroking her body to help her recover her wits.

Julie looked up at me with squinted eyes and smiled. “I love you,” she said and held her arms up.

I sat beside her and kissed her. As I held her lithe body in my arms I could feel her body still pulsing with the results of her time on the sybian. I asked, “You OK?”

“Oh, I am ... just ... great. I never knew one of those things existed.” She pointed at the saddle-clad box that Mel rode. “I just had about a five dozen orgasms back to back. I’m jelly for at least an hour, but I do want to make love with you.”

I didn’t count on the evening playing out that way. I introduced Tom to her, pulling him around so he sat on her other side. “Julie, meet Tom. He’s one of our really good friends, and I have a feeling he’s going to become a family member since he’s moving to the city. As you could tell from how the others welcomed him, he’s well known in this group.”

Instead of shaking hands, a ludicrous gesture between the nude man and woman, Julie leaned to Tom and kissed him. The one kiss led to several others. She pulled away, “Oh, you kiss nice. I like you.”

I explained, “Julie is our nanny and so much more, and has been with us about five months. I’ll let the two of you take it from there.” I stood and left the two of them sitting close together on the long white sofa. Already, I could see the stirrings of great mutual interest between the pair. Julie seemed as taken with Tom, as he was with her. A little later, I glanced over and she was holding his hand to one of her breasts as the couple French kissed.

Elsa

I couldn’t believe how the time flew past. The summer came and went in a flash. In early September we grew the family by two with the additions of Patricia Thompson – Deke and Alice’s baby, giving her his surname, and Jennifer Gleason – Mike and KC’s baby, again taking his surname. Mark used business terminology, explaining that it was ‘organic growth, ‘ specifically growth from within the family. In addition to those new additions, Sheila was preggers and expecting in March and she already had a significant bump.

Two years had past since our last extended family celebration for Thanksgiving at The Meadows. As before, most of our parents and a few siblings were there, arriving a day or two before Turkey Day except for the locals who could drive. In those two years, we’d added four women to the family, opened the Club Infinity, annexed five men into the family, and had three babies including my own with Mark – Philip Emerson Worthington. Lots of other things had happened, but those were the Big Four in my book.

At the start of the week I flew to Tucson with the Boeing 737-700 and John Morris, the chief pilot for Worthington Industries as my second in command to pick up Mark’s parents. Julie and Philip Emerson rode in the back, specifically because I thought that Mark’s parents would want to play with their grandson on the flight back to the city. Simultaneously, Cindy took the Citation up to Syracuse and picked up our parents and took them to the city by way of Washington, D.C. where she also picked up KC’s mother and sister June, and Marcia’s parents.

At the previous Thanksgiving gathering where we’d had relatives visit our family consisted of Mark and six women. There had been a number of additions to the family over that time. The family now consisted of six men and ten women, plus the three babies.

Philip Emerson Worthington was almost a year old and toddling around the house ecstatic that all these people had come to play with him. He wasn’t shy at all, and loved going from person to person to get hugs and tickles. I was pleased to see him responding well to the older relatives that had come to our celebration.

Since that last Thanksgiving celebration Alice, Stacy, Marcia, and Izzy had become family members, and so had Carter, Deke, Ryan, James, and Mike. They all wore their love rings proudly and conspicuously. Further, most of every one’s parents were visiting, which added eighteen additional people to what we’d had before. We had a full house at The Meadows.

Julie may as well have been a member, and was on deck for a ring in the near future although she didn’t know it, nor did most of the family. We had extended an invitation to her parents and sister, and the three of them came to the party. Celeste had joined us for the celebration as well, but hadn’t fully embraced the unbridled sex the family engaged in. That said she was often a voyeur of our shenanigans and didn’t abstain entirely. As she put it, she had her especially horny days, like one or two days in most weeks.