Chapter 17

Bill’s turn:

Deena’s comment about fourteen year old girls startled me.

“Huh?”

“Cindy was fourteen when she got married, Dad...”

“We could’ve gotten married before I turned sixteen, baby,” Haley said, “just like Nikki did. Or Cindy. If we’d’ve convinced a judge...”

“Ewwww!” Deena squeaked.

I glanced over. The eyes didn’t match the squeal. I get the feeling that just maybe my daughter might believe that her stepmom and I might have had relations before she turned sixteen. Another “Huh?”

“Dad ... Cindy. Nikki was fifteen. Dana was fifteen.”

“Don’t get Ideas, punkin,” I said. “Haley, what in the world do you two TALK about?”

“Everything, love of my life,” Haley giggled. “Including how nervous you get...”

“I get as nervous as any responsible dad of a pretty teenaged daughter SHOULD get,” I told them.

“Relax, Dad,” Deena cooed. “I’m not going to do something stupid. I have to find a guy that’s like YOU.” Giggle. “I won’t ask Mom for help.”

“Which mom?” I returned.

“The one that wasn’t smart enough to realize what she gave up. This mom is a whole lot smarter.”

“Granted,” I said.

Deena jumped up. “I’ll fix the salad. Haley, you can get the casserole.”

Dinner. Group effort from those two, concession to me spending more time out of the house today.

“So you talked to clients,” Haley started at the table.

“Yep. Two different ones. We’re scheduling work. It’s a few months down the road. I have to get us a place for an office and storage space, indoor and out.”

“Get enough space for us to have a lab,” Haley inserted.

“Yeah,” Deena reinforced. “They have a lab in Auburn. We need a lab. Carlita said she’ll come play in it.”

“We need to meet with Carlita and her husband...” I started.

“And Brindy. They’re a unit. Just like we’re a unit,” Deena said.

“Uh, they’re a little bit more of a unit, I hear,” I said.

“So they’re all bound by marriage,” Haley stated. “We’re bound by marriage and by blood. And we’ll schedule a dinner meeting at a restaurant. That way, we’re on neutral ground, since you seem to be nervous...”

“I’ll be okay,” I said, “but yes, a dinner’s a good way for us to all get acquainted. You two can work out the details.”

Giggle. “Good!” Deena said. “Tomorrow evening. The seafood place.”

“Everything there is fried,” I said.

“And it’s GOOD!” Haley returned. “And Carlita says THEY like it, too.”

“Okay,” I said, “but not tomorrow night. We have to get the facility found and rented, and there are some clients to meet. Talk with Carlita, or email or Skype with her, and let her know too many things are in the air yet. Also, you’ve got some things to get sorted at the school, don’t you?”

For me, the next day was spent walking through a possible new facility for 3Sigma, sending images as a stream while the rental agent toured me around the place. At the other end of my iPhone, Alan Addison was watching and listening.

Finishing, I called Alan back after I got in my car. “Well? This is the pick of the litter.”

“Price is reasonable. See if they’ll knock five percent off for a five-year lease,” Alan said.

“You’re awfully optimistic.”

“And you’re not? Those two clients yesterday ... Unless we REALLY muff a project, they are going to keep feeding us work for five years. And next week you’re going upstate and talk to a couple of utilities up there. Then Jason says he has some contacts on the Texas side of the border.”

“That’s gonna be a lot of work.”

“And it’s gonna be a lot of money. We’ll support the daylights out of you. You handle the engineering lead. Jason knows a guy who’ll be a good candidate to head up YOUR field services bunch. Bill’s got a name for a construction coordinator ... You’re gonna have a pretty good crew and remember, your bonus is tied to a cut of project revenue.”

“Just so I have time for family...”

“Make time, Bill,” Alan said. “We all do. You need to. Haley’s a cutie. So’s Deena. You have your hands full.”

“I know,” I replied. “And we’re meeting with the Johnson crew for dinner once some of this dust settles.”

“Good! Recruit ‘im. We tried.”

“Oh, I’ll try ... Looks like that’s gonna be the key ... share the wealth.”

“Like we talked about before, you don’t let yourself get overwhelmed. One of us can fly down there at the drop of a hat. Hell, for Dan Granger, it’s not even that far a drive to his house. Dan Richards’d have to get up earlier to make the drive from his house. It’s a bit further away. Or we could lease an apartment, make it an executive suite...”

“We may need to do that. Makes sense.”

“Make it happen. Don’t get a dump, either. Remember – we treat our employees well.”

“Okay, boss,” I laughed.

“As long as you laugh when you call me that,” he said. “Equals, okay?”

“Okay.” Of course, I was thinking, some are more equal than others. Alan was one of the original owners. His shares were pretty big in a successful enterprise. I was just getting started.

Next phone call was back to the agent. I made my offer, was happy to have it accepted. We have a shop now. Well, it’s more than a shop. Offices. And air conditioned workspace which will also become the girls’ ‘lab’ as well as a few other business-related functions. Big indoor warehouse. And a large outside storage yard, some of which was paved. I’ll get the keys when they get the bank transfer and a signed lease. FedEx is going to shuffle a lot of paperwork back and forth.

I got home to find the girls getting excited about the business arrangement.

“Cindy and Nikki want to come down, too, as soon as you get into our new building,” Haley told me. She’d seen the outside of it. We did drive-bys of all the possibilities. She knows which one we ended up with.

“Just Cindy and Nikki?”

“Oh, their husbands, too, Dad,” Deena said. “But mainly Cindy and Nikki. They’re excited for us.”

“Flying in?”

“Naturally. Which reminds me. You have something to work on, Dad.”

“I know...” Pilot’s license. Practically mandatory when the home office is five hundred miles away. I’d looked up commercial flights. One – expensive. Two – either a couple hours’ drive at each end or an expensive connecting flight from the little regional airport to the big hub. Commercial flight was NOT an answer. Nor was ten or eleven hours’ drive. Flying made sense.

Not to mention that Haley and Deena were both itching for the chance, too.

“If you want, you can buy the plane in the name of 3S Transport and that makes insurance a lot easier, you being a novice pilot,” Alan said. “We’ll help any way we can.”

A week later I was in my new office, pointing out where the newly purchased furniture should go as deliveries began to arrive. I had Nikki here, along with her version of Dan, Nikki with Haley and Deena in her back pocket as the digital communications system was set up and installed, Dan because he and I were finalizing the first of several contracts for new substations and upgrades to existing ones. 3Sigma West was off the ground.

With that bunch in town, a dinner at a popular restaurant was in order. We were all tucked into a very nice meal when Haley looked up, a questioning look on her face.

“That’s Doctor Seavers,” she said.

“He must not have seen you yet,” I replied. “Otherwise he’d’ve dumped a drink on your head for that comment in his office.”

“I know. I owe him an apology.”

“What?!?” Deena said. “I didn’t get THIS story.”

“Haley was a bit of an overbearing smartass,” I said.

Haley’s turn:

Dinner with Dan and Nikki and Dad and Deena. It’s one of our favorite places. Nikki’s been down here working on the networking for our NEW office, and she’s taught me and Deena a lot. Even better, she gave us fodder for our own explorations.

Anyway, we’re having a pleasant meal and in walks Doctor Seavers. He didn’t see me when he walked in.

Okay, let me explain. I was, to use Bill’s words, ‘a bit of an ass’ with this guy, and I regret it. it’s not acceptable. He’s got a job to do and the fact that he’s the head of a department at a university bespeaks something of the qualities of his efforts. He was protecting his turf and I was the interloper and I reacted wrongly.

“I’ll be right back,” I told the table. I got up.

Followed Doctor Seavers to a table. Before he got there I called his name. “Doctor Seavers?”

He turned. His eyes changed. I know he recognized me, but anyway I said, “Remember me? Haley Simon?”

“Yes, Mizz Simon, I do indeed remember you. How are you?”

I looked at his face, made sure our eyes connected. “Remorseful.”

“Really? Why?”

“I acted incorrectly. I did not show you the respect due you when I was in your office.”

His face softened toward a smile. “Thank you, Haley, but no apology is needed. I’ve already spoken with Professor Huang about your abilities. Perhaps I should have taken the letters at face value.”

“Oh, no sir. You acted correctly. Verification was in order. I was impatient and acted like an entitled brat.”

“Haley,” he said, “I have dealt with many students who acted worse than you did, with much less foundation for their actions.” He looked over his shoulder. “Sorry, but my friends are expecting me for dinner. Are you going to be on campus tomorrow?”