Chapter 63: Traded for a favor to be returned later

July 1, 2001, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Steve

“Thanks for letting me come over,” Terry said when he walked into my study on Sunday evening, after everyone had left following our usual Sunday family dinner.

“I was expecting you to call me,” I replied. “I was positive you’d want to talk here, rather than in the office.”

“What do you think?”

“I think you have an interesting decision to make.”

“Did Samantha ask or did you suggest?”

“She asked for you, by name.”

“What do you know about Glenn and Nathan?”

“I’ve only met Glenn a couple of times, but IT at Spurgeon runs like clockwork. As for Nathan, I’ve known him since we first tried to buy Lone Star six years ago. He’s a good guy and has some similar traits to me and Dave, in that being a developer or development manager is what he really wants to do. He wasn’t part of the shenanigans, except being a victim of Dallas Capital Partners and Volstead and Braun. Scott was going to hire him when the crap with EB Systems went down, but Nathan wanted to stay. Samantha made him the proverbial offer he couldn’t refuse. Or, if he had, his wife would have killed him.”

“Do you know the offer she made me?”

“I know what CIOs make, know that financial services usually pays better, and I also know Samantha has my attitude of ensuring people are well-compensated, and I know what Stephanie’s compensation was, as well as Keri’s offer. So, yeah.”

“What’s your take?”

“That she’s offering you a challenge which NIKA likely can never offer. The closest we could come was Athena. And your upward mobility is limited because Julia isn’t likely to go anywhere in the next five years, nor are Zeke, Barbara, or Mario likely to retire.”

“You don’t seem concerned.”

“My concern is, as it was for Keri and Michelle, that you do what’s best for you and Penny. You actually have freedom she doesn’t. And that I don’t.”

Terry laughed and nodded, “She’ll never leave you, but that means you can’t leave either!”

“Exactly. Will we miss you? Yes. Will it be tough to replace you? Yes. Will anything change between you and me? No. In fact, you’ll still call me ‘Boss’ even when I’m not your boss! Do what’s best for you, Terry. I mean that.”

“Penny said that’s what you’d say.”

“And?”

“She refuses to give me an opinion. In fact, she said exactly the same thing you did - that I have an interesting decision to make.”

“Did Samantha tell you that you’ll keep your NIKA shares?”

“No, and I really appreciate that.”

“And your bonus will be paid, given you were still at NIKA as of yesterday.”

“If there’s a better boss anywhere, I don’t know who he or she is.”

“And you pay that forward, Terry. That means YOU be the best boss anywhere. And you know that if you have any questions, all you have to do is pick up the phone.”

“You’re assuming I’m going to accept her offer.”

“I was sure on Thursday when she asked my permission. I’ve taken you as far as I can at NIKA. It’s time for you to do what you were meant to do.”

“I remember that interview fourteen years ago.”

“When you got your first look at Penny!” I smirked.

“Well, yeah, that too! Does anyone else know?”

“Not unless you’ve told them.”

“I suppose I should talk to Julia. I’m supposed to start my new role tomorrow.”

“That would be the next step. She won’t be happy, but in a sense, the timing is exactly right.”

“Is there anyone who can step into the role?”

“Sam, but she’ll never agree. We’ll probably look outside, but in the end, that’s up to Julia.”

“I’m going to head back home to get the kids in bed.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow morning at the office.”

“Thanks, Steve.”

“You’re welcome. And thanks for everything you’ve done for NIKA.”

We shook hands and he left my study.

July 2, 2001, Chicago, Illinois

On Monday morning, I was up with Jessica at 3:40am. We quickly dressed and then left for the hospital, leaving Kara in bed.

“You don’t have to walk me to work, Tiger.”

“You’re right, but I want to.”

“And you want to get off propranolol even more. Seriously, Tiger. After today, I want you to stay in bed so you can get sufficient sleep, even if that means I go to bed before you and Kara most nights. We’re going to have weekends together now, and I’ll be coming to the Philosophy Club and karate, too.”

“I don’t like it.”

“More than you don’t like pharmaceuticals?”

“You know the answer to that,” I replied.

“Then you’ll stay in bed starting tomorrow?”

“Reluctantly, yes. When do you start teaching again?”

“Not until the end of August when the new school year starts. Well, I mean teaching ‘Practice of Medicine’. I have new interns and medical students starting today.”

“Have fun with that! The med students are going to love the 4:00am shift! And the PGY1s? Well, welcome them to hell for me.”

“Exactly. What was Terry’s visit last after dinner night about?”

“I can’t say, but trust me, it’s nothing bad. He and Penny are doing great and the kids are fine.”

“Come by the ER at 2:00pm with the car so I can go with you to the airport to get Albert.”

“OK. Have the clerk call me if you’re going to be delayed. It’ll likely take some time for Albert to clear passport control and customs, so we have some leeway.”

“Birgit is in around 5:15pm, right?”

“Yes, but at Midway. We’ll go straight there from O’Hare. If we’re going to be late, Kara will get Birgit.”

“Dave starts today right?”

“Yes. And Karl has his first day at Winston & Strawn. And Trudy has HER first day at Spurgeon.”

“We’ll see all of them on the 4th, won’t we?”

“Yes.”

“I’ll want a nap when I get home on Wednesday so I can stay at the party.”

“That’s fine, obviously.”

“Go back to bed for two hours when you get home, please.”

“I won’t get back to sleep and I don’t want to disturb Kara. I’ll probably just run right away, though that means waking up Suzanne.”

“Just be smart, Tiger. No relapses.”

“I don’t want them either!”

We arrived at the doors to the ER, I hugged and kissed Jessica, and once she’d gone inside, I made my way back home. I checked my watch and decided to write in my journal and read the newspaper until Suzanne rose at her normal time for our weekday runs. I picked up the newspaper from the porch and went into the house, then into my study where I turned on my Mac.

I didn’t have a lot to write in my journal as things were relatively calm, and I didn’t have any major dilemmas, and other than telling Alicija that I couldn’t fulfill her fantasy, and why, nothing really to worry about. Of course, it was times like this when Fate tried to fuck with me, so I had to be on guard, ready to body slam her once again. I read the Trib until Suzanne got up, and we went out for our morning run. Back at home, we showered together in her shower, then joined Kara for breakfast before I headed to the office.

As I predicted, Julia called at 8:30am and asked me to come to her office.

“I’m not happy,” she said once I closed the door.

“I hear you, but better today than say a month or two down the road. And be honest with me, can you fault Samantha for asking? Or fault Terry for accepting?”

“No,” she admitted reluctantly. “What about a replacement?”

“That’s up to you. I’m not sure there’s an internal candidate, but if you think there is, feel free to gauge their interest.”

“Sam, but I know she’ll tell me to take a flying leap.”

“She will.”

“OK to use a recruiter?”

“I sure don’t want to run an ad for a job like this!” I declared. “But you’ll need to ask Stephanie that question.”

“You’re right, sorry. I assume you want to interview the candidates?”

“Yes, a full interview, not a ‘veto’ interview. This is an executive position, so that fits the guidelines. Take your time and find the person you really want.”

“Given the turmoil in tech, I should have a relatively easy time finding qualified candidates. And I can be very picky.”

“Good. I’ll see you at 9:00am for Dave’s ‘welcome back’ meeting.”

“Terry suggested he’d like to resign today so he can start at Spurgeon on Thursday.”

“That makes sense. It’s up to you, Bob, and my sister.”

“What’s with the rumor that Nathan Edwards left EB?”

“He did. He starts at Spurgeon today as their Director of Software Engineering. He’ll report to Terry.”

“Holy shit! EB is toast!”

“Yes, they are. And I expect by noon today, at least a half-dozen lawsuits will be filed against Nathan, Spurgeon, NIKA, and the various LLCs.”

“Now I understand why Cindi went ‘guns blazing’ on them last Thursday! Are we going to try a ‘BLS’ on them?”

“I’ll present Nathan with a fully-qualified offer to buy his shares. EB has a right of first refusal. If they exercise it, they have to pay him off. If they don’t, I own half the company, if I want to, but not until after a complete due diligence effort which will show that EB is only surviving due to capital injections from Volstead and Braun. And that means I can walk away if I choose.”

“But then Nathan gets nothing, right?”

“He’ll get half of whatever we, Hastings Mill, or Chickasaw pay for the software and customers. And he has control over the sale, at least to veto any deal he doesn’t like.”

Julia shook her head, “You are WAY better at this kind of intrigue than I ever was!”

“It is fun; well, minus the lawsuits. The other one that’s coming is for sexual harassment, but that’s a non-starter except for negative publicity.”

“Stephanie warned me about that. She also said not to worry about it.”

“She’s right, at least so far as I can figure. But we could take a bad PR hit in the short term. We’ll be fine because when the facts come out, they’re all on our side.”

“OK. See you at Dave’s meeting.”

I left and went back to my office to do a bit of work before going to the first floor of the ‘Annex’ for Dave’s welcome-back meeting, where it was obvious the development team was very happy to have him back. Stephanie gave a short speech, and then we had coffee and danish before everyone went back to work. Unsurprisingly, my sister asked me to join her in her office.

“Julia told me about Terry,” Stephanie said. “I think it’s OK for today to be his last day. I’m going to have lunch brought in so he can announce it. I’m just concerned that it looks like we drove him out because Dave is coming back.”

“Invite Samantha and Keri, please. Let them know I’d really like them here. And for that matter, call Melissa and ask her and Michelle to come here.”

“Michelle? Seriously?”

“Yes. She and I are cordial, and she’s a perfect example of what’s happening with Terry, just as Keri is. Remember, we announced Dave was returning and Terry’s new position two months ago.”

“OK. I’ll set that up. I need to call Liz in now.”

“Who filed first?”

“Not Anne Nelson. She actually called and wants to come up for a settlement conference. And, big brother, she wants Janice Parker from Northwestern to attend.”

I chuckled, “OK. I’ll have a dossier on her prepared. According to Clark, she left Taft under a cloud. Did Anne Nelson give a number?”

“No, but she was clear we’re talking mid-to-upper six figures.”

“String her along. I suspect once the dust settles things will change. Where did EB file?”

“In the Sixth, in Cincinnati. Jocelyn was served this morning. Liz can explain.”

Stephanie picked up the phone and asked Liz to join us.

“Exactly as we thought,” Liz said when she came in. “They requested an emergency hearing for a temporary injunction against Nathan Edwards. That will likely be heard on Thursday, because of the Fourth of July. The rest is exactly what we expected. Samantha’s legal team was served as well. We’ll prepare our answers and move to dismiss. Samantha paid van Hoek, Mills & Associates to represent Nathan personally as well.”

“Can they get the preliminary injunction?” I asked.

“Possibly,” Liz replied. “The argument is that a short delay won’t hurt Spurgeon or Edwards. That said, it’s hard to see how that provides a remedy for EB, given there is no competition between Spurgeon and EB, and given the court can’t force Edwards to work for EB. My take is they deny the preliminary injunction. Jocelyn, Deborah, and Ben all agree.”

“OK. So this is all going to plan,” Stephanie said. “Steve, are you going to execute the next step?”

“Yes. Liz, have the offer to buy Nathan’s shares couriered to him and make sure Jocelyn gets a copy. Nathan has to inform EB within seventy-two hours of receiving the offer. Make sure you include the financing commitment letter from SKJ Partners when you send the offer.”

“Will do. Did Stephanie tell you about Anne Nelson?”

“Yes. Bring them in. I’m going to call Katya and get a full dossier on Janice Parker. She has some skeletons in her closet.”

“OK.”

“Liz, Terry is going to Spurgeon as CIO effective immediately,” Stephanie said.

“Whoa!” Liz gasped. “That’s out of the blue!”

“Samantha asked,” I replied.

Liz smiled, “One of several women to whom you can’t say ‘no’!”

“Including you!” I declared.

“Penny wishes SHE was in that group,” Stephanie smirked.

“The ones to whom I can’t say ‘no’, know better than to ask for that!”

“This does remove one of the three ‘married couple’ objections Bob has,” Liz said. “He’ll be happy.”

“And Dave coming back annoyed the hell out of him,” I replied. “But tough shit. And I can’t imagine Zeke or Tasha leaving anytime soon, so Bob is going to have to put on his big boy pants and deal with it. That said, he should be happy about the changes with the Philosophy Club, though I haven’t told him. I’ll mention it to him the next time he bitches about something. Anyway, I’m going to get some work done before lunch.”

I left my sister’s office and went back to my workstation.

“You haven’t said anything,” Penny said when I sat down.

“What’s there to say? It’s the right thing for Terry to do. I support it. Stephanie is going to organize a staff lunch today so Terry can make his announcement. He’ll start at Spurgeon on Thursday.”

“Unreal!”

“Not really. There wasn’t any place for him to go at NIKA. He happily and willingly accepted whatever assignment I gave him here, but honestly, I don’t have anything worthy of his talents at this point. You know damned well that Julia isn’t going anywhere, and that was the next logical step for him if he had stayed.”

“What time do I need to have Andy ready on Thursday?”

“We’re leaving the house at 5:15am for the 7:00am flight to Toronto. Just have him fed and ready to get into the minivan at 5:10am.”

“Thanks for including him.”

“You’re welcome. He, Nicholas, and Jesse are going to have a blast.”

“Who’s your roommate on the trip?”

“Kara. Jess has to work, and she and I will have a lot of time together while Kara is at Stanford for a month.”

“She’s coming home for MC’s wedding, right?”

“Absolutely. It’ll suck flying back and forth, but there’s no way Kara will miss that wedding.”

We both went back to work, and at noon, joined the rest of the staff for lunch on the first floor of the Annex. There was quite a bit of surprise at Terry’s announcement, but my idea of having Keri and Michelle attend the lunch helped, as both of them had been ‘drafted’ away from NIKA. After the speeches and food, I walked over to Michelle.

“How are you?” I asked.

“Good, thanks,” Michelle replied.

“Congratulations are in order,” I said.

Michelle smiled and put her hand on her stomach, “Alexi and I are both very happy.”

“And so am I.”

“I heard from Father Basil that you’re helping with the building project.”

“Yes. I’m providing guidance and oversight. So far, everything is going according to plan.”

“Will you come for the blessing of the new church?” Michelle asked.

“I wouldn’t miss it. How is Nathaniel?”

“He’ll start kindergarten in the Fall. Jesse is a Sophomore, right?”

“Yes,” I confirmed. “And our ‘baby’ starts fifth grade, though if Ashley heard me call her a ‘baby’ I’d be in serious trouble!”

“How are Kara and Jessica?”

“Just fine. Kara is teaching and doing research and Jess is an Attending and is teaching at the medical school as well.”

“That’s great.”

“I really appreciate you coming today.”

Michelle smiled, “It was the right thing to do. I don’t hate you.”

“I know,” I replied. “But things need to be the way they are.”

“Yes, they do.”

“Take care,” I said.

She smiled, “I will. You too.”

I walked away, motioning Samantha to join me in private.

“How is Nathan holding up?”

“He’s a bit freaked out by the slew of legal papers, but Ben van Hoek has it under control. He’s personally representing Nathan, leaving the NIKA work to Jocelyn and Deborah.”

“Good. What’s Ben’s take?”

“An injunction is very unlikely, and if it appears that the judge is leaning that way, Ben will offer a bond from which we’ll pay liquidated damages determined by a jury. Fundamentally, they can’t keep Nathan from quitting because nothing in his employment contract prevents that. According to Ben, even a clause that prohibited him from leaving wouldn’t prevent it, only open him to a complaint for breach of contract, but that would likely fail, as a clause which doesn’t let you quit would violate the Thirteenth Amendment.”

I laughed, hard, “Now that’s just too funny. I would LOVE to sit in court and listen to an argument over indentured servitude in 2001! Of course, I expect one to come in the medical field at some point, because, in effect, that is the result of the Residency Match. How is Lorraine?”

“She’s calmer than Nathan. She wanted him out of anything to do with EB during the last confrontation. She had pushed him, hard, to take the job with your former professor.”