Chapter 69: New Friends and an Anonymous Complaint

July 29, 2001, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Steve

“I really don’t want to go back to California,” Kara sighed as she, Jessica, and I showered together on Sunday morning.

“It’s only twelve days,” I soothed.

“I know. I just wish I could convince my three partners to come to Chicago, but given they’re from Stanford and UCLA, we’d burn too much of our research grant on airfare and lodging.”

“Can you explain in layman’s terms what happened with your new material?” I asked.

“The tensile stress at varied temperatures doesn’t match what the model predicted.”

“Better or worse?”

“Just different. We’re working at extreme stretching limits. I can’t tell you more, because the university requires an NDA until anything we create, and any process we use is patented.”

“I get the same answers from Kurt about his work at Abbott Labs,” I replied. “But I understand.”

We got out of the shower, dried off, dressed, and went downstairs where Birgit and Suzanne were making breakfast. Albert, Ashley, and Stephie came down a few minutes later, and we had a nice breakfast together. Suzanne volunteered to clean up, which allowed the rest of us to spend time with Kara before we had our lunchtime ‘bon voyage’ party for Bethany, Tom, and the kids. Nicholas would be coming back for school and was staying with Jesse, which might cause Jesse some logistical problems, but we’d discussed him using the nanny room.

About 11:00am I went out and prepared the grill, and about 11:30am our friends began arriving. Things reverted to past form, and Karl, Pete, and Kurt manned the grill while I ensured the coolers were well-stocked.

“I can’t believe I let you talk me into this,” Bethany said as she and I shared a private moment before the burgers were ready.

“It’ll be good for you, Sweetheart,” I replied. “And you have a very qualified counselor filling in for you during the year.”

That was Alyson Toffler, the girl I once knew as ‘Dawn’, who had, as I had hoped, lived an otherwise normal teenage life once Becky and I had helped her get home. It was going to be interesting interacting with her, but neither of us had any interest in talking about her past life, nor did either of us want to reveal her deepest secret. The Outfit had a long memory, and if her identity ever leaked, and it was discovered I’d helped her, the fact that the ‘wiseguys’ were all in prison wouldn’t keep me safe.

“I’m worried about Nicholas.”

“And you think that either Jesse or Stephie will let anything bad happen? Or that I would? Or Jen and Josie?”

“Well, no, but...”

“He’ll be fine, Sweetheart. And you’ll enjoy your year in Sweden. It’s Tom who’ll suffer without a ‘hall pass’!”

Bethany laughed, “As if! I am NOT signing up for that!”

“Cruel, Sweetheart! Cruel!”

“Says the man who thinks I have a sexy cheerleader body at age thirty-eight!”

“Variety is the spice of life!” I chuckled. “But I know that’s not part of your relationship! And I heard Stephie give Nicholas HIS marching orders!”

Bethany laughed, “As if he would dare stray from an Adams girl?!”

“They are a feisty bunch! And that includes Birgit’s Girl Gang, Stephie’s Fluffle, and Ashley’s Stepsisters!”

“Fluffle?”

“Another word for a colony of wild rabbits!”

Bethany laughed, “Nice! The other one is easy, given you call Ashley ‘Cinderella’, though I suppose it’s ‘good’ stepsisters instead of ‘evil’ ones.”

“Until they’re fourteen or fifteen!” I chuckled. “The minute Attitudus teenagicus hits, we’re doomed!”

“You’re the one who wanted lots of kids! Seven teenagers is karma! Speaking of which, where is Matthew?”

“He’ll be here in about twenty minutes. Eduardo is picking him up at Midway.”

“I don’t know how you do it so easily!”

I smiled, “I think that’s something you’ll learn in Sweden when you see true ‘free-range’ kids.”

“I have to be out of my mind!”

I chuckled, “I don’t think that was ever a question! On a serious note, is there anything I need to do at your house?”

“No. You have three sets of keys - two for the Swedish women and one for you, in case of an emergency.”

“I won’t use them barring some outrageous occurrence, which I’m certainly not expecting.”

“With you, Mr. Adams,” Bethany smirked, “that’s just another day at the compound!”

I laughed, “True!”

We hugged and joined the growing queue for burgers. About an hour later, after we’d eaten, we said ‘goodbye’ to Kara. She and Jessica got into Jessica’s BMW for the trip to O’Hare, allowing me to stay with our guests.

July 29, 2001, Chicago, Illinois

On Monday, I thought about getting out of bed when Jessica got up, but elected to sleep until my usual time. After running, a shower, and cuddling with Birgit, we ate breakfast and I headed to the office. I had just parked behind the building when my cell phone rang. I saw ‘Sweden’ in the display, and flipped it open.

“Steve Adams,” I said.

“«Hej, Steve! Det är Lars. Jag har familjen Quinn här med mig. Allt är bra and vi skall till deras lägenhet om en timme.»” (“Hi, Steve! It’s Lars. I have the Quinn family here with me. Everything is good and we’re heading to their apartment in an hour.”)

“«Kul. Tack så mycket för att du tar hand om dem.»” (“Cool. Thanks so much for taking care of them.”)

“«Var säker på att de är i goda händer!»” (“Rest assured they’re in good hands!”)

“«Självklart! Vi hörs!»” (“Obviously! Stay in touch!”)

We said ‘goodbye’ and I hung up, then got out of my car and went into the building.

“Morning, Steve!” Lucas called out when I walked in. “Bob asked you to come to his office.”

I checked my watch, “He’s early.”

“He actually came in about an hour ago.”

I frowned because that couldn’t mean anything good.

“Thanks, Lucas. I’ll go right up.”

I swiped my badge to enter the main offices, went up the sweeping stairs, and walked down the hall to my office where Kimmy repeated Lucas’ message. I handed her my bag to take into my office so I didn’t have to remove my shoes and put them right back on, then went back down the hall to Bob’s office. I knocked, and he called out for me to come in. I opened the door and saw Liz and my sister, which confirmed immediately that something was wrong.

“What’s up?” I asked, closing the door behind me.

“We have an anonymous complaint about Lee,” Bob said.

“Meaningless,” I said flatly. “Of no value, probative or any other kind.”

“We have to act on it,” Bob insisted.

I laughed derisively, “What do you propose to do? Confront him with an anonymous complaint with no details and ask him to defend himself? That is NOT how it works, Bob. Everyone, and I mean everyone, has the right to confront their accuser and to have a neutral arbiter conduct the proceedings. Period. End of discussion. I’ll be in my office.”

“Steve...” Stephanie said.

I shook my head, and interrupted before she could continue, “You do what you think is best, but I won’t sit still for a kangaroo court.”

“Bob knows who it is, but he can’t reveal the individual’s name,” Liz said.

“I assumed. But I also assumed, correctly I’m sure, that he won’t tell Lee who made the claim. As I said, I’ll be in my office.”

I didn’t wait, opened the door, walked out, closed it behind me, then headed to my office. I changed into my soft-soled shoes, poured a cup of tea from the pot Kimmy had waiting, and sat down at my desk. I booted my computer, and sipped tea while I waited for the login screen to appear. I was expecting someone, most likely Liz, to show up in the office, but the next person to come through the door was Penny.

“Morning, Penelope,” I said with a smile.

“One day I’m going to wipe that smile off your face!” she growled.

“Hmm,” I smirked, stroking my beard, “any way YOU would plan to do that always put a smile ON my face in the past...”

“And don’t you forget it!” Penny declared, then leaned down and kissed my cheek.

It took about fifteen minutes before Liz called and asked me to come to her office.

“How much do you know?” I asked after I shut the door to give us privacy.

“No more than you do.”

“Then I’ll speculate to you that it’s either Margaret or someone Margaret is friendly with, and it’s utter BS. Do YOU support Bob’s behavior?”

“I know you were referring to the Constitution, but that applies to government action.”

“Well, given I own 68.28% of NIKA stock, that makes ME the government. I’m the King, the Board is my Privy Council, and my sister is my Prime Minister. And the government of the day WILL follow my directives on this matter. Either there’s a written, signed complaint, to which you, Elyse, AND Lee are privy, or there is no action to be taken. And if we ignore my government analogy, you know damned well that my political theory holds that rights are natural, and do not need to be articulated in a ‘Bill of Rights’ to be in effect. That document does not confer rights, it enumerates some of them and forecloses actions which deny those natural rights.”

“Done with your rant?”

“I’m just getting started!” I declared.

“And what happened to the man you’re quoting?”

“Well, given that I have gone up against a Sicilian where death is on the line and survived, multiple times, no less, I’d say Vizzini isn’t an accurate analogy.”

“Remember, we have to investigate all reports of harassment.”

“Tell me, Consigliere of mine, how we can investigate the accusation if Lee isn’t given a chance to defend himself against a specific allegation? That’s basic due process, both substantive AND procedural. And this isn’t me saying that I need to know, but that Lee needs to know. Anything else is a kangaroo court or a railroad job. That is not happening in MY company.”

“All things being equal, I agree with you. But according to Bob, the person feels there will be retribution if their name is attached to the complaint.”

“From whom?” I asked, in a faux Russian accent. “If an atomic bomb explodes on an American military base, with no launch signatures, everyone is going to blame the Americans, not the rogue Soviet general who smuggled the bomb onto the base in a circus cannon!”

“Be serious, Steve!” Liz protested.

“Fine. Has ANYTHING happened to Margaret? No. Lee was moved out of an abundance of caution, but nothing happened to Margaret in any way. I mean, OK, we sent the hold-up artist of an attorney packing, along with the woman from Northwestern. Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if Dean Parker is behind this complaint, and that it’s not just trumped-up, but manufactured from whole cloth! Let me ask you this - do you think it would be just, in any sense of that word, to dismiss Lee based on the word of an anonymous employee? With no real chance to defend himself?”

“No. Now, being who you are, I know you can look at this and tell me the worst-case scenario.”

“Our anonymous complainer decides we didn’t handle the situation properly and takes his or her complaint to the government.”

Liz smiled, “Very modern of you to think it might be a guy.”

I rolled my eyes, “You do remember I have a son by my lesbian friend, right?”

“Jesse is hard to forget!”

“And he makes sure that’s the case!” I chuckled. “But even if we assume whoever this is runs to the government, is the government really going to determine that we have a ‘hostile workplace’ because we refused to fire an employee without a proper hearing where he was given the chance to defend himself?”

“What do you think?”

I sighed because there was a distinct possibility they WOULD find in favor of the person making the complaint.

“I think that’s the most fucked-up thing I’ve heard since DCFS tried to make the case that my kids were in danger because of our unique family situation! And I was the picture of serenity during that incident compared to Jennifer and Josie! So, what exactly is Bob proposing to do?”

“Conduct an investigation.”

“HOW?”

“He’ll talk to the person making the complaint and see if he can corroborate the complaint.”

“That’s not going to cut it. I know this is Stephanie’s call, but you’re my Consigliere. I’ll accept an investigation in which YOU participate, and where YOU control the process. I trust you to not let this go forward unless there is SOME kind of proof, and unless Lee is given a chance to defend himself. And yes, I’ll accept YOUR word without details.”

“Let me talk to your sister, Elyse, and Bob.”

“Thanks. I have programming work to do!”

I left Liz’s office and went back to mine.

July 31, 2001, Chicago, Illinois

On Tuesday, instead of heading to work, I headed to O’Hare to meet the Swedish firefighter, Astrid, and her «sambo», Ingrid. Birgit had decided to come along, and the two of us sat side-by-side in chairs just outside ‘International Arrivals’ in Terminal 5. The flight from Stockholm had landed on time, but given the impossibility of predicting how long it would take to clear Passport Control and Customs, we’d arrived about ten minutes after the flight had landed. Birgit held a small Swedish flag, and I had a cardboard sign with the women’s names on it. When blondes began coming out of the security doors, Birgit and I stood up and moved closer.

A few minutes later a tall, striking flaxen-haired woman, who could have been a Viking shield-maiden came through the doors. She was followed by a slightly shorter, softer girl with blonde hair. They pushed their carts, piled high with luggage, towards us. Birgit and I had brought the minivan, rather than my BMW, to accommodate their stack of suitcases.

“You must be Steve,” the tall blonde who was the firefighter said. “I’m Astrid and this is Ingrid.”

“Hi,” I replied. “This is my eldest daughter, Birgit.”

“«Hej!»” Birgit exclaimed. “«Välkommen till Chicago!»” (“Hi! Welcome to Chicago!”)

Astrid laughed softly, “«Du talar svenska?»” (“You speak Swedish?”)

“«Bara lite. Pappa lär mig!»” (“Only a little. Dad is teaching me!”)

“«Kul!» (“Cool!”)

“We brought our minivan,” I said in English. “I don’t think all those bags would have fit in the BMW!”

“We’re girls!” Ingrid declared. “And we packed for a year!”

“Your development rig arrived last week and I set it up and checked to make sure everything is working.”

“Excellent. Fortunately, we have the entire month of August off from Paradox, so I have plenty of time to get settled. Astrid has her first shift on Friday.”

“Lieutenant Powell is meeting us at the Quinns’ house. He’s going to help you get everything situated, then take you on a brief tour to find the grocery store and other important necessities. I’m going to be out of town for a few days, but he’ll be available, as will my family. Shall we?”

“Yes!”

We left the International Arrivals Hall, and headed to the parking lot. I folded down and stowed the rearmost seats, then loaded the bags while Birgit, Ingrid, and Astrid got into the van. I returned the two carts, came back to the van, got in, and we headed for the Quinns’ house. Jim Powell was waiting for us, sitting on the stoop, and came straight to the van when I pulled up.

After introductions, we unloaded the van, I gave each of the women a set of keys, ensured they were comfortable with Jim, and headed home, leaving Birgit with the two women at her request. At home, I changed vehicles, then headed to work.

August 3, 2001, Chicago, Illinois

“I did promise to abide by your judgment,” I said to Liz on Friday afternoon. “So I’ll accept that there is sufficient evidence of some kind. BUT, Lee has to be given a chance to defend himself.”

“May I propose an alternate solution?”

“Always.”

“I’ll speak with him, explain the situation, and ask him to resign with a three-month severance package and no entry in his personnel file.”

“And if he refuses?” I asked.

“Then your sister will have to decide whether or not to force the issue with a formal hearing.”

“And when HE retains counsel and demands to know the name of his accuser? And to confront his accuser?” I asked with an arched eyebrow.

“You can’t do that,” Liz said firmly. “If you give him advice like that, we’d be toast in any proceeding in court or with the government.”

“According to Cindi, Lee is not an idiot,” I countered. “I’m sure you see the lunacy here. I’m going to say something to you, and only you, and I know how you have to respond, but I have to say it. Whoever the person is who is making the anonymous complaint is absolutely not NIKA material and has no business working here. If he or she doesn’t trust Stephanie and me to be just, then I’m not sure why we’d want them working here. They are poisonous and toxic.”

“Promise me you won’t repeat that outside this office.”

“I did say ‘only to you’.”

“You did, but you do have a tendency to rant.”

“It’s more than a tendency,” I chuckled. “But I won’t talk to Lee. Nor try any back-channel communication. So, if he does lawyer up?”

“I can’t say for sure, but in an adversarial court proceeding, we’d likely be forced to name the accuser.”

I chuckled, “Forced. Right. We’d do it in a heartbeat, because at that point it’s not up to Bob! That would mean, if my surmises are correct, that the accuser would have to agree to withdraw the claims to avoid being named.”

“Most likely, yes.”

“May I say that for the first time in my life, I think I actually WANT to be sued?” I asked with a smirk.

“That would fit your thinking on the matter.”

“No, what would fit my thinking on the matter is for me to talk to each of the staff who are involved, figure out what happened, and then mediate a solution, which COULD result in termination. In fact, I’d like you to offer that solution to both parties - Lee and the accuser. I think their responses will tell you everything you need to know.”

“I’ll have to run that by Stephanie and Bob, and I have to say I’m not sure it’s a good idea.”

“Why not? I’m President of NIKA and I’m responsible, according to my job description, for ensuring NIKA’s «kami», and this certainly fits well within. Make the offer, Consigliere.”

“Brains or signature on the contract?” Liz asked with a smirk.

“That tactic only works in certain very specific circumstances; this isn’t one of them.”

“Why do I suddenly have the feeling I’m missing some key information about the past?”

“You aren’t,” I chuckled, “If you remember my full disclosure, I dated Joyce, who’s Sicilian!”

Liz nodded, “That must have been more than a bit interesting!”

“For sure. Make the offer, please.”

“If Stephanie approves. You know Bob will object.”

“I wouldn’t expect any other reaction from him. Can I ask you one question, please?”

“You asking that question means I can’t promise to answer because you’re going to ask me something out of line.”

“Was the person who complained hired between the time when I stopped interviewing and when I started again? You’re not giving much away, given we nearly doubled in size, and I can reasonably deduce it wasn’t someone who’s worked here a long time because they’d have come to ME, not Bob.”

“Your analysis isn’t off,” Liz replied.

“Thanks.”

🎤 Birgit

“How did I get roped into this?” Dad asked as we walked into the theater to see The Princess Diaries

“You love it, Dad!” I giggled. “You and eighteen girls! And one of them is Suzanne!”

“So, Roger Ebert was wrong when he wrote in the Sun Times that the movie is a ‘swamp of recycled ugly duckling stories, with occasional pauses in the marsh of sitcom clichés and the bog of Idiot Plots’?,” Dad asked.

I rolled my eyes, “Oh, please! The book was awesome and that critic is WAY too old to see a movie meant for teenage girls!”