Chapter 29: Neighbors

Jenny brought in a standard FedEx box and started to open it on the coffee table in Dave’s office. Dave got up from his desk and walked over.

He asked, “What’s that?”

Jenny smiled, “A gift for you and all of us.”

As the box got opened, she dumped the contents on the coffee table. About fifty cellphone batteries cascaded onto the table, some sliding almost to the edge. Each was wrapped in heavy cellophane.

Jenny crowed, “This is part of the first production batch from the Phoenix plant. They’re now running at full capacity. Oregon is right behind them. Apple will receive their first shipment today. The China plant already has them going into the new phone models. We think Apple will announce the new phone next week, at least that’s what JR told me before she left for Europe.”

“Did all her appointments come together for her? Who’s she seeing first?”

“First will be in Espoo, Finland, to meet with Nokia. Given the time difference she’s probably already finished that meeting. I expect we’ll get a call here before long. They’re seven hours ahead of us.”

A short while later, Deborah came running down the hall, “Dave! Dave! Pick up the phone. JR is calling from Finland of all places.”

Dave got on the right extension a minute later and put her on speaker so Nikky and Jenny could hear her. JR screamed, “We got a huge deal! They want everything we can give them, and they see that we will give them a huge edge in every part of their business. It’s not only cell phones. It’s every appliance they can think of. We haven’t even added it all up, but the annual number has to be in the multi-billion. They wanted to do a ten-year lock-up. I explained that we wouldn’t do exclusive lock-ups because we already have customers in their industry segments. They were disappointed, but went for the deal anyway. Our IPO is going to be so sterling with all of these orders; we’ll have a much higher valuation.”

Dave and Nikky asked a few questions, and then ended the call so JR could get some sleep before she embarked on the next leg of her trip. Dave assembled some of the other managers and shared the news that JR had reported. There were many happy smiles and applause at the end of the announcement.

Dave called out later, “Jenny, could I get an accurate employee count, say as of the close of the quarter. Also, in one place, I’d like a compendium of the major contracts we have pending and in place. Next, I’d like a capacity estimate for our production volumes for the various product SKUs we’re starting to ship. And,...”

Jenny interrupted by holding her hand up, “In the corner of your messy desk is a loose-leaf notebook that Nikky and I put together with the help of many others including Alice who had the original idea for the book. It has all of that stuff in it, and loads of other information about how EneRG is functioning. I update it almost every day, but you pile things on it instead of looking at it.

“We also did a SWOT analysis and that’s in there with the remediations underway to reduce the ‘Weaknesses’ and ‘Threats’ categories. JR and Alice contributed to much of it so she’s working on augmenting our ‘Strengths’ and ‘Opportunities’. There are a few other things in there, too, such as our Critical Success Factors.”

Dave glanced at his desk. “When did that arrive?” He pointed at the loose-leaf notebook.

Jenny grinned, “You have the first edition. It’s about two weeks old, but we plan to keep it updated weekly unless you need the helicopter view more frequently.”

Dave asked, “May I take it home to read?”

Jenny laughed, “You’re the CEO. You can do anything you damn well please. Alice, JR, and Nikky also have copies. I share Nikky’s.”

Dave snorted, “I’ll take it home so long as I don’t make you or Nikky mad at me. Or Alice. Or JR. Or Larry. Or Deborah. Or anybody else in the company.”

“That’s not your nature.”

“I bet I can ask for something that’s not in your book.”

Jenny shrugged and looked at him expectantly.

“I’d like no more than two pages on the Culture and Ethos of EneRG. That’s the glue that is holding this place together. Is it sound and firmly based, or are we waffling all over the map? What do we want it to be?”

Jenny said, “I’ll be sure it’s in there within a couple of days. You’re worried about that for the Circle as well, right?”

“Correct. I’m talking to people at home about the same things for the Circle, but I need someone like you who understands the trenches to tell me what’s going on here.”

Dave sat with Matthew and Rose on either side of him. Matthew was learning how to calculate the area of various mathematical shapes – squares, triangles, rectangles, circles and other peculiar shapes. Dave explained, “When you have a really peculiar shape like this one the teacher gave you what would you do?”

Matthew jumped in, “Well, based on what you said, I’d make it into a triangle at this end and a half-circle at the other with the rectangle in the middle.”

Dave prodded him to do the arithmetic to calculate the answer. He then turned to Rose. She was learning how to add fractions together. Dave questioned her, “Which is the denominator?”

Rose pointed, “The bottom number.”

“Right, but in the problems that you have as homework the bottom numbers are different, so what do you do?”

The lessons went on, back and forth until all the homework the kids had was done. As the two youngsters – Dave’s stepson and stepdaughter – got up from their seats, they greeted the new person. “Hi, Mrs. Fuller. My Dad is a great teacher. I understand what the teacher was talking about now. She wasn’t very clear.”

Ginny chuckled, “Sometimes, a little individual attention is all it takes to get over some hurdle.”

“Dad, what’s God?” Rose asked in her innocence.

Ginny chuckled, “Can I get this?” Dave nodded. “God is the energy source that makes you and everything around you go. I prefer to call it source energy became so many people associate God with a big old man in the sky with a white beard, a white robe with gold ‘G’ embroidered on the pocket, and a bunch of kids that look like cupids flying around. THAT is NOT a real person and that is not God.

“If you can align your inner self with this source energy you tap into EVERYTHING!” Ginny spread her arms wide. “And then there’s nothing that you can’t do. You have to really want to do what you want though.”

Matthew followed up, “Is that the same as spiritual energy?”

Ginny responded, “In a word, yes.”

Dave smiled at Ginny, “And you are the great teacher, too, Mrs. Fuller.”

Ginny said, “I met Ross Buchman the other night. He and I think alike on this stuff. He’s the minister; I’m just a ‘lay’ person.” She smirked at Dave, exploiting her pun.

After a few more words, Matthew and Rose walked on the footpath that led towards Scarlett’s home where Athena was going to watch the children that evening. They were all going to make pizzas together.”

Ginny said, “Do they understand why they are asked to go together to a home away from the core and the patio?”

Dave smiled, “Matthew and Rose do. They know the adults make love together – that they have sex. They have what I call an age-appropriate level of understanding about sex education. They both have the complete picture without getting too specific or blow-by-blow. The younger kids are just starting to get exposed to some of what goes on in the Circle and why.”

Ginny smiled, “On a separate but related topic, Bob and I would like to invite you and ... your wives ... to a barbecue with us and the other neighborhood couples you know just outside the gate on Sunday afternoon and evening.”

Dave nodded, “I doubt all six will be able to come with me, but I’ll put out the word. I accept. I’ll let you know about the others before this time tomorrow. That’s a good night this week because Bobbie, our chef, is taking the night off to visit friends with her wife and Logan, so everyone is on their own for dinner.”

Ginny nodded. “I knew that. I also guessed that if I asked on a regular night when everyone would be gathering for dinner as you usually do that you’d wiggle and squirm because you want to be with your friends and lovers.”

Dave said, “There’s probably some truth to that. I wouldn’t have thought about it, but you’re right. It’s part of our culture. We like being with each other, and it’s not that we don’t want to be with you. We want you to come and be with all of us, too.”

Ginny said, “I hope someday that will be the case. Bob and I finished reading the scrapbook; in fact, I just put it back in your library with the other copy Ike and Carol had been reading. This sure is an unusual place, but I like this in preference to anything I’m seeing outside your gates. Moreover, with the abductions, kidnapping attempts, major airplane problems on a commercial jet, and so on, various Circle members have had some interesting events in their lives.”

Dave asked, “What do you see when you look at us from the outside? Forget, if you can, what you read, or at least blur the headlines.”

Ginny sat down where Matthew had been seated and looked up at the sky for a minute. She finally said, “Big picture. I see a group of people that love each other, who conduct themselves with each other in ways to promote that love and minimize unwanted drama, and who find joy in being and being with each other. Drama seems to find some of you, however.

“I see a group that believes in equality and diversity of everyone whether in the group or not, and that defines their own rules about relationships – most of which stand in contrast to most of society and in many cases the law.

“The group expresses their sexuality safely, freely and openly; avoids pretension and possessiveness; and that gives unconditional love. You all love the human body in all its sizes, shapes, and textures. I think you’re also very welcoming of new friends, but you personally struggle with that, more so as the Circle has grown.”

Dave said, “You’re right. Many of the early people that joined the Circle I helped bring in personally. Now, I’m finding there are other avenues for potential members to appear and I’m not involved. That worries me.”

Ginny shook her head, “No, what worries you is your fear that the group I just described disappears and gets replaced by something else: a cult, a group of unrestrained swingers who only value only lust and sexual orgasms, a religious sect, or worse, that it breaks apart and people scatter far and wide.”