Chapter 29: New Directions

Danny, Helen and Ashley returned from California on a red eye flight arriving early Sunday morning and were greeted at Arrivals by a chipper looking Lynn who was holding Larissa’s hand. Of course, once unleashed, Larissa ran to Helen hugging her legs. Then she giggled happily when Danny lifted her up high over his head while Ashley and Lynn kissed as if they had not seen each other for almost a week. Even in their day and age, some people around them looked scandalized, not that either of them cared.

On the drive home — Lynn had taken Ashley’s BMW — they filled her in on what they had seen of Lucy’s new life, including her new friend and benefit provider Earl. In turn, Lynn gave them the news that something unusual was brewing at Westbrook headquarters. She did not know what, but she relayed an invitation to dinner with Tyler and Marsha on that same evening.

“It didn’t sound like attendance was optional,” she added. “Your dad seemed a bit — worried? Maybe more like apprehensive.”

“I called Dad on Thursday, and there was nothing amiss,” Ashley reported. “I hope it’s nothing medical.”

“Oh, shit! You’re right. Now you have me worried,” Danny said with a frown.

“I don’t think it’s that. I was manning the front desk at HQ for the last week to fill in for Ms. Ricardo, and both Tyler and Marsha were at work the whole day. They left early on Friday, but that was for dinner. I heard Marsha making a reservation for four people.”

“Maybe Dad found out about yet another kid?” Danny quipped, relieved that his worries were probably unfounded.

“You ass!” Ashley scolded him. “I guess we’ll find out if there’s anything wrong. So, Lynn, reception duty, huh?”

“Don’t mention it,” Lynn grumped. “You know they have uniforms for the reception people? Well, not in size XS apparently, or the supervisor wanted to have fun at my expense. I looked like a clown wearing a medium size costume the first day. Thank God Marsha saw me and gave orders to let me dress in my own outfits.”

“Getting special treatment already?” Danny needled her.

“No. Westbrook has three women’s apparel chains. Having a receptionist in a clown suit is bad for business.”

“There is that,” Danny agreed. “Still, did somebody take a picture?”

Lynn’s eyes narrowed dangerous. “You’re moving on treacherous ground, Danny-boy. I still have to get back at you for the balloon business, so be careful!”

At the house, they had a belated breakfast together after which Danny and Helen took turns playing with Larissa in the backyard. They skipped lunch but had coffee and cake later in the afternoon before they readied themselves for dinner at Rittenhouse Square. They took Ashley’s car since the booster seat was already mounted in it and arrived at the apartment with time to spare.

Marsha opened the door for them and quizzed them about Lucy even before they settled in the living room. Tyler was nowhere to be seen, but Marsha explained it.

“He is still in a video conference, but he should be finished soon. We will wait for Irina anyway before we start.”

Irina arrived only a few minutes later, giving them all hugs, and being quite upbeat, Danny thought. They engaged in easy chitchat for a while until Tyler emerged from his study, literally rubbing his hands.

“All settled, darling,” he told Marsha, before he greeted the young people. Danny noticed that Irina had nodded with satisfaction at Tyler’s words. Something was definitely brewing, and it was not health-related.

“Let’s stay here for now. I have stuff to tell you,” Tyler started. “Why don’t you sit and get comfortable?”

They settled in the creme-colored leather sofas while Tyler remained standing.

“Okay, here goes,” he started. “We have been recording a decided and steady drop of our sales and revenue over the last three years and across all stores except for the ufixit hardware chain and the TwoBucks. We can no longer deny that Amazon and Horizon are taking business away from us, despite our best efforts.”

“The TwoBucks are essentially a place for last minute gift shopping,” Marsha explained. “Our customers need the merchandise immediately and cannot wait for a parcel service to deliver. But even that may change, with the deliveries from the online stores getting better organized with time. Hardware sales are special too, since do-it-yourselfers go to the store Friday evening for their Saturday projects, and they usually come back for something they forgot.”

“Anyway, we’re not posting losses yet, but the time will come soon. We cannot compete for selection or price points in our brick-and-mortar stores. We still have customer service as selling point, but a trained and knowledgeable salesperson costs twice as much as a minimum wage shelf picker at a central shipping center. I guess Lynn and Danny covered that in their business courses at Penn?”

Lynn nodded, but Danny spoke up.

“I’ve been wondering about that, Dad. So what are your plans?”

Tyler grinned. “You guys heard of Bill Berlioz?”

“Founder and majority owner of Horizon Online Trading, or HOT. Currently the Nº3 online store, but moving in on Nº2,” Lynn supplied. “He also got started at the Westbrook store here in Philly after college. He went through management trainee program and moved to HQ after three years. Stayed on for another three years before starting his own thing.”

Everybody looked at Lynn.

“Come on! Mr. Conroy harped on that for almost a half hour during orientation,” Lynn explained.

“Lynn got that right,” Tyler smiled. “Yes, he’s a former employee, and he believes that we got him started well. I helped him a bit back then, introduced him to the money people and such, and he has no bone to pick with us. So Billy is now trying to encroach on the top dogs, but there is just so much business to be made from the target group of online shopping, young professionals, students, IT people. That group will grow soon, but right now, Billy has the idea to complement his online store with a brick-and-mortar presence. So two months ago, we had dinner, Marsha, I, Billy and Lilly, his wife, and he made me an offer for a merger, which I’m not interested in.”

“Neither am I,” Marsha added. “Their sales volume is easily three times of what we can boast, so we’d be the junior partner. Not something Tyler and I would relish.”

“Exactly. The way Billy wants to move forward will pretty much turn everything on its head. The Westbrook Corporation will be a vassal of Horizon. Plus, I’m sixty-three. I’m too old to adapt to playing second fiddle, even if that was the plan at all. So I told Billy if he wanted the stores, he’d have to buy them. So he went back to his own fortress of solitude, talked to his money people, his supply chain wizards and probably even to the guy who runs their cafeteria, and on Tuesday he made us an offer. Two-hundred-and-fifty million in cash and eight-hundred-eighty in Horizon stocks, meaning we’ll officially be billionaires. For that he gets the stores, the real estate, and the brand. I’ll not be allowed to develop any business in the Westbrook name, and neither are you. So, fifteen minutes ago, I accepted. Of course, there will be audits and his people will go over our balance sheets and inventories, but I see no problem with that.”

“Wow!” Danny blurted out. “So you’ll be retiring? Marsha too?”

Marsha shook her head. “A little bit, but we have a few ideas what to do with all that cash. We may be going into the venture capital business. Besides, the TwoBucks are not part of the deal, and I’ll continue to run them.”

“We’re telling you this because Danny is planning to apply for Wharton and other business schools. If your plan is to ‘give something back’ as you said, you may want to reconsider. If you think you want to study business for your own aspirations, go for it. Lynn, the same holds true for you. I doubt that Billy will keep up the management trainee program. If things turn pear-shaped for you under the new management, give them notice. I believe we’ll find the money to help you get into a good business school as well. Otherwise, I have a lot of contacts here in this city, and there will be opportunities for you to stay on your path in a different outfit. Ashley, this whole thing should not affect you much with the plans you indicated, and the same goes for Helen. So there, this is the beef.”

“What about you, Mom?” Danny asked Irina.

She even smiled a bit. “I’ll keep doing what I’m doing now. I like what I do, so I have no complaints or worries.”

“Okay, Dad, this development is new to me. Tentatively, I’d say that I’ll stick to my plans, but Helen and I will talk things over. Venture capital sounds interesting to me, but that’s still in the clouds, right?”

“It’s an idea we have to keep the rust away,” Tyler nodded. “Of course, Marsha will keep running the TwoBucks. Then again, what’s the use of all that money if we don’t spend some of it on ourselves, like doing some travels and enjoying ourselves? So she may delegate some of the managing to trusted employees.”

He looked at Irina with a smile saying this, and Irina looked taken aback for a moment. She rallied, though, and nodded.

“I’ll help however and wherever I can. That’s what I owe you two. Just give me the time to grow into things.”

“Could I maybe get transferred or something to the TwoBucks?” Lynn asked. “I’ll try to Duke it out in the trainee program, but I can’t see myself running efficiency analyses on the people in the trenches, and that’s what junior managers do at Horizon from what I read. How long will the transition take anyway?”

“I’d say that the lawyers will get started soon. So, perhaps by January we’ll have a draft contract, and by next spring the final contracts can be signed. That is, if there is no challenge from any of the watchdog agencies, which I don’t expect. Westbrook is not big enough and neither is Horizon to merit attention. We have to get busy, though, to keep the taxman from getting too much of a cut, so I guess the lawyers will have many hours to bill us for.”

“My advice is to continue your training, Lynn,” Marsha added. “If you get through the two years, you’ll have something on your resume already. Even the transitioning will be a valuable experience for you. By then, we’ll have a better idea about the future structure at TwoBucks. Up until now, everybody was preparing for the merger, and a lot of restructuring must be reversed. But yes, you’re family, and we expect great things from you, so we’re keeping you in mind while we plan things.”

“Thanks, Marsha. I can’t ask for more. Damn! I had been looking forward to being Danny’s boss!”

That caused some chuckles all around and Danny had to bite back a smart ass answer. Ashley piped up next.

“While you’re all buddies with Berlioz, could you sound him out about some internships in his outfit? Not to be negative, but stocking shelves in the TwoBucks was not the most rewarding experience of my life. E-commerce on the other hand has a lot of facets that I may find interesting, like customer interfacing and such. Horizon is pretty good in that regard and I’d like to learn if this is a viable direction for me.”

“Spring break?” Tyler asked.

“As early as possible. I can apply for design school and put a focus on web design. Even if Horizon turns out to be a bust, I won’t lose time, at least not much.”

“I won’t make it a bargaining point, but I can’t see why he’d refuse,” Tyler answered. “Helen? Any questions from you?”

Helen smiled. “I haven’t really made plans to be involved with Westbrook, except Danny Westbrook. Right now, I’m not affected by those changes you outlined. I’d offer my help, but then, who needs a college senior for advice? Of course, what Danny does next year will affect me, but we’ll discuss that among us.”

“Fair enough,” Tyler nodded. “I hope you didn’t lose your appetites because I think Mrs. Atwood has our dinner ready. Shall we?”

They relocated to the dining room where indeed the table was set for dinner. They discussed the impending changes a little more, but soon the conversation drifted to Lucy and what they saw while in the LA area. Ashley related the greetings from the store manager and former Westbrook employee and Danny passed Ricky Ryder’s regards to Irina, adding with a grin that Jennifer St. David had shown signs of jealousy seeing Irina’s picture. He could have sworn that Irina blushed a little hearing this.

On the way back to their house, the conversation returned to the topic of the buyout, focussing on the impact on their education and career plans. Of course, Lynn was affected the most and she was uneasy.

“Guys, it’s not so much about me, but some of the others in the trainee program are really okay people who’ll be affected perhaps even more. Now I know what’s looming ahead, and they don’t, and I can’t tell them. I know that Tyler and Marsha can’t announce things before everything is settled, but I still feel a little shitty about that.”

“I see where that can suck,” Danny agreed. “Then again, most of them will be tickled to get a foot into Horizon. I mean, Ash is right; they’re doing an awful lot of things right there. Marsha is right too. To be at a place in transition will be a valuable experience. You’ll also be able to see how the Horizon people operate at ground level.”

“I’ve heard stuff, and it’s not pretty,” Lynn said with a frown. “What if they transfer me somewhere shitty?”

“Wait! Not West Virginia?” Danny faux gasped.

“Or Detroit!” Helen topped him.

“Ha! Ha! Seriously.”

“Then you’ll give them notice, and you and I start to live a life of depravity. We’ll start smoking, wear those French berets and move to Paris, to Montmartre, and join the bohème,” Ashley answered deadpan. “Seriously? You worry way too fucking much. You’re my wife, and everybody in our family loves you. Do you really believe they’d let you hang high and dry?”

“I think she’s just pissed that she won’t be my supervisor,” Danny hazarded, making Lynn smile in the end.

“That’s a fact. So, Danny, you’re going to go through with applying to business schools?”

“I have a month or two to make up my mind,” Danny said seriously. “That was a serious monkey wrench that Dad threw in my spokes. I always figured I’d go for hardcore math, you know, a doctorate, but it’s so unreal at the higher levels. I thought going to business school I’d still do a lot of math and be able to help Dad and Marsha. Turns out, both did the math all right by themselves. This venture capital thing may be interesting, but where would my place be?”

“So, what you’re gonna do?” Helen asked.

“I guess I’ll look around. I’m doing quite well in informatics, and my grades in chemistry and biology are good, too. Maybe some chemistry or biology informatics? Bioinformatics is the current rage. It would be an interesting option.”

“You’d have to apply for a Ph.D. program,” Ashley pointed out.

“Yeah, but that’s what I planned with math in the beginning. As I said, I need to check out a few things.”

“I envy Helen,” Lynn said. “She’s completely unaffected by this.”

“Not really. It affects Danny, and that means it affects me.”

“Hell, there’s the five of us, if you count in Larissa. We’ll adjust and be fine,” Ashley had the last word, just as she turned into their street.

After a few days of contemplation, Danny scrapped his business school plans entirely. For the fall semester, he loaded up on advanced chemistry, biochemistry and bioinformatics, in the hope of finding out about his true vocation. Gathering information, he even found out that having some business background would be an advantage later on, since a lot of applied informatics is done in an industry setting.

Ashley adjusted her direction, too, taking on advanced informatics and web design classes. Lynn continued her training, careful not to let slip any of her knowledge of the developments, and feeling bad about it.

Not for long, though. In the first week of October, Tyler informed all his employees of the planned takeover by Horizon Online Trading, sending out a lengthy e-mail and detailing the reasons for the deal and the chances for everybody. It was quite a bombshell, Lynn reported, but she admitted that most of her fellow trainees indeed saw it as a great opportunity for them. With the cat now out of the bag, Lynn felt a little better.

Danny, Ashley and Helen’s senior year had started by then. As predicted, Eric Robertson did not come back. Rumor had it that he had avoided prison by turning witness and was given probation. He did not dare, however, to return to Penn, having pissed off his brothers by turning witness and by getting their fraternity’s affiliation revoked, but also because the female part of the Greek universe was on the warpath against him and his ex-buddies. Nevertheless, Helen had him and three of his ex-brothers served with PPOs, just to make it stick that she was done with him for cause, but also to rub some salt into his bitch of a mother’s wounds. She never heard from him or his parents, but Tyler tasked DiRosa security to keep tabs on them for a while, just to be on the safe side.

In early October, Liza had a week of leave and visited them in their new house. She was wearing new braces, courtesy of Uncle Sam, to correct two slightly crooked teeth, and she was a little self-conscious about them. Yet, she had a good time staying with them and enjoying Danny’s cooking, even joining him in the kitchen and getting a beginner’s course in pizza baking. While on base, in the evenings, she was also attending a few general requirement college classes, hoping to collect some credits for a future away from the Corps, or even in it. For Danny, it was amazing to see Lynn, Liza and their brother Jamie, as they were working their way up in the world in spite of their dismal upbringing.

Helen, and by extension Larissa and Danny, were also invited to spend Thanksgiving with her grandfather and his family. Since that holiday had never been a great deal with the Westbrooks, who until a few years ago had not had any family outside the three of them, they accepted. That was not all. The Lloyds also invited Trudy and Irina. The former accepted out of consideration for Helen, since she normally was not one to observe holidays. Irina had a different motivation. Seeing that they would be five, she determined that they had to make the trip in her Mercedes, and she brooked no dissent.

Therefore, on Nov 25, they left Philadelphia at half past six in the morning for the five hour trip. Irina and Trudy were sitting up front with Danny and Helen bracing Larissa in the rear seats. Irina was not an experienced driver, but she made up for that with single-minded concentration on her driving. She enjoyed it too, and even Trudy relaxed after a while. The car was a very smooth ride to be sure, and Danny was happy to have some time with Larissa.

They arrived in Clarksburg ten minutes before twelve and were greeted by the whole Lloyd family. Helen effected the introductions, and Trudy felt immediately comfortable with the elder Lloyds. Irina quickly warmed to Alyson Bryce who was a colleague of sorts and a fellow bargain hunter to boot while Oliver Bryce was noticeably tongue-tied around her. Danny and Helen noticed and had to suppress grins. Obviously, the good Oliver was no stranger to online porn.

Soon, they sat down at the dining table and Carly, helped by her daughter and granddaughters, began to serve the first course. The dinner was the classic roast turkey, filled with a delicious stuffing, with cranberry sauce, and homemade pasta. It was the whole nine yards, and an hour later, they felt stuffed themselves. They all pitched in then clearing the table and saving the pitiful leftovers before going out for a walk. Danny and Helen remembered the neighborhood, but Trudy and Irina took in the small town with interest. Olivia and Maddie held Larissa’s hands and stayed close to Danny and Helen, asking them lots of questions about their visit to Tinseltown and about Lucy. Giving it a try, Helen had texted Lucy and minutes later, she could show the younger girls a selfie of Lucy sitting in her backyard, cementing her reputation as the cool cousin who knew TV stars and basking in the girls’ admiring looks. Danny contributed a few pictures showing the girls, Helen, Ashley and Lucy, on their shopping tour on Rodeo Drive and during their hike in Coldwater Canyon.

They returned to the Lloyds’ house for coffee and homemade apple pie with whipped cream. Danny had to get a grip on himself to keep from overeating again and Carly Lloyd had to hear a lot of praise from all sides.

The Lloyds had done some digging in old photo albums, finding pictures — some of them in black and white — of Melissa Williamson from her time at the WVU teaching hospital. They were the typical snapshots young people make, shot during parties, but there was also the official graduation picture of their nursing school class. Melissa —Missy — Williamson had been quite the looker, Danny found, and he could see some of her looks in Helen.

At one point, Irina was asked about her own story. Giving a wry smile to Oliver Bryce, she told them of being raised in St. Petersburg, Russia, and coming to the US at the age of eighteen to be an adult actress. She left out the gory parts and only told them that she turned her back on the business six years before and was now an executive at the TwoBucks. Poor Oliver Bryce did not know where to look, not willing to admit his familiarity with some of Irina’s works, until Alyson patted his knee.