Chapter 18

“Mr Hargreaves, there is a message from the Chairman. He wants you to meet him in the boardroom at your earliest convenience.”

“Thank you, Jean. I’ll attend to it shortly.”

I knew perfectly well that the phrase ‘at your earliest convenience’ did not mean any such thing about my convenience. It meant ‘get off your butt and get here A.S.A.P.’

I saved and closed my files and took myself up to the boardroom. Getting there, I rapped on the door with my knuckles, and almost at once received the command, “Enter.” It was loud enough that I could hear it clearly through the door, which made me think the door should be soundproofed and an intercom be placed outside the door for communication.

Dismissing that thought for future reference, I opened the door and stepped inside to see who was present. Chairman Yeats was alone, standing by the boardroom table. Perched on the table were six bags and cases of various sizes and shapes.

“Ah, Hargreaves, come in. These are the bags of clothing requested by my daughters. I understand you will take them to the girls at the end of the day.”

“Yes, sir. That is what they have told me.”

“Then you can collect them now and put them in your car for that task. As I found, it takes three trips between the car and this room, so just walk in and collect them each time. I may or may not be here at the time. I have a meeting to attend at another of our companies after lunch and have to prepare for it.”

“In that case, Chairman, may I have a minute of your time to pass on some disturbing information?”

“Eh? What information?”

“In my local grocery store, sir, I was approached by the store manager; a man I know and trust. He told me that the other day one of his staff was spoken to by a man who asked if the Yeats twins did their shopping at that store. As per policy, she said she didn’t know, and reported the exchange to him as the manager. He knew I worked here, so asked if I could pass the information to you.”

“I see. Your thoughts on this event?”

“My mind went to their uncle Kevin, sir. I told the girls last night about the approach and they appeared ... unsettled. For myself, I know of no other person who might be seeking to locate them. You might have some ideas as to who else might make such an enquiry.”

“Hmm ... you may be right in your deduction. How do you feel about this?”

“Worried, or at a minimum, concerned. Any man who goes searching for relatives who dislike him is not a person to be encouraged. My latest thoughts are that the twins should remain hidden out of sight for longer, in hopes that the said Kevin loses interest in locating them. If he had any good intentions, surely he would have approached you first about their whereabouts? Has he made any overtures about them to you, sir?”

“None, Hargreaves. I am not happy about this development either. Ask the girls to phone me tonight, so I can talk it over with them. They may need my reassurance.”

“Yes, sir. I will do that. Any particular time for the call, sir?”

“Let me have my evening meal first. I have been eating out a lot lately, so say, after eight p.m.”

“Right, sir. Eight it is, or a little later. I will begin moving these bags to my car right now.”

He was right about the logistics. I could carry a single bag or suitcase in each hand, so it was three trips at two items per trip. I carefully locked my car after each visit to it. I did not want any pilfering from the car park during my temporary absences.

Emerson collared me during my final trip to the car, asking what I was doing.

“Transferring bags of clothes to my car for the twins, sir. The Chairman asked me to deliver these from him.”

“Oh. That’s fine then. Why do they need so many clothes?”

“They expect to stay longer at our home, Mr Emerson, so they wanted to transfer things that they might need. I delivered a list of wants yesterday.”

“Is there a timetable to this longer stay, Jimmy?”

“Nothing definite, sir. I am merely following their instructions; I have learned from your daughters that I should listen to them, as you know.”

He grinned in recognition. “Yes, women expect their man to follow orders; in your case in triplicate. You have found that, eh?”

“Yes, sir, but I am glad to be able to do things to keep my ladies happy.”

“You expect to keep that attitude going for years to come, Jimmy?”

“Yes, sir; most definitely. They treat me well, so I treat them well. Cooperation is a good basis for success in most ventures, and in marriages as well.”

“Good for you. Give them my love.”

“I will, sir.”

When I got home, I found I had beaten the ladies this time, so they were not prepared to greet me in their new style. I teased them about it, but none were bothered, and I got my kisses as I met each one. Lily and Flora seemed to be vying for the title of ‘best kisser of the day’, and I was pleased they were still so keen after losing their virginities last night and this morning. No complaints about being sore; not that I expected any; their hymens had fortunately not been much of a problem for them or me.

They were delighted to get their bags and cases of clothing, but agreed to wait until dinner was past before opening them. I was glad, for a man packing clothes can never be expected to do it correctly in the eyes of women. Them opening their own luggage after a good feed would have better vibes for me as well as for them.

The delayed evening meal was announced as having been prepared primarily by the twins, in celebration of joining our family in a physical way. They were feeding their husband; that was their primary target tonight. My other wives made no mention of this new status, but I knew this meant they had done all their talking at some point during the day, long before I got home, so I would not feel embarassed by what they were saying about me to the twins.

I congratulated my new wives on the excellent standard of the meal, and the blushing brides told me they were going to spend an hour or two unpacking all their clothes, inspecting them for defects, and hanging them in appropriate wardrobes and chests of drawers. I suddenly panicked: Did I have enough storage space for their clothing? But Sharl spotted my terrified look and patted my arm to comfort me.

“We found enough wardrobe space for them to use, Jimmy, but a visit to a furniture warehouse might be on the cards.”

I relaxed and thanked her for her anticipation of the possible problem.

“Thanks, Sharl. Work out what is needed and we can correct any deficiencies. We don’t need a shortfall, as you are all going to buy new clothes. I expect you are not disposing of what you have, or am I wrong?”

She said, “They have plenty of wear in them yet, dear. You know how little they get used. We are adding more, so that we will never show up as less than perfect wives. Oh, another thing: I phoned our hairdresser about a home appointment for the five of us, and she and a colleague will visit us in the evening, day after tomorrow. That is the best she could offer. Is that okay with you?”

“Yep. Just means we wear clothes that evening. Where do you expect the hairdressing to be done?”

“Preferably the kitchen, and possibly the downstairs bathroom, depending on space requirements and timing. The smooth floor coverings are essential: simpler to clean up; no carpets to grab hair clippings or any drips from liquids used in hair styling.

“Sounds complicated. Okay if I just stay out of sight? I can sit at my computer and catch up with my emails and read any stories I fancy, or watch a video on U-Tube.”

Sharl eyed me up before demanding, “No erotic stuff, Jimmy. We can give you plenty of erotica at home, if you want it.”

“Yes, dear. Can I come and undress you once the hair ladies have gone?”

“If you fancy doing that, yes, but avoid mussing my new hair style.”

“I will take great care to avoid your hair, Sharl. Instead, lips, breasts, ass and pussy will be my targets, I do believe.”

She gave me a playful push with the flat of her hand. “Situation normal: me fucked up, eh?”

I smiled playfully.

“If you prefer it that way, Sharl.”

“I think I do; so do the other girls. Damn! I hope we are still like this in ten years time.”

“I hope so too, Sharl my darling.”

At eight p.m. I reminded Lily and Flora to call their father. Flora wanted to know what they could tell him.

“For now, nothing important, Flora. He knows about the store questioning. Tell him about having the hairdresser calling in a day or two, and what you do around the house, cooking and so forth, to be helpful to your hosts. Let him tell you what he thinks about the man at the store asking about you, and use that as an excuse to stay here for longer. That gives us a breathing space.”

They did that when they made the call, and after he said he had concluded it had been their uncle being obnoxious, they moved to domestic matters. Their father sounded somewhat bored, hearing about routine female chatter. He felt he had to respond in kind, and told them about their mother.

“I visited your mother yesterday, girls. She is starting to improve, at least that is what Maeve told me. She was there before me, yesterday.”

That startled the twins, who demanded the identity of this mysterious Maeve.

“Your mother’s younger sister, girls.”

“Who? You and Mum never mentioned a sister, Dad.”

“We didn’t?”

“No. We’d love to meet her, Dad. Does she have any children? It would be great to meet and get to know some cousins.”

“She doesn’t live locally, girls, so she is seldom in town. She didn’t get on with your mother for many years, so that’s another reason you haven’t met her.”

Lily put in, “But you haven’t even mentioned her existence, Dad. Don’t you have pictures of her? Come to think of it, we don’t have wider family photo albums at home, do we? Just ourselves as we grew up.”

“We have, Lily, but they are in my study where I live now most of the time.”

“Dad, you haven’t told us, even now, anything about Aunt Maeve.”

“Yeah,” added Flora. “How old is she; is she married; where does she live? Can we go visit her?”

Chairman Yeats stopped her in mid flow.

“Flora, slow down. Let me get a word in.”

“Okay, Dad; so, give.”

“She is two years younger than your mother. She is not currently married, and has three children.”

“Oh, goodie!” exclaimed Flora. “We have cousins, then.”

“Yes. Two boys and a girl. Two are slightly younger in ages to yourselves; one a trifle older.”

“So when can we see them, Dad?”

“I have no idea. It will depend on Maeve and your Mum coming to an agreement. Remember, they have not been on speaking terms for many years.”

“But if she is visiting Mum at the clinic, they must be speaking now,” suggested Lily.

“Not necessarily. She may have been able to see your mother through a glass partition or window and get the latest gen from the clinic staff, yet not be talking with her. Withdrawal symptoms can make an alcoholic uncooperative.”

“Oh, I see. Wait: Uncle Kevin; Maeve is his sister too. Why hasn’t he mentioned her at all?”

“That was up to him, girls, but from what you have told me about him and his activities, perhaps he was another reason for her staying away from us. He wouldn’t want to mention a sister that wouldn’t speak to him and avoided him entirely, would he?”

“I don’t expect so. Dad, can we tell our h ... host Jimmy about Aunt Maeve?”

“As you now know about her, he will eventually get to know also, the way you two chatter about everything, so you can tell him now. But inform him the information is not for public consumption.”

Flora called out to me, “Jimmy love, we have an aunt and cousins we didn’t know about!”

I called back, “Wonderful. Finding relatives is great news!”

Mr. Yeats said in a puzzled tone, “Jimmy love? Isn’t that being a trifle familiar with Mr Hargreaves?”

She responded as if saying nothing special, “Yes, Dad, but Jimmy is a lot more familiar to us now, almost like one of the family.”

“Oh? Well, take care, my girl. Your mother brought you up to be very careful of boys and men. The same principles apply here.”

“Dad? We are both eighteen now; adults, able to make our own decisions. That includes decisions about men.”

“I suppose so. Remember what you were told, all the same.”

“Yes, Dad. We were told by Mum to only choose a man we could trust completely; a man who would not stray.”

“I remember. She was quite strong about that.”

Flora shrugged and said in a petulant voice, “I have no idea why she said that. It is not as if every man is likely to go looking for sex elsewhere. Most of them are reliable, and if they get plenty of sex at home, there is no incentive to stray.”

“Flora, there is no need to talk in that way.”

“We know, Dad. It was you, or I suppose Mum, who introduced the idea in the first place.”

“Then we can drop it, Flora,” her father instructed severely.

“Yes, Dad. When you see her again, give our love to Maeve.”

“I’ll do that, girls.”

The conversation tailed off and soon ended with promises of later calls from both sides.

Once the phone was off, I asked the twins, “What was that all about, girls? An aunt you hadn’t heard of? Never?”

“Yes, Jimmy. It was a surprise to us,” said Lily. “You would think that Mum would want to tell us about growing up with her sister, wouldn’t you? After all, when would they stop talking to each other and why? It is most odd.”

I mused, “You hear about these family secrets in other families, but you never expect to have one in your own family!”

“It seems kind of ‘off’ in a way. Have you any idea what could be the cause of such a disruptive calamity?”

“None that comes to mind. Best I can suggest is that your aunt did something that so offended your Mum that she cut her off from all contact with her family. What that could be, I can’t imagine.” I revised my statement, “But sometimes a clash of religious adherence can do that to a family. I recall hearing from a guy about how one branch of his family would never eat at the same table with anyone not an adherent of their church. The rest of the family were quite offended at the ostracism.”

We had to leave it at that, for we didn’t have enough information for a sensible discussion. The remainder of the evening was devoted to me being devoted to my wives, and giving expression to that devotion. Lily and Flora were learning a bit more every day, until at last we risked showing them the row of three fucks competition, to see who got my sperm. They thought it was hilarious, and demanded they should participate next time.

In the morning, after dispensing a hearty breakfast, I went off to work and sat down at a desk to think about sales expenditure. I finally had the bright idea of consulting the finance department, to see if they could help with some details.

It turned out that they had files of accounts paid for every division, and every heading within the division. I asked about expenses for advertising, and my willing finance conspirator, Tim Newbury, produced file after file. If he didn’t have the actual paper account, he had a digital copy recorded, so that the auditors could demand anything and get to see it on screen.

Thus it was that I had hordes of bills from newspapers for ads, bills from all sorts of media publications, and even bills for preparing the advert for sending to the publication. This was where it suddenly got more interesting.

The bills for placing the adverts were consistent in amounts, and easily recognisable as standard charges for placing an advert. The fees from the ad service, to prepare the advert’s layout and content, including illustrations, seemed to me to be outrageously high; about three times what I would expect.

I asked Tim, “Do we have any other ads that we place, apart from those of the Sales department?”

He offered, “Well, there are the ads for new staff, and those when we have a sale of redundant equipment, everything from replaced computers to excess chairs and filing cabinets. As we move to digital working, we need less filing cabinets each year.”

“So you would have accounts for someone preparing such adverts for publication?”

“Of course. Do you want to see some?”

“Yes, please!”

He produced several before long, and I was surprised to find that A. they were all from Copies, the company that Sales used to place ads, and that B. the invoice preparation amounts charged to other divisions were so much lower than those to the Sales division.