Chapter 30

“Slowly. She sees Jimmy every day, so that helps. I was wondering if we could now introduce her to our dad, and to Lily and Flora’s father, as other examples of nice men.”

“Why not? Go for it, Sharl; be the leader you want to be.”

“I had another thought, Marjory,” Sharl revealed. “Perhaps, as we want Jenny to appear older, a padded bra?”

“Great idea, Sharl! I take it we need to visit a city shop to sort that out for her?”

“Yes. I thought we could take her there tomorrow. Sorry, you’ll be at work.”

“Yeah, but you really want Elizabeth and Isabella to go with you. Jenny will look like a younger sister of Isabella, and so the shop won’t bat an eyelid at a request for Elizabeth’s little girl.”

“And also us three sisters, Marjory” Sharl corrected her. “Me, Cherry and Charlotte have grown our boobs beyond comfort with our old undies, so we all need new bras, probably maternity bras at that.”

“Oh, of course. You have bulging bellies, and also expanded busts. It will be a few months before I get to that stage.” She patted her own slightly rounded midriff and smiled in satisfaction. “Jimmy is going to love being a daddy for all our kids.”

Sharl smiled back, a fierce grin suddenly on her face. “I want to see him having to change diapers on our children. That will teach him to fuck babies into us.”

Marjory gave a short laugh. “Perhaps, but only enough to show him how much effort we girls put into being mothers. No need to put him off entirely, for I want more than one child.”

Sharl reacted, “Dammit, you are right! I want more than one myself. Okay, we simply teach him what being a mother means in work terms, so he appreciates it, then encourage him to be a hands-on father, to play his part in looking after his children, including their messes and the smell of poop.”

I missed all of that, fortunately. They could have their shopping trip for lingerie all by themselves. I certainly didn’t want to be with them in the shop. I did wonder, though, what might be playing at the theater. I fancied something that lifted my spirits; not a drama that had you on the edge of your seat all the time. I recalled watching a performance in the UK of the farce “The Importance of being Earnest,” by Oscar Wilde, broadcast on TV many years ago to a huge audience, me and my parents among them. Perhaps I was missing something by not attending the theater since coming home to the US.

Jenny joined us for our evening meal, but still at the opposite end of the table from me. At least I got a shy smile from her when our eyes met.

Next morning was affected by another two staff off with the flu, as well as two from Yeats Engineering. The engineering losses were covered by the trainees moving in to fill the gaps, so it was Copies that had the problem. Jim Orkney had to recruit two more temporary helpers to keep the flow of orders supplied. I was into the way of things and was able to speed up my activity, while the new volunteers were tediously slow, determined to get the picking accurate. That thankfully prevented errors.

Marjory stepped in to keep the database updated with the outflow and new arrivals of stock. I was not surprised that she was familiar with the database set-up. That woman is multi-talented.

We also got a message from EJM Distribution. Their drivers were starting to drop off with flu, so their boss was now prioritising deliveries, to ensure the most urgent got action first, while he sent emails to the other businesses to alert them to the medically-enforced possible delays. Most companies appreciate knowing what is going wrong with their supplies network, so they can anticipate things and adjust their work flow accordingly. They were probably coping with similar illness problems themselves.

Fortunately none of our staff off ill were seriously afflicted, but when Mr Emerson had to go home, feeling poorly, we all started to worry. With me and his secretary sharing the one cabin, we were concerned that the virus might take us out as well. Mr Yeats demanded that his own personal doctor visit Emerson to give us a prognosis. Usually the older you are, the more you are affected by the influenza virus except in the case of the World War One influenza virus which targeted the young and fit men, and far too often killed them. Every year the flu virus mutates slightly, thus a single vaccine cannot be repeated next year; you need a new vaccine each year, and most people do not get that tailored vaccine.

I had to advise the three of my wives who were Emerson’s daughters, not to visit him while he was ill. I warned them that it was well known that pregnant women can be hard hit by the flu virus, or their fetus might be, so they must stay clear of the flu-bitten relative.

Marjory asked me if I might be an unwitting carrier, as might she, with cases occurring within the Copies staff. I said I didn’t know, but was willing to isolate myself for a few days until I found myself remaining well, or ill. If I got ill, I would have to isolate myself from the family, possibly in a motel room with minimal contact.

“Well, darling, if either of us shows flu symptoms, I think we should isolate together. We can find ways to pass the time...”

I glared at her, pretending to be severe.

“Nice though that might be, it would be unfair on the others, Marjory.”

“I suppose so. It was just a thought, Jimmy; just a thought.” Marjory smiled at me, and left it at that.

We were glad to get home with no new concerns at work. Our own drivers seemed unaffected to date, which helped immensely with our local deliveries, and resultant cash flow. I had a thought, and rang the security company to ask if the flu was affecting their ability to guard our boundaries. I was assured that should anyone go off sick, they had a few part-timers that they used occasionally, and these men would fill in if required. The part-timers had at some time all gone through basic training for their tasks.

Two days later, I had a call from the police captain.

“Mr Hargreaves,” he started and I thought if he is using my surname, it is important business. “I would like you to ask Jenny to write another letter to her parents.”

“That is curious, Captain Thomson. It is only a couple of weeks since she last wrote. Is there a particular need for a letter at this time?”

“Well, yes; of a sort. My contacts further along the line have found indications that someone in the force here may be trying to tamper with such sensitive deliveries.”

“Ah. You mean, trying to get a clue on Jenny or her parents’ whereabouts?”

“Yes. There is not enough evidence yet to pinpoint the spy in our midst, so we think another letter would give us a chance, as we know roughly what to expect this time.”

“Do they make tracers tiny enough to be stuck to a letter?” I asked.

“I can’t answer that for you, Mr Hargreaves. All I can say is that all our best talents and resources are on this. We never put up with rats in our numbers, and always root them out if we find them.”

“Are you going to collect the letter again, so that only you know where it came from?” I questioned.

“That would be sensible, Mr Hargreaves,” he replied. The fewer people that know anything about it, the better, as it narrows down the possible culprits.”

“Right. I’ll get her to write it today. Keep it uninformative, you think?”

“Not like what you are thinking. She can write anything about her life, but nothing about the location, or mention by name anyone she knows, or anything that identifies you as her foster parents, or even what city you are in. Make sure that it gets written that way.”

“I get you. We’ll read it through when she gets it done. Not even the current weather conditions can be added, as that gives a suggestion of whereabouts we live. Possibly I’ll ask her to write about her past memories of home before all this started; much safer.”

We agreed he would collect the letter tomorrow, and concluded our call.

Jenny was easily convinced to write another letter to her folks, but was less enthusiastic about it being edited, so Marjory explained that it was to protect her parents in case anyone else was able to read it on the way. That helped persuade her, and later I got to read it through. It was a typical early teen letter; simplistic yet sincere. It conformed to the template we wanted, so we approved her work and sealed it in an envelope addressed simply to Mum and Dad.

When Captain Thomson came to the door and asked for the letter, Sharl was there to hand over the missive without comment. He tucked it away in a pocket of his jacket, and thanked her.

“Tell Jenny it will get to her parents in a few days, and as soon as it is safely possible, we’ll get her a reply back.”

On arrival at the warehouse, I was met by Mr Emerson’s secretary.

“Mr Hargreaves, Chairman Yeats has asked me to have you arrange the vaccination of all the people on Top Flight industrial estate. He has his doctor coming with two nurses and an adequate supply of flu vaccine this morning. He wants them to use the Boardroom as the vaccination center for the Group, and you should get all the staff to enter in turn. He says that the doctor expects to do two vaccinations every five minutes at a minimum, so keep the staff coming at that rate.”

I thought this was a bit late to start vaccinations, for any vaccination takes up to a fortnight to ramp up to full effectiveness, but better late than never is a valid truism.

I got to work on organising a procession to the Boardroom. For those who were hesitant about getting a shot, I told them it was a chance to see the new Boardroom in all its glory. For any doubters, I informed them that first, all the medical evidence said that it cuts the chances of illness massively; secondly, it protects you from passing flu to your family if you catch it at work; and three, it protects the entire workforce: your fellow workers. You wouldn’t want your family to get ill because of you, would you?

My final persuasion for those with strong vaccination fears was to say that not accepting a flu shot would result in their staff record stating ‘non-cooperative with company medical policy’, which would make applying for a job elsewhere less likely to be successful. I was fairly sure that the company’s medical insurance would also be affected for such individuals, but until I could clarify that, I would keep it in reserve. If anyone wanted the right to refuse vaccination, the insurance company would likewise probably refuse to accept him for medical insurance. Your right to refuse is matched by the company’s right to refuse, and the latter has a wider impact on your general health than simply getting flu. Lack of medical insurance could kill you.

Fortunately, everyone I spoke to was happy to get a free vaccination from the company. I promised them that I would be asking the Chairman to make it an annual event before future flu seasons, and that got another good response.

I had to ask the head of each section to release one person at a time to go get the shot without disrupting the work schedule. They saw the sense in this, and all were cooperative. It did mean that occasionally there was a temporary queue for the shot, but at the fast rate the medics were administering them, a short wait was acceptable.

As soon as all our workforce were dealt with, I reminded the doc and his nurses that there was a national distribution company on the industrial estate, and Chairman Yeats wanted them vaccinated too, so that there would be no transmission of the flu between the companies. I also told him about our accommodation on the base, remarking, “There are six or seven pregnant women in residence. Are they safe to have the flu shot?”

The doctor was reassuring, naturally assuming it to be a mother and baby home.

“No problem. They will benefit from the shot, and the incidence of side effects in minimal. You are in more danger crossing a road or driving an auto at any time, then getting an adverse reaction from this vaccine. It acts against four variants, not just the one type.”

He elected to visit our home before moving to EJM Distribution, so this gave me an opportunity to phone the boss of that company, Charles Fairfield, and tell him of their free vaccinations coming. He was effusive in his reply, as he had already heard.

“Chairman Yeats phoned to warn me that he was financing flu shots for everyone on the air base; he still calls it that! This is an unexpected bonus to moving here. My staff will be delighted, especially those that travel the country. I told Mr Yeats that we had a first aid responder among our staff, who is trained to administer shots of any kind, so the doc can leave a number of shots with us to do our absent drivers, as and when they get back from their trips. This will let the doc get back to his normal work and cut down on his charges to Mr Yeats.”

I offered, “I am pleased that you are so well organised, Mr Fairfield. Let me know if there is any other help we can give.”

“You guys are doing great, son. I am praising you to all my friends in the industry. Top class security, a good rental price, and now health care; what’s not to like about Top Flight Estate?”

We laughed together, and said goodbye.

I returned my attention to my picking work at Copies, but first I decided to report in to the Chairman. I phoned his number and found him at home.

“Ah, James my boy. How are the vaccinations going?”

“Extremely expeditiously, sir. No objectors here; all done, indeed a very cooperative bunch in our Group, and I have requests for this to become an annual event, if the company purse will allow it. I said I would ask for it.”

“Young fellow, the whole idea is a sensible business decision on my part. Cut down absences through illness, and we get better production as well as staff who appreciate this extra perk.”

I told him, “Good business with other companies too. I have just spoken with Charles Fairfield at EJM, and he was effusive in his praise for the Yeats Group’s treatment of its tenants. You got a hit with that, sir.”

“Again, good business, Jimmy my boy. A happy tenant will encourage more interest in our estate.”

“Yes, sir, that was evident,” I agreed at once. “So might this be repeated annually, as I suggested?”

“I expect so. It is a logical progression from today. How are my ... your family?”

“Everyone is healthy for now, sir, and the ladies all got their flu shots a short time ago, so if we keep them away from the epidemic for the next ten days, we should be all right.”

“Good, good. Keep up the good work, Jimmy, and keep me posted.”

I promised to do so, and returned to my own workload, with picking orders for Copies getting the priority. There seemed to be an increase in either heavier items or total weight of smaller items, so it was a more energetic activity today. I expected that it was an increase in demand for our stock, and that pleased me.

I must ask Jim Orkney if the demand is resulting from our extensive online inventory on the website. If it is, we should make certain that the website listing is entirely up to date at all times, with no lapse in that regard.

I was tired at the end of the day, and Marjory noticed. She mentioned it to the other girls when we got home, and they insisted that I eat then get to bed for a decent sleep for a change. I was astonished at their willingness to forego our usual sexual antics, but at the same time relieved, for I was indeed exhausted. I was not used to so much physical work.

Next morning, I woke with a splitting headache. Charlotte had slept with me to keep me warm, and her voluptuous bosom did just that, but now she reacted, “Jimmy! Your face is white; you look terrible.”