Chapter 58: Birthday Fantasy Denied

May 28, 2002, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Steve

“I take it this is about Hope Schobert?” I asked when Bob came to see me on Tuesday morning.

“Yes.”

“As I wrote on the form, she’s a family friend who I’m mentoring. I’ve known her mom since High School, and her mom and Kara were friends and went to the same church while they were in High School. The first time I met Hope was when she was maybe a day old, when Kara and I went to visit Hope’s mom in the hospital. Given she’s a family friend, I don’t feel requiring me to cut off social contact is reasonable.”

“You and I discussed this concern before.”

“We did, and what you appear to be telling me now is that anyone who I am friends with should not be allowed to work for NIKA unless I destroy the relationship. That’s not acceptable, and you’d never apply that to anyone else. You want to say she can’t work for me, that’s fine, she won’t. I have other long-term friends and acquaintances who may, at some point, want to work here or have their kids work here. And I won’t sunder any friendships to make that happen.”

“Are you finished?” Bob asked.

“Yes, I’ve said my piece.”

“I came here to let you know that Elyse filled me in on the family history, and your relationship with them, and convinced me that I should not object, with the caveat that you agree not to offer any discretionary compensation during her career here.”

“I’m sorry,” I said apologetically. “I jumped to a conclusion and should have listened to you before I went off on my rant. You have my sincerest apology.”

“Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, you’d have been right. Always going with your gut without full details can get you into real trouble that final one percent of the time.”

“Point taken. Next time I’ll wait to hear what you have to say. And thanks, Bob.”

He left, and a few minutes later, Penny returned from her break.

“Bob giving you grief about Hope?” she asked.

“On the contrary, he’s supportive.”

“I don’t believe it!”

“Believe it!”

My phone buzzed, and I saw Stephanie was calling. I picked up the receiver, and she asked me to come to her office. I got up and walked there via the «yōshitsu» room.

“What’s up?” I queried, closing the door to her office behind me.

“Bob raised an important point about Knowles and Jackson.”

“What?”

“That a purchase out of bankruptcy, depending on how it’s structured, might leave us open to claims from current or former employees for any causes of action they might have.”

“I thought bankruptcy estopped that.”

“It depends on how the case is resolved. My initial thought was to simply force a sale by offering the creditors full value, but the more I’ve thought about it, offering a competing reorganization plan is a better option, but even that could leave open certain claims, such as taxes, which are only dischargeable in limited circumstances.”

“The government always gets their cut,” I replied.

“Obviously, but we’d be able to determine what any past liabilities were, because they’d need to list them in their filing. The larger concern is the time between the filing and when we could submit a plan.”

“Not right away?” I asked.

“No. If they file, the debtor in possession or trustee has 120 days to file a reorganization plan, and then 180 days from the initial filing of the bankruptcy petition to secure ‘agreement’ from the creditors.”

“I heard the air quotes,” I observed.

“A plan can be imposed over the objection of a creditor, or creditors, so long as it complies with the law and the class of objecting creditors is treated no worse than any other creditor or group of creditors.”

“With Braun under indictment, the company won’t be worth a plugged nickel six months after bankruptcy,” Stephanie said. “That pretty much puts paid to my plans, which required it to be a going concern.”

“I agree they’ll end up in liquidation, because it’s unlikely they’ll be able to service their debt. Braun the Younger’s arrest basically upended my plan. That’s not a bad thing, overall, but it does mean that the best we can hope for is an asset purchase.”

“Or SKJ offers to buy out Braun’s minority partners,” I said. “With him under indictment, wouldn’t we be able to present a reorganization plan?”

“I think the court would look askance on that kind of move, but you can check with Liz. I’m pretty sure they consider it self-dealing, or whatever the term used outside the financial services industry is.”

“It’s the same,” I replied. “An outright purchase without protection from the bankruptcy code against past liabilities would leave us in a very vulnerable position. And we could get control of Knowles and Jackson fairly easily.”

“How?”

“Between the minority shareholders who used to own Knowles and Jackson and the shares held by Volstead’s LLC, we could control the company. The problem is those unknown liabilities.”

“Unknown unknowns?” Stephanie asked with a smirk.

“Despite the ridicule, and my general dislike of the man, and my complete disagreement with him on policy, Rumsfeld had a point — you can plan for the things you know about, even if you don’t have all, or even any, details. Planning for ‘bolt from the blue’ events is nearly impossible. Yes, you can have a set of contingency plans, but those plans are generally based on things you know might go wrong, and the probability they’ll go wrong. Nobody had workable contingency plans for the September 11 attacks. Everything we do has to take into account the relationship between what we know, what we do not know, what we cannot know, what we don’t want to know.”

“Don’t want to know?”

“The allegorical ostrich with their head in the sand, or the two-year-old sticking their fingers in their ears to avoid hearing something they don’t want to hear, such as parental discipline.”

“What do you think we should do?” Stephanie asked.

“An interesting question,” I replied. “There are really two companies, the Virtual Law Clerk business from the former Knowles and Jackson, and the Simply Legal business from the former EB Systems. Virtual Law Clerk was basically unassailable, though I think that has changed with the Brauns being arrested. Simply Legal was foundering, and between Cindi, Chickasaw, and Hastings Mill, it’s in even worse shape.

“I can think of only two options — attempt to purchase the whole kit and caboodle or an asset purchase of Simply Legal. Neither of those options is particularly attractive, and each has its own potential pitfalls. If we were to buy the entire company, we’d either have to run Virtual Law Clerk as a separate business unit, or spin it off, perhaps back to the founders, and convert all the Simply Legal folks to NIKA Legal or Athena. An asset purchase of Simply Legal doesn’t make sense, given how quickly they’re losing clients. That’s a poor investment, no matter how you look at it, and either of those would put money into the Brauns’ pockets.”

“It sounds as if you believe doing nothing is the right approach.”

“That would be the least risky, most financially sound move, but leaves us vulnerable to one of our major competitors gaining control of Virtual Law Clerk, which would give them a potential competitive advantage. None of the firms has specialty software for patent and copyright, and Virtual Law Clerk is the gold standard.”

“Would it be cheaper to buy or build?”

“Buy, for sure. Building it would take at least a year, if not longer, and even then, we’d have to compete with a reorganized Knowles and Jackson.”

“So, I clearly cannot drink the wine in front of you!”

“That is the basic situation. The difference is, we’ve considered outside the box thinking, whereas Vizzini had not.”

“What would you do if you were the founders of Knowles and Jackson?”

“Never have put myself in their current position!” I declared.

“Obviously,” Stephanie said, shaking her head. “Besides that?”

“I’d find a way to liquidate the Simply Legal side of the business and get enough out of it to put myself in a position where I could service the remaining debt. That will depend on the Brauns, and to an extent, Volstead. I’d want to quickly divorce myself from the Brauns, as well, because the indictments are going to seriously harm the business.”

“That makes sense. Any idea what you want to do?”

I thought for a moment, then nodded, “I’ll have to clear this with the attorney cabal, but I’m going to make an offer for Volstead’s shares. Once I have those, I’ll make a much lower offer for the outstanding shares, with the founders of Knowles and Jackson signed to personal services contracts with SKJ partners. Once we control the company, we liquidate Simply Legal, and convert their customers, or help them convert to one of our competitors. We run Virtual Law Clerk as a business unit, with the former founders.”

“If we were to do that, who would run that business unit?” Stephanie asked.

“Don’t even think about it, Squirt! I’m looking forward to being a full-time software engineer again!”

“John would be perfect. I know he’s Mario’s second-in-command, but I think it would be good for him. In fact, this might be the time to do a bit of reorganizing of the regions and business units. Let me think about that; I’ll run anything I come up with by you before I share it with anyone else.”

“I have an interview on Thursday for the General Manager of the Managed Services unit. Should I keep that?”

“Yes. We’ll need a general manager or director for that unit, no matter how I decide to restructure things.”

“Just keep me posted.”

“Will do. I’ll run your idea past the legal beagles and see what they have to say. With all our business at McCarthy/Jenkins, we’ll get a solid assessment of the business, tax, and legal concerns. Will Volstead play ball?”

“Yes.”

“OK. Let me work on this and you go back to playing with Penelope!”

“In her dreams!” I chuckled.

May 29, 2002, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Birgit

I woke up a bit earlier than usual on Wednesday morning, because it was my fourteenth birthday, and I needed some extra time to get ready! Estrella was still sleeping, so I went into the bathroom, shut the door, and turned on the shower. I pulled my sleep shirt over my head and tossed it on the sink, then stood in front of the full-length mirror which Dad had hung on the back of the bathroom door.

I admired my body, which had developed nicely — my boobs were round and firm, with light brown nipples; my stomach was almost perfectly flat and toned; my blonde pubic hair was neatly trimmed so that my plump, perfectly symmetrical labia could easily be seen; my legs were toned from karate, as was my butt, which all the guys stared at. Eat your heart out, Mom!

I turned on the shower and set the controls as hot as I could stand. My first order of business was shaving my legs and underarms to make them perfectly smooth. I squirted some gel into my palm and rubbed it under my arms, then carefully drew the razor along my skin, removing every trace of hair. I repeated that with each leg, and briefly considered shaving my pubic hair, but to me, it was a sign of being a woman, and I didn’t want to look like a little girl, especially not on a day I hoped would be very special!

I was wet, and not from the shower, just thinking about how I wanted to celebrate my birthday. I was so tempted to rub myself, but I’d done that in bed the night before, thinking about what it would be like to be with Dad. I wondered how his beard would feel on my thighs and how his tongue would feel and how I would feel as he made me a woman. I knew I was going to get overheated, so I turned the shower controls to make the water cold, which helped the feeling go away.

I turned the water back to hot, then got my cherry blossom-scented shampoo and washed my hair, then picked up my lavender-scented soap and washed the rest of my body. Lavender was Dad’s favorite scent, and I needed every advantage if I wanted to achieve my heart’s desire. Once I was clean, I turned off the shower, got out, and dried off. I admired myself in the mirror again, then brushed my teeth, put on deodorant, and then put on the sexy purple lace panties and bra I’d purchased. The lady at Victoria’s Secret had been very helpful and hadn’t given me any trouble.

I’d considered what to wear besides that, and decided I needed to wear pants and a blouse similar to what I wore to school, so as not to make anyone suspicious. I’d settled on new black pants and a new royal blue blouse, and nobody would be suspicious because I had bought several new outfits and worn a few of them already. I brushed my hair, then added the final touch — lipstick, which was just slightly brighter than my natural lip color. I checked myself in the mirror, then left the bathroom.

I quietly let myself out of the room and bumped into Ashley, who was in the hallway just outside my door, still in her nightgown.

“Don’t be dumb, OK?” Ashley said.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

Ashley rolled her eyes, “We both know what you’re going to ask for. Don’t be dumb about it. If he says ‘yes’, it has to be the best-kept secret in your life! Nobody, not even I can know, and you can’t write it in your diary! If he says ‘no’, you can’t be a bitch about it, not even to Kara Mom!”

“It’s none of your business!” I said firmly.

“Oh, yes it is!” Ashley declared. “Whichever way it goes, if you’re dumb about it, you could wreck our family! Just be smart.”

“You’re not going to tell, are you?”

“My lips are sealed,” Ashley said. “So long as you aren’t dumb about it!”

I rolled my eyes and moved past her. As I went down the stairs, I heard her go into her room, and I made my way to the sunroom where Dad was waiting.

“Happy birthday, Pumpkin!” he exclaimed, holding out his arms.

I rushed to him to give him a big hug. He wrapped his arms around me and I wrapped mine around him. I hugged him tightly, pressing my body against his, imagining what it would be like if we were naked with him on top of me. I breathed deeply, smelling his soap and deodorant.

“Thanks, Dad!” I replied.

“How does it feel to be fourteen?” he asked.

Old enough to make love! That’s how it felt! But I wasn’t quite ready to ask. We finished our hug, then got into the chaise. Dad put his arm around me and I snuggled close.

“Any big plans for your birthday?” Dad asked.

Oh, I had some alright! Dad always asked all the kids that question on the morning of their birthdays, and I knew that was the opening I needed.

“Cuddles to start,” I said.

“Obviously,” Dad replied.

“But you know what I really want?” I asked.

I felt Dad tense a bit, and I wondered if he had any idea what I was about to ask for.

“What’s that?” Dad asked warily.

“You know how much I love you, right?”

“Yes,” Dad replied.

“And I know how much you love me.”

“I hope so.”

“I want something very special,” I said. “Something only you can give me.”

“Pumpkin...” Dad said, but I put my finger on his lips.

I could see in his eyes that he already knew, and I sensed what his answer was going to be. But I had to try.

“Please let me just say it,” I requested, trying to sound as loving and sweet as possible.

Dad nodded. I took a deep breath and let it out.

“My fondest wish, what I desire more than anything in the whole world, is to be with you. I want you to scoop me in your arms, carry me to a bed, undress me, kiss me all over, then make love to me for hours and hours. It would be like nothing I’ve ever felt before, and I’m sure I can make you feel really, really good! Please, Dad? Please make love to me?”

What I wanted to add was that he’d done it with Kristin for her birthday, and I knew he loved me more than her. If she could have it, I should be able to have it! But I wasn’t supposed to know about Kristin.

“Pumpkin,” Dad said in his soothing voice, “we can’t do that, no matter how much you want to.”

“You don’t want me?” I asked, certain I sounded forlorn.

“It’s not that at all,” Dad replied.

“You love me, right?”

“Yes, and it’s because I love you that I have to say ‘no’.”

“Mom,” I said, a bit too angrily, I was sure.

“It’s more complicated than that,” Dad said.

I didn’t think it was. I was positive that the Wicked Witch of the West was responsible for him saying ‘no’ because I was the perfect ‘Steve type’ and no other fourteen-year-old girl could love him as much as I did. It wasn’t ... well, a word I wasn’t allowed to use.

“Fine,” I said flatly and pulled away, getting out of the chaise.

“Birgit,” Dad said, “it is NOT your mother’s fault. It’s my decision, not hers. I mean that.”

“Yeah, right,” I said, making sure I conveyed disbelief and contempt.

I walked quickly out of the room and went upstairs.

🎤 Steve

“Birgit is having her snit,” I said quietly to my wives when I went to the kitchen.

“How bad?” Suzanne asked.

“On a scale of zero to the apocalypse, only a three or four. She’s upset, but I don’t think she’s going to do anything foolish.”

“And she blamed me, right?” Kara asked.

“Yes, and I made it clear it was my decision.”

“Did she believe you?”

“No, but that’s not the point. The fact that there wasn’t a meltdown of epic proportions or a raging fit tells me she knew the answer before she asked, and to be true to herself, she had to actually ask. She did, I said ‘no’, and she went upstairs. She’ll be in a bit of a foul mood for a few days, but I bet it clears. And I mean that in general, not just towards me.”

“Should I go up?” Suzanne asked.

“I don’t think so,” I said. “Let her come to terms with it on her own. She has to work through it, and if she needs advice, she’ll ask. That I’m sure of.”

🎤 Ashley

I wasn’t surprised when Birgit came back upstairs so soon. I’d quickly changed for school, then waited in the hallway for her. I was sure she didn’t want to talk, but I wanted to make sure she didn’t do anything dumb. The look on her face told the entire story.

“I can guess what happened,” I said.

“Just leave me alone!” Birgit insisted.

I had a suspicion that if she’d surprised him with the request, when nobody else was around, and they could have ‘gotten away with it’, he might have said ‘yes’. I doubted it, but that was about the only way it could have ever happened.

“You know as well as I do that the only way it could ever have happened is if nobody knew about it. Nobody. Even then, I’m not sure Dad would have said ‘yes’. But our moms knew, Dad knew, Katy knew, and I’m sure other girls knew.”