Chapter 1: The Boss

The large expanse of the heavily tinted windows in the executive conference room on the top floor of The Excelsior could not hide the brilliant sunlight that shone across Lake Michigan. It was mid-March and the temperatures had climbed to a balmy 65 degrees with no wind. To the populace along Lakeside Drive, it was the unofficial start of spring, even though there would likely be freezing weather again before it stayed warm for the summer. To the five that sat before Richard Argonne it was anything but warm-and-sunny.

“Why in the FUCK do I need to do everything? After me, you are the five most powerful people in this company. You should be able to get these problems solved on your own like a fucking adult, without me holding your hand every damn step of the way.”

The five people around the table were the five presidents of the companies comprising Argonne Industries. Richard was the CEO and founder, the top-dog, but each president ran his or her company essentially as an independent entity.

Richard was standing at the head of the table. He had both palms planted on the shiny mahogany and spewed spittle as he berated his company’s presidents. Arlene Jackson was the President of Media. She oversaw the numerous television, radio, and streaming companies owned by Argonne Industries. She sat to Richard’s left and kept her face neutral, even though every nerve in her body was telling her to stand up and slap the bastard across the face, then tell him to stop acting like a petulant child.

No one answered Richard so he kicked his chair. It careened backward and bounced noisily off the wall before it toppled onto its side.

“Why do I pay you executive salaries if you are nothing but shit-for-brains stuffed shirts? Do I have to remind you about the history of this company?”

Surprisingly, no one groaned at this comment. It was so well known that all five around the table could practically recite verbatim what Richard would say. His parents were divorced and his mom couldn’t afford college. He was accepted into a state university and was able to attend only because he got financial aid from the government. He half-assed his way through his first two years of Ecological Studies without really finding any traction. His passion was unlocked when he enrolled in an elective C++ programming course. By the end of the semester, he had taken his knowledge of ecology, and his love for programming, and merged the two into a marriage for the ages.

“By my senior year,” growled Richard as he glared at each president in turn, “I had coded an application that oil companies could use to analyze the soil at perspective drilling sites. It was accurate at finding oil over 90% of the time. I had it fully coded and debugged by Christmas break of my senior year. Yet unlike many leaders of other companies that didn’t get a college degree, I stayed in school and got my bachelor’s degree.” He barked a laugh when he then said, “And by graduation I was worth more than a million bucks.”

William Estes sat to Richard’s right. He was ten years Richard’s senior and was the fourth person hired at Argonne. He was now the President of Oil and Gas. No one could fathom how he had managed to avoid getting fired for almost thirty years, and more importantly, tolerate Richard for so long.

“Richard,” said William, “of course we know the company’s history. And we know very well what is at stake. I think today’s conversation confirms what we’ve suspected all along. The pandemic has impacted all of our individual companies much more deeply than we anticipated and we will need to adjust our strategy in the short term.”

Sarah Ooverest lifted her ice water and took a sip. She sat to the right of William. She was President of Hotels. Not only was she responsible for the three dozen hotels and casinos owned by Argonne, she also inherited all real estate properties when Richard fired the president of Real Estate and merged it with her company. Sarah kept her eyes on her boss as he paced.

To Sarah’s right was the newest member of the executive team. Tamara Volger was the President of Gaming. She oversaw about a dozen gaming studios that Argonne had acquired in the past few years. She was the current darling of the group because the latest mega-game that was released had been adopted by over 100-million gamers worldwide. While free to play, it required purchases to get the best equipment and be eligible for the best quests. A such, it was bringing in almost a billion dollars a year in profit.

“OK, brass tacks. Sarah, can we get staff back into the hotels to meet the uptick in demand, especially in Vegas?” Richard had stopped pacing and was staring intently at his President of Hotels.

“Yes, sir, I’m pretty sure...”

“Pretty fucking sure?” Richard exploded. “Pretty fucking sure means you don’t have a fucking clue if we’ll keep up or not. Get your head out of your ass and make sure. Steal staff from other hotels by offering a sign-on bonus. Charge guests an extra ten dollars a night. Call it a hospitality surcharge. Fuck, I don’t care. Make up something. This isn’t rocket surgery.”

“Yes, sir,” snapped Sarah in reply.

Joseph Pilzo sat across from Sarah and raised an eyebrow ever so slightly. He was President of Sports. Argonne had acquired three professional sports teams in the United States. Taking much of Joseph’s time was managing the construction of the new stadium the NBA team was getting as part of the purchase agreement. That was exciting, but for Richard, he was not going to be happy until Joseph secured the purchase of one of the most beloved soccer teams in Europe.

Sarah kept eye contact with Joseph for a beat or two. They were the only two in the room that lived in the Chicago metropolis and they shared a geographic bond. Even though they were both married, they also shared the occasional bed. It was made easier as both had apartments downtown Chicago not far from the office for when they were too busy, or too tired, to make the hour-plus commute to their homes in the suburbs.

“Joseph?” boomed Richard.

Joseph shifted his gaze to the head of the table and said. “I’m headed to Copenhagen next week. All signs indicate this should be the last in-person negotiation and we’ll have a deal within six to eight weeks.”

“Fucking-aye,” said Richard.

Joseph returned his gaze to Sarah as if to say, “That’s how it’s done.”

“William, you’ve got the last big problem. Speak,” ordered Richard.

William spoke with an even tone in a slow Texas drawl. He was born-and-raised in Houston and met Richard in college. He was a teaching assistant in Richard’s C++ programming class. He helped by giving Richard advice or pointers as he coded his application. Later, he was helpful to Richard when he started a business to sell the new application to oil firms. William’s family was in the oil business and he was influential in getting Richard introduced in the early days.

“The situation is getting worse. Not only is Senator Rimmy pushing her legislation to force auto makers to build only electric cars, but she is being joined by Senator Atkins. He not only wants electric, but is threatening a boycott of all oil and gas, and not just as related to automobiles.”

“Fuck,” muttered Richard. He pulled his chair back to the table and dropped heavily into it as he ran his hands through his hair.

William continued, “Senator Rimmy is someone we can control. We have evidence that she manipulated the voting machines in her state of West Virginia. We were ready to neutralize her position when Senator Atkins joined into the fray with a very public news conference last week.”

“What do we have on Atkins?” asked Richard. His face shown a fury just below the surface.

“Right now, nothing, but I have three ace investigators working around the clock. I’ll have something by the end of the week.”

Richard stood again and lorded over his five presidents. He distinctly pointed at each one before he spoke.

“Next time we meet, you better fucking hope that your shit is in better shape.”

In reality, this meeting was one of the more sedate in the past three years. Usually, Richard would go on prolonged profanity-infused tirades that could last thirty minutes or more. Everyone assumed an all-time high stock price was helping keep his temper in check. If they didn’t do something, and soon, the stock would dip, which would then cause Richard’s temper to rise in proportion to the how far the stock dipped.

Richard turned on his heel and stormed out of the room.

Heidi sat on one of the tall stools pulled up to the kitchen island. She had a bottle of wine opened on her left and was very slowly nursing the one glass she allowed herself before her services were needed. She wore a twenty-five-hundred dollar teddy that shimmered a bluish gray in an exotic silk material. It was very low cut, almost to her navel, and only two thin straps held the garment over her breasts. Her high heel shoes were red and cost over a thousand dollars. She had long bleach-blonde hair that contrasted starkly with the red lipstick and nail polish that matched her shoe color.