Chapter 2

Tuesday was another day of dodging Marielle and accomplishing only slightly more than Monday's meager output.

Wednesday morning, he was pondering how to handle the first interaction with Marielle as he approached the company's entrance. He was brought up short by a hand on his chest. "Gordy, I'm terribly sorry, but you have to wait here." It was Cal, the head of company security. Another member of the security staff was right behind him holding a box. Within a minute, the head of HR and Gretchen Kohen came through the door, apparently summoned when he was first sighted.

"Gordy, this is just awful!" Gretchen said, hugging him and sniffling. "A majority stake in the company was purchased yesterday afternoon. The new owner specifically ordered that you be let go." When Gretchen released her hug, the HR head handed him an envelope, his hand shaking, saying it was outstanding pay, vacation pay, and severence.

It took several seconds before Gordy could speak, but his mind was ahead of his speech. With a cynical smile, he addressed the HR head. "Tell Mr. Gilson that it's a double joke on him. The relationship between Marielle and I, whatever it was, ended on Sunday. He didn't have to pay me off, buy the company and fire me, or anything. How the hell does he make so much money when he doesn't pay attention?"

"Oh, and the other joke; since he broke my employment contract, the non-disclosure and non-compete clauses are voided. Sadly, I'm sure he doesn't give a shit about the company, anyway, but tell him."

As Gordy took the box of his personal effects and turned away, he looked up and saw a horrified Marielle in the window above the entrance.

Marielle's shoulders slumped when she looked through the peep hole of the hotel suite and saw her mother in the hall. She had known it was only a matter of time until Frances Gilson located her. Actually, Marielle had not taken any extraordinary measures to remain hidden. She just wanted to be sure that her parents knew that she was avoiding them.

After seeing Gordy sent away from the company that Wednesday morning, Marielle had sought out Gretchen and heard the whole story. She had one question, though: "What did Gordy mean by 'pay me off'?"

"I don't know any more than you do, I'm afraid," Gretchen had lamented. "We're all in the dark. Would your father really buy a whole company just to get rid of someone you were involved with?" Marielle had just shrugged and gestured toward the nearby freeway.

"This is unbelievable! They didn't have to fire Gordy. They must have known that as soon as they bought the company, I would leave. Consider this my resignation."

That had been over a week ago. Since then, Marielle had not answered her phone unless she could see for sure that it was not her mother or her father. She doubted that her father would actually contact her directly, but she did not want to take that chance for a while.

Well, her 'recovery period' was over, and it had helped her a lot. A confrontation with her mother was never something to be looked forward to, but now, she felt more confident and at peace than she ever had. She opened the door, but stood in the center, clearly denying admittance. She offered no greeting, just waited.

Frances recognized the game instantly. Mother and daughter stood motionless and silent for a full minute before Marielle gave a very slight nod and began to move back. Thinking that she had scored the inevitable little victory, Frances began to smile and changed her grip on her purse, only to be stunned by the door being closed before she could move forward.

'Well, girl, you have definitely declared war, now', Marielle said to herself as she leaned back against the door. Rather than upset, though, she felt greatly relieved. It was as if her whole life had been pointing toward this moment. It was a 'declaration of independence' that she had put off and put off for years and years.

Peter and Frances Gilson had not been bad parents in any specific way, except for their very firm expectations for her. By and large, Marielle had acquiesced through her teen years. It was a fairy-tale life, after all.

Her choice of engineering for her undergrad degree was the first significant 'rebellion', but that had been followed by absolute refusal of any more arranged dates. The parade of distant cousins and sons of business associates or society page regulars had almost driven her to lesbianism. There was not a single one that she wanted a second date with. Two of the dates that were much older had ended very badly when she refused to go to bed with the men.

Now, Marielle was not at all averse to sex, and she had not been a virgin since sixteen. She still thought often of a college boy who was doing pool maintenance as a summer job and serviced the Gilsons' pool complex. They had managed five times together, and fortunately, those trysts had left her with a very positive attitude toward sex. On the bad side, all through college and her legal career, she had not found a man who could bring back that early joyful sex. Her instincts told her that Gordy could be that man, but now, she would probably never know.

All of those thoughts ran through Marielle's mind as she leaned against the hotel room door. Her musings were interrupted by renewed knocking on the door. That was a very surprising development.

She had to think hard about her feelings toward her mother before her next move. It was not until she entered the work force that she began to encounter young women who were extremely close to their mothers. The first time a mother of a colleague dropped into the office and she saw the two giggling together over a risque purchase, it literally brought tears to Marielle's eyes. Of course, she had seen such relationships portrayed in movies and on TV, but she had had no reason to believe they were anything but fiction.

Being thoughtful and intelligent, Marielle believed she had a realistic picture of what her mother was like. The single important goal in Frances' life was to retain and properly fill the role she had won as the wife of American 'royalty'. That meant that her total focus must be on the satisfaction of her 'nobleman' husband. Naturally, then, Frances's child must be made to focus on Peter's satisfaction, as well. If he became unhappy about Marielle's life, it could conceivably endanger Frances's position. A divorce would leave Frances very wealthy, but she would no longer have the power and influence that she truly desired. Thus, 'managing' Marielle was important to Frances's own success.

Marielle knew that she had inherited much from her mother. Not the least was her intelligence and perceptiveness. Frances was adept at 'plugging the holes' in Peter's abilities. As far as Marielle could tell, her mother's position was secure because Peter both acknowledged and valued what Frances brought to the partnership.

When she was a young teen, in the midst of her most idealistically romantic years, Marielle had wasted a lot of time wondering if there was real love between her parents. There was one aunt who was the 'most human' of all the extended family, and with whom Marielle shared more than with any other person. When Marielle was fourteen, the aunt had told her something profound.

"Don't look for love between your parents as you see it in your fantasies. Someday, if you are very fortunate, you may find that dream love for yourself. I suspect that love as your parents see it does not much resemble what you dream of. Just keep this in mind; love as they see it is real to them and satisfying to them. If they have found love as they see it, let that be enough for them. Just don't let it change what your heart seeks."

That was heavy stuff, but Marielle had understood it completely. The problem that she faced in that hotel room, with her mother seeking admittance a second time, centered on those different perceptions of love. How could she once and for all make her mother understand that she could not accept for herself what Frances had 'settled for'? How could she do that without denigrating her mother's perception of love?

Well, the first step had to be letting her mother in, so this time, she opened the door, turned her back, and strode toward the seating area. She was already seated, still having not said a word, when Frances sat and challenged "Is this all a show of independence from your family?"

Marielle knew that her face flushed with anger. She could not prevent it, and Frances undoubtedly caught it and it probably said more than many, many words. Still, the words popped from her mouth without much thought. "I want a life that is mine, not one that you have constructed for me."

"I don't understand what is so bad about what we want for you," Frances complained, some exasperation showing through her normally unruffled demeanor.

"No, Mother, you definitely do not understand. You do not see that there can be other kinds of relationships than the one between you and Father."

"But out of all of the men I have set you up with, certainly some must be acceptable."

"None. They are all men that you would find suitable, but I do not."

"How can that be?" Frances was not trying to hide the frustration any longer.

"You chose a man that you could mold into what you wanted him to be," Marielle said carefully. "I want a man that I can love and respect for what he is at heart. Can you honestly tell me that you have ever felt a deep respect for Father?"

Frances never gaped. Never until just then, at least. This child of hers was much more dangerously perceptive than she had realized. She dared not respond to that question. "But your Mr. Alford had already rejected you because of your wealth."

"Yes, and you made certain that I had no chance to try to change his mind," Marielle retorted in an undisguised snarl. "If you had bothered to find that out, you would not have had to do that insane move of buying a whole fucking company to show that you controlled me."

The fact that Marielle was nearly shouting at the end and the insertion of the 'f' word had a huge impact on Frances. Any doubt that her daughter was speaking from deep conviction was erased at that moment. Of course, she could not acknowledge the impact of Marielle's outburst, so she composed herself and diverted the conversation.

"If he really cared about you, the firing would make no difference," Frances said quickly. "He must know you had nothing to do with it."

"He must feel that arrogant manipulation of people is hereditary," Marielle countered.

"But ... but he's just a..." Now, inexplicably, Frances was stammering.

"A human being, Mother. A very exemplary human being. The kind of person the world needs a lot more of. The world would be much better off with many more like Gordy and many less like Father."

Once again, Frances was left without a meaningful reply. She could not recall when Marielle had attacked Peter as directly. "With the attitudes you have, Marielle, how will you ever take over all of our assets when we are gone?"

"I won't. If Father does not disown me before he dies, I will just parcel out all the pieces as carefully as I can."

None of their family battles had ever resulted in a threat like that. "Wh ... why would you say something so terrible?" Frances moaned.

"Because I want to be certain that I never turn out like Father. He ruined a very nice company just to spank my hand. He messed up the careers of some very fine people for his own petty reasons."

"The company is not ruined," Frances protested. "He has helped many companies succeed. He knows what he is doing."

"Medi-Vanced is dependent on a few key people. He fired one of them and the others will all find new positions soon. Even if the others stayed, Gordy was critical to one of our key products. At a minimum, his loss will delay FDA approval. Pushing that needed revenue back will definitely threaten the company's future. My departure will also impact the FDA approval, just not as much."

Choosing to defer comment on the news of Marielle's resignation, Frances asked "Why would the others want to leave? Surely, the loss of one engineer can't ruin their future."

"Everyone knows why the company was purchased. They will never believe that Father has any serious interest in making it succeed. It will just become a nice tax write-off."

The flash of guilt on Frances's face was brief, but unmistakable. Marielle snapped "Oops! Wrong villain. Does Father even know that you did it?"

"I don't control the money to do something like that."

"Then you took quite a risk, Mother? What if that is the one thing that starts him wondering if he really has the right wife for him? Is it really that important for me to marry who you choose?"

"Do you really see your parents' relationship as that shallow?" Frances fired back in near panic.

"Absolutely. That is why I am so determined not to have a marriage like yours." Marielle knew that she was being cruel, but what had been done to Gordy was unforgivable. She took a deep breath to keep the revenge lust from getting any stronger.

"Per ... perhaps firing Mr. Alford was unwise," Frances said softly. "I had no way to know that others would react so negatively. We can rehire him."

"See!" Marielle was nearly shouting again. "You only think it was wrong because it had unexpected negative consequences to you! You have no conscience! You do not understand that it was a wrong thing to do no matter what the consequences!"

It pleased Marielle to see Frances wince just a little. Taking a few breaths to calm herself, she went on. "He won't come back as long as you own the company. I can guarantee that," Marielle said firmly.

"How can you know that? Good engineering jobs cannot be that plentiful."

"Believe it or not, there are people who value other things over money."

A very subdued Frances left the hotel to be picked up by her chauffeur out front. Her daughter's warning had frightened her badly. She had suggested buying the company almost as a joke. It had always been her role to make sure that Peter did not do such things. She had kept him from numerous negative situations, or at least earned a never-spoken 'I told you so' on others. Now, she had inadvertently pushed him into a move that could only end badly.

Instinctively, she knew that she could not afford one big mistake. She was still a very beautiful woman, but she could not compete with the hordes of twenty-something centerfold candidates who would drop panties at a hint of the Gilson fortune.

Peter had quite eagerly jumped on her off-hand suggestion to buy Medi-Vanced. Despite her immediate cautions, if it fell apart, he would remember that she suggested it. Marielle had been frighteningly correct. What could she do to try to reverse the damage done?

Randall Jensen was still in shock. Medi-Vanced was his baby. He had worked for nine years to build it to where it was today - on the threshold of being a major player in the field of high-tech medical equipment. It had cost him his marriage and only an all-out effort to change his habits had prevented some serious heart problems.

The last week since the surprise buyout had been surreal, to say the least. Peter Gilson had turned Randall's dream into a joke, all to chase away his daughter's boyfriend.

Ever since the buyout and the firing of Gordy Alford, Mark Fine had been trying to reach Randall. Mark was the head of the VC group that had held the largest share of Medi-Vanced, other than Randall's share, that is. Randall had ignored the calls, afraid that he would not be able to control his anger.

Feeling genuinely distraught about what he had inadvertently caused to happen, Mark had come to see Randall in person, unannounced. The timing was awful, since Mark arrived just before Randall's scheduled meeting with Mrs. Frances Gilson, wife of the new majority owner.

Eileen Vasquez had been Randall's admin assistant from the very beginning, and she was at least as upset as was her boss. Forgoing the usual offer of drinks for her boss and his visitor, she instead walked into Randall's office and surreptitiously pressed the intercom button. She desperately wanted to hear the conversation that was about to happen. As she returned to her desk, she was dismayed to see Mrs. Gilson approaching, several minutes early.

Pushing the intercom button had been done so Randall had not noticed. Did she dare return to his office and turn it off? Trying to keep a courteous face as she turned to greet Mrs. Gilson, it suddenly occurred to her that it would serve the bitch right to hear what people really thought of her and what she had caused.

Frances could not avoid a startled look as the first words from Randall's office came over the intercom. Eileen could not avoid a satisfied smirk.

Randall could not bring himself to rise and shake Mark's hand. Instead, he just sat behind his desk and stared glumly. Mark was only taken aback for a moment. "Randall, try to look at it from my viewpoint. It was Peter fucking Gilson making the offer, for Christ's sake. I honestly thought I was doing you a favor while we made some quick money. Tell me; how many failures of Gilson companies can you name?"

"Yeah, I know," Randall said with a sigh. "It should have been a big PR boost for us."

"Why can't it still be?" Mark demanded.

"What good is PR if I don't have a company left?" Randall snarled.

"One engineer, no matter how good, can't ruin your company."

"No, but after twenty or twenty-five percent of my top people find other jobs, I'll be ruined."

"Other people got fired, too?" Mark asked in amazement.

"No. They want to leave. They see that what we've worked so hard to build has been turned into nothing but a paddle for some arrogant rich bitch to spank her daughter with. Did you ever meet Gordy?"

"A couple of times," Mark answered.

"Well, he's the kind of employee you dream about for a startup. He bought into the dream. Literally everyone looked up to him."

"He was that good, huh?"

"Absolutely." Randall said firmly. "And they were two great people who deserved each other. Hard to imagine how a couple of assholes like the Gilsons could produce a gem like Marielle."

Mark just shook his head. "Randall, you have to believe I had no inkling they would do something like this. I mean, shit like this is beyond even the soap operas!"

"Oh, I believe you. Doesn't do anything to salvage what I risked everything for, though."

"I've talked to some of the other VC's," Mark said. "You're still the man. We're sure willing to try it again."

Randall shook his head sadly. "I lost my marriage, what little wealth I had, and came close to checking out from overwork and neglect. I don't have another run in me, Mark. Besides, can you imagine the legal mess over patents and employment contracts and everything."

"I guess you're right. 'Sorry' isn't much, Randall, but it's all I can say."

"And when you leave, I've somehow got to act civil to the bitch who turned my dream into a joke. And she didn't even do it for money!"

Randall did manage to get up and shake Mark's hand. Mark was barely out the door when Eileen showed Frances Gilson in. For her part, Frances was torn between anger and chagrin at what she had heard.

Looking pointedly at Randall to make sure he understood the significance, Eileen reached over and turned off the intercom button. Randall's eyes widened and his face flushed briefly. Then, he just let out a sigh and faced Frances.

"I believe there are now fewer things that need to be discussed. I can have my resignation typed up before you leave," he said grimly.

The angry part of Frances wanted exactly that. The rational part, however, realized that Randall's departure would be the final blow that would make their purchase nothing but a write-down.

"Mr. Jensen, the reason I am here is to see what can be done to keep the company viable and successful. I will admit that having Mr. Alford fired was precipitous and unwise. What will it take to keep that from ruining the company?"

Still standing, Randall responded. "The only sure thing is to get both Gordy and Marielle back. They are the approval team on our most important new product. Their departure will cost us several months, at least, in getting approvals done and revenue flowing. Unfortunately, getting them back is most likely impossible."

"Impossible? Why?"

While trying to formulate a diplomatic response, he mentally threw up his hands and just went with what he was thinking. "Apparently, Mrs. Gilson, you are not used to dealing with people who hold strong convictions."

If she had not already absorbed several gut punches to her ego, that would have enraged Frances. As it was, she shrugged it off and told Randall. "Regardless of what people think, Peter did not buy this company to see it fail. He is used to seeing his investments pay off. What do we have to do to see that this one pays off?"

"About all I can do, Mrs. Gilson, is relay that message to the people who are seeking to leave. As far as your daughter and Gordy are concerned, you created the mess. If it is to be straightened out, you will have to do it."

Assuming that it would be Marielle ringing his doorbell, Gordy was very tempted not to respond. When the woman he saw through the peep hole was not Marielle, he looked quickly around the apartment to assess its cleanliness, put on his courteous face, and opened the door.

It was not obvious from the distorted view through the door, but when he opened it, Gordy had no doubt that he was facing Marielle's mother. Frances must have wondered why she was seeing so many angry flushes lately. It was not something that she was used to.