Chapter 15: Expect the Unexpected

Our lives settled down over the next six months. I spent the summer on the brewery packaging line as supervisor. All of the men knew I would be moving into administration in September, and I got the impression they were pleased to see someone get the job who knew what the operating floor was all about. True, I knew little about the brewing end of the business, but that wouldn't be part of my responsibilities anyway.

In early July, I asked if I could hold a round-table meeting with the principals of the new dress store business, along with Tony Alardyce and our parents. It was then that Tony and I laid out our plans for financing the new venture.

"The reason for getting everyone together is to discuss the financing of Belle and Anne's new venture. The ladies have decided to call it AnneBelle's Creations, an obvious name I think. The ladies, Tony, and I have worked out a budget that is designed to carry the business for a year. It has modest sales goals in the first six months, but becoming more aggressive as the last half of the year progresses. Anne is confident that these goals are achievable.

"What we are proposing is a shareholding. The majority of shares would be held equally by Anne and Belle, but additional shares could be purchased by invited others. The people at this table are the only invited others at this point. I can tell you that I have the financial wherewithal to support this venture myself. In effect, I would become the bank. However, that might exclude some others who may wish to show their confidence in our two ladies."

I saw Mel grin and Dad actually laughed at my last comment. I must have sounded like a officious banker, but I don't think my mother noticed. Emily got it right away.

"Where in the world did you get enough money to back this venture," Belle's mother asked.

"As Tony will tell you, I had some good luck on the stock market, plus I've been lucky enough to have a good job during the summer and other school breaks. Mom and Dad have been kind enough to provide my room and board, so I've been able to save a good percentage of my earnings."

That seemed to satisfy Emily, but I think it surprised my mother. I guessed that she really hadn't been paying attention to what I'd been doing over the past four years and maybe Dad hadn't bothered to keep her up to date either.

"Anne, I notice your parents aren't here," my mother said.

"No ... they live in Vanderhoof. They aren't able to come down very often. They know what I'm doing and they support my ambitions, but they couldn't afford to participate. I had to put myself through school, but they're glad I was able too find a great job and meet Belle. They're excited about what we are going to do."

It was Mel that asked the unspoken question. "Do you really think you can make this business a success?"

"Yes," Belle and Anne answered simultaneously, then laughed. There was no doubt about their belief in their plan. Whatever happened, they would work their butts off to make their dream come true.

At the end of the evening, both our parents expressed a desire to invest in the new company. Tony had already said he would buy in as well, so we had what we set out to accomplish: a properly financed start-up business. Tony and the parents each owned five shares, while Belle and Anne held fifteen shares each. I was the bank, holding another five shares. A total of fifty shares represented full ownership of AnneBelle's Creations.

The business would be registered and incorporated on Belle's twenty-first birthday, alleviating any necessity for her parents to sign the articles on her behalf. She would be a legal adult and responsible for her own debts.

I started my new career at the brewery right after Labour Day, and immediately found myself up to my neck in work. First, I had to learn the responsibilities that had been laid down for the position. Until I started, the job didn't exist. My role was to help management and the employees make the business run more efficiently. My job was to remove the typical obstacles that made that difficult.

In my previous life, I had encountered exactly these kinds of problems and I knew from experience what worked and what didn't. Most of the problems were a result of poor or non-existent communications. Hell, wasn't that the case in almost every business. It wasn't going to be easy just because I knew what the solution should be. I had to get the management, staff, and union employees to buy in. That was the big challenge.

I had Tommie French's full support, gained primarily because I detailed everything I wanted to do with him before I set out to implement the plan. I'm not sure why he thought a twenty-three year-old "kid" could do the job, but he gave me his confidence and promised support when I needed it. It didn't take long to discover I would need it.

The management group harboured a resentment that some "smart-ass kid" could waltz in and tell them how the run the business better. The staff were caught in the middle, wondering who to support, and the union wanted to negotiate everything before it was implemented. I had only one weapon at my disposal. Tell them what I wanted to do, tell them why I wanted to do it, and tell them what the result was expected to be. In other words, communications.

Since I wasn't being taken seriously in the beginning, I asked Tommie to meet separately with each group and let them know that he was endorsing my plans and that I had his full support. It wouldn't be a solution to the mumbling and grumbling, but at least for the management and staff, it would lay down the ground rules. With the union, we would have to do the best we could, trying to find out what their objections were and do what we could to counter them.

It took a couple of minor successes to get the staff and then the management to accept the idea that I knew what I was doing. I spent most of the first two months just sitting and listening to the things they believed were getting in the way of them doing their jobs. Often, it was little, almost inconsequential things that could be readily fixed, but no one had bothered. I found myself bouncing back and forth between the management group and the staff, trying to fix the easy, little problems one at a time.

By the time Belle's twenty-first birthday was almost upon me, I was mentally exhausted. I was doing fairly well at the brewery now. At least Tommie thought so. I could look back and see some progress, so that gave me the energy to keep following my plan.

Belle and I had little time for each other. She was immersed in preparing for her new business. We made time for each other on the weekend, but even then, I found Belle, Anne, and I were discussing potential suppliers and negotiating consignment contracts. They already had about three weeks business in front of them, so there was something in hand to launch the business.

Anne had done a superb job of contacting all the customers from her previous job. Just after they opened, she held an open house to inaugurate the shop and served tea and cakes. She surprised herself when nearly fifty people showed up, six of them asking for appointments to discuss designs. Both she and Belle had maintained a good relationship with Maurice's. They would stick to wedding dresses and AnneBelle's would look after other designs. As a result, both businesses were getting referrals.

Anne was confident that come January-February, they would begin to see an upsurge in business as planning for May-June weddings would bring in parents, relatives, and friends that wanted something special for the "big day." I had been watching their progress weekly, and I could see they were going to be busy to begin with, but the unknown was how long it would take to develop a sustainable level.

I'm not sure when I noticed it, but Belle and I didn't seem to be quite as close as we had been. I knew she was dedicated to opening her new business venture, but just the same, we were engaged, and I expected some time set aside for us. It didn't happen. Was she having second thoughts about marrying me? I hoped not, but I was caught between creating a problem or solving one if it already existed.

While she was engrossed in her new business, I was virtually free of any responsibilities beyond my job at the brewery. Perhaps that was the cause of the more distant feelings between us. I didn't get any sense that she was upset or unhappy with me ... just less warm and affectionate when we were together.

Her birthday came and went without much fanfare. After all, it was only a few days before Christmas, so I didn't expect it to be a big deal. I bought her a small brooch and a card. I wanted to take her to dinner, but she claimed she was too busy to take the time. She thanked me for the gift and the card and I got a quick kiss along with it. But something seemed to be missing and I started to think I needed to get to the bottom of this soon.

I began to dwell on the changes in my fiancée, and it brought back a very unexpected and frustrating conversation I had with Shannon Monahan last spring. I had almost forgotten it with the euphoria over Belle's and my engagement. It had taken place in the SUB one afternoon when I was preparing for a final exam.

"Hello, Lee," came the gentle voice with a faint Irish lilt.

I looked up surprised. I didn't say anything immediately. I was trying to think of what I should reply, but for a few moments, I was silent.

Finally, I managed, "Hi, Shannon." I leaned back in my chair, staring at her, wondering what she wanted. She hadn't moved, but hadn't asked to stay either.

"How are you?" I asked, determined to be polite to my former lover.

"Fine. I'm fine. I'm going to pass all my courses. I've got another three years before I'll do my internship. It seems like school is never going to end."

"I guess when you plan to become a doctor, learning and keeping up to date never does end."

"That's true. I hope I know what I'm getting myself in for." She said it with a rueful smile, knowing what was to come in the next years.

"Why don't you sit down for a moment?" I suggested. I was curious. I didn't think she had stopped just to say hello.

"Thank you. I will." She sat opposite me, her eyes seldom leaving my face. I could see she was summoning up the nerve to say something, and I had a hunch what it might be.

"I owe you an apology for the dreadful way I treated you, Lee. I look back now and wonder what I was thinking. The only explanation that makes any sense is that you opened Pandora's Box. Once you showed me what making love was all about and how wonderful it was, I got greedy ... I had to have more. When I did, I knew it was wrong. It took me a while to get control of myself."

"That's quite a confession, Shannon. I admit, I didn't follow your trail after we parted. I pretty much didn't want to know what you got up to."

"I know. I understand. It's been eating at me for a long time, Lee. I'm so sorry I did that to you. You didn't deserve that. You are a very fine man, and I'm happy about the time we had together. I just wish I hadn't spoiled it the way I did."

"It's alright, I've forgiven you. We were ... and still are ... young. We make mistakes, and with any luck, we learn from them."

"Do you have a girl friend, Lee?"

"Actually, I'm engaged. We're getting married after she gets her new business established."

"Oh ... she's a lucky girl. I wish ... I wish..." She looked away, a tear forming in her eye.

"Never mind, Shannon. What's done is done. I'm going to be fine and so are you. You know what you want, and I'm sure you'll achieve it. It sounds like you've learned something important from what happened between us, so that's a good thing."

"Always the optimist, Lee. I think that's your best quality. I won't forget you, no matter where we end up. Goodbye ... for now."

"Goodbye, and good luck, Shannon." I watched her walk away, feeling a bit better that she had made the effort to have that conversation. It took some courage, considering the circumstances. There was no need to remind her about what she had done. She was well aware of it. Her regrets seemed sincere, and I thought she had grown up as a consequence. I knew that I still missed her, but the past was the past. I had a different future in front of me now.

So why did that almost forgotten conversation come back to me now? I didn't sleep very well that night. The wind drove the sleet against my bedroom window while I tossed and turned, my mind full of questions without any answers.

Where was I going in this altered life? What was my future? It wasn't going to be a repeat of my former life, that was certain. That time-line had already been invalidated. Was I going to be a business manager? Would I stay with the brewery and work my way up in that corporate environment? Should I start my own business? If so ... doing what?