Chapter 5

Friday morning Jennie's step-father was in a sour mood. "You were home late last night!" he said.

"True," Jennie replied. "We had a lot to do - we hired a new Operations Manager yesterday, but Mr. Sanders - the company Director - drove me home personally."

"That was kind of him," Jennie's mother chirped in. "I am always worried when you travel alone late at night."

"Indeed," said Jennie. "And so was Mr. Sanders - that's why he drove me home."

"You stayed long enough in the car before getting out," her stepfather said. He had obviously been sneaking a peek out the window.

"Yes, we were talking about today's tasks and the fact that he will need me to come early and stay late quite frequently," Jennie replied calmly. "He was suggesting I might have the use of a company apartment close to the office."

"Now that is a superb offer," her mother exclaimed. "That would save you the long commute."

"Obviously I wouldn't have you cooking for me and washing clothes," Jennie said warmly.

Her mother smiled. "You managed well enough in your bed-sitter before. And it does sound like a splendid chance."

Her stepfather was panicking completely, seeing the source of a much needed £200 a week slipping out of his hands. "I will not have it!" he barked. "Our daughter should not be a kept woman Vera!"

"What ever do you mean?" his wife said outraged. "I'm sure she will be nothing of the sort. Mr. Sanders seems like a real gentleman of the old school."

"Ha! I forbid it. That's my final word on the matter!" her husband declared as Jennie slipped out the door to catch her train.

They all converged at 8.30 at the office. Jennie was in business attire as was George. Even Jeff had dressed up a bit. "Cathy made me," he said sheepishly. "Came over this morning and picked out the outfit. Said I couldn't look like a delivery boy now that I was Operations Manager. Tickled pink by that title she was. Said she always knew I'd get on. Mum agreed; Cathy rang 'er at once yesterday when I 'ad phoned 'er. Mum told me to mind me 'aitches too."

"Believe me," George replied. "With the quality of the work you put in I would keep you on even if you dressed in nothing but a loin cloth and expressed yourself in grunts. Let's go see how our storage systems are."

The two men disappeared into the server room while Jennies got the coffee brewing. George and Jeff seemed satisfied and within an hour they had started retrieving data from an off-site facility. Before lunch the Image server, Directory server and Mail-server were ready. The office PCs could be installed over the network and Jennie and Jeff were added as users. Shortly after the Phone-server came on-line - Sanders IT Security started to function like a real company and Jennie could begin familiarising herself with the systems. When they returned from lunch at a local pub the company Web-server was ready and after a rudimentary modification that disabled all references to former staff, Sanders IT Security once more - if momentarily - had a cyber-presence.

"So far so good. We'll leave that hidden until we're ready to strike," George said after having tested it. "Now comes the big job - retrieving the business systems and all of our customers' data."

"'Ow come you are able to do all this?" Jeff asked. "I mean the chap dismantled the machines and sold 'em off as scrap like. Why didn't 'e delete them bleedin' off-site backups?"

"Because he didn't know about them," George replied. "The code was hidden. He wasn't paying attention to details. He was too busy planning to steal my company and screwing my wife."

"Pay-back time!" Jeff said with relish. "'Elping you doin' this feels so good!"

While their clothing was conservative and yesterday's overt sexual friction was absent, there was still something almost electrical about the atmosphere between Jennie and George. "I am sorry I can't drive you home tonight," George said when they were getting ready to head out for lunch at the pub, "but I have an important meeting with my solicitor this afternoon."

"That's OK George," Jennie replied. "I understand completely. Besides, the sooner you are free of the bitch, the sooner you can be mine!"

"Speaking of the bitch," George said with a chuckle, "My ex-wife's solicitor has sent mine her suggestions on how our assets should be split in the divorce. That's what the meeting this afternoon is about. Lillian thinks she controls or knows about all our funds, but she is off the mark by a good factor 20. She has really no idea how profitable the business has been over the years and I have no intention of telling her. I will call the list wildly inaccurate and put up a mock fight, only to let her emerge victorious with a large share of the values she knows about."

"Is that legal?" Jennie asked.

"Good point Jennie. It is. As long as I tell no lies it is. I will dispute the accuracy but then very reluctantly agree to the summarized assets my ex-wife comes up with. That ought to make her suspicious, but I hope she will have put in some elastic number that I can make a fuss about. Like goodwill in the company, or some inflated value of my house. That should deflect questions, and once I have agreed to pay what she asks for, she can come for no more."

"Glorious!" Jennie said. "Will you ever let her know the truth?"

"Unlikely," George replied. "I don't intend to keep in touch - there is no room for that cow in my life when all this is over. I'd much rather concentrate on a completely new life."

"I'll hold you to that," Jennie said and let her hand run over George's crotch. "New life sounds like a great idea. Several new lives..."

Before they could elaborate on this interesting subject, Jeff walked in. "Let's go eat. I'm starving," he said. "Oh, and by the way: I can borrow a small lorry tomorrow morning if you were wanting to move this weekend?"

Jennie was hesitant. "I don't know - is the apartment ready?" she asked, directing the question at George.

"Absolutely," George replied. "It could do with a bit of cleaning, but otherwise it is perfectly ready."

"Tomorrow at 10?" Jeff asked.

When George offered to help too, Jennie decided to take the plunge. The timing was good - her step-father usually spent Saturday morning at a betting shop. And it wasn't so very much she had - much of the stuff from her bed-sitter, like kitchen gear and so on, hadn't even been unpacked. But she worried about getting clothes and books packed quickly. "I may not be completely packed by 10," she said -giving voice to that concern.

"Not to worry - we'll 'elp you. Besides, I think I know someone who'll insist on lending you an 'and," Jeff said mysteriously.

Shortly after lunch George left to see his solicitor. Henry was an old friend - they had been at school together and Henry was about the only male friend George was certain Lillian hadn't fucked. Not that she would have been uninterested or that Henry was unattractive, far from it, but he was totally devoted to his wife and their trio of youngsters.

"OK, the strategy is clear," Henry summed up. "We dispute the overall asset list and make a fuss about the property valuations and the good-will in the company. When shut down by the judge we worry that a future favourable sale of the house or a successful resumption of the company activities will make Lillian come back for more. We then aim to secure a declaration that the settlement is final against agreeing to the stipulated sum. If she agrees, we're all set."