Chapter 8 A Surplus of Opportunities

When I let myself into the office on Monday morning, I noticed I wasn't the first one to arrive. After flicking on the lights in the design department, I took a stroll around the office to see who was here. It was Janice and she was busy with something on her computer.

"Good morning, Dex," she said without looking up. "Grab me a coffee will you; cream and sugar please. It should be ready by now.

"On my way," I said, wondering what was going on.

The lights were on in the lunch room and the two pot coffee maker was sitting with both sides full. After pouring two mugs, I headed back to Janice's area and put one down, drawing up a chair for myself.

"What's going on? This is pretty early for you. Do we have a problem?"

"No ... not really," she said, stopping her typing and turning toward me.

"Michelle phoned me last night. John Flannery has decided to take an indefinite leave of absence. He and Katherine are going on an around the world trip. Michelle tells me it was all your idea," she smiled lightly.

"Well, isn't that something. I did suggest it to Michelle but I didn't think he'd go for it. But, I suppose that is a good sign."

"Michelle can be very persuasive when she needs to be. But really, you came up with a very good idea and John can go without having to sacrifice his position at Trent. Very well thought out, Dex."

"Thanks for the compliment but it was just a spur-of-the-moment suggestion."

Janice shrugged.

"I guess that begs the question, who will the interim president be?" I asked.

"I think Michelle, Rueben, and Dick are going to have a conference call with Tom Yardley and Wolf. We'll let them thrash it out," she grinned.

"Well, I hope this helps Flannery and his wife. He's a pretty unhappy man right now and he's not able to contribute the way he probably wants to. Good luck to him," I said.

"Yes ... good luck to him," she said quietly. "I'm just tidying up the details of his financial arrangements. He'll still be on the company health insurance and benefits but his salary will be suspended."

"Will they be all right ... financially, I mean."

"Oh yeah ... he's very well off and I think his wife is as well. She's old Toronto money. They're fine."

"Well ... that's one way to start the week, I guess," I said. I didn't feel particularly good at that moment and I guess it showed.

"Hey, Dex. This wasn't really your doing. You just planted the seed in Michelle's mind. Besides, I think you know that this is the best thing for both of them."

"I know, Janice. I just wish we'd got along better at the start. I feel like I've been going behind his back and doing things he wouldn't approve of. I don't feel good about that."

"You think he didn't know what was going on?" she snorted. "John knew ... and saw ... what you were doing. At first he didn't like it but as things began to take shape he could see what was happening. He told me that he knew it was overdue. He just wished he could have been part of it."

"When is he leaving? I'd like to say goodbye to him and wish him well," I said, wondering if I really meant it.

"He's already left, Dex. He won't be back any time soon, if at all," she said sadly.

We sat quietly, sipping our coffees and thinking our private thoughts. I felt badly that John Flannery had been so upset with the merger and with my showing up ready to change things. I was only glad that I hadn't forced a confrontation with him. That would have made things worse. I worked around him and with luck and a lot of cooperation from the people, we got things done.

I walked back to my office, leaving Janice to finish up whatever she was doing. I sat in my office staring at my monitor, but doing nothing for a few minutes. Finally, I pulled myself out of the funk I was in and got back to work. Whatever the reasons, John Flannery was gone and there would be a new leader at Trent Engineering in the next day or so.

By 8:30 that morning the word was out. A notice had been placed on the bulletin board in the lunch room and an e-mail circulated to all the staff at Trent. I assumed Tom would look after notifying the Pinecone staff.

I expected to hear from Tom by ten o'clock that morning and he didn't disappoint me.

"Morning, Dex. I know you've heard the news, so I won't dwell on it. Michelle Gauthier called me on the weekend to tell me about her meeting with John and his decision. She says it was your suggestion that led to her proposing it to him. Once again you prove just how valuable you are to this organization. Well done and nicely handled too."

"I hope it's the right solution for them," I said. "I don't feel great about it but if it helps him and his wife, then I can live with it."

"It's a perfect solution, Dex. It allows him to keep his pride and his status but also gives him a chance to be with his wife for however long he can care for her."

"Have you decided on who will take over for him ... temporarily?" I asked, desperate to change the topic.

"Rueben Golowitz will be nominated by Michelle, seconded by me. I don't think it will cause any stir. He's the senior man now so it's a logical choice. Michelle has already covered it off with Zarek and he's fine with it."

"Good. I think that's a good choice too. He and Dick have been very supportive of what we've been doing so we can carry on without interruption."

"I meant what I said, Dex. You really have a knack for getting people on your side. It makes you a very valuable resource for us. Maybe you missed your calling. Perhaps you should have been a diplomat," he chuckled.

"Nice of you to say so, Tom, but I like what I do, I'm happy where I am and I'm being very well rewarded by you. I have no complaints."

"Good to hear it, Dex. I know I can call on you when something like this comes up. If you need anything at all, I'm only a phone call away."

"Thanks, Tom. I really do appreciate it ... and thank Wolf too when you see him."

I hung up the phone feeling pretty damn good. I hadn't really paid any attention to my salary since I was appointed vice president until I saw the first semi-monthly deposit in my account. I was certainly being paid like a vice president so I had to accept that I was confirmed in the role.

Pete Thorpe showed up early Wednesday evening, arriving from the airport by cab. He greeted me enthusiastically, looking around and clearly approving of our accommodations.

"Jeez, Dex, this is great. This is better than my place back home."

"It should be, Pete. It's renting for three grand a month and that's a special for us."

"I don't know, Dex. Downtown Toronto, right in the heart of action central. Couldn't get much better than this," he enthused.

"You aren't going to be here that long, Pete. How about we agree no one-night-stands here."

"Ouch, that does limit my options ... but ... it's your place and you're the vice president so your rules count."

"Good. Now ... have you eaten yet?"

"No ... they cleverly scheduled the flight to avoid serving one of their gourmet meals," he smirked.

"Fine. Let's go down the street to my local pub. The food's good and it should be quiet tonight."

Pete gave me a quick approval and we set out for our evening meal.

There weren't that many people in the place when we arrived. The Blue Jays were out of town and the Maple Leafs had finished another dismal season, missing the playoffs for the umpteenth time.

"If you're a good boy I'll treat you to a game next week. The Red Sox are in town."

"What's your definition of a 'good boy?'"

"Oh, let's say the staff training is on or ahead of schedule and you behave yourself after hours," I grinned.

"You drive a hard bargain, Mr. Vice President. But ... for the Red Sox, I'm going to be very diligent in my work."

"I would expect nothing less from you, Pete."

And I wouldn't, either. Pete may have been a persistent womanizer but he was good at his job and didn't mix business with pleasure. He may not have been my ideal roommate but for a week or so I could handle it.

Pete did his job in his usual workmanlike fashion and when he left I was confident the Trent accounting staff had what they needed to blend in with the Vancouver standard accounting system. The Red Sox had beaten the Jays 2-0 the night before he left but he was pleased to have seen the game from one of the sky boxes. A generous hardware supplier had offered a couple of seats in their private box and I think Pete was pretty impressed.

As we entered May I began to get a feel for just how long my presence would be needed in Toronto. The training on the new equipment and software was going well and I thought before the end of July I would be able to return to my home town with confidence that Terry and Petra could handle the growth in the future. I was always available for emergencies so I wasn't too worried that I would be leaving too soon.

We had already begun to feel the effects of Wolf's efforts at finding some new opportunities. Plus, Vancouver was very busy and wanted to hive off some work to Toronto, knowing it would be handled properly with me there. I sat down with Terry, Petra and Rueben and discussed adding two more people.

When we went over the current and future work, more staff appeared to be necessary. It would put an extra training burden on me and my two senior people but this wasn't the time to turn down opportunities to grow. I also was mindful of the image that it would project inside the office. Positive things were happening again. Trent was hiring!

I had a routine when hiring new designers. I would interview them first to weed out the ones I thought were the weakest or otherwise not suitable. Then I would pass the "keepers" along to Terry and Petra to individually interview the remaining candidates. Then we would meet and discuss what we thought of each of them. It tended to give a more rounded picture of the candidates since we all had our own individual biases and interests.

In the end, we found two very good young men who all three of us agreed would be a good fit for our department. In fact, we could have chosen four or five of the candidates and not compromised our objectives. That was a good sign. As Trent continued to grow we would have some confidence that we could find new talent fairly promptly.

Victoria Day, or May Day as it was often called, fell on a Monday and it was decided a family barbeque/picnic was in order. We chose to hold the event on the Sunday, giving both the adults and the children a chance to recover from the event and attend family or community outings on Monday as well.

We estimated that a hundred men, women and children would attend so we needed a location that could handle that many people. It was Dick Zarek that came up with the answer. His uncle owned a farm north of the city near Bolton and he could provide not only the space, but horses for riding and farm animals for the kids to visit.

I was a little concerned that it was a long way for some of the families so with Rueben's help we hired two school busses to pick up anyone who wanted a ride. More than seventy people thought that was the way to go so we set up a simple bus route from the city to the farm. The first bus would leave at one o'clock in the afternoon and the second at two o'clock. It wasn't perfect but we got a lot of compliments for making the effort. The busses would leave the farm at eight and nine o'clock that evening to get everyone home at a reasonable hour.

I discovered that no one had done anything like this in quite a few years. Janice said the word around the office was that the people felt Trent was becoming a whole new company and they liked what they saw. That gave me some confidence that we were doing the right thing.

I asked for volunteers to help with the organization and had no problem getting more than we needed. I left it to Janice to suggest what games the kids would enjoy. She even suggested we rent an open canopy in case it rained or, if on the other hand, it got very warm. I thought that was a wise precaution. Since I was spending Trent's money I talked all my decisions over with Rueben but he was in complete agreement. The whole day would cost less than $2500 and we viewed that as a good investment in morale.

I made sure I sent an invitation to Michelle as well. I doubted she would come but I wanted to make the gesture. Surprise, surprise, she accepted and chose to ride the bus to the farm. I thought about my own situation and decided to phone Rose Tulloch.

"Hi, Rose. This is Dexter McLeod. I don't know if you remember me."

"Of course I do, Dex. A girl doesn't forget her favorite dance partner that easily."

"Great. Say ... our company is having a May Day weekend picnic at a farm up in Bolton on Sunday. I was wondering if you'd like to be my guest?"

"I'd love to. Thank you for thinking of me."

Her acceptance was enthusiastic and I was pleased about that. I made arrangements to pick her up at her apartment since I was renting a people van just in case we had some stragglers or we needed to make an emergency run to town. It cost very little more than a car so it was an easy decision.

When the chosen Sunday rolled around it dawned sunny with a bit of scattered cloud. Almost perfect, I thought. I had arranged to pick Rose up just after two o'clock which would allow me to check out the bus situation and make sure no one got left behind. There must have been a lot of enthusiasm for this picnic because everyone was on time, if not early. I drove to Rose's apartment building and she was waiting for me as I drove up.

"I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long, Rose."

"No ... besides, it's a lovely sunny day and I'm really looking forward to the picnic. I haven't been on one of these for years ... not since I was a teenager."

We caught up on each others activities over the past weeks and she confirmed that Tony had been dumped that night when we went dancing. She said she knew when she was out with me that she was settling for less and she didn't want to do that. I agreed with her decision.

We arrived at the farm and it was already a sea of activity. Kids running in every direction, a softball game getting underway, horseback rides getting organized and a petting zoo for the little ones. It was great to see everyone getting involved.

As we walked toward the canopy and the centre of activity, I spotted Michelle and led Rose toward her.

"Hi, Michelle, glad you could make it. I'd like you to meet Rose Tulloch. Rose this is one of our partners, Michelle Gauthier."

"Nice to meet you, Rose," Michelle said, looking her over carefully.

We exchanged some small talk about the picnic and the weather before we moved off. It seemed like an awkward exchange and I wondered why. Rose answered that question for me.