Chapter 19

Monday again.

Getting out of bed was a real challenge today, David thought to himself. He and Margaret had wrestled all night with the events of the party and then Sunday and had not really come to a satisfactory solution. Monday was not a day either of them was looking forward to.

Cindy had called Jane on Sunday morning for her daily call and her mother had been absolutely freaked. Evidently her mother felt that she had done some insult to Margaret that was so bad that Margaret was going to get revenge by killing her daughter in the most horrible way. This little discussion brought about panic and Candy and Helen both worked to settle Cindy down.

All of them agreed that they had done well with David and Margaret and that they would wait until talking with them to see what was really going on.

When Margaret and David did go in at noon, there were a lot of ripples running through the house.

Abby was still coping with her migration from healer to killer. The impulse to staunch bleeding was so heavily ingrained, that she was fighting with it on a professional level. On an emotional level, she had worked with a lot of patients who had died on her, and the action of talking with them and being supportative was in the best medical school ethics and teachings. It was just hard to realize that she was the one causing the death.

Mark had talked with Helen about dating a woman from his office. Not just sex but dinner and activities. The things he could not do with Helen any more. This was probably the first stage of the process that Helen had talked with Carol about earlier. The professional in her expected it. The person in her was saddened and somewhat angered. Next would be bargaining, she was sure.

Elizabeth and Jim were talking about nannies to stay with the kids since Jim had to travel and the kids could not stay unsupervised. Elizabeth felt that this was a blow to her femininity. She should be able to take care of her kids. That was what she wanted to do all her life. Elizabeth's mother was no help on this. She felt that Jim should move on find someone new now. Before the kids were damaged by this prolonged delay.

"At least, Liz, you will have a chance to approve of who is going to raise your kids."

Elizabeth's mother was always a practical sort.

And Carol's relationship was the only one with positive changes. Jim had met with Christine. And they had hit it off well. What surprised Carol was that Jim had insisted on Carol's inclusion on any physical festivities. To which Christine totally agreed. And stated loudly that she would go with Jim to visit Carol any time night or day, or go alone if Carol needed a fuck or just a cuddle. Or just to have someone to talk to.

Carol had decided that even if she got out of here alive, she would not want Christine outside of her marriage. The woman was just too good and too much fun to talk with. She was a missed soul mate for both her and Jim. Christine was a good one. Which was a delightful suprise

And right now, Carol was the linchpin for all of them right now. Her knowledge of case law and legislation regarding their situation was key to any decisions or actions that Margaret and David had to make. Her ability to play the court games in her mind was invaluable to the people that David now thought of as his Team and Family.

Cindy's problem (actually Cindy's mother) threatened to create an ambiguous situation. What she had actually done was point out the issues with the case law and bad regulations regarding the regulations. The problem was not the initial filings. Those were very cut and dried. It would be the extension filing. David had filed for Cindy on Friday (as outlined in the law) for a Extension for thirty days. That first filing would be granted almost automatically.

The problem was the extensions. As Carol pointed out, the ninety-day extensions, which were coming up for everyone else, was not something that Findlay had requested before. In fact, they were almost never requested before by anyone.

The only case Carol could find was with M&H processing. They had a single goat that had been extended for two years.

Carol's advice was pretty stark. If Cindy were termed, and Jane created a major fuss that was captured and followed up by the news, then the entire group would probably follow at the end of the first thirty day term, as the MAB would simply deny extensions based on Jane's kicking up a fuss with the media. Depending on how far the press and noise had already gone, the MAB would probably not grant the extensions due to possible charges of discriminatory treatment by processors. The case could possibly be made for discrimination. Which would wind through the courts and cost lots of money. Which David would ultimately loose based on the non-discrimination ruling of Harrison vs. Ohio processors. On top of that, David would loose his cheapest in house lawyer, because of the denials of extension.

One solution would be to term Cindy now, and let the press die down for the next twenty days for the extensions to be filed for the rest of them. Which would appeal to the situation that Margaret spoke of at the party. The press would be that the others were performing operational tasks critical to business development, and that Cindy was just a courtesy extended to an unlucky teenager. Good press all around.

Sharing that with the others had a sobering effect. Elizabeth was dialed in to determine how to manage the spin to the press if there was a stink raised.

As these discussions raged in the break room, Cindy and Candy had decided to take a walk out to reception and talk for a while.

The final decision Sunday was to make no decision. As David said, "This is too important a decision to make right now, and I want to think on it tonight."

Margaret for once was quiet and didn't argue. Not even banter.

So that was the background of the Monday that was unfolding in front of everyone.

When David buzzed the door at seven o'clock, the person answering was Cindy.

"Hi. Candy is helping in the kitchen. Let me help you with the groceries."

"Good Morning. Thanks. Cindy, we need to talk."

"Ok. Mr. F, I am good. Candy and I spent a lot of yesterday talking and we even spent time in the tub getting a hot soak. I figured we could try it out with me today if you don't mind."

"Cindy, if we make it your time, then yes, that is how you can go. But don't be planning to go too soon. I need every good hand I can get here to keep up with our business and you are a part of that staff. So as far as I am concerned that issue is settled for now. And I trump Margaret." David said clearly and calmly

Seeing a sign of relief on her face, David then reached out and kissed her on the forehead. "Now get these to the kitchen."

Margaret, following close behind, felt a sense of relief. She was glad to dump that decision to David and just tell Jane if she called that she was overridden.

"So, who told you that you could make decisions and be boss?" She said to David on the way down the hall.

"I have my wife's permission to be boss when I have to. Right?" He said while kissing Margaret on the forehead.

"Right. If Jane calls I will send her to you." Margaret teased.

"You just do that."

Entering the break room, David was greeted by the sight of Abby hugging Cindy with tears running down her cheeks. Candy was having the same problem while working with Helen at the stove. Carol had come over to David and said, "I am going to research case law regarding extensions. We need to start documentation on what we are doing here to justify critical business interests. And I will get with Marty Robinson for a union support message for Cindy, Candy and Abby."

"Look into that further, Carol. We may have to unionize the whole group of you" David said. "It may drive up costs, but we have a way to absorb that."

Feeling the entire mood of the room lighten, David finished his coffee and went on to his office to look up his day.

Helen looked at Margaret with a knowing smile.

"What are you looking at, slut?" Margaret said in return.

"The way that you manage David managing you managing David has always been fun to watch" Helen said. "You guys never miss a beat."

"Shhh. These sluts will think you know us." Margaret said.

The banter continued like this until eight o'clock when Margaret got into her work uniform (Naked with a collar) and went down to David's office. David had been going through the daily schedule, and saw a meeting with Jack and Susan Stienhauer for today. "What's with this?" He asked Margaret.

"His wife was going to come over here at ten o'clock today to talk with me. I guess he figured to tag along." Margaret said.

"Well, seeing you like that may give him a whole new idea about fucking the competition" David said. "Don't do it until we figure out what they want."

"David, I never fuck someone before I know what they want and they know what I want."

At eight fifteen, the phone on the private internal rang. Helen answered it to find Janet Carmichael on the other end. Putting the woman on hold, she wandered to David's office and asked if he wanted to take the call, or should she say that she was too late.

"You have a sick sense of humor. I'll talk to her. Margaret, would you please go check on the girls?"

"You just don't want to take a chance of me getting pissed off again." Margaret said with a pout.

"Yes, I believe you may be correct. So scat." David said, as he was picking up the phone.

"This is David Findlay."

"David, this is Jane Carmichael. I believe you know who I am and I wanted to talk with you if it is possible."

"Jane, we don't have much to talk about. I know you want to talk to Cindy while you can."

"David, I was very hasty Saturday and I want to know what we can do to resolve this without my daughter suffering from my actions."

"I assure you she won't suffer, Jane. We don't do things like that here. You saw how we term people even in a public setting. Cindy is not going to suffer regardless."

"That is not what I mean. I mean I don't want her to die."

"Jane, you knew when you brought her here that it was a temporary stay. We agreed to do a hold over while we looked into the legal and other status for your other daughter. That didn't pan out like you expected and our situation is the same as it was last Saturday when she reported here. Nothing about her status has changed."

"David, what are you going to do? Can I please speak to my daughter?" Jane asked with tension in her voice.

"I am not going to term her today. I have too few people to run the business right now as it is. But that is a temporary thing. She is at the same risk as everyone else. And if anything happens to them it happens to her too." David said. "Do you understand? I am overruling Margaret on this issue for the time being because of production requirements. If anyone hears of your bragging about special privilege to anyone, she is on the grill. Do you understand me?"

Crying, Jane said, "Yes. I understand."

"Now. Go enjoy your other daughter, and if I hear of talking about us again then we will not have another discussion. Do you understand me?"

"Yes. I do. Can I talk to my daughter?"

"We are getting ready to open, and she will be busy. I will have her call you tonight after we shut everything down. Please think about what I said. Goodbye."

Jane held the phone in her hand a long time after she hung up. She had no idea how long this would continue. But she knew that it was in her interest to say nothing to anyone for now.

Visitors or Competitors

Susan and Jack Stienhauer were somewhat surprised at the reception room at the Findlay processing plant. It was shortly after ten o' clock and they noticed that the revolving glass doors had women leaving as well as entering. Women sitting around at different tables busily filling out forms while four naked, orange collared Goats moved about from table to table talking and filling out information. Drinks and snacks lined the wall along the entrance and several men were there as well talking at the tables. No security evident. No stunners evident. No burly men ordering anyone about. Sitting down at a table at the door, they both looked around and saw no signs of any of the trappings Merle had insisted on. A group of women at their right finished some documents with one of the goats and stood up to leave. Jack and Susan heard the end of the conversation as the woman raised her voice.

"Ok, now you bring these back with you when you report on Wednesday, and let me know if there is anything left off you need help with. Drive carefully now." Looking over at Susan and Jack, the woman said, "Hello, My name is Helen and how can I help you?"

"I'm Susan Stienhauer and I had an appointment with Margaret Findlay. This is my husband Jack and he wanted to catch up with David."

"Oh. Sure. Here you go. Please look this over and when Margaret comes back up she can go over it with you." Helen said.

"Just a minute, we are not reporting here." Jack said, seeing the look on his wife's face.

"Oh I know. But you have to fill out an intake form anyway. Insurance reasons you know." Helen continued as she walked away.

"But." Jack said.

"Darling, It is just a piece of paper. It won't hurt to look. Sit down." Susan said to her husband.

A few moments later, a young woman came over to the table and sat down. "Hi. I am Candy. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"We are here to see Margaret Findlay. Is she around?" Jack asked, exasperated.

"Sure. She just took a group down. I expect she will be here in thirty minutes or so. Can I help you?"

"We came over here to look at the operation, and I expect that David and Margaret may not have told you we were coming." Jack continued.

"Oh yes. We knew you were coming. And why. You just missed Margaret. But we can talk while you are waiting." Candy continued.

"Dear, don't you get us some coffee" Susan said to her husband. "Anything for you dear?"

"No thank you. Too much caffeine wires me up. I will take some water though. Not a good thing."

"Ms. Stienhauer", Candy continued after Jack had walked away, "Margaret said that you wanted to know what these stories were all about. And you wanted to know how we did things differently. Margaret told all of us to help you see exactly what the process was so you would understand it and what we are doing here. So, just for arguments sake, why don't we work with that form and show you how the process really works?"

Disarmed by the casual nature of the young woman in front of her, Susan thought to object. Then she figured, no harm. I can go along with this for now. I probably will learn a lot from it.

Going through the form with Candy, Susan suddenly discovered a lot of things that she had left open in her life. "You know," Candy, said, "this is a good checklist even for the not selected. Accidents happen even today. You wouldn't necessarily need to close bank accounts or credit cards. But having them listed for your next of kin makes cleanup easier if something happens."

"I see." Susan said. "I also see you have outlined arrangements for pets, child care, location of documents and wills. Everything that is current. Even car locations for parking?"

"Yes. We added that after a couple of ladies asked how they could get their cars home. We extended them through the weekend, but we added this to the questionnaire to make sure we caught it with everyone as they came through."

Jack had returned with the drinks and was watching the interplay with a great deal of interest. He also saw that a short brunette had come up from the door marked "Office" and had walked over to a table that the woman Helen had waved her over to. After a few minutes the women at the table stood up, picked up their forms and followed the brunette down a hallway labeled "Examination". He also noticed that there were a lot fewer people here over the last ten minutes.

"So, how frequently do these groups leave here?" Jack asked interrupting Candy and Susan.

"About every ten to fifteen minutes" Candy responded.

"Jack. Don't interrupt. I am sure all this will be explained." Susan said to her husband while filling out the form. "This is really a good piece of work. You girls did a lot here."

"Thank you. And if you are finished with it you can bring it with you and we will go down to the Exam rooms and I can show you how we work with the blood and other samples."

As both stood up, Candy said to Jack "Sir, I'm afraid you have to wait here. We don't allow men past reception."

"It will be Ok, Jack. We will be right back, won't we?" Susan asked Candy.

"It takes about an hour to make the circuit. I expect we won't be that long." Candy said in reply.

Picking up her purse and following Candy down the hallway, she noticed that some of the women were leaving through a door marked "Lavatory" thinking that was a good idea, she asked Candy "Can I use the loo?"

"Just a minute or two. Barbara or Jackie will be with us to get blood samples."

"Darling, I don't need any blood samples."

"Actually it is free. We do a complete hemoscan for all issues. If nothing else it is something your doctor would need. It's part of the process. We can send the results to your physician if you like. Save you on a physical." Candy said.

"Ok. I guess."

Susan was impressed with the professionalism of Jackie. She was there less then two minutes while Susan was talking with Candy and got four tubes of blood with no effort. The hemosyrenge left no marks, and was painless. "You guys do a good stick. My doctor isn't this good."