Chapter 5: Expect the Unexpected

I needed another ally in my quest to sell the Chinese Project to our people. I was confident that John was on my side and even Wray had ceased his criticisms for a while. But, like any other corporation, there was an inescapable component that I needed to include. The money man. In this case it was the money lady, one Lynda Powell, CFO.

"I'm quite cross with you, Cameron," she said sternly after I'd sketched out the strategy and where we were at. "You've given me very little time to do what's necessary for the planning meeting."

I was concerned for a moment, but then could see that while her words were sharp, the look in her eyes was anything but.

"However, it's nice to see someone come to me with a plan that will push this company forward instead of retreating into a shell."

I nodded and smiled. We were on the same page almost immediately.

"I've got some more numbers coming this week on landed costs of specific items," I said, "so we could slot them into our existing cost models and see what they give us."

"Yes, as long as there aren't any unknown costs to be considered."

"Such as?"

"Shipment delays, shortages, dock strikes," she said, shrugging.

"They're giving us pretty strong assurances that they won't have any problem meeting our needs within our schedules. In talking to some of their customers, they are telling us it isn't a problem. As far as a dock strike goes, they'd just divert to Seattle and truck the containers up here."

"Good, you've at least thought about problems like that. Now, what do you want from me besides updated costs?"

"I was thinking maybe a side-by-side comparison of finished cost to show what it would mean to the sales people. They're the ones who have to sell our products. They'll tell us quickly enough if we're on the right track."

"Yes, that's easy enough to do," she said, thinking about something else I suspected. "What about growth? What would be possible if you had a market advantage for say ... a year or two?"

"I'm not sure. That's a question for Doo ... I mean Doug Cruickshank. I'm just an operations guy," I shrugged.

"You're a little more than that, Cam. Tell Doogie ... that's his nickname isn't it? Tell him I want to talk to him about that and ask him to come prepared. I want to give him some tools to do a real selling job on this project."

"Thank you, Lynda. I really appreciate your jumping on board."

"Next time, come and see me sooner. I hate to get all my development information from John," she smirked.

I was surprised, but I shouldn't have been. "How long have you known?"

"The day you met with John and Wray. John was sure you'd need some hard numbers to work with. I've been waiting for you."

"Mark it up to a stupid rookie mistake, Lynda. I should have included you from the very beginning and I won't make that mistake again."

"You're forgiven ... provided you get those numbers this week," she smiled.

I felt relieved and yet chastened by this woman. She was in her fifties, married almost thirty years to a successful artist, Darren Powell. Like her, he was brilliant at his chosen craft, extremely well read, possessed of a lively sense of humour and he loved his spouse passionately. They seemed on the surface to be opposites, but they were anything but. I kicked myself once more for not including her right from the start. Thankfully, John had covered for me.

"So how did your meeting with Lynda go?" I asked Doogie as he plunked himself down in front of my desk.

"It was a bomb," he grinned. "Clary nearly shit himself when Lynda gave him the projected earnings from sales growth."

I'd been around Doogie long enough to know that "a bomb" was good. Clary, was Clarence Woolfolk, our Marketing VP.

"Clary's been nattering at me for weeks to give him the skinny on this plan. I've held him off until now, but you can put him in the "sold" column as far as I'm concerned."

"Well done, Doogie. I think that puts us well on the road to being ready. How are you coming with your presentation?"

"Bloody good until Lynda threw that projected profits spanner in the works. I've got some more work to do now ... not that I mind," he grinned.

"This is going to be a very different planning meeting from the ones I've been at in the past few years," I observed. "I just hope our people get as excited about it as we are."

"Too right," he nodded.

"Well young lady, are you ready for this?" I asked as we walked down the hotel corridor to our meeting room.

Siobhan smiled at me and nodded. "I'm really looking forward to this, Cam. All the work you and Doogie have done to spring this on the people has to be worth it."

"Well, you were right there with me every step of the way. You know everything that I know, so if I stumble or lose the plot, I'll look to you to rescue me."

"Okay. I'll try and be prepared," she promised.

The morning session of the meeting ground through the numbers for the year-to-date and the year-end projections. I was only barely paying attention except for our numbers from operations. I had asked Siobhan to present the distribution numbers while I looked after the manufacturing numbers. I wanted to get her better known among the troops and I also wanted to see how she handled herself in front of an audience. I had no need to worry.

"Well done," I whispered as she returned to her seat. She nodded her thank you and looked pleased. She had got through it without a hiccup and had handled a number of questions from the audience with ease. I was proud of her.

The lunch break signalled the end of the current year review. After lunch we would begin the plan for the next year. In talking to Wray, Clary and John, who chaired the meeting, we thought it best to present the Chinese Project after the afternoon break. I was pretty sure that would wake the audience up and get their full attention.

Only a handful of people knew about our strategy, but after lunch a couple of those people, Lynda, Clary, and John, couldn't resist hinting that we had something in the wings that would change their thinking. I could hear some of the murmurings as these little tidbits were dropped, but I didn't think anyone had guessed what we planned.

It was just 3:15 that afternoon when Doogie stood in front of the assembly and turned on his lap-top projector. The first slide read "The Chinese Solution" in Chinese style typeface and had the background of an illustration of a traditionally dressed Chinese man bowing toward the audience. Doogie just couldn't resist, but he had everyone's attention.

Doogie stood up there for the next hour and just blew the audience away. When he was done, there was dead silence for a few moments until the sales manager from Chicago stood up and began to applaud. Within seconds that was followed by several other sales managers and people joining the applause until by the time it took to stand, the entire audience was applauding.

Doogie stood there transfixed. He had no idea how to react. Oh, he was happy all right, but he stood frozen in place while all the applause was going on. It took a while for it to die down. I thought he would walk off at that point but he didn't.

"I'm sure you lot think this is all my doing," he said, with a serious gaze out over the group. "Well, it ain't. I might have mentioned it to someone and then that someone mentioned it to someone else and the next thing you know, here I am.

"Cameron MacDonald is the reason this has happened. He, and his boss Wray, and John, and Lynda, and Siobhan Mulcahy, and Clary have all made it work. But it was Cam who grabbed the idea and took off with it. I was just lucky enough to be the bloke that gave you the good news," he smiled. "I'm glad you liked what you heard. That's plenty good enough for me. Thanks," he finished and walked away from the podium.

For all intents and purposes that ended the meeting. There were some wrap-up comments from John, but it was past five before the now-enthusiastic sales staff would let Doogie, Clary or me go. We were bombarded with questions, most of them relating to when they would see the results in the field. We stuck to our original answers that it would be a year in the making but it would be worth the wait. I could see the impatient looks on their faces, but thankful ones as well.

There was a wrap-up dinner planned for seven o'clock and I debated going home and changing, but decided against it. We had arranged a hospitality suite upstairs in the hotel and I decided I should make an appearance. Siobhan went home to change and Doogie went home to pick up Sassy. She had been invited along with some of the other executive wives. Wray's wife Marion, John's Gwen, Clary's Jeanette, and Lynda's Darren would be joined by Siobhan and me.

I stood in the hospitality suite listening to the now noisy group talk. I heard the excitement and anticipation of the group and that was really heartening. We had energized our people with our plan and it was a shot in the arm for me and I know it was for Doogie as well.

This was my seventh or eighth meeting of this kind; I couldn't remember which, but my first as vice president. I had been uptight knowing what was at stake and now I was coming down from that. I warned myself not to get too far into the Scotch. It wouldn't do to get drunk right now, no matter how much the idea might have appealed to me. I wasn't much of a drinker to start with and I knew my limit.

I was half listening to a conversation between two salesmen when they turned to me.

"Do you have any idea how important that one thing is to us?" he asked.

I wasn't sure exactly what he was referring to, but I assumed it was Doogie's plan.

"We needed something to grow with and yes, we know how important it is," I smiled.

"No ... I mean having everyone on board with it. It's the first time I can remember that everyone was solid with the strategy. I mean Hoffer, Henderson, Clary, you, Powell, the whole works. Man that felt good."

It hadn't occurred to me how that resonated with the staff people, but now I knew. It wasn't just the "Chinese Solution," it was the idea that everyone from top to bottom was marching the in same direction. When I thought about it, he was right. It was something to savour and remember. It may have been an unplanned side effect, but it was an important one. I wondered how many others realized it.

Siobhan arrived just before we were to go down to dinner and declined a glass of wine. There would be some at the table she said. It would have been a tight fit around our table but Wray's wife was a no-show. Apparently not feeling well, he said. Everyone else was feeling just fine it seemed. I had met them all before, but it was always nice to see Gwen Hoffer and Darren Powell. They were two of my favorite people.

We were sitting closely together and as the dessert plates were removed and coffee was offered, I leaned back in my chair and relaxed. John and Gwen were circulating among the group acknowledging all the visitors from near and far. Doogie and Sassy were holding court at the Manchester table, renewing old acquaintances. Wray had disappeared and I wouldn't have been surprised if he had left since his wife wasn't there. He'd had more than a couple of drinks I noticed.

I'm not sure what prompted it, but I did something completely unexpected. Siobhan was sitting with her hands in her lap, talking to Lynda and Darren. To this day I don't know what came over me, but I put my right hand on her left and squeezed it gently. When I realized what I had done, I almost jerked it away in alarm, but before I could act, she put her left hand on top of mine and gave it a gentle squeeze as well.

She was still talking with the Powells and hadn't reacted when I touched her. It was as if it was an everyday occurrence that she expected. I couldn't very well pull my hand away even though it was hidden beneath the tablecloth. The truth was, I didn't want to. I sat, turned slightly toward the other three and listened to the conversation, all the while with my hand captured by hers on her thigh.

When Siobhan shifted in her seat and removed her and from mine, I took the opportunity to withdraw and hope I hadn't offended her. I didn't think anyone had seen the little drama, but Siobhan certainly was aware. When John and Gwen returned to the table the conversation switched and neither she nor I were involved in it. It wasn't a minute later than I felt her hand on mine again, this time on my thigh.

It was such a gentle touch that it was no difficulty to turn my hand over and clasp hers. I squeezed it softly and she returned the gesture. I couldn't blame it on the liquor. I'd had one Scotch before dinner and one glass of wine during the meal. I didn't have any excuse. What part of me was thinking it was okay for me to violate one of my hard-and-fast rules. I didn't get involved with women at the office. But tonight, I'd stepped over the line. Why?

The party was starting to break up. Some of the people were heading back to the hospitality suite and some were on their way home. I looked at Siobhan and saw something that told me where we were going. Her eyes were shining and she was smiling and I was lost. Right then and there, I was lost. I rose, still holding her hand, said our "good nights" and walked out of the room, still holding her hand. This time, I didn't give a damn who noticed.

There was a cab stand in front of the hotel and luckily there were a couple of unoccupied units. I held the door for Siobhan and slid in after her. I was about to give the driver her address when she gave him mine.

"Are you sure?" I asked, not positive I knew what I was asking.

"Very sure," she smiled, that special look in her eyes still there. I didn't know how to interpret that look then, but I do now.