Chapter 12

At the breakfast table on Saturday morning, Ashley handed her father the schedule she had produced for the Redondo Beach Marriot ADA bathroom installations. After scanning it then going over it line by line he said, “So, Ash, how long did it take you to come up with this plan?”

“I met him and Cliff Anisley, manager of the Redondo Beach Marriot, and had a drink before Mr. Salazar and I met for dinner to go over some of the details of the project we are doing at his hotel.”

Looking at the proposal again he gazed at her with a smirk and said, “And you did it off the cuff?”

“Yes, Daddy, I did.”

“I’ve been around too long to buy this kind of bullshit, Ash.”

“DADDY,” I have a lot of time to think of things while working at this ‘boring job.’ When Mr. Salazar gave it to you—as a gift because you and he are buddies—I told you that it would be a much bigger money maker than you said it would be. So, why are you paying bonuses already?”

Jim shrugged, smirked, and said, “You were right about how much money we would be making.”

“And you said it would be impossible.”

“We all make mistakes, Ash.”

“And the guys working on it are making more money than they ever thought possible. Anyway, Mr. Salazar told Mr. Ainsely how happy he was with us, so, I came up with a way to get Ainsley’s ADA fixture business and get it going in his hotel in the shortest possible time.

Her father looked at it again, shook his head, and said, “And he bought this?”

“I wrote the bullet points on the back of my business card, Daddy (Jim huffed a laugh and shook his head). He liked what I proposed but won’t agree to anything unless he hears it from you.”

“I bet his not trusting your words pisses you off, huh?”

“I’m not that braindead, Daddy. I’m still a college student and not considered an adult yet. The fact is that I want your agreement and need your wholehearted support on this. It’s my future, remember?

Eyeing his daughter with parental amazement he looked down at the proposal again, picked it up, and began carefully reading it. After spending about three minutes in silence he looked up and said, “I’ve got to say, Pumpkin, this is incredibly professional.”

“That’s why you are spending so much money to send me to Stanford, Daddy. Aren’t you going to mention how aggressive it is?”

“I didn’t want to burst your bubble, Sweetie. But I’m not sure how you can pull it off.”

With a smirk, Ashley said, “Not only can I pull it off, Daddy, I’m sure I can do it faster than the schedule I’ve laid out. If you check your records on the Salazar job, you’ll find that I have increased that pace by two more percent.”

“So, what are you trying to prove, Ash?”

“Salazar’s business was a gift to you, Daddy. It came along in time to save you from laying off valuable employees. I’ve shown you how you can not only make a sizeable profit from such a ‘boring job,’ but I’ve also been able to compensate my crew in a way that no competitor could ever poach them. When are you going to wake up to the fact that I intend to take over the company one day, Daddy? And when I do, I don’t want to continue our business the way you always have. We can become more than just a small-time construction company. With what I have been doing at the Marriott, the fortunate gift to you from Federico Salazar, I can parlay it into a continuation of the work at Cliff Ainsley’s hotel, which will bring in additional profits and keep our employees happy with their paychecks while doing it.”

Jesus, Jim thought as he stared at his bright and enterprising daughter. She had always been a hard-charging worker (he had no clue that his hard-working daughter provided his workers with the use of her body as well, which was additional motivation). He did know that when she worked with any of his men they always performed at a higher level.

He was uncomfortable with his daughter talking this way though. It wasn’t that he didn’t agree with her. It was that his wife was completely opposed to Ashley’s idea of taking over McClain Construction. That subject was a real rough patch in their marriage. Besides that, he wasn’t comfortable that his company might become an organization instead of a pure construction company. At the same time, he couldn’t dispute that Ashley was extremely successful in bringing more money into the company. Now he wasn’t ready to encourage her to make running McClain Construction her career. “The men are not happy doing that kind of work, Ash, he said. “They are builders, not service workers.”

“There’s no question that they aren’t good builders, Daddy. But they are extremely happy with the money this ‘boring’ project is putting into their pockets.”

“But how long can you be happy giving them extra money by sharing your bonus with them? What kind of a business plan is that?”

“You pay me well, Daddy, and I will continue sharing my bonuses on these projects at least until I graduate from Stanford. All I’m asking you is to blow a little smoke up his Cliff Ainsley’s ass by assuring him I am capable of doing it. By the time we finish his project ... and with what we have done with Federico Salazar’s, McClain will have a lock on any Marriott project we get to. We will have created an enterprise so efficient that Marriott won’t even give our competitors a look, which will guarantee our bonuses and garner enough profit to cover the bonuses that we will continue giving our employees, apart from mine. And when I am running the company, I won’t be getting bonuses, just profits.”

Seeing the dismay on her father’s face she emphasized, “For most people, Daddy, this kind of work might be considered a pain in the ass. But it will be more profitable for us and enable us to pay our employees higher wages than they would have made by building houses. How can that be wrong?”

As her father’s face became more accepting, she added, “This is not only a sure way of keeping our men working. Like everybody in the construction business, they often must worry about being laid off. Because we will have diversified, we can assure that they won’t have to face that. And their wallets will be fattened to the extent that most construction workers would fight on bloody stumps for.”

With a chuckle, McClain shrugged his shoulders, shook his head, and said, “I don’t know, Baby, we are builders.”

Ashley knew her father had no greater vision than keeping McClain Construction doing what it has until he was ready to retire, and he would consider selling it to one or more of his employees. So, she emphasized, “I am the future of McClain Construction, Daddy. What I am proposing here is just for starters. This B.S. about Mom not wanting me to carry it on is just that. Why are you paying for my expensive education at Stanford where brilliant men and women are teaching me to look into the future with a broader vision? Had General Electric manufactured just electric light bulbs they would have failed years ago. But by diversifying Jack Walsh not only grew his new divisions into a company with a great name, but he made G.E. one of the largest companies in the world.”

Her father said, “McClain is never going to be General Electric, Ash.”

“Right, Daddy, but there is no reason we need to continue being an unexciting construction company. I know you don’t think installing ADA safety bars is any more exciting. Neither do I. But I have already shown you how much more profitable it can be when a niche business is managed properly. I have even talked with Mr. Salazar about the need for more multi-family units in the country and how obsolete hotels can fill that need by converting them into apartments.”

McClain rolled his eyes.

“You may sneer at it, Daddy. But I have already produced some rather good scenarios of how McClain could fit into that niche and become profitable at it ... even hiring electricians and plumbers to offer a complete package and locking in all those profit centers for us.”

Jesus, McClain thought, If I thought like Ash when I was a young man, I could have been worth millions ... maybe more.

“So, what do you think of my proposal, Daddy?”

With a defeated shrug, he said, “It’s outstanding, Ash. And I can’t believe you just produced it spontaneously. So, what do you want me to do?”

“Mr. Ainsley will not accept the proposal from me, Daddy. He’s smart enough to know that he is not going to accept some wild dream of an ordinary college student. But he’s a businessman and can see what I outlined has exceptional merit. He said he is going to call you early Monday morning.”

Laughing, Jim said, “Well, I’ll read the proposal over a few times, so I don’t mess it up (he chuckled again) but I’ll give all the credit to you.”

When Ashley walked into Cliff Ainsley’s office dressed in her tight jeans, construction boots, and red McClain T-shirt, there was no mistaking how intensely he ogled her. “Sit down, young lady.” Continuing to undress her with his eyes he smiled and said, “Your father certainly has a lot of confidence in you.”

“We have more than a father-daughter relationship, Mr. Ainsley, we have a great business relationship.” Ashley was accustomed to male eyes showing their desire for her. From her first day at McLain Construction, she rewarded those looks by her father’s workers with real action and felt good about herself for gleaning such useful sexual knowledge from older men. It even developed into complete wildness when she let her father’s main men gangbang her on Prom Night. Having not yet connected sexually with Federico Salazar she was impressed by how smooth a gentleman he was. Cliff Ainsley was clumsy compared to the sophisticated Federico Salazar. She was confident that Salazar would never make a wrong move, whereas she was wary that Ainsley might corner her if he ever had the opportunity.

The relationship between Jim McClain and Nick DiAngelo began when they both worked for another construction company. Jim knew Nick had enough money to own the house where he lived as well as an attractive lake property. But didn’t know that he was involved in mob activity. When Jim approached Nick to start their own construction company Nick fronted the money but, due to mob constrictions would only take the role of an employee. Below the radar though with no written contract, Nick was a full partner in the business.

Both Jim and Nick were married to stunningly attractive women: Cindy and AnnMarie. While Jim was a straight arrow who had never cheated on his wife Nick, who was a large, well-built Italian man who looked like Dean Martin couldn’t keep women from making it easy for him to play. His wife, AnnMarie, was a polyamorous, bisexual woman who seduced Jim’s wife into a sexual relationship with her one day while showing her the lake property. A short time later she convinced Cindy and Jim to join her and Nick in a swinging relationship that had now been going on for twenty-three years.

Unlike Jim and Cindy who had Ashley the DiAngelo’s were childless, acting as Uncle and Aunt to the McClain Daughter. Once Ashley began working for the company Nick, along with the rest of the McClain men, took advantage of Ashley’s willingness to share her sexual eagerness with him. Jim, who viewed his daughter as a princess, had no clue that this was going on. Cindy though, having been an adventurous teenager herself, would not have been surprised if her daughter might be playing with the help.

The two couples, clad in their white terrycloth robes they wore while swinging, after drying off from sitting in the spa. It was Saturday night, one of their typical swinging weekends at the lake. “Tell me the truth, Nick,” Jim said, “what do you think of this ADA business?”

“Jesus, Jim, how many times do I have to tell you that it’s a good deal? Ash is doing a fabulous job; I’ve told you that before. So, when are you going to give that girl a free reign? She can handle more than you think.”