Chapter 6

Eleanor pulled up her chair so that she was almost facing Reg and also within touching distance.

"I hope the other patients don't get jealous," she said.

Reg shook his head. "Not judging by the few visitors they get. That old lady in the corner hasn't had one the whole time I've been here."

"That's miserable. I might go and see if I can cheer her up a bit later on."

"That's a great idea. Was your date fun last night?"

Eleanor pulled a face. "It was a small dinner party given by my parents to get to know a guy who reckons he ought to be our new Sales Manager. I don't somehow think he will be. Daddy hasn't said anything to me but Uncle Edwin, who's a partner in the firm, told me he gave him the creeps."

Reg was so relieved that he smiled broadly but covered his elation by asking, "Why?"

"He thought he was God's gift to humanity and DRD in particular. He hogged the conversation telling us all the record breaking things he had done, what he was going to do for us and virtually telling Daddy how to run his own business."

"Yuck!"

"Double yuck with brass knobs on! He's an obnoxious prat!"

Reg could not help but grin. "Remind me not to cross you, Miss Eleanor."

She glared fiercely at him and then burst out laughing. Reg joined her.

"So I don't imagine you'll be going out with him."

"Dead right! He actually had the gall to ask me to attend some do where he's going to give a presentation."

"What did you say?" His eyes were dancing.

"Thank you very much but I think I've already heard the presentation this evening."

Reg roared with laughter. "You really are a caution, Eleanor," he gasped. "Poor bugger. That must have rocked him on his heels."

"It was meant to."

That set them both off again.

"By the way," Reg said when they had both recovered, "You said that you were working for Ray Fuller. As he's the General Manager that doesn't tell me a lot. What do you actually do?"

"I did Business Management at uni and thought I might get some practical experience with DRD so I asked Daddy if he would help and he put me with Ray. Anyway, Ray's doing a long term study into increasing our profitability. One of the problems is distribution. Stuff we've made doesn't make money sitting in the warehouse."

Reg nodded.

"If there's no room in the warehouse there's little spare space on the shop floor and so production has to be slowed down or even stopped. That's not efficient."

"No."

"One thing that was considered was expanding the warehouse..."

"But you'd still have stuff sitting around not earning money."

"Absolutely!"

"I reckon that Dobson and Sons are your biggest problem."

"Why?"

"They're unreliable."

"Go on."

"Trucks often arrive two, three hours, even a day late which means a backlog of shifting stuff from the shop floor. That was the reason that Wayne was working the way he was trying to catch up and dropping boxes on you and me. Are there penalty clauses in contracts for late deliveries?"

"Yes."

"So Dobson's are losing DRD money. Hasn't Mr Ewing mentioned it to Mr Fuller?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"That tallies. No one on the warehouse floor thinks anything much of our manager."

"So are you suggesting that we ought to change our hauliers?"

"Yes or have our own fleet."

"That'd be expensive."

"To buy the wagons yes but I'd bet there'd be savings later."

Eleanor looked at him in silence then her hand reached for his. "You've just firmed up what has been in my mind but I hadn't plucked up courage to talk to Ray about it yet. Thanks, Reg." She squeezed his hand and smiled at him.

"I hadn't realised that Dan Ewing was a weak link."

Reg nodded. "If you want to know what really goes on in the warehouse have a chat with Len Fairbrother. He's the one who runs it. The other thing is next time you're down there and they're outloading have a look at Dobson's' wagons. They're a mess."

"OK."

Tea came round and Eleanor was indeed given a mug of tea.

"I hope you don't think I was speaking out of turn," said Reg.

"Far from it but if you'd prefer it I won't mention your name to anyone."

"Thanks."

She grinned impishly at him. "And I'll get all the kudos."

He grinned back. "Clever girl."

Talk drifted to other topics. There was hardly a moment's silence as they got to know each other better and better and to enjoy each other's company more and more.

Eleanor did go over and visit the old lady in the corner but soon returned. "Poor thing," she said sadly. "I think she prefers to be left alone. I have a feeling she won't leave here alive and that's maybe what she wants."

She did not stay until eight that evening. "We actually eat at eight so as we've had an extra two hours I ought to go now. See you tomorrow, Reg." She kissed him on the lips again.

She left a very happy Reg.

Eleanor was impressed by what Reg had suggested which reinforced her opinion of him as a very intelligent and thinking man. Despite what she had said to him she reckoned she could still tell her father in confidence. She got her opportunity when he teased her about her 'boyfriend'.

"He's a major improvement on that wannabee sales manager you saddled me with last night. He's got brains."

"Why do you say that?"

"He asked me what my job was and I told him about stuff sitting in the warehouse with backlogs cluttering up the shop floor and slowing production."

She gave a resume of what Reg had said. David was clearly impressed. Eleanor pressed her advantage.

"Daddy, when he comes out of hospital it will still be a long time before he'll be fit enough to go back to his old job. He has difficulty with reading and figures because of his dyslexia so an office job wouldn't be on but I think he might be worth considering for a supervisory job if one becomes available."