Disclaimer: The following is a work of fiction. If you are
offended by graphic descriptions of homosexual acts, go
somewhere else.
Copyright c 2000 by Orrin C. Rush. All rights reserved.
Neither this story nor any parts of it may be distributed
electronically or in any other manner without the express,
written consent of the author.
This is a work of fiction, any resemblance of the characters
to anyone living or dead is pure coincidence and not
intended. They are all products of the author's imagination.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
I have been working on this story for almost two years, so
far, and intend to continue until the ideas run out.
It wouldn't have lasted this long, nor would I be able to
continue without the gracious help given to me by so many.
I won't name all of you, but YOU know who you are. You've
given me the technical information that I'm too lazy to
research, and I have come to rely heavily on your advice when
I get myself into a situation where I don't have the
knowledge to continue.
To all of you, my most heartfelt thanks.
Orrin Rush
THE LIFEGUARD
Chapter 34
Electing and seating a New Board of Directors of the Railroad
had been considered more or less a formality. Edgar,
however, had other ideas.
Being Chairman, he had refused to even call the special
meeting that we requested on the grounds that we weren't
qualified to do so. He claimed that the Railroad's Bylaws,
dating back over a hundred years, specified that stockholders
holding more than 50% of the stock were required to call a
special meeting to elect or re-elect Directors.
We sued him to comply, we lost. The Judge stated that
although we held agreements from shareholders to buy their
stock, we hadn't actually completed the transactions yet.
As our Transfer Agents, Peabody went to work. At best, it
would take several weeks.
After Eric and I talked more with our Attorneys, we realized
that we may have moved a little too fast on the Arizona
property. If somebody wanted to get real technical, John and
his crew were trespassing and we were paying them to do it.
We tried to contact John but were unsuccessful. We were able
to reach his wife and left a message for him to call the next
time she saw him.
I didn't want him to think I was putting a "leash" on him,
but we did need to be able to communicate in situations like
this, so I sent a satellite phone to his wife to give to him
along with a note promising not to be a pest.
Since it was only a matter of weeks until we'd actually take
control, and we couldn't contact John, there wasn't much we
could do. What the hell. If we got caught, the only one who
could cause any trouble would be the Railroad, and we'd soon
be running that ourselves.
Annie and Tina had become a team and seemed to be
inseparable. I had some doubts about this, but watching them
together changed my mind. Annie was a Type A+ personality.
Tina, I'd pegged at about a B- type, and I was afraid Annie
would run over her like a steam roller. It wasn't happening
that way, and when I saw the two of them together I
understood why. In a few short months, Tina had advanced to
a B+ and was moving up fast.
Once, kiddingly, I'd told Eric that we should send Tina for
assertiveness training. At the rate she was progressing,
she'd soon be teaching the course.
The two of them bounced into my office to tell me what they
were up to. Annie's primary responsibility was Rush
Properties, formerly Chateau. Even though the number of
properties had doubled, she had automated and simplified,
reducing her staff by half, and, she assured me, none of them
were working all that hard. Tina was learning the business
from her.
In Annie's opinion, it was time to stop buying any more
hotels. She felt that with our entry into other areas of
Real Estate, our exposure in the hotel business was
sufficient. I agreed.
Tina was on top of the new office building. With the
favorable weather we'd had, the whole project was ahead of
schedule.
With everyone in such ebullient humor, I introduced another
subject. "Since the whole new project is going to be a
separate company, how do you feel we should split up
ownership?"
Tina spoke up first. "Annie and I have discussed that, and
we think it should be an even four-way split. Let's be
realistic. There's enough money to be made to take care of
the four of us and twenty more. It's not the money anymore,
it's the fun we have and the feeling of accomplishment we
get."
"I don't know what you've discussed with Eric," Annie said,
"but I, for one, want him in this with the rest of us. He
has more good ideas by accident than the rest of us do on
purpose. We NEED him. What do you think, Dad?"
"I totally agree. I'd like to have you two tell Eric,
though."
I called him. "Got a minute? Come on over."
He came in and took a look around, "All those grins make me
nervous, what are you guys hatching up now?"
"We're carving up the pie," Tina told him.
"What pie?"
"The Railroad, land, mining and God knows what else pie,"
Tina told him, laughing.
"I kind of thought it'd be a subsidiary of Metalco," he
said. "Afterall, that's where the money is coming from to
buy it."
"No," I said, "remember my original condition? This has to
be a stand-alone business. Metalco will get its money back,
then it's on its own. Kind of like Lundborg Rush, but on a
little larger scale."
"What we're trying to tell you, is that it's going to be an
even split between the four of us," Tina explained.
"No way!" he growled. "Was this your idea?" giving me a hard
stare.
"Dad had nothing to do with it," Annie jumped in. "It's what
Tina and I want and Dad went along. No arguments," she
warned him. "This is the way it's going to be. Don't ever
get the idea that Tina and I are trying to 'buy' Dad a
boyfriend. He doesn't need our help and we know you're not
for sale."
"Goddamit," Tina yelled when she saw Eric shaking his head.
"Don't you understand? We love you, and we WANT you in this
with us. You're a member of this family, and that's the way
it is!"
"I don't know what to say..." Eric said.
"Just say YES so we can get back to work," Annie told him.
"OK, yes," he said softly. "As your Dad has taught me, I'll
say thank you once only. I want you both to know, though,
that this means so much more to me than any amount of money.
Thank you."
"I told you he was trainable," Tina giggled to Annie.
"Boy, are you two ever wrong!" I put in.
Annie walked over and punched him in the arm. "Don't take
things so seriously," she teased him.
"I don't believe you," he said after they left. "You set
this whole thing up."
"No, Eric," I told him seriously. "This time I was just a
bystander."
He put his arm around me. "Nothing changes. Since the day I
met you, I've had to grow. Actually, 'grow up'."
"Are you happy?"
"It's a pretty wonderful life. Sure, the material things are
nice. I'd be a liar if I said otherwise. There's always
excitement, new worlds to conquer. But, I think the most
important thing I've got going is the feeling of 'belonging'.
"Not just you, either, but Annie and Tina too. I have my own
family, but that's different, somehow. They're important,
yes, but having the three of you around me, supporting and
loving me is somehow more important. I don't know how to
describe exactly how I feel, but I think you understand."
"I think I do," I told him. "Don't ever forget, though, that
we all feel pretty honored to have you as one of us."
"We'd better quit this before we get sappy," he said. "I
love you all, maybe YOU a little more than the others."
Jeff got back from his first "get acquainted" tour of the
Milton plants and requested a meeting with Bill and me. Bill
asked Eric to sit in.
He got right to the point. "I know it takes time to get
everything the way it should be when a big company like
Metalco buys a smaller company like Milton, but there are a
few important things that need attention right away.
"I'd intended to look at ten operations in two weeks, but
only got to four. We've got a real potential problem. It's
lack of communication resulting in rotten morale. Quite
simply, nobody talks to anybody else."
"I don't understand," Bill said.
"It goes back to long before you acquired Milton," Jeff
explained. "The previous ownership, for some unknown reason,
discouraged any communication between plants. The plant
managers hardly know each other. Personally, I totally
disagree with this policy."
"So do we," I added.
"Hell, they're all basically in the same business, and
comparing notes could help all of them. It doesn't make any
sense."
"I think I can explain why," Eric said. "How much do you
know about the previous owners?"
"Not much," Jeff answered. "Just that they were very
secretive."
I nodded and Eric explained the probable cause. If the plant
managers got their heads together, there was a possibility
that the systematic looting that was occurring would come
out. The Miltons couldn't affort to take that chance.
"That explains a whole lot," Jeff said. "Did they get away
with it?"
"It's a long story," I told him. "Someday when we have a lot
of time, we'll tell you the whole sorry tale. It's not
happening any more, though, I assure you."
"It looks like one of my first jobs is to get those channels
open," Jeff said, "and I want to open channels upward too, to
Metalco."
"Absolutely," Bill said. "You've seen how we operate here,
no secrets, open access to Dave or me if anyone wants to
talk."
"That's the way it should be," Jeff said. "It'll be my first
priority to get it established. Looks like I'm going to be
on the road a lot. Another thing, as I get these men
together, would you three be willing to get together with us?"
I looked around to see Bill and Eric nodding. "Just give us
a little warning, and we'll be there."
Annie was anxious to get rolling on the CP Development land
the minute our purchase was official, and was already making
plans to get the marginal properties on the market as fast as
possible.
"We'd be much better off to let local Realtors handle it than
to try to handle the sales ourselves," she reasoned. "Tina
and I have been researching Realtors and have come up with a
list of possibilities in each area. As soon as we get the
'green light', we'll get them listed."
"Do you realize what a job you've taken on?" I asked them.
"It's pretty enormous," Tina admitted. "That's why we're
trying to get organized now. We're setting up a file on each
piece that's been appraised, coding them so we can find them,
and setting up some procedures for handling offers and
closings."
She had already picked up the jargon, I was proud to see.
"Something else we'll need to do," Annie added, "is to
establish criteria on offers. What percentage of appraised
value will we accept?"
"Shouldn't we go on a case-by-case basis?" I asked.
"Do you have any idea how many pieces of property are
involved, Dad?" Tina asked. "That'd be a full time job in
itself. What we need is a benchmark, a minimum that we'll
consider."
"We have time to consider that," I told her. "Maybe we could
use the total appraised value, figure what we need as a
percentage of that, and use that as a starting point."
"I need to make a quick trip to New York," Eric informed me.
"Any particular reason?"
"I've decided to quit Micron and I don't want to tell them
over the phone."
"How come?" I asked.
"It just isn't fair, taking their money for doing nothing.
I've got more than enough to do as it is."
"When is their rollout on the new software?"
"We're running it now, building inventory for the release in
a couple of weeks. We're swamped over at LR. Even the new
equipment is running around the clock."
"Is LR paying you a salary yet?" I asked.
"Not yet," he said. "We're trying to build our cash position
and get Metalco paid down."
"Better get on the payroll," I advised. "You need to
establish a salary level so when we go public in a year or
two it won't look like you're getting greedy all of a sudden."
"True," he agreed. "How much?"
"I'd start at the level Micron's paying you."
"$200,000 a month? That's too much! How about you, we need
to set a precedent there, too."
"You're worth every penny," I told him. "Give me a million a
year and I'll give it to charity."
"Speaking of that, I've listened to Sarah talk about what she
does. My God, that woman gives away millions almost daily!
Made me think about doing a little something along that line
myself. Who do you give to?"
"My pet is CRES, the Center for the Reproduction of
Endangered Species in San Diego. It may sound insensitive,
but everybody gives to human causes. I'm helping the
animals."
"Quietly and anonymously, I'm sure."
"Quietly yes, anonymously, no. I get invited to all their
affairs, want to go sometime?"
"It'd be interesting," he said. "Remember, I'm the 'Nature
Boy'."
It seemed to take forever, but finally Peabody gathered up
the shares we needed. They were presented to the Court, and
Edgar was ordered to call a special Board meeting.
Mike Burdette agreed to be a Director, but Tina and Annie
decided they didn't want to. Seven was more than adequate,
more than a two-thirds majority which should cover every
possible contingency.
We warned Edgar of our intention to elect seven of our
people. He offered himself and the Railroad's President to
fill the other two slots.
The meeting was held in the Railroad's San Francisco
Boardroom. The election went smoothly, then the new
Directors elected me Chairman.
The first order of business was a resolution to take the
company private. The vote was eight to one. The President
voted with us. Edgar went ballistic.
"You're going to vote with these queer-ass motherfuckers?" he
yelled. "You gone homo too?"
"That'll be enough, Edgar," Mike Burdette warned.
Edgar wouldn't listen. "It's bad enough that the Company is
being taken over by a bunch of ass fucking fags, but when I'm
stabbed in the back, that's too much."
While he continued ranting, I whispered to Eric "Get your
brother." Eric got up and quietly left the room. He knew
exactly what I had in mind.
By now, Edgar was getting abusive with anyone who'd
respond. The prim stenographer who was taking down the
minutes was adding new words to her vocabulary every minute.
We were going nowhere. I pounded on the table to get
everyone's attention. "I think we should take a twenty
minute break and cool off, then we can get back to business."
Everyone filed out, including the President, a distinguished
older gentleman who was visibly shaken. Edgar remained, now
yelling about parliamentary procedures.
Our group assembled in the building's lobby. "Who the hell
is that nut case, anyway?" Jack asked.
"An old buddy of mine," I laughed.
"If we don't get rid of him, we aren't going to get anything
done," he added.
"That's exactly what I intend to do," I told him. "This
meeting was called for the purpose of electing Directors.
We've had one election, and in a few minutes we're going to
have another. Is that OK?"
"I don't see anything wrong with it," Jack chuckled. "Dale,
Karl, you agree?" Both Attorneys nodded.
"I'm going to go talk to Wilson, the President," Bill said.
"We'd better have security on alert. Ol' Edgar ain't done
yet and I don't want any bloodshed."
It took Ryan almost 45 minutes to get there, but we waited.
When we went back to the boardroom, Edgar was somewhat
subdued, but certainly not apologetic.
As Chairman, I called the meeting back to order. Karl, as
arranged, raised his hand. I recognized him, and he motioned
that we elect Directors. The motion passed before Edgar
could object.
"We already did that," he roared when the realization sank in.
"We're doing it again," I told him.
"You can't do that," he whined.
"Shut up, Edgar," I told him. I'd had about enough.
Directors were nominated and elected. We went around the
table, and when we came to Edgar, Eric nominated Ryan. He
was elected. On around, until we had nine.
"I don't believe you're a Director any longer, Edgar," I told
him. "I believe it's time for you to leave."
Edgar jumped out of his chair, his face beet red, and headed
straight for me. Eric was between us before he got there.
"OK, pretty boy," he said and swung.
Eric sidestepped and came back with a blow to the stomach.
Edgar doubled over coughing and slumped backward to a chair
against the wall. We all just stood there in silence.
Mr. Wilson soon returned with two burly security guards who
lifted Edgar to his feet and led him from the room, not a
trace of dignity remaining.
We returned to our seats. "Before we go any further," Mr.
Wilson said, "I'd like to apologise for my former employer.
I knew he had a temper, but that type of behavior is totally
unacceptable."
"Thank you, Mr. Wilson," I said. "Shall we get on with it?"
"For the record, I think we should re-vote on going
private." It was unanimous this time.
"The next order of business is the calling of Bonds. I
propose that all of those callable be redeemed as soon as
possible." This again passed unanimously.
"We are working with the SEC to set up a trust fund for the
redemption of those Bonds not callable for two years, and if
they approve, those will also be off the books."
"The third item is Catalina Pacific Development. We, as
Directors of the majority stockholder, would like to call
another special meeting of that board for the purpose of
electing new Directors. Would someone like to propose a
resolution to that effect?"
Bill did, and it passed, of course.
"Last on my list is Officers. Mr. Wilson, we would like you
to remain as President and Chief Executive Officer. Will you
accept?"
He nodded and another resolution was passed confirming that.
"Now, unless we have any further items to consider, this
meeting is adjourned."
There was no dissent, so the stenographer folded her machine
and left.
"Off the record?" I asked everyone, and all nodded, including
Wilson.
"For those of you who don't know, Edgar and I went to college
together. He was a jerk then and time doesn't seem to have
improved him. Our forcing him out of 'his' railroad is a
personal matter as far as Edgar is concerned, as you all no
doubt noticed. As far as I'm personally concerned, it was
merely a business transaction.
"Mr. Wilson, in view of Edgar's attitude and his regrettable
behavior here today, I suggest that you look over your ranks
for those people who were Edgar's loyalists. Watch them
carefully, or, better yet, get rid of them. Your life will
be much easier. Also, understand that we will support you in
any decisions you make in this regard.
"Now, so you'll have a better idea of what to expect, Eric's
going to give you all an outline of our plans for the
company."
"As soon as privatization is complete," Eric started, "there
will be a major restructuring of the company. This, however,
will in no way affect the operation or organization of the
Railroad itself, and the Company will be much stronger as a
result. No debt to service, and capital infusion will be
available if needed."
Wilson was smiling.
"There won't be any layoffs or cutbacks or other personnel
changes unless you make them, Mr. Wilson. We have no plans
to sell the Railroad at this time, and it will become an
operating unit or subsidiary of the holding company that will
be formed. Headquarters will remain here in San Francisco,
and we won't be looking over your shoulder... but we may peek
at your bottom line from time to time."
This got a laugh from everybody. Actually, what Eric had
said was news to everyone except me. Even Bill didn't know
our exact plans. Now it was Mr. Wilson's turn.
"Thank you Mr. Rush, Mr. Lundborg. This is the opportunity
I've been waiting for since I joined the Company - to run a
railroad and not be the babysitter for another man's toy. I
appreciate your confidence and assure you that it is not
misplaced."
"You're all invited to join us in a little celebration at the
hotel, starting in," Eric looked at his watch, "about an
hour. Room 2001."
We grabbed taxis to go back to the hotel. Once we were
rolling, Eric turned to me with a huge grin on his face.
"God that felt good!"
"What?" I asked.
"Punching old Edgar in the gut."
"You did good, 'pretty boy'," I teased. "I could have
handled him myself, you know."
"I know that, but I wanted to do it."
"My savior, my protector!" I lisped.
"Don't try to be nellie, you're no good at it," he laughed.
Some of the group was waiting outside our door when we got
there. A bar had been set up, and that's where everyone
headed. Eric got the canapes out of the refrigerator and set
them around, and there was other finger food on the kitchen
counter. We did have the Presidential suite, afterall!
There were seven of us, Burdette and Wilson were missing.
Karl came over. "Three Lundborgs on the Board of a
Railroad," he laughed. "That's something I never expected."
"It's a helluva lot more than a Railroad," Eric said.
"That's only the tip of the iceberg."
There was a knock on the door, Eric answered it, and ushered
Mr. Wilson in. While he introduced him around, I fixed him a
drink. I'd guess him to be about my age, maybe a little
younger, but he looked like what I had always pictured a
Railroad President would look like. Three piece pinstripe
suit with a gold chain across his rounded stomach, no doubt
with a gold pocket watch at one end. His rimless glasses
didn't hide the sparkle in his eyes.
When Eric got around to formally introducing him to me, he
asked me to call him George, not Mr. Wilson.
We sat around discussing the day's events. It had been a
little different from your average Board meeting.
"I took the liberty of issuing a Press Release," George
announced. "It merely listed the new Directors and the
decision to take the Company private."
"Perfect," Bill commented. "No need to mention Edgar. He's
capable of making an ass out of himself without our help. I
went to college with him too."
"That wasn't power I saw today," Eric said as we slid into
bed, "but brains. You got rid of Edgar so smoothly it was
almost comical. I'd never have come up with that idea. Oh
yes, I remembered lube this time."
"Let's put it to use, then," I suggested.
Peabody got busy and sent out checks for all the stock that
hadn't been tendered. Edgar got a whopper for $868 million.
He had no choice but to surrender his stock.
The Board of Directors of CP Development didn't fight our
request for a "special" Board Meeting, and it was quickly
scheduled. Instead of taking any chances on dissention, we
proposed a full slate. Burdette wasn't invited and Annie and
Tina filled the two available seats.
Peabody had advised us to use the price of $75 per share when
we called in the 6.7 million shares still in public hands.
They figured that to be reasonable and would avoid
stockholder lawsuits.
The Development Company was headquartered in Los Angeles in
one of the office buildings that they owned. I was surprised
- it was far more luxurious than the Railroad's office.
Election of the new Board went without incident. All of the
necessary resolutions were passed and duly recorded by the
stenographer. Our last order of business was the election of
Officers. We elected Annie President, and offered the
outgoing President the job of Executive Vice President and
Chief Operating officer. He accepted.
That was that. All the formalities had been attended to.
Eric, Tina, Annie and I went on a tour of the place conducted
by the ex-President. There wasn't a whole lot to see. The
only department amounting to much was Accounting, where there
was a little activity. Altogether, I doubt that there were
more than thirty people, total.
We ended in the President's office, where he dourly commented
to Annie, "This'll be your office. I'll find another one."
"Don't worry about it," she told him. "Stay here. I won't
be around enough to need an office. As soon as our new
office building is complete, we'll be moving there anyway."
"What are you planning to do with the Company?" he asked, a
little more comfortable now.
"We've already started an assessment of the properties you
own, and then we'll decide what to do with them. By the
way," Annie continued, winking at me, "we understand that
your recordkeeping is fully computerized. Is that correct?"
"That's right," he answered.
"We'll have some people in here in the next few days to set
up a link so we can take a look from home. We'd like your
cooperation in helping us find our way around."
"I'd be happy to help in any way I can," he said, meekly.
That was about it, and we left to go home. Once we were in
the car, Tina spoke up. "You're not going to keep that wuss
around are you?"
"Hell no!" Annie roared. "I doubt that we keep too many of
them. All they've been doing is collecting rent and paying
property taxes for the last several years. We need people
with some drive, some personality, and a helluva lot better
looking than anything I saw!"
It was official now. We controlled the whole thing and would
soon own it outright. The SEC had approved our trust fund
proposal, so we wouldn't have to report to anyone. It was
time to put our plans into action.
Henry hadn't been idle, and we had another meeting. Since we
now had the ability to do more than "plan", it was much more
interesting. He and his staff had identified many more sites
as marginal, better sold off than kept, in their opinion.
"What criteria did you use in determining that?" Eric asked.
"These are mainly bare land," Henry explained. "A few
under-developed parcels, too. Don't misunderstand, they are
valuable, but, even developed, your profit would be
marginal. These are properties that smaller companies will
pay a premium for, and probably be able to make more on than
you could."
"I'm just wondering if we'll be sorry that we sold them,"
Eric said.
"I seriously doubt it," Henry answered. "If you got rid of
everything but the 150 or so major projects, you'd still be
one of the largest Development Companies in the country."
Eric appeared satisfied. His point was well taken, however.
Henry moved on. "We've also spent a little time on the
Silicon Valley property. Ideally, it would be developed in
phases over a 20 year period, faster if demand warranted.
"In each phase," he continued while unrolling a huge map on
the conference table, "there would be a mix of higher
density, medium priced housing all the way up to estate size
lots. This," he said, pointing at the map, "is conceptual,
not detailed. Engineers would have to do that.
"We're very fortunate in that the land isn't flat but has
'character' to it, allowing us to do more than lay out a grid
of streets. It's a bit more costly to develop, but greatly
enhances the value."
"Where do we start?" Annie asked. "Remember, we need help!"
"First, I'd hire an experienced 'Developer' to coordinate the
project. Someone who's knowledgable, experienced, and has a
lot of imagination. He, in turn, would either build his own
engineering staff or use an outside firm to flesh out our
concepts. I have a list of suitable candidates for you."
"What's next after that?" Tina asked.
"You present it to the proper local jurisdictions for
approval. I would suggest that a 'Master Plan' be presented
up front so that you don't have to go through this process
with each phase."
"How long will it take, up to this point?" Eric asked.
"A minimum of six months, probably a year, if it's done
properly," Henry answered.
We all groaned. Henry chuckled. "You'd all better get used
to the fact that projects like this take time and patience."
We talked about some of the other of our projects that Henry
was working on.
"Well, we'd better get going if we expect to see any of this
happen in our lifetimes," Annie said after Henry left.
"Eric, would you consider interviewing 'developers'?"
"Sure, as long as you sit in," Eric answered her.
"Your office or mine?" she responded quickly. "I'll start
setting up appointments."
"I'll start getting this other property listed," Tina
volunteered.
I was alone in my office, working, when Bill wandered in. We
went over Metalco issues for a while, then he said "I really
like the way this CP thing is shaping up. Setting up a
completely separate company was a wise move."
"It's just another family company."
"But Eric's involved too, Annie told me all about it."
"That's another reason why it's separate. Metalco will be
Annie's and Tina's."
"It wouldn't surprise me if this new thing turns out to be
even bigger than Metalco," he said.
"It has enormous potential," I agreed.
"I heard from Jeff," he said, changing the subject. "He's
getting eight or nine Milton managers together next weekend
and would like us to join them."
"We're free as far as I know. Let me talk to Eric."
"Jeff's planning an informal get-together and a little golf.
Does Eric play?"
"Don't know, I'll ask him."
When I asked Eric about it, he was eager to go. When I
mentioned golf, he was noncomittal. "Yeah, I've played a few
rounds with Dad," he said. "How about you, what's your
handicap?"
"It's been so long since I played, I don't have one anymore.
Probably in the 20's, I'm just a duffer."
We all arrived at the resort in Scottsdale Friday afternoon.
Jeff met us in the lobby when we checked in with a schedule
for the weekend. It was strictly social, no "meetings", as
such, were planned, but something was scheduled for just
about every waking minute.
Our first "get-together" was for cocktails, so we found our
room, unpacked and got dressed.
On the flight over, Eric had asked "Since I'm not officially
connected to Metalco, who am I?"
"My boyfriend, among other things," I kidded him. "Having an
identity crisis at this late date?"
"That's easy," Bill had chimed in, "Eric's President of
Lundborg Rush 'another' of our Companies. I'll let Jeff know
that that's how you're to be introduced."
Jeff and the Managers were already in the private "lounge"
when the three of us walked in. Jeff introduced us, and got
conversation going. Bob, the New Jersey manager, came over
and we discussed progress on the new plant.
At dinner, lubricated with a little alcohol, "Shop Talk" was
the main topic. It was a friendly, outgoing group and any
shyness they may have had disappeared. Jeff's objective of
getting them to communicate seemed to be working.
After dinner, we all returned to the lounge where a fire was
roaring in the fireplace. The conversation turned to the
"other" businesses we were involved in. Eric told them about
Lundborg Rush, and regaled them with the story of our New
Hampshire experience.
Bill described Rush Properties and the new Headquarters
building under construction, then it was my turn to talk
about the Railroad.
Back in our room, Eric asked "You get any blips on the Gaydar
screen?"
"A few," I admitted.
"That guy from Pittsburgh was coming in loud and clear, and I
got a few from the guy from Cleveland, too."
"Me too. I plan to ignore them, though," I told him.
"Absolutely," he answered.
We had a fairly early tee time, three foursomes. Eric was in
the first group and I was with the last. The first three in
his foursome teed off. Fair tee shots, nothing spectacular.
Eric got up and blasted his drive a mile, right down the
middle. Then the asshole had the nerve to turn and wink at
me!
I was the last to tee off. It was respectable, fairly
straight, playable. My "partner" was the manager of our
Toledo plant, a pleasant, easygoing guy just a little younger
than me.
"This was a good idea," he told me. "Old Edward would shit
if he knew we were actually getting to know one another.
I'll never understand why."
Not wanting to tell him the whole story, I merely said
"Everyone's got a different management style. We not only
believe in cross communication, we do everything we can to
promote it."
"It's better for the Company, too. If we compare notes, we
don't all make the same mistakes."
Time to hit the ball again. This time I really got under it
with a fairway wood and got right up to the green. A decent
chip and a lucky putt, and I'd be down in par.
It didn't turn out that way. I misread the green and
two-putted, settling for a bogey. Actually, I was quite
pleased with it.
That's the way it went, my usual bogey golf. Along the way,
we talked about just about everything, along with a lot of
banter with the other pair.
He had a lot of nice things to say about Jeff, and wanted to
meet the rest of the plant managers. One thing high on his
agenda was an opportunity to tour some Metalco plants. A
very good idea that I would talk to Jeff about.
Back at the clubhouse, all the talk was about Eric's
spectacular game. They were calling him a "ringer", brought
in to show them up. It was good natured, but surprised me
too. He'd shot seven under.
We had a few drinks and a sandwich, then kind of split up.
Some wanted to play another round, others wanted to use the
pool, something impossible for them to do at home this time
of year.
Eric and I joined the pool group. No speedos, but Eric
looked spectacular anyway. We joined the other guys who, I
noticed, checked him out thoroughly.
Jeff was there, and the conversation quickly turned to "shop
talk". In the short time they'd known each other, the plant
managers were already coming up with ideas for better, more
efficient operations. Not all plants were similarly
equipped, so some had an advantage over others in producing
some products. Why not, they reasoned, put the jobs into the
plants where they could be accomplished the most efficiently?
These were the types of ideas that Jeff was looking for, and
this was only the beginning.
This type of interchange of ideas continued for the rest of
the afternoon and evening. Eric, Bill and I weren't
included, which didn't bother us a bit. We just sat and
watched them, smiling. This was, afterall, the whole idea
behind this get-together, and hopefully, there would be many
more to follow.
At no time had Eric and I even tried to hide the fact that we
were "together". When we turned in early, there were a few
knowing grins but nothing was said.
"Under different circumstances," Eric said, "I'd grab
Pittsburgh and Cleveland and we'd go check out the gay bars
in town, but this isn't the time or place."
"Oh well," I told him, "maybe things'll be different if we
ever go visit them on their home turf."
"They seem like nice guys, and I KNOW they're brothers."
I chuckled. "Pittsburg never took his eyes off your crotch
all afternoon. Gotta admit, he's got good taste."
"Wanna do more than look?"
"You betcha," I said, walking over and taking him in my arms.
He was in a playful mood and played hard to get. We
wrestled, fully clothed, on the bed until we were both in
pain from the restriction of our pants. I started undressing
him, but he took over and ripped mine off. Holding me down,
he slipped out of his clothes, and after getting lubed up,
slid into me without any preliminaries.
Without putting up too much of a fight, I tried to fend him
off. No way. He was buried to the hilt and fucked me like a
rabbit. It was a first, and I was enjoying it immensely. I
had no idea how much my struggling was arousing me, and
before he could get into a rhythm, I came all over myself.
"Like that?" he asked, not even slowing down.
I grunted and continued struggling, realizing how turned-on
it was making both of us. I twisted under him, acting like I
was trying to get away, but he stuck with me, in me,
actually, all over the bed. My gyrations were making his
pistoning dick hit places inside me that I didn't know
existed. The sensations were incredible, and I couldn't help
but build for another major cum. When I did, that set him
off, and his short strokes made me want to try for a third.
He collapsed on my chest, and when he stopped twitching, gave
me a tender kiss. "That was Soooo fucking hot!" he groaned.
"Animal!" I kidded him.
"Don't give me that! You loved every minute of it."
"It wasn't bad," I told him.
"I didn't hurt you, did I?" he asked, sounding concerned.
"Hell no! You hit some new spots and it felt wonderful."
We played another 18 holes. Different pairings this time
with Eric in my foursome. I decided to play with his mind.
First there was kidding, then on the fourth hole, I farted as
he was putting, by accident, I swear. It was useless, he
never dropped a shot and ended up with a better score than
the day before.
"I'm gonna get you for that," he promised me in the
clubhouse, chuckling.
"I can't wait," I told him. "You should have told me you
were ready for the tour."
Before the group broke up and headed home, each of the
managers found Eric and me and told us what a good time they'd
had and how productive they felt the meeting had been. They
wanted to do it again, and to meet the other 31 managers.
Jeff had started something that was going to benefit all
concerned.
Annie and Tina had set up shop across the street in rented
space and took some of Annie's key people with them.
The two of them had worked with Eric to set standards for the
Developer they planned to hire, and Eric was conducting
preliminary interviews.
Listing of the properties that we wanted to dispose of was
underway. Annie and Tina were out of town a lot interviewing
Realtors.
The three of them weren't wasting any time getting things
rolling. I didn't try to restrain them, but I did want to
conclude purchase of both companies, the Railroad and the
Development Company, before we made any major moves. There
was also restructuring of both companies to consider.
Another thing that we needed to do was dream up names for all
the new companies. Only the Railroad itself would retain
it's old name.
"Last time it was easy, this time it's not," Eric groused.
"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked.
"The interviews."
"Oh."
"Warren and Jeff really stood out, but the people Henry
recommended are all good. So good, in fact, that I feel like
a damn fool asking my silly questions. Out of eight, so far,
five would all be damned good. Guess it's time for round
two. This time Annie's going to be there."
"Any cute ones?" I laughed.
"None that're your type," he answered, grinning. "They're
all terminally straight, too."
"What is my type, anyway?" I asked.
"This," he said standing and doing a bump and grind.
"Cocky shit, aren't you!"
"Speaking of cock... I'm kinda hungry."
"So am I. Come here."
He walked over and I opened his shorts, pulled them down and
stuck his limp dick in my mouth. It didn't stay that way
long and was soon going down my throat. A little hum on my
part, and he was spurting, hanging onto me for support.
"Will that hold ya til bedtime?" I asked.
He collapsed on the couch next to me, trying to regain his
breath. "Damn you're good," he said, kissing me deeply.
"Where'd you learn how to do that?"
"With this kind of inspiration, it's easy," I told him,
squeezing his softening dick in my hand.
He wasn't ready to let the matter drop. As soon as he
regained his breath, he pounced. Before I could react, I was
on my back and he was tonguing my earlobe.
Naturally, having him in my mouth had given me a boner, which
didn't go unnoticed. He had my shorts down and my dick
buried in his mouth in record time. There was no fooling
around, the velvet blender was switched on and I was a goner
in no time.
"That's just a sample," he said. "Wait'll tonight. I'm
gonna make you cum so hard and for so long that you won't be
able to move for days."
Still gasping, I managed to tease "Promises, Promises!"
"You'll see."
To be continued.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I appreciate hearing your comments on the
story, my writing, and anything you would like to offer -
good or not so good. Send me a message at
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