"Little" Sister Pt. 03

Plates started to slide forward and chairs back. Sean stood and rang his water glass for attention. "Thank you all for coming. This is a year for which I have much to be thankful, so I am pleased to have you all to share this small repast with." Sheila must have used that turn of phrase. Sean is not that eloquent. Never mind. He was working up to something.

Sean continued, "I have a new wife and soon to be child to be thankful for. I just wish she could enjoy the food more. I think Francine also has much to be thankful for." Really Sean? Stilted much? "She is expecting a child and appears to be part owner of a hit movie." Applause. "For Sheila and I, we have a wealth of new friends." More applause. "But I am most thankful for my sister." Wait. What?

Sean held up his glass. "To my little—or not so little—sister, Jo. Six months ago she saved my ass. For the week before the wedding, I expected a dozen calls an hour, asking me to sort something out. They never came. To those who have never been in charge, you do not know how much a manager appreciates a silent phone. I have no one who could have done it better, including me. I have very few that could have done it at all. Along the way, she chose a much nicer look. Here's to you, Jo." This time the applause went on and on, while my face kept getting hotter.

Music came to my rescue. The opening strains of The Blue Danube were coming from my boombox. I saw a hand in front of me. It was attached to someone very tall, Gerald. He was asking me to dance. Oh boy was I out of it. Gerald led me to the open floor and swept me through the rest of the dance. For the second piece, Sean and Sheila joined us. Then several other couples. Gerald and I danced through four Strauss waltzes before he retired from the floor.

I never lacked for a partner, but my last dance was with Elspeth. After an hour, things started to break up, so I announced a final dance. There was a line of candidates, but I chose Elspeth. Afterward I took her to my room, gagged and tied her, then forced her to climax half a dozen times. I never heard Christine enter, but there she was, kneeling naked on the floor. The three of us slept spooned together.

Chapter 15 – White Plains

In the morning, I chased down Francine. She was doing tea and toast. That had to suck, given her three pot a day coffee habit. Still, Francine was looking upbeat. I assumed the news on her movie was good, so I did not ask.

I said, "You look better. The news on the movie must be good."

She said, "It is, but the real news is that Sheila is feeling better. I don't know why, but I catch her morning sickness. You did not find me to inquire about my health or the movie. What's up?"

I said, "Deirdre Walters."

Francine's eyes flew wide. Before I could say another word, her phone was out. In minutes I was invited to Sunday dinner with Angela Molinari and Pedro de la Garza, at their home in White Plains, NY. Naturally, I was to bring my assistant. I did not need a road map, but Francine laid one out anyway.

"Angela will play hostess, but her health is frail. Don't expect to see much of her. Pedro wants to see you again, which probably means he wants people to meet you. Put your phone on record and make sure the battery is charged. With Pedro doing the introduction, anyone and everyone there will at least read any resume or proposal you send. This is a very big deal, but you can handle it. Just remember the party in Manhattan and you'll be fine.

"Now, can I borrow Little Miss Cums-a-lot? I have a serious itch and Jason is in California." Francine Martel, you have to love her or strangle her.

She went to find Christine, while I went to tell Elspeth. It turned out they were together. Elspeth was trying to learn something about something. With Christine, that is a recipe for frustration. I mimed a keyboard, to which Christine smiled and nodded. I bumped two fists together and nodded to Francine. Same song, second verse. As they left, I heard Francine say something about teaching body language.

Elspeth was worried. I explained that I had arranged a meeting for her, with Deirdre Walters, which caused excitement. As I explained the whens and wheres, she became steadily more excited. When I was finished, Elspeth threw her arms around me and danced. The meeting was for her, but she was excited for me.

Sean was just as bad. He started making calls to see who would be at the dinner. Sheila rolled her eyes. Ten minutes later she produced a list. After an hour, Sean gave me half the names. As usual, Sheila's point was subtle but effective. Sean tried to tap the grapevine. Sheila went to the source. I gave Sean's list to Elspeth as confirmed attendees. I called Sheila's list "possible others". Elspeth just dropped Sean's list to grab Sheila's. I said she was smart.

By late Saturday, I knew enough to be scared spitless, while Elspeth was deeply impressed. The first time I met her, Elspeth was with a mid level accountant for First Boston National Bank. The CFO of Chase Manhattan Bank was on the list. It was a money list. These were not the decision makers; they were the check writers and the bankers. I wondered what that meant, til I realized that this list was for Elspeth. It was the start for her Rolodex. Damn Skippy.

Sean was sending the Mercedes with the bags. That being the case, I decided to arrive in the chauffeured car, with Elspeth bringing the sporty one. I could send Russell ahead if things were going well. When I gave Shadow's keys to Elspeth, I looked her in the eye and willed her to understand how much I loved my car. I think she understood.

It was a gated community, no big surprise. Russell stopped awhile at the gate. As we drove up the lane, he told me he was checking on arrangements for Shadow. I felt like I was smuggling Elspeth in, which in a sense I was.

The dinner was a lesson for me in a number of ways. I was rubbing elbows with some very influential people. In another part of the house, Elspeth was meeting with their staffs. My first lesson was that I had no control over the second part. Elspeth was being thrown in the deep end. I could only hope for the best. The second lesson was that this was about me as much as about Elspeth.

Angela met everyone at the door, but I never saw her again. Pedro was standing beside her. He said, "Encantado, querida. Usted muestra una gran mejora. Come. There are many for you to meet." He was not kidding. These were chief financial officers and leading bankers from all over Manhattan. It put things in perspective to think that I was their entertainment for the day. Certainly everyone wanted to know about the wedding. Pedro was introducing me as the architect and planner for the whole thing.

Lord, it was hard to be humble. Every time I would praise someone, it was taken as suitable deference. The next question was sure to deal with a time that person had a conflict. There were a lot of those. Still, these were money managers, not people managers. They knew the personnel tune and could dance to it a bit, but they wanted to know about funding. I tried my best to give credit to Sean, but one fact was beaten into me—I held the checkbook.

In hindsight, it was true. Sean was the one with the big ideas. I was the one that made the ideas work, using available materials and personnel. 90% of the labor was either from existing staff and their families, from Sean's temp service or from the Amish. I received major kudos for my handling of the Amish, Evaine Schaeffelker not-with-standing. After all, I was the one who said, "I want you so far inside that Sean has to deal with wedding proposals."

We probably spent almost $100,000 on labor, but it could easily have been three or four times that. Consider what a wedding contractor would have charged. Our short time frame kept costs down, which is the reverse of normal. Time crunches mean overtime rates and next day delivery fees. Francine billed at Union minimum, but sent her best people. I was the one that kept her best people happy.

For that matter, I was the one that kept Francine Martel happy. That one shocked me a bit. After all, I did hang Francine out a second story window. Francine told me she more than made up the lost revenue through referrals, plus she met Michael Foxworth. For that she was willing to forgive a lot. I thought she wanted to bear Dr. Foxworth's children, though that may just have been me. The other guests informed me that Francine was billing her services at $250,000, with a waiting list.

Interesting and important as all this was, it paled beside what happened when I mentioned Georg Karl. I swear, all conversation in the room stopped. Herr Karl did not say much, so I could repeat it word for word, "Most impressive. Young Gunter good judgment has. Far he may go, but here he will stay, I think. Most impressive."

They made me repeat it four times, then argued about the way to parse it. It was so much like academia, I almost felt at home. The fact that Herr Karl complimented Lars' judgment was discussed. Several of them had done or considered business with or through Lars. I could tell Lars' name was getting an important gold star. Though he was 10,000 miles away, they noted he would be returning. The fact that Herr Karl had called me impressive, twice, was the talk of the rest of the day.

Hours later, I asked Elspeth how meeting with Deirdre Walters had gone. Elspeth thanked me with an enigmatic smile. Once we were in Hanover, Elspeth produced a ball gag, metal edged ruler and pre-tied rope restraints. I could do better. Pet stores sell these very useful things called figure-eight tug toys. Richard tipped me to them. I had several in Shadow for just such an occasion. I gave Elspeth her spanking on the quadrangle, in full public view. She thanked me for weeks.

I could not remember what we ate for dinner in White Plains. Did we have chicken? It bothered me.