Balance of Power Shifted (44 page)

Feeling his curiosity oozing across 3000 miles of phone line
, I asked him what he did at his current job.  He said, “To put it simply my job is to get raw material and finished product to and from the chemical manufacturing plants by trucks or freight trains.”  Donny let that hang in the air until I responded “interested in coming to work for Efficio?”  “What do you have for me Mike?” Don asked indicating some interest.  Well first, I would like you to meet our CIO Fiona, who will be coming out there shortly.  She wears multiple hats, including setting up our production sites, and can fill you in on all the details.  “To put it simply,” I answered, “we need a professional who can put together a strategy to get a lot of trucks delivering a lot of product in a short period of time as well as run our West Coast operations and salary should not be an issue.”  I spent another five minutes talking about the company and catching up with what he had been doing since I last saw him and before I hung up I told him I would be tagging along with Fiona and would see him in two days.

By the
time, I called Fiona to fill her in on Don; she was already halfway down the Parkway to the New Gretna site.  “What’s up good looking” she answered the phone with to which I responded, “you better have known it was me.”  Jokingly she feigned “Tom, this isn’t Tom, who is this?”  “Yeah, yeah, yeah, funny, funny I replied.”  “What’s up,” she asked?”  I then told her of Bill’s idea and my conversation with Donny and a little background on him.  She ended up thinking it was a great idea and wanted me to invite him to dinner at Chez Rico for a pseudo interview and to get to know each other when she found out I was tagging along.

Due to security
issues, we chartered a Clavis private jet to San Diego complete with two security professionals for the duration of our visit.  Clavis maintained two planes that they used for high profile clients to get around public transportation and had one on the west coast and one on the east located at Teterboro airport.  During the flight we talked about business for the first two hours and then kind drifted of the track and started talking about getting married and finding time to hang together with all the pressure of running Efficio and a second charitable organization which still needed a name.

  “Face
it,” Fiona said, “we are both adrenaline junkies and will need to get juiced on a regular basis, but who would have predicted that we would live our lives like we are in a war zone every day.  I for one can’t wait for it to level out and get our adrenaline fix in more traditional ways such as jumping out of planes or hiking through crocodile infested wet lands.”  “Having five kids will make sure you’re never bored,” I kidded.  “How did you know I always wanted five kids?” she said.  I started to make a joke about how it got to five from four until I saw she was not kidding and had an intense look in her eyes as she searched mine.  “Lucky guess” I said and smiled thinking about what it might be like since being an only child.  “I’m game if you are.”

When we landed at the airport
, a Clavis armored SUV met us out front.  When we got in, we said hello to the driver who had a chauffer’s hat pulled down low across his face.  He responded in retrospect with a poor imitation of an Aussie accent.  Fiona caught on first, and dug her elbow into my side and said, “It’s Jeremy.”  “Do you mind if I hang out with you guys as you check out you production plant?” he asked.  “Sure” I responded “and I’ll even buy lunch if you’re interested.”  As they were driving to the production site, I confirmed with Jeremy that we no longer had any security guards at Chez Rico and were relying strictly on the alarm system and video surveillance.  He confirmed it and added “and just so you two know, Mary and I have been watering all your plants and making sure the place doesn’t fall down, since you never come out to visit anymore.  “In that case why don’t you and Mary come over for dinner tonight?  We are going to interview someone that Mike knows out here for an important position.”  “Sounds great but I need to check with Mary first, but what is the candidate’s name?  “Donald Shintone or Donny as Mike calls him.”  “Donny?  I know Donny, he is a great person.  What is his specialty?” Jeremy wanted to know.  Mike chimed in and said “Donny is going to figure out how to deliver Electricus to all our clients and manage West Coast operations…if he agrees that is.”

Neat place I said to Fiona as we walked around the facility.  Space was more at a premium here, but the warehouse building had tall ceilings that allowed Fiona to design a two
-tier tank system, which essentially got twice as many gallons per square foot than the New Gretna site.  The new pumps were in and a pipe ran out 200 feet into the bay and anchored to ensure it could not affect navigation per the city’s requirement.  Similar to the New Jersey site, they were still waiting on more than half of the fiberglass tanks. 

As Fiona was talking about the design, Jeremy also talked about the high tech security controls
, motion detectors, guard rotation and a few other surprises.  He also reminded me that they were set up to perform the background checks for all site employees and drivers.  The beauty of this site was the open parking lot in front that could handle a lot of truck traffic and was only two blocks from the freeway.  An hour later and with Fiona happy about the progress she saw, Jeremy dropped us off at the house and said to call if they needed a security detail if they were moving around.

A quick check of the house showed that it was immaculate and all the plants looked healthy.  The refrigerator
looked stocked with essentials, most likely thanks to Mary.  There was even a vase of fresh flowers sitting on the counter.  I had no idea what kind of flowers they were, but they had a light aromatic smell that was very pleasant.  While on the rooftop, I popped the lid on the hot tub and took in the crystal clear water and a light rise of steam.  Hey, how about a dip I asked Fiona.  I didn’t bring a suit she replied.  “A suit,” Mike echoed, “just look around.”  Fiona looked around, and took in redwood tub surrounded by a specially made Gazebo shrouding the tub in privacy.  I grabbed two cold waters from the small fridge, shucked my clothes, and jumped in.  The hot water felt freaking great. 

Fiona was
not rushing to get in, making some excuses, so I said “some adrenaline junky!”  That seemed to do the trick, and with one last quick look around, dropped her sun dress, kicked of her shoes and in a flourish removed her bra and butt floss she called panties and slipped in the water with an audible moan of appreciation.  Luckily, I knew the cameras were not trained anywhere near the hot tub and that our security team was not being distracted as we relaxed and made out for almost a half hour before the prune skin became too much to take.  Putting our clothes on over our wet skin, we headed in to rinse off the chlorine smell.

A half hour later
, I fired up my poor Camaro that has been sitting here neglected.  It’s a shame I only had to go a mile down the road with the car and would have liked to drive it up the coast for a couple of hours.  Running into the food store I picked up everything on Fiona’s list, which was mostly fresh vegetable and organic chicken.  She was going to make a Southwestern style chicken dinner that required puree of Asparagus with lots of roasted garlic added and Cayenne Pepper for a little low heat.  Long grained rice was cooked and then placed in a mold similar to a cupcake pan and baked in the oven until it would hold together.  The rice would end up sitting on the Asparagus puree while the grilled chicken with some light seasoning added along with whole steamed baby carrots with the tops still on completed the dish.  I got all the ingredients for a nice fresh salad and for a chocolate torte cake, she was going to make with a rum icing.  Oh yeah and some Amp drinks since I was out.

With the house smelling like a five star restaurant I went down to answer the door at 6:15 and greeted Mary with a hug
and Jeremy with a fist bump.  Mary immediately said, “It smells great in here and directed herself upstairs saying she wanted to see if Fiona needed a hand.  I was just about to walk up with Jeremy when the doorbell rang.  Opening up the door, there stood Donny not looking any different than when I last saw him other than being better dressed than normal.  It did look like Donny was getting a little thinner up top.  He was only about 10-years older than me, but I thought him and his hair would be soon parted.  He gave me a high five and Jeremy a handshake I guess since he did not know him as well as me or in deference to age.  “Good to see you Donny, you are looking very snazzy” I said.  “Hey what did you expect, this is a job interview you know.  In a more conspiratorial whisper he leaned in close and said “when your CIO Fiona called to confirm everything she sounded very nice on the phone and I’ve been hot to meet her ever since.”  Jeremy playing along saying to Don “if I wasn’t married to the hottest woman and my best friend I certainly would make a run at her, even though she is only half my age.  What do you think Mike, but you have to answer and put aside political correctness in the office first.”  “Jer, I would have to agree with you my friend, however she a little brainy for my taste” I said as I continued the joke.  Anyway, Donny lets head up for cocktails and dinner and we will leave you and Ms. Paschel alone to discuss the details of the job.

As we came into the main are
a, the two women were behind the counter putting out some light hors
d'oeuvres of broiled goat cheese on a bagel crisps and a combination of portabella mushroom, mozzarella cheese and roasted red pepper with a touch of balsamic vinegar.  A rich
bottle of Merlot and a nice Chardonnay were already open waiting for customers.  “Look what wandered in I announced.”  Mary looked up and said “Donny great to see you dear.”  Fiona was looking at me for introductions so I said, “Donny, this is Ms. Paschel.  Fiona this is Donald.”  Fiona came around the counter and shook hands with Don saying, “It’s a pleasure to meet you in person.  Mike has said good things about you and I can’t wait to sit down later with you.”  “Pleasure is all mine and I have to say working for Efficio would be like landing a job with the New York Yankees, so I hope I can acquit myself well.“ Don said this with the right touch of humility and excitement.

Dinner was easy conversation but did delve into business on occasions, which I
was guilty of to allow Don to absorb the fact that Efficio was no ordinary company and security would be paramount in all areas of the company including the areas that we were targeting for Don.  You could see his eyes go round and a certain level of awe displayed regarding Fiona’s role when Jeremy and I talked about the helicopter pilot in the Fish Island attack and where he and the copter had gone to. 

Fiona had done a fantastic job on dinner and I made a big fuss saying so
, which was echoed by everyone else.  The dessert was nothing short of fantastic.  Not only was it delicious it looked like it came off the cover of Bon Appetite magazine.  After the plates were cleared, which everyone help do, Fiona decided to go downstairs to where it had all started, the first floor lab.  Here she would go over the job responsibilities with Don and let him tell her what he could do to make the job a success.  Jeremy, Mary and I just sat back in the deep cushions of the big sectional and sipped our drinks.  Mary was sipping a little wine, while Jer and I opted for a 20-year old port.  Mary let it out of the bag that she and Jeremy were finally going to become grandparents.  Sharon, the eldest of their two kids was three months along and was married to a great guy, who was also a Major in the Army and considered a real up and comer.  It was sad that they were in Germany for two years.  Mary, however, was ready to go wherever to be with her daughter when the time came.  I toasted them and you could see real joy in their eyes as they talked proudly about her and the future of being grandparents.  This was a side I had never seen from Jeremy before and in a way I could see Fiona and I much like them a long time in the future.  I laughed when they compared their son Davis to their daughter who appeared to be at complete ends of the spectrum from his sister, however they were definitely proud parents when they talked about him being on active duty and serving two tours in Afghanistan as part of Special Forces.

It took about forty-five minute, but eventually Fiona and Don came back upstairs.  Mike for once you did good
. Mr. Shintone is the man we need.  He is a wealth of information and has already made some terrific recommendations.  He has also accepted the position and can start in two weeks.  We will be collaborating extensively for all our locations not just for the trucking, but all the logistics of the site.  He will also get to hire any staff he needs to bring us up to speed and has recommended hiring a Jenny Reynolds from a local trucking firm.  He says you know her and could vouch for her.  Looking at Donny, I said “Jenny from our sparring club?”  “One and the same” he said.  We communicate on a regular basis especially if I need some specialty trucks or long-term truck rentals.  She ended up marrying that guy Craig, you know the one…”  he paused seeing me shake my head no and also because Jeremy also stepped in to help me by congratulating Don on the job and telling him that they would see a lot of each other. 

I thought we had gotten away with
it because Fiona did not react.  We decided to wrap up the evening and everyone said thanks.  Then I put my arm around Fiona and told her what a wonderful dinner it was then gave her a full kiss, you should have seen the look on Donny’s face.  It was priceless.  Fiona caught this interaction but did not say anything.  Five minutes later, we were cleaning up and she gave me the low down on Donny.  Apparently, he impressed the crap out of her and she could not wait to tap into his knowledge and have him take a few things off her plate.