Crashing Waves (2 page)

Twenty five miles along the interstate and thirty minutes of traffic later, she arrived in the parking garage of the three-story, steel framed building in Los Angeles that she referred to as her 'home away from home'. Eden Boards, LLC. was what the large block style lettering spelled on all four sides of the building, as well as above the large doors at the main floor entrance. Rory stepped out of her car with her briefcase and cell phone as she pushed the auto-lock button on her key ring and walked through the main entrance of her million dollar corporation, a worldwide surf and snowboard design and manufacturing company.

The security guard, front desk receptionist, and a few of the staff members that worked on the second floor in the research and design department, were the only employees to ever arrive as early as Rory.

As Rory stepped off the elevator on the third floor, her charismatic, short skirt wearing, secretary, Alexandra Walker, stopped her.

"Good morning, Rory. Martie has arrived early today."

Rory spoke with a slight Australian accent. "Is that right? She must have something up her sleeve to beat me into the office. Thanks, Alex."

Rory walked into her ridiculously large office, laying her briefcase down on the large black metal desk next to the flat screen computer monitor. Along the wall to the left, was a massive bookcase that matched her desk with closed cabinets at both ends. The other wall had been covered with framed photos and magazine covers. A floor to ceiling window ran along the wall behind the desk. Rory sat down in her leather chair and turned on her computer monitor. Before she could log in to check her e-mail folder, she heard a half knock at the door. She looked up to see one of the most beautiful, yet extremely eccentric, people she'd ever met, walk in.

Martina Cruz had been Rory's best friend of over ten years, as well as the vice president of the company. She was nearly the same height as Rory, but with long, wavy black hair just passed her shoulders, olive colored skin, and chocolate brown eyes as bright as her smile. She was dressed similarly in attire. The company dress code was casual, but slightly business casual with a surfer flare.

"Martie, I see you've decided to come to work on time this morning. What could have possibly brought you in here before the sun came up? No, wait don't tell me, let me guess? You're having a mid life crisis at twenty seven? Or hmm…."

"Rory, come on, don't do this to yourself. It's been four years. I'm here for you. I know that you know what today is. Don't lie to me and damn it, stop lying to yourself. I can see it in your eyes."

"Martie, I've told you a hundred times, I'm over it. I've been over it for a long time. Can we please move on? I have deadlines to make and we have a meeting with some of the designers this morning. There is no time in my schedule to discuss the past or relive an anniversary. I'm alive and well. Let's move on."

"You want it like that, then fine! I'm here to offer support for you and you shut me away as usual. I love you, I always have and I always will. You're my best friend. Damn it, Rory, my life ended that day too. Can't you see that?"

"Martie, that's enough! I'm busy and unless you have company information to discuss with me, this conversation is over!"

Martie walked out of the office shaking her head. She closed the door, pausing for a long minute, before returning to her own office at the end of the hall.
I see it in you, Rory. You have to face it. One day you will surf again, I know you will. You're so God damn stubborn. I thought I had lost you four years ago today. Don't you think it hurts me too? I thought you were going to die. One day, my friend, you will wake up and realize your life is not over and you're not alone.
Not at all.
 

~ ~ ~

Rory sat back in her chair with her eyes tightly closed.
Just once I'd like to get through this day without the pain and hurt. Damn you, Martie, for starting in on me first thing in the morning. Let it go, I did.
She sat up, pressing the intercom button on the phone.

"Yes, Rory."

"Alex, let me know when the snow team gets here. I need to meet with them in Conference Room A at nine o'clock."

"Yes ma'am, I'll send down a message. Shall I send Martie a message to attend the meeting as well?"

"By all means, Alex, she
is
my vice president. I would expect her to be at all of my meetings. Thanks."

 Rory turned off the intercom and sat back, reading her incoming mail. She was halfway through the messages, when she noticed a suspicious email address from a company she had never heard of. All of the incoming email and other computer shared information were always heavily screened for viruses and other security measures on their server. Even so, she still deleted the message without ever opening it. Her entire company was run on her computer. If a virus were to ever get inside it could ruin her. Of course, there was always snail mail which was why she had an incoming and outgoing box on the corner of her desk. Most of the envelopes in that box were to and from large companies or were regarding surf and snowboard expo events and competitions. She'd finally cleared out her inbox and sent out everything that she'd needed to. Just as she was about to preview the documents for a proposal on a new line of products, the intercom buzzed.

"Rory, the snow team is ready for you."

"Thank you, Alex. Please tell them that I'll be right down."

On the way to the elevator, Martie caught up to Rory, carrying a small manila folder and a cup of coffee.

"That shit will kill you, you know," Rory chided.

"It's only coffee and besides, I'm an adult. If I want to drink shit, I will. Did you get an email from the Billabong Pro director?" Martie replied.

"No, why? Was I supposed to?"

"Well it went on over the weekend and I had received a letter from them last week saying they'd wanted to give you some kind of achievement award."

"What? I never received anything about that. Oh well, I haven't achieved anything award winning since I left the tour. Did we at least have a representative there with our boards? Just because I don't care to be there in the middle of it doesn't mean my company will suffer."

"Yeah we were there. I sent Greg Underwood. He's been working with Cara Mann. You know the girl that's leading the tour right now."

"Yes, I saw that. Did she re-sign her contract?"

"Of course she did."

The elevator stopped and both women walked down the hall to the first door on the left. A large oval shaped table sat in the middle of the room with two empty seats out of thirty chairs that surrounded it. Rory sat at the head of the table with Martie on her immediate right side. The head of the snowboard design team, Stephen Silver, sat to her left. He was a tall, physically trim guy in his early thirties with dark brown hair.

"Well, I'm glad we could all make it on time this morning. I've called this meeting so that everyone can catch up on the upcoming events. This is the second full week of December and we still have a lot to do before January gets here." She paused to put on her titanium, thin-framed glasses, so that she could read the schedule and documents in the folder that Martie had slid over to her.

"The last weekend of January through the first three days of February is the Winter X Games in Aspen, Colorado. Everyone is well aware that I will be attending these events. I'm excited about the direction we are headed with snowboarding and I'm looking forward to personally meeting Ezekiel Jones, the new snowboarder that we signed. You all know him of course, since you've been working for two months on his prototype boards. Also, coming up in February from the tenth through the twenty sixth is the XXIV Winter Olympic Games in Stockholm, Sweden. I will also be attending those games for about nine days. Stephen please update us on exactly how many riders we've signed for the X Games and the Olympics."

"Yes ma'am, we'll be sponsoring three American men at the X Games and then in the Olympics we have those same three riders since we're in binding contracts with them, as well as twenty more men and women from all over the world for partial and full sponsorships. We've also had a record number of riders purchase custom and prototype equipment from our lines solely for the Olympic games," Stephen answered casually.

"Have we gotten any further with the three female riders that you and I spoke about last week?"

"I'm still working on that. They are all locked into contracts with other companies until after the Olympics."

"Alright, let's meet again next week. I want to know exactly what is going on and with whom before I get to Aspen."

"I do believe we're suppose to unveil a brand new prototype called the
Rapture
in March at the Women's US Open Snowboarding Championships, is that right?" Martie asked.

"Yes. Rory will be in Vermont for that event and the testing on the new board should definitely be completed a few weeks beforehand."

"Well, hopefully we have an American female contracted with us and riding our board at the event. I can't tell you how bad that will look for us if it doesn't happen, Stephen." She eyed him, pursing her lips.

"Other than that, it looks like we're starting our snow season off with a bang guys. I want all of the information on the prototype boards for the X Games and Olympics on my desk by the twenty-eighth of this month—that includes the test documentation as well." She took her glasses off and slid them into the pocket inside her suit jacket.

"Yes ma'am, our test teams are supposed to leave this week. One crew is headed to Stockholm and the other to Aspen. Both groups will be back by the twenty-sixth and our final drafts should be completed by January fourteenth," a redhead with a bouncy ponytail replied.

"Thank you, Johanna. As head of our testing department, it's up to you to make sure everything runs smoothly. We'll meet again when you've returned with some results for me. As for everyone else, this is it, this is where we make it or break it. This is our first trip as a corporation to either of these events, and we're pushing to be the lead equipment sponsor, so I'm putting it all on you guys to make sure we're definitely invited back, and as always, above everything else, the main factor here is our boards. Let's do everything we can to make sure our boards come off the line number one and stay there. I would expect that each and every one of you has the same pride in this company that I do. There is a reason why riders in other countries are calling on us to purchase equipment. Let's make sure we pursue the top riders in all fields. The more people that are seen riding our boards and using our equipment at these upcoming events will directly affect our retail sales. Keep that in mind."

 Rory stood up, grabbing the files that were handed to her from Stephen and Johanna before exiting the room. Martie stayed behind to have a smaller meeting with Stephen, Johanna, and a few of the top designers.

~ ~ ~

"Rory, I'm stepping out for lunch. Would you like me to pick you up anything?"

"Oh no, Alex, I'm fine. Thanks for asking. You might want to see if Martie wants anything. I haven't talked to her since the meeting this morning. You usually eat lunch early. Are you feeling ok?"

"Yes ma'am. I'm just running some personal errands today, so I decided to do it later. I spoke with Martie briefly about an hour ago and she said she'd pick something up."

"Ok, well, have a nice lunch."

Rory dialed Martie's extension leaving a voicemail when she didn't answer. She headed down to the second floor to take a look at some of the new snowboard and surfboard prototypes that were being manufactured. Usually, Martie accompanied her, but she had gone alone since Martie was obviously out of her office. She'd been on the production floor for nearly an hour when her cell phone rang.

"Hey, where are you?" she answered.

"I'm on my way down," Martie said." I just got back from having lunch with a guy that you'll remember very well. He's now working for Extreme boards, in your old position."

"Oh, how nice. You had lunch with one of our rivals and my old employer. I hope I'm not paying you to help out the competition, Martina!"

"Come on, Rory. You know better than that. I'm as loyal to you as a dog. He called me to see how you were doing and he wanted to get together and talk for old times' sake. Nothing really to do with work."

"Ok, you've got me. I could really care less what you do on your lunch break, mate, but I'm sure you want me to ask who it was that you were talking to. I guess I'm a little curious. So, who was it and what did they want?"

As soon as she paused, the line went dead.
Oh how cute, Martie. Lead a thirsty horse to an empty trough. You're such a pain in my ass. Some best friend you are.
Rory spun on her heels to walk back to the elevator.
 

"There you are. I hung up when I saw you," Martie said, greeting her.

Rory shook her and smiled.

"So, I had lunch with Stewart Gunner. You remember him right? He won the Men's WCT in 2013. We used to—"

"Yes, I know who he is. Why is he bothering you?" Rory asked.

"He just moved here and isn't surfing the pro tour anymore. He said he got my name from a friend. Who knows? Anyway, he sure hasn't changed much."

"Ok anymore blasts from the past up your sleeve today? I'm really not in the mood for a stroll down memory lane ok, Martie? We have a hundred things that need to be done before next month. None of them include surfing. This is our snow season. Oh, I almost forgot, you need to make sure you send a representative to the Roxy Pro in Australia next month. After that there is nothing on the surf calendar until March. So send someone to make sure our riders are on our boards at the event. Then, I don't want to hear the word surfing until after the Olympics."

"Yes ma'am, Captain." Martie threw up a mock salute and Rory shot her a go to hell look from her ice cold baby blue eyes.

"Come on, I'm almost finished. I have one more person to visit and then I'm going to step out for about two hours and grab some lunch."