Chapter 5: A Challenging Proposal
The office was a drag on Monday morning. All work, redistributing responsibilities and among other things, preparing my trip to Melbourne and then, the other week, to Brisbane. There, one visit was to a satisfied customer, more a courtesy call from a new executive than anything else. The other one, National Transports, an Australia-wide transport company, but concentrating on Queensland and partly invading farther north, was something else. Peter had tried several times to sell our products and had come back every time defeated. He believed that it was not the quality of our proposals, but that the CEO, Mrs. Monahan, was the devil herself. She was never satisfied and always wanted more and expressed her opinion rather decisively. One of the problems was that she ran the company with an iron fist, and it was very profitable. What could we offer to be even better?
I had asked my people to do some research on methods of transportation in Australia and based on our contacts with the National Association of Transport Companies and our customers, we had a good picture of general information and the balance sheets of the major companies. Was there anything that in reality was different from what the official numbers showed? I remembered Maureen's comment on the illusion of reality and looked at the numbers again.
Compared to the competition, the percentages of their numbers on cost and expense looked fine, but what if I were to look at them in a different way? They had fewer trucks than the other companies, and if one calculated the cost of these trucks per unit the number was considerably higher. Analyzing personnel cost a similar picture developed. Perhaps there was a chance to propose to NT a detailed analysis of these and corresponding numbers and we might have a chance of a promising proposal. They charged high freight rates, using their exclusive location in the east and north of Australia. Had they found a market niche? I also remembered that I still had some data on American trucking companies lying around that might be interesting. I called my people in and suggested that we should work along this line and that I wanted ideas by tomorrow noon.
In the afternoon Peter walked into my office and closed the door.
"James, what happened between you and Maureen over the weekend? Her mother called me and was very troubled that her daughter came back from Sydney completely different from when she had left. She interrogated Maureen and she can be quite formidable! But the only answer she received that she had met a guy in my house, had gone out for dinner and to the opera, and that the rest was her own business. She was baffled, however, because Maureen was smiling most of the evening."
He started to smirk. Perhaps there was a payback for the Grange coming up?
"So, my friend asked me about the guy Maureen had met in my house and I had to tell her the truth about you: that you came from a well-known Nazi family, were a typical rancorous German, quite ugly, but she should not worry because you are gay. This did not calm her down, however, and she wanted your telephone numbers. Expect her to call you tonight."
He left my office and left me sitting there absolutely stunned. Nazi? Ugly? Gay? What had I done to Peter? I got up and walked over to his office.
"You have two options: you can confirm that you said this to Maureen's mother, and I am going to hit you. Remember that I go to martial art classes and have a fifth Dan black belt. Or you tell me what you really said, and we might continue to be friends."
He laughed and said that his comments were a bit friendlier and that I should not worry. I should still be prepared, however, to receive a call from the lady. And would I please tell him what had gone on with Maureen and me? Why was she smiling?
As I turned away, I told him that it was our own business. And would you please tell me who this lady is? Why her concern? Maureen is, after all, a grown-up woman."
'Well, I hesitate to tell you, but it is better now than that you are taken by surprise. Maureen's mother is the CEO of the transport company you are going to see next week."
"You must be kidding me! Maureen is the daughter of Mrs. Monahan, CEO of NT? Do you know the reason for this treatment? And why did you wait until now to tell me?"
Suddenly I remembered that Maureen had been introduced as Maureen Monahan, but I had not put all the information together, and this was stupid. Perhaps I was not thinking very rationally in her presence?
Peter looked uncomfortable and said that his parents had known Maureen's parents, but they had grown apart after her father's death. And Eileen had become a rather bitter and lonely woman, driven by her need to forget her husband. There had been problems between the two women, but that was a story she had to tell me. And why now? He reminded me that he had told me at the party that the young lady was the daughter of a business contact of ours in Brisbane?
¨I never thought, however, that things would become emotional between to two of you so, please forgive me. As you said, that is your business now. Good luck on both fronts - on one at least you will need it."
That certainly put more pressure on me - to confront one irate mother who thought that she had to protect her daughter, and at the same time she was a potential customer, who should look at me with friendly thoughts. Well, this was why they paid me my un-princely salary.
We worked through the afternoon and I made certain that I left before seven. Back home, I waited until the clock stroke seven and called Maureen. She picked it up on the first ring.
"Darling, how was your day? Did you occasionally think of me?"
She started to speak at the same time but stopped and let me finish.
"James, my love, it was awful. I could not concentrate on anything throughout the day and have been sitting before the phone for over half an hour. Why did you wait until now to call me? Don't you like me anymore?"
"Maureen, I do have a job and it was not very easy today. Miss Parker, my secretary even asked me whether I had any problems, because once in a while, my eyes seemed to have glazed over and I was visibly someplace else, but I managed to survive and did my job. Tell me, why is your mother mad at me? Peter walked into my office today and told me that he had gone through a cross-examination on who I was, what I did, whether I had already committed evil crimes, and so on, and on. He also told me that she would call me tonight to continue the questioning. What do I have to expect?"
Maureen told me to calm down - she had resolved or at least reduced the problem already. She had a major fight with her mother, had put her foot down that certain subjects were hers to resolve, and hers only, and that despite all her mother's interference, she still loved her. So, no phone call tonight and could we please talk about something else, like the tingling feelings she had when she remembered the moment at the Gap, and why my voice was so distant. I should be there taking her into my arms! And at this moment she would give me a completely free license to hunt freckles all over her body! But unfortunately, this license would expire on soon ... So what would I do?
I said that I had a vivid imagination and I did remember the Gap and the hunting license, and last night, after I had gone to bed, I had extended the license already to all of her delicious body. It did not help very much, because afterwards it was worse than before. And I was certain that tonight it would happen again. Perhaps we could caress each other in our thoughts together?
Maureen moaned a bit on the other side and asked me to stop, but that I would have my recompense in Brisbane. Before she hung up, I asked her whether she knew that I would make a business presentation to her mother's company in two weeks' time on Friday afternoon.
"I feel sorry for you already, darling. She is ready and waiting for you. Try to be objective and don't let her get you under your skin. She can be bad, but remember that that Saturday you will have a very loving daughter all for yourself. And just to make you jealous: I am inspecting very carefully and in loving detail all your properties. It tingles nicely ... So get yourself something to eat, have a drink, and think that one day has already passed."
It dawned on me that the daughter could also be evil, but that the rewards would be much greater.
So the two weeks went - hard work during the day where the presentation was coming together, running at night and punching the hell out of the big bag to reduce my tension, and the nightly phone calls that had me happy and frustrated at the same time. I had agreed with Maureen that I would arrive in Brisbane on Thursday night, would have dinner with my colleagues to go through the presentation once more, have the two meetings on Friday, reserving NT for the last, and she would pick me up at seven to go out for dinner. I had found that Jim Albright was a good analyst and a natural leader; he had just not been challenged before and I did this now with a vengeance. He helped a lot and I put him on my future promotion list.
The Melbourne meeting went well and there was enough interest to justify another meeting soon. I was puzzled: why was this company not going much faster? There was a bit of whining and complaining about the unfairness of life and the stupidity of customers and prospects, but nobody seemed to be willing to do something about it.
But then the day arrived: Brisbane, here I come!
The flight was quiet, and I chose to read a book, one of these airport spy thrillers, rather than go through my presentation for the umpteenth time. My colleagues were farther back and most seemed to sleep. Good for them; they did not have to do the presentation to the Iron Lady!
The weather in Brisbane was fine and hot; perhaps a good omen?
The first meeting went well, and the customer was happy with our products and service. After a short lunch we walked into the NT building and were escorted to the main meeting room. We set up our equipment and waited for the NT executives.
