Satisfied with Love

Author's Notes: Keep the comments coming. I read each one. I do hope you are enjoying the novel.

MDSW

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Brad appears to be better now and he is looking forward to working a full schedule throughout the training, even though Kristi is still nervous about it. Terry has no problems with it so Kristi relents as Brad accuses her of being over protective. She agrees with him and smiles, leaning on him.

As evening approaches, Brad continues to recover and he is still getting use to his normal routine. Kristi is still clinging to him though.

The first relationship training class guests are due to arrive soon and Brad, Kristi, Stacy and Peggy will be there to greet them at the airport.

Kristi has already made arrangements for Larry Strait, the CEO of Packard Records, his secretary, Helen Cole, and the new VP, Sandi Long, to visit the Island for two days of relationship training. Larry and Helen are looking forward to the training, but Sandi is not yet into it. She would not have come along, but Larry insisted she will like the training and told her it will help her do her job better.

The Packard team left for the airport and met them outside the VIP lounge after they got off the private jet. Brad greets them and introduces himself, his sisters and Kristi to Sandi, Larry and Helen.

Larry said jokingly, "I know Brad is here somewhere so will one of you please find him for us?"

They laugh and praise Brad for his new look, then rode to the island by boat. After they get settled in their suites, they are escorted to the pool and introduced to the whole Packard team as refreshments are served. They all are having a good time with jokes and fun as the guests relax and get into the aura of the island. The guests talk about themselves, tell jokes and have fun as they are have a great evening with the Packard team.

Around midnight, Brad and Kristi excuse themselves to hit the sack. Everyone follows in their footsteps a short time later.

Just before breakfast the next morning, they exchange greetings again and talk among themselves briefly. They eat a great breakfast and after, Brad and Kristi escorts the guests to the business suite where everyone takes a seat at Brad's encouragement. The guests are located on the opposite side of the table as Brad and Kristi.

Brad holds Kristi's left hand under the table throughout the training. More likely, it's the other way around. Kristi is still very protective of him and keeps her eye on him at all times. She is like a mother hen and Brad is loving her for it. He hugs her and holds her tight every chance he gets. The training class may have altered her protection but, it does not stop her.

"Brad, your new look is very nice. It makes you look professional," Helen said.

Larry laughs.

"I'm sorry Helen. I'm not laughing at you... I swear, Brad, the word 'professional' has a whole new connotation for me now. It's almost laughable," Larry said as Helen smiles, nods and agrees.

Brad replies, "I know exactly where you're coming from Larry. Even my team is aware of the different connotation using that word..."

They laugh, then he directs himself to Helen.

"Thank you Helen, I appreciate that."

Helen and Sandi nod their heads and laugh as Brad and Kristi laugh with them.

"Thank you for the compliment Larry. Sandi, you did not have the pleasure of seeing my long hair. Sorry about that. I will ask Stacy to show you a photo she took a while back."

"Actually I did, Brad. I was in the manager's meeting with you, Larry and your staff, shortly after you fired Chuckie."

Kristi suddenly gets nervous.

"I'm sorry, Sandi. That's right. You were sitting in far end seat on the other side of the table from me. Yes, I do remember now. My apologies..."

Kristi sighs in relief as he remembers.

"Larry, since we last spoke about relationships in your office, there has been a significant change in mine," Brad said.

He brings Kristi's hand up, places it on the table and releases her. Larry and Helen pick up on the new addition instantly. Larry figured something was going on at their last meeting that they were not willing to admit to, but it's not what he thought it was.

Larry said, "Congratulations you two!"

Helen and Sandi also congratulate them.

"That is a significant change indeed. Does that change anything regarding our training?" Larry asks.

Kristi replies, "It shouldn't affect the training. But, if you are concerned it will, what I would suggest is to give it a chance. You will know whether or not you want to proceed within the first hour and that choice is yours to make."

"Brad, is this the relationship you were referring to at the company meeting back then?" Larry asks.

"Yes it is, but it wasn't a sure thing then. It was very, very early in our relationship. Neither one of us knew where we stood with each other at that time. Since then, our relationship has blossomed into what it is now. We are in love and are very committed to each other above and beyond what the ring indicates," Brad answers. "We are very serious about us."

"Okay, I'm still intrigued about what you told us back then so I want to hear more. I have been thinking about this since taking over at Packard Records, primarily because of what Chuckie was doing to the morale in the company. I'm not sure how long it has been going on, but I am definitely concerned. I got real serious about it on your last visit and have been chomping at the bit ever since. Now that I'm here, I'm drooling, praying for information from you."

Helen said, "It has been going on for a long time, but it got much, much worse when Mr Packard did not pick Chuckie to be the CEO. He was very pissed at Mr Packard's decision and he was cussing him until the day you arrived Mr Strait."

"Well, it makes more sense why he did what he did - revenge against my father. I guess it may have been his intent to destroy the Packard Empire. Nice guy," Brad said.

"Okay, I would like us to be on a first name basis for this training because it is more personable and also because I treat my staff as equals. I would like them to be able to do the same. Will everyone here give their consent to do so?"

Everyone nods.

"Great. Helen, I understand your desire on the name proto call so you may do as you feel necessary," Brad said as he begins the training as outlined in Kristi's plan.

"I will go with your desire Brad. I feel relaxed here, like it is a casual conversation, not a training seminar," Helen states.

"Brad, before you begin, I would like to update you on the old VP, the one you fired a month ago. He has not been seen near the facility and has not had any interest in Packard Records since then, that we can tell. The employees are forever in your debt for firing him. It is a very different aura at Packard Records now. People are happier and like working there. I have to thank you for what you did on behalf of myself and the company."

"Thanks Larry, but it wasn't just because of what I did. You don't need to cut yourself short. Some of that credit goes to you..."

Larry nods.

Brad begins the training, saying, "Before I learned of my father's death, Kristi was assigned as my personal assistant by my Father, to assist with my transition into this job, more accurately, to transition me into this job. Obviously, I never had a personal assistant before so that was new to me. I didn't really know what a personal assistant's job was either."

"Still, Kristi overwhelmed me with her operating knowledge of the Packard businesses, her knowledge of dealing with people, her knowledge of what to do in most every situation and her knowledge of the island and facilities. She really gave me an education I was not expecting."

"Even though she is not all that bad to look at, I was not expecting her to be everywhere I was and it got to me after a while. Never before did I have a shadow, someone to lead me and be with me everywhere I had to go, all the time. She was always there. I had no time to myself, which I enjoyed playing video games or whatever. She saw that I was getting annoyed and began explaining her job in detail and how it affects our relationship. It was a slow process because I ask too many questions, according to her."

"Then she brought up relationships. For me, at that time, a relationship was a relationship. I did not distinguish one type from another. Why she choose that subject to discuss is beyond me, but I listened anyway, primarily because she had my undivided attention. Kristi took it upon herself to teach me a lot about relationships and it was educational. She explained several different types which I did not even consider were relationships, but they all related to me and the business I was getting into.

Eventually, she finished explaining her job as it related to me and how often we will be interacting with each other, some of which I already knew. I began to think I was in a prison with no way out. She told me to give it some time and I will change my mind. She was right, of course. I did change my mind eventually, but I still felt alone with no friends to share my time with. I found out later my sisters felt the same way. Kristi continued to talk about her job and my job and this is where I turn the training over to her," Brad said.

Kristi explains professional, business and personal relationships and mentions intimate relationships in passing. She spent the next 40 minutes on the subject and even Brad learns another thing or two.

She continues, "In any relationship, you know there will be times when you don't agree with each other. Disagreements will happen in any relationship at any time. Arguments can ensue. Expect them to happen, because they will."

"When it does happen, say what you need to say, don't hold it inside and don't hold it against anyone because everyone is entitled to their opinion. If you do, it will eat you alive and quite possibly, destroy the team relationship. This is one reason why a personal relationship is as important as any other relationship you have with individuals."

"You know you have to work together. Replacing those who disagree with you is not a standard option. Find a common ground and settle your differences as soon as possible. Don't yell at anybody, but expect them to yell at you. Yelling only creates more anger. It is counterproductive. Control your anger as much as possible."

"When the argument is over, allow time for everybody involved to get a handle on their anger before proceeding. Take a break if you need to and apologize if you feel it is the appropriate thing to do."

Then, Kristi gets to her job as an assistant and the resulting relationship she created with Brad.

"Let me share a short story with you, hoping it will help you relate to personal and professional relationships. To lead into this, I was Danny Packard's direct personal assistant for the last four of his years, then I was assigned to Brad. Other assistants were assigned to Brad's sisters so I was able to concentrate my efforts on assisting and training Brad. This story is true and it happened the day before Danny's funeral. I will be fairly vague with some of the details and will keep any personal information out of the conversation that you do not need to know."

"Part of my job is to protect my boss, Brad," she said smiling and motioning to him with her free hand. "Upon learning one important event his parents had previously planned the day he was confronted with his future, I made a plan to protect them, even though they had a head start on me. The resulting scenario happened because I failed to explain to Brad what I did and why I did it."

"What I didn't know is, Brad is very protective of his parents and friends. When it became obvious to him that I contracted for security on his parents, he went to immediate anger without passing GO and collecting $200. He was not aware they may be in danger because he was not thinking that he's a billionaire now and there may be some people that may want a chunk of his money."

"Brad did not yell at me, but, in an instant, his words were very forceful, very direct, very meaningful, very unmistakable, and a bit louder, similar to what you heard in your office, Larry, but it was considerably more intense with me. He thought something he did put his parents in danger and I should have warned him about it. He was right. I should have. What I learned was, I found one of his triggers and it set him off with no warning."

"Brad was pissed and it was very obvious. I knew beyond a shadow of doubt I was going to get fired. He laid down the law about friends and family that day. I apologized for not explaining what I did for him and his parents, but afterwards, still being mad, he continued picking fights about anything I brought up."

"That is what set me off. I did not realize, at the time, I made my third mistake. I did not give him any time to reset his anger before leaping into the next subject, which just set him off again. Eventually, Brad realized what he was doing and apologized for going off on me, but he meant what he said about parents and friends."

"Was that the first argument we had? No, but it was the first intensely heated argument. We got into discussions frequently because he was learning his new job rapidly, which is why we had these discussions in the first place. It was surprising to me because he was learning much faster than I had anticipated. He challenged me on most every topic I brought up and asked too many questions, but they were important questions to him."

"None of the previous discussions were as heated as that one was because the ones before did not set off any of his triggers. Triggers is one of the most important things an assistant can learn, but there is no advanced warning if you find one. You have to deal with it under some pretty stressful conditions, and in the heat of the moment in many cases. That's how it struck me. This incident was a huge relationship builder for the two of us. To this day, it is the most heated discussion we've ever had and it happened because I failed explain to Brad what I did and why I did it. To this day, I still can't believe I did that."

"My concern, at the time, was that Brad thought I was incompetent because I neglected to tell him such an important detail. Second, that he thought I was overbearing and wanted to be the person in control. Third, that I may be fired because of the perceived incompetence and fourth, because he still kept after me after I apologized."

"I actually felt relieved when he apologized. That removed my professional fear of being fired, but I still faced personal fear. I was still very insecure and was not sure where I stood in his favor. I felt like I owed him for not firing me, but he was not thinking about my security. We had given each other a couple of hugs in private by this time and I wanted to give him a hug then and to thank him for not firing me. I didn't because I felt it inappropriate for me to do it at that time, and because he was very pissed off at me."

"I did get a hug later though. I was more emotional than professional for a while, but recovered before I did anymore damage to my career and future employment. I didn't want to push the situation I put myself into off the cliff."

"The reason Brad apologized was because he knew we have to work together on a daily basis. He understands that if he cannot get along with me, he would not likely get along with anyone that replaced me. My advantage is my knowledge of the company."

"I woke him early the next morning, before his early morning workout and we took some time to talk about the incident. Neither of us slept very well that night. We eventually struck common ground between us and boundaries were created. The first boundary, or rule, Brad laid out was he did not want to be angry at his staff anymore. My first boundary was I didn't want him to be angry at his staff, and not just me, but the whole assistant staff."

"All this happened before Jeni was hired on his team and even before he was introduced to her. As time passed, we continued to add boundaries in our relationship, which we both agreed to."

"From there on in our professional relationship, we communicated easily. We talked about everything and learned a lot about each other. Our professional relationship began to grow because we created a mutual trust in each other. Our personal relationship began to grow because we connected with each other."

"In any business situation between employees, a personal relationship is as important as a professional relationship. This is important to learn because, without both, you're missing an essential piece of any relationship. Every relationship has boundaries, or rules. You need to establish your own."

"To this day, we still talk about everything and I'm not afraid to tell him anything. How many people are willing to say that about their boss? That is the personal relationship you should strive build with every member of your team. If you can't be honest with each other, your future team may not be what you want it to be."

"At some point during our time together, we fell in love and here we are. It continues to grow and blossom each day."

"The most important part of any relationship is communication. Obviously, it is what you use to set your boundaries and maintain your team."

"If that's the case, shouldn't my secretary be attending this training?" Sandi asks.

"FYI, Sandi hired Chuck's former secretary as her own," Larry said.

"Cool..." Kristi says. "I made the decision not to invite her because you need to build a relationship with your secretary. She will be your first line of support. That way, both of you learn together as you go. This is something you should do by yourself. It will be your first challenge and a huge boost for you out the gate. The reason I invited Helen is because she was in the meeting when Larry asked questions about our team's relationship, so she was already involved."

"This will not be an easy task. Nothing worth doing ever is. It will take dedication and sacrifice to make this change. Commit to it and don't give up. The most important part for you is it will also be fun. So where do you start, you ask?"

"The focus of this training is on Larry because he is at the top of the company. Leadership starts at the top and trickles down. Sandi, you will have similar challenges as Larry. You start by establishing a personal and professional relationship with those you interact with the most, the ones that will eventually be part of your team. Expect to be courteous and complimentary toward everyone. Respect them."

"Once you get to know them, your next step is to look into the future about building a team with these people. This actually happen simultaneously as you establish a relationship with each one of them."

"Always be aware you will be scrutinized by everyone in the company, even if you are not talking directly with them. You will need humor, respect, accolades, compliments, compassion and affection to do the job properly."

"The more you practice this, the sooner it will become part of your personality. Treat others the way you want them to treat you. It will change you as well as your employees, and it will surprise you."

"As a leader, if you want someone to respect you, you first must respect them. Let them know you appreciate the work they do on your behalf. Tell them you know they can do it. Encourage them. Tell them they do a good job. Or, if they don't, discuss it with them, especially how to correct the deficiency. Let them know you support their efforts on your behalf. Train them or get training for them. Give them hi-fives when things go right. Be happy with them. Be their best friend. Give them hi-fives for no reason. It makes people feel better."