Stop Running Renata

CHAPTER 1

Two hours before dawn, two hours after the cops had broken up the party, Renata Mead opened her eyes and blinked furiously, looking around trying to identify where she was. She eyed the stacks of winter wood and groaned, accepting she was in a garden woodshed.

Somebody was sprawled over her.

Dead or alive?

Gingerly she reached down and was horrified to feel the guy's flaccid dick was still in her.

Oh god, this was this scenario her mother had often warned her about and it wasn't the first time something like this had happened to her after she over indulged in alcohol.

She moved, his thing slipped out and she edged away, collected her jacket with her billfold still intact and fled.

Renata never managed to identify the guy but he had a potbelly so probably was middle aged. Ohmigod.

Two days later Renata was in a cab heading for Aunt Judy's home. Her mom had taken her to the bus station, weeping all the way and urging, "Don't go dearest. I'll have you attend a cleansing ceremony. The Good Lord will help you rejuvenate."

"What, that bunch of misfits her mother associated with attempting to cleanse her? Serial sex with a sexy twenty-six year old was more likely. So Renata decided to head out of town to escape the wrong crowd she was running with.

Her uncle Peter opened the door and greeted her, boggling.

"Renata?"

It had been a while since Uncle Peter had seen her. He took in her blonde curls and substantially raised chest. "Er your aunt is away at a refresher course."

"That's fine. I can stay can't I?"

"Er yes."

Four hours later, drunk, on her back on the lounge carpet and being fucked by Uncle Peter who was slamming into her for the second time and crowing like a randy rooster, Renata knew her problem was alcohol or rather the excessive intake of booze. So she fucked her almost comatose uncle almost dry next morning simply to teach him he was not up to speed with nubile young women of her generation and left.

At the bus station, facing a wait, Renata clung to a hot chocolate and thought her life was going nowhere. She told herself very severely to stop running Renata. Go to a friendly place with friendly people, mend your ways and try to find happiness. This life you have been experiencing will corrupt your mind and spirit and eventually leave you mentally and spiritually gutted.

Oh yeah? She doubted she'd listen to such chastisement. Up to now she never had.

At 9:30 next evening Renata arrived at a seedy looking bus station but the city of Norris Hill looked rather attractive. She decided to try to relocate there and crossed the street to a diner and sat at the bar for coffee and chicken burger.

"Stranger in town?" asked the guy in his early fifties being handed another coffee.

"Yes. I gather you're not passing through?"

He nodded. "How did you figure that out?"

"A stranger in town would be unlikely to ask the person he was speaking to was he/she a stranger in town. Someone asking the initial question was likely to be a city dweller, about 98% likely."

"So you look cute, have a great figure and a brain goes with it?"

"Is it okay if I don't describe you as having a pot-belly and appear in need of a shave?"

He laughed and said quite okay. "Are you looking for work?"

"Yes but not in a brothel."

He said, "Allow me to pay for that" reaching for the tab as Renata's meal arrived.

"Look you'll not get sex from me."

"Give me the bill," he snapped.

Renata handed it over meekly and the impassive server said, "Thank you Mr George. Are you also handing across her tip?"

He slapped down another couple of bucks on the table and grinned at Renata, "You are expensive to keep."

"What kind of work?"

"We are short in marketing, sales and IT."

"What do you sell?"

"We manufacture and install bathroom spa baths, replacing ordinary baths and also make and install outdoor whirlpools."

"Who do you sell to?"

"Anyone but because we usually sell a maintenance contract as well and so we prefer to market within fifty miles of here."

"That's astute."

"You know about marketing and servicing dynamics?"

"My dad's brother markets home gyms and I've worked for him during school breaks since I was fifteen and then again after I completed my degree after years of being bored out of my mind studying marketing."

"So you think you know more than your tutors?"

"No but they were teaching me too much stuff I didn't need to know. My dad had already taught me all I needed to know. But the parties and sport opportunities at college were great."

Mr Nice said, "I didn't go to college."

"And still manage to make a living from selling spa baths?"

"Our turnover is four to six million dollars a year and my wife and I own the business."

"Jesus, so you're not chicken shit?"

He grinned, obviously accepting that as a compliment. "You remind me of a younger version of my daughter who married and went far away to live."

"And left you a hole in sales and marketing?"

Mr Nice said yes she was sales manager and his wife who was company administrator was filling the hole as well as doing her own job.

"Look, I'm on my way home now. Come home and have a real dinner."

Renata, mindful she'd only be filled with booze and then fucked said primly, "No thank you."

"My wife's home waiting for me."

"Oh."

He smiled and said so his wife being home made the difference did it?

"Yes."

"Great I'll call Misty now and say we have a guest for dinner and why I'm bringing you with me. By the way I'm Al George."

"Hi Al, I'm Renata Mead and if you do have a place for me in the company I have my credentials in my backpack."

"Fine, leave the rest of your burger and let's go."

Al appeared genuine and that was confirmed when they got into a pickup marked George Spa Pools. Al said he was late going home because he'd been called out on a plumbing emergency after being unable to contact his servicing contractors so late in the day.

"Your company is doing well because of your hands on attitude and exemplary attitude towards service and thereby underpinning company reputation."

"As I said earlier, cute, great figure and a brain."

"Compliments are still not going to get you sex."

Al chuckled and said, "You're hired providing your credentials stack up."

Al's wife opened the door for them and said to Renata, "Hi, I'm Misty, the business brains of the outfit. If you can sell you have a job."

"Hi Mrs George. I'm Renata Mead."

Renata had gaped. Misty could easily win Mrs America. She had a figure to die for, wonderful wide mouth, great smile and shiny auburn hair that cascaded down to her shoulders.

"You are so beautiful."

"Why thank you darling. I never tire of hearing it. But sadly I hit thirty-five three months ago."

Renata, who also had a wide mouth, a great figure under a little plumpness and was dirty blonde, found that difficult to believe. The woman looked not much older that Renata.

Over dinner after the couple had examined Renata's work record and read references, Misty said, "Did Al tell you I'm his second wife?"

"I figure that out when I guess the age of your step-daughter in that wedding photo."

"I was a cabaret dancer and fill-in singer and met Al one night. We just clicked and his wife woke up that next morning to find me in bed between her and Al and just lost it. She wouldn't accept my apology for getting so smashed I couldn't remember what happened after the party. But Al smirked. We both were slapped over the face and after the divorce I decided I should do the decent thing and marry Al. That won him back respectability in this community because it's conservative and they don't like men busting up their marriages by playing around with whores."

"Er no. That would go for most communities wouldn't it?

"Well probably, apart from Washington DC and New York and perhaps Chicago and not to mention LA."

"Say something Al," Misty urged.

"Misty was certainly no whore," Al said loyally. "I looked great in those days and was spending freely that night and gave her far too much champagne. I was smashed too because I drove straight through the garage, taking out the entire rear wall and window but when I went out in the morning I remember yelling, who the hell's wrecked my garage and thought it was my insanely angry wife. Well that happened fifteen years ago. Misty and I started up in business, I'm a former president of the Downtown Rotary Club and Misty chairs the Community Consultative Advisory Group on Public Health Issues and is a committee chairman in our Chamber of Commerce. Our lax ways are behind us."

Renata said, "Wow, quite a speech Al but there is no need to convince me of anything in joining your company. I see no direct linkage between the personal lives of you two and your business morality."

"I think Renata Al was simply putting you into the picture. In appointing you as sales and marketing manager, with emphasis on generating new business, you will be third in seniority in this company after Al and me. I am offering you a three-year contract and we wish you to work closely with us and not basing your judgment of us on things people talk about that occurred fifteen years ago."

"Understood and thank you guys. I'm perfectly relaxed about working with you."

Renata began work at 8:30 on Monday after spending time from Thursday looking at rental furnished apartments and on Saturday morning choosing a studio with immediate possession. She spent the remainder of Saturday and Sunday purchasing extras to personalize it as her home.

The company employed fifteen other people mainly factory workers plus three subcontractors who provided on-call servicing as part of their own work maintaining pools as registered electricians/plumbers.

Al introduced Renata to everyone in the office and factory and fifteen minutes after completing that Al was engaged in a heated argument with his factory manager who resented someone as young as Renata coming in as senior to him.

Renata sat quietly, listening to the exchanges, picking up useful information on the relationship between David and Al. David had been the first person Misty and Al had employed when setting up fifteen years ago. Misty came in to try to cool the arguing.

"Exactly what do you want David?"

The fading red-head who looked to be in his mid-fifties, pointed rudely at Renata and said, "I want to be in the pecking order ahead of her. I accepted Kate being slotted in ahead of me as sales manager because she was a graduate and your step-daughter, Al's daughter. But not this time."

Misty said coolly, "I'm sorry this has upset you so David. Renata have you anything to say about this that might assist us to reach resolution?"

"Is David being paid more than you're paying me?"

"In salary yes, but you have the ability to boost your earnings hugely by bonuses related to increases in sales as provided for in your contact."

"My current contract is for three years David. After that anything can happen but right now this company needs more sales because they've slumped and output as you'll well know is uncomfortably low, threatening profitability. Can you accept that my position is much closer linked to the bottom-line through the generation of new business than your position is and I have a more direct link to company policy-making and my weekly and monthly reporting is more significant than yours, thereby justifying my seniority?"

"No."

"Al you'll have to fire David and appoint a new manager."

David, Al and Misty looked horrified.

"We can't do that Renata."

"Why not Al?"

"Because David is a buddy and has been with us forever."

Renata eyed him steadily. "But this goes deeper than friendship and loyalty. It's about company fundamentals and tuning them correctly. As I see it we should end this right now. Either David goes or I go or David backs down. I cannot accept a factory manager has greater seniority than a sales manager but I acknowledge sincerely the importance of his key position to the company."

Misty also remained calm. "Well I guess it's over to you David."

David said to Al, "Do you also want me to decide."

"Yes mate. It's only you who sees this as an issue so resolve it."

"Then your new girl goes."

Renata looked surprised and said, "Okay but I hadn't expected this. I'll collect my things from my office."

Misty and Al looked stunned.

Renata had opened the door when David called, "Wait Renata. This is ridiculous. God you have a hard edge to you for one so young. I'll back down. You are my senior Renata."

"Thank Christ for that," Al sighed. "I know it's early in the morning but close the door Renata and we'll have a whisky to celebrate good sense. The four of us are now poised to become an even better management team than what existed before Renata's arrival."

They toasted and David said, "No hard feelings Renata" and she said replied, "No hard feelings David. After this perhaps we can go to your office and you explain your production schedules and capacities and stock of completed units, what ranges you carry what are the best sellers and..."

"Yeah," he grinned. "But no need to bore these two with production fundamentals. They'd rather see orders flowing in. How will you achieve that?"

"The only practical way, through strong marketing."

In the following weeks Renata managed to convince Al and Misty to increase the annual marketing budget three-fold, persuading them that if she were successful they'd get that outlay returned many times over.

She convinced Al to introduce heat pumps and solar systems as heating options for the company's range of pools. Renata also had him organize the three independent contractors to arrange amongst themselves to take turns for one of them to be on after-hours call-out 24/7.

"It's unacceptable Al for you to go out to attend to a burst water pipe when you have service contractors on hand to do that work."

One of the service contractors rejected the emergency call out reorganization but the other two brought him into line.

The company didn't provide loan finance so Renata went out and found a reputable finance company in the city that was only too happy to provide such a service and its offer to pay for new brochures to include its logo and be named as the preferred finance provider was accepted.

Several promotions were tried and a couple were successful, particularly the Thursday column in the local newspaper's 'Home & Garden' section titled 'About Home Spas' written by Renata Duck. The first two columns to be published drew twenty-seven enquiries and produced nine sales.

Then came the big breakthrough. The city's biggest TV station investigated who was this columnist calling herself Renata Duck and she was unmasked on a 'Behind the News' program and repeatedly called Miss Duck. Renata finally said, "Pardon me but I must point out that my real name is Renata Mead."

"Oh how embarrassing. I must duck for cover," the interviewer smiled.

"Just call me Renata Duck; I'm too young to be called Miss."

'Gaffe by TV Interviewer Calling Our Columnist Miss Duck' screamed the newspaper next day and suddenly Renata was a minor celebrity being invited on to radio shows and TV panels and then an impressed businessman and a pal nominated her for the Chamber of Commerce's 'Young Entrepreneur of the Year' competition. Renata appeared before the judges with thirty-two other contestants. She was sponsored by the finance company associated with offering finance to their pool customers but was knocked out in the semi-finals.

All of this publicity helped to catapult George Mini Pools as the company now marketed itself into capacity production.

"We should expand the factory," Al said at a Monday morning meeting.

"No remain as you are," Renata said. "This won't last; the drive will run out of steam. This is why marketing people tend to move on." Renata was in line to receive bonuses approaching $40,000 by late spring when sales of mini pools would begin to bottom out into summer.

"David?"

"I would like my empire to enlarge Misty but my pragmatic side tells me Renata is talking sense. No one lasts at the top forever and in our market competition rises and ebbs and that makes forward planning even more difficult."

"You guys have now installed a sizeable number of mini pools in this city and out into the hinterland," Renata said. "Misty and Al, you ought to do the calculations and work out if it would be more advantageous for you to employ your own technicians and disperse with the contractors."

"Well it would be good cash flow," Al said, rubbing his chin. "Yes we should examine closely the dynamics and overheads of maintaining our own maintenance operation."

After the meeting finished Renata receive a call from their local morning newspaper, The Guardian. It was the newspaper that ran her weekly column and the person she was talking to was a company vice-president Wilson Simons.

"Miss Mead. We invite you to come in an talk to us as the possible replacement of our director of marketing."

"What? I don't know anything about newspapers."

"It's what you know about marketing Miss Mead. We have had you appraised professionally and the report says you a one of those people who come along every so often. You are loaded with personality, have off-the-wall creativity and I think I know what that means, and have the knack of taking people along with you. You also present immaculately."

Present immaculately? Renata had to stifle a giggle. God, little wonder the newspaper was so stuffy.

"No thank you Mr Simons. I'm not interested. Goodbye."

An hour later Misty came in and said, "I know you dined with us Saturday night but Al and I would like you to come for dinner tonight. There's someone we'd like you to meet."

"Okay."

"Don't you want to know who our other guest is?"

"No I'll find out sooner or later. You know if you really wish to expand trading you should be manufacturing more exotic pools under license. I'd look to France if I were you and then muscle into the hotel, motel and resort market, targeting the older establishments."

"Ohmigod, how did you think of that?"

"I stayed at a tired motel last weekend when I went trail riding with some friends. The spa pool was out of the Ark."

"Drinks at 7:30, okay."

"Yes, lovely."

Renata was suspicious she was being set up so had her hair stylized and wore a slinky dress.

Misty, looking even more gorgeous than usual, said, "You smelt a rat. You knew it would be a male."

"Your air of mystery pointed me in that direction and what's why I didn't wish to know who it was to avoid encouraging you to be deceitful."

"You are so intelligent darling and are looking simply gorgeous. Come through."

"Renata, this is my stepson Lucas, Al's oldest child. Lucas this is Renata Mead. She doesn't like being addressed as miss."

"Hi Renata," said the guy, who was tall with brown curly hair. "You are very pretty."

They shook hands and she said thank you and kissed Al who arrived with her Martini.

"Al and I will be attending dinner," cooed Misty. "Why don't you two sit and relax?"

They stayed standing.

"Do you reside locally?" Renata asked the handsome guy with green eyes.

"Yes, I have my own apartment and rarely come here. "Dad, mom and I usually eat out."

"I'm glad you call Misty mom. I find her to be a lovely person and your dad is rather okay as well."

"They've told me you are single-handedly rejuvenated their company, returning it to even higher profitability than before."

"Oh, and that interests you?"

"You could say that."

"I thought I just did."

He laughed.

They fell silent for twenty seconds.

Renata said, "This silence means I'm supposed to ask the question that is going to unleash what this contrived meeting is all about."