Prologue
Loren had almost lost Holly because of hesitating and continuing to deny the obvious fact that he loved her, and his obsession about maintaining his status as a bachelor seemed pretty inane to him now. He had caused his own demise as a man still available to play, but as he sat there remembering the steps in his downfall, he had to smile. It had been his idea to take Holly to meet Sandy and Chuck and spend time cruising on the Skinny Dippin'. He had pushed her to accept the fact that the four of them would be spending a lot of time naked as they wandered Albemarle Sound and the Atlantic Ocean. It was he that had soothed her naked body with lotion that was heated by the North Carolina sun as she and Sandy lay on the foredeck. Of course, in the process of him soothing her body the two of them got so excited that neither of them would ever be the same again.
He had proposed to her and she had accepted instantly, but when he asked her to move in with him, she said only if they would be married within a couple of months. She wasn't interested in letting life pass by as they cohabitated. She had seen how he could stall simply because he was used to having his own way at his office. They had talked about that very subject in fact, and she reminded him that home was home and office was office, and she warned him about confusing the two. Two separate issues was the phrase she liked to use. Then they made love and she moved in the next day.
Most of Loren's energy and attention were on his job, and Holly knew that's how it had to be for a while. Frank Adler, the CEO and Loren's boss had collapsed and was now in a long term care facility from where he would never leave while he was alive. That meant the board had to decide who would step up to the office on the top floor. But Virginia, Frank's wife had aspirations of taking over for Frank. She had a chance to do just that with her thirty eight percent of the stock. If she gathered another thirteen percent through proxy votes she could force the board to put her in charge. Loren and others knew that would be a disaster, so they were working on their own strategy to keep Ginny out of Frank's office.
Even with all of that going on, Holly was trying to decide what to do with her new degree in business and public relations. Loren was well compensated for his efforts and dedication to the company and in fact when she found out how much he made, she was shocked. But though she wouldn't have to work, she had no interest in just being home all the time and living off of him. She had worked very hard to get her degree and one way or another she was going to use what she had.
Chapter One
Tuesday morning, Loren was summoned to the boardroom and took a chair at the end of the long table. Graham Samson, the chairman, smiled and said, "Good morning, Loren."
"Good morning to all of you."
"As I'm sure you're aware, we were here quite late last night discussing what options we have open to us, of which there are at least four. We'd like to give you the floor and have you tell us what your thoughts and hopes are. Both as to who should sit in Frank's office and what you would do were you selected for that position."
"Thank you Graham, and ladies and gentlemen for giving me this opportunity. I'd like to start with where we are right now as I see it. Frank devoted his life to his work. His mind was here seven days a week, and he rarely took a vacation. He made impressive gains for the company and was a powerhouse when it came to sales and networking. Of course, as we are all too painfully aware, those accomplishments didn't come without cost. He paid a very high price for all that he did I'm sorry to say, by sacrificing his health and nearly his life. I'm going to say something that might cause you to think twice about considering me for Frank's position. He worked far too hard. I could never and would never devote all of my waking ours to my work, and I don't think anybody should be expected to work like that. I'll also add however, that I think a lot of what Frank accomplished could have been done with less effort. That was Frank's way and that's what made him happy and successful, but that wouldn't work for most people."
Loren was making it a point to make eye contact with each board member as he stood there, but he wished he could walk around a little because that's when he was at his best. "Now I'll get into a little selling of my own," and he smiled. "I've been with Frank for quite a few years and we worked well together. I learned a lot from him and added my own style along the way. You have my file with my curriculum vitae and my accomplishments. In education and experience I'm well qualified for the job and I have no doubt that I'm quite capable.
"Now to what I'd like to do for the company given the chance. First, I'd make Gordon Streiter my vice president, but rather than have two vice presidents, I'd alter Gordon's responsibilities and add a position under Gordon. The result would be a chain of command more clearly defined and efficient and save the company a considerable amount of money each year. Frank was a very big advocate of seminars and he made very good use of his time there, but not from the seminar per se. He networked like a man possessed, but he didn't get anything from the seminar itself. I'd like to investigate some other ways to accomplish the same task for maybe fifty thousand dollars a year savings."
Loren passed out a one page document saying, "This is a list of a few other ways to save money and at the same time improve communications and hopefully to improve sales. I know of three contracts that we lost just because of glitches in the early stages that should have never happened." Loren finally gave up and walked around a little as he quickened his speech pattern barely pausing to breathe and then closed his presentation. He shook all of the board member's hands, and played the role of politician running for office as he talked to each board member and then was excused. He wasn't one for liquor that early in the day, but he had to fight the temptation to make an exception to his personal rule. He sat there and called Holly and when she answered he said, "I love you."
He could see her smile in his mind as she said, "I like that greeting. I love you too honey, how is it going?"
"I just finished my presentation to the board."
"How did that go?"
"We won't know of course until they make their decision, but I said what I wanted to say in that short time, and I feel good about how it went. All we have to do is see if they agree with what I shared with them."
"Will you be late tonight?"
"I might be a little late, but who knows."
"Sandy and Chuck called just a few minutes ago to see if there was any news. Mind if I call them and give them an update?"
"Not at all. Tell them I said hello would you? Oh and did they nag you about a date for our wedding?"
"No, they know things are going to be pretty stressful and busy for you for awhile. Go work your magic honey and I'll see you tonight."
"Okay. It helps just to hear your voice. See you tonight honey," and he hung up. He had plenty to do, but he took a few minutes to just stare at the ugly painting on the far wall and let his mind wander. He called those moments, mental naps and felt better after indulging himself for a minute. His mind went to him and Holly being on Chuck and Sandy's cruiser, and that thought led him straight to being naked with the two most important women in his life. He loved Holly more than he ever would have thought possible, and he loved and lusted for Sandy. His minute of mental nap was closer to five minutes before he pulled himself back to reality and waded into the stack of papers on his desk.
Holly was in the kitchen when he came in through the backdoor a little after six o'clock. "Hi beautiful."
"Hi honey, how did it go?"
"We're limping along waiting for the board's decision, but okay otherwise I guess."
"Any news about Virginia about her run for her fifty plus percent?"
"Not a thing and I didn't even hear any speculation about her chances. Of course there are only a few of us that are even aware of what she's up to."
Holly waited until near the end of dinner and then said, "Honey, tell me more about the seminar that you went to with Frank and Virginia."
He had his glass of water to his lips when she said that, and he lurched forward and spilled water onto his plate. She laughed and Loren asked her, "Why would you want to know more about that?"
"I don't mean about your adventure with Ginny. Who made the arrangements?"
"Rita, Frank's secretary."
"So all she did was line up the Delta tickets and the hotel?"
"That's about it, but what else would she have done?"
"I'm just curious. So say somebody was in from the east or west coast and they came in early to play some golf or see a play. They would have to look into the golf courses in the area and what plays were in town."
"I'm sure that's right, unless they had one hell of an efficient secretary."
"And what if they wanted to bring their wife, would she know what was available for her to do during the day?" Then she smiled and added, "Well I mean other than what Ginny found to do to pass the time."
"You are so funny. They'd be on their own I guess."
