The Brass Statuettes

Chapter 5—Different Points of View

On Saturday morning Trudy rose early to eat breakfast with Frank. She decided not to wake the girls; they would have been grouchy for having been rousted at that hour. She wanted to talk with Frank, anyway.

"Frank, before you leave to play golf, I thought that I'd let you know—Gloria Warner called me up yesterday."

"No kidding," he answered, "it must have been about the charity foundation."

"How did you know?"

"Don't you remember? We talked about it a few days ago."

"Well, I didn't think she'd call so soon," Trudy protested. "Anyway, she started out by telling me how much she liked my gown last Friday night. I knew right away that I was in for a crock."

"Your gown was real nice, Trudy."

"I know you said so, but I heard what she said that night when she thought I didn't hear."

"Maybe she was counting the glasses of champagne you drank and figured that you wouldn't remember."

"Maybe so," Trudy said. A grin spread across her face. "It worked out alright for you."

"True enough," Frank admitted. "I didn't notice any complaints coming from you. Anyway, I think that Gloria was just trying to butter you up."

Trudy was still grinning. "Maybe I was too drunk to complain." She paused to gauge Frank's reaction. He remained expressionless, like the sphinx. "Maybe not!" she recanted with a laugh, and then Frank laughed along with her.

"After the thing about the gown, she dropped the bombshell and asked me to be on the board of her charity. I tried to say no, but she kept pressing. Finally, I broke down and said that I'd do it," she said, and then heaved a sigh.

"So, what's the problem?" Frank asked. "You might like it. I know Gloria can be a pain, but she does have some pretty good projects. I think she just finished funding a daycare or something like that. They get a pretty good annual grant from Western."

"I don't know what..."

"Give it a chance, Trudy! You might like it, after all. You were always good with kids and you've got a lot of common sense. You'll probably be the best one they've got."

"It's not just Gloria," Trudy explained. "Brenda Hart and Ashley Smith are in it, too. There's another one by the name of Darlene something. You know how Gloria's girls are when they get together."

"That would be Darlene Lowell," Frank informed her. "She's Jason Lowell's wife. He just took over as head of R&D." He stopped and gave her an impatient look. "You can handle it, Trudy. If you don't like it after a while, then quit. It's really up to you."

"But why did they ask me?" she asked. "I've never fit in with that crowd. They've all been to college. They talk about different things than what I know about."

"I don't know," Frank answered. "I suppose that Gloria didn't want to leave anyone out. Maybe she likes you more than you think. I say again, if you don't want to do it, don't do it."

"But I already said that I would."

"Yes you did. Give it a try and see how it goes."

Trudy said nothing more. She was frowning, resting her chin in her hands with her elbows on the table. Frank slurped down the rest of his coffee. "Gotta' go," he announced. "We can talk about it later." He rose from the table and kissed her on the forehead before he left.

************

Aaron Fishman met with Frank first thing on Monday morning, as promised.

"Did you have any trouble getting into the Executive Suite yesterday?" Frank asked.

"None at all. The pass Jeannette gave me was all I needed and I spoke to Floyd before I left on Friday."

"Any trouble at home for having to work on Sunday?"

"Not too bad," the young man answered, "a little heartburn, but she knows that it comes with the territory now and then."

"You kept the details to yourself, didn't you?" Aaron nodded that he had.

"I know the feeling," Frank assured him. "Been there—done that. I wouldn't have asked you if it weren't necessary."

"I understand," Aaron said. "I was glad for the Sunday pass so that we could go to Temple on Saturday."

"Let me see what you've got."

Aaron opened a folder and took out two copies of reports he'd produced on his pc over the weekend. "This is your copy. We can mark it up and I'll make the changes for your meeting with Mr. Warner this afternoon."

"Change in plans—Alvin wants the meeting later this morning," Frank corrected. "You should plan to go in there with me. We've only got time to go over the summary now. That's all Alvin will want to do, anyway. He'll assume that we're on firm footing with the details behind it."

"This is only the first pass, like you said," Aaron reminded him.

"I know. That's what I wanted," Frank said. "I want to show Alvin the vulnerabilities so that he'll put the heat on the VP's to sharpen their pencils. Have you spoken with any of them?"

"Mr. Lowell stuck his head in the door and asked what I was doing in the Controller's office this morning," Aaron said. "I told him and that you authorized it. He didn't seem to like it very much."

"He'll just hafta' not like it," Frank replied. "Let's get to the numbers. Did you make sure to delete any effects of the Wertheim project out of the forecast?"

"That was the hard part," Aaron confided. "They're all over the place in the prior forecast. Operations has it in Capital Spending, sales and expenses; R&D has a lot of spending, too. I hope that I found it all."

"It's a good observation; we should be sure to make Alvin aware of it. When you meet with Hart and Lowell be sure to get deep into it with them."

"I made a reconciliation on a supporting analysis showing the before and after effects of taking Wertheim out. Mostly, it has the effect of increasing income in the short term because of the avoided spending in the initial year."

"Perfect, that's just what we'll need," Frank said. "When you get with Lowell, find out how much of the Wertheim spending he'll replace with new projects here in the States, and how much is truly avoided."

"I didn't forecast using any reserves to cover the write-offs, and I considered them all deductible," Aaron added.

"You did a pretty credible job on this," Frank said, "especially for having to go it alone and not having much time."

"That's what I get paid for," Aaron replied.

"C'mon, I don't wanna hear any violins," Frank cajoled. "Leave your numbers as they are. Make another set for Alvin and plan to meet in his office at eleven."

***********

Frank and Aaron met with Alvin at eleven, as planned. Frank laid out the numbers; Alvin caught on fast.

"You say that you've got reserves to handle the write-offs?" Alvin asked.

"Yes, if we want to use them," Frank replied.

"And I take it that you don't," Alvin surmised.

"After we announce the shelving of the offering, anyone who knows anything will know that we're going to have some write-offs because if it. They'll ask, 'what's the effect of your write-offs' and we'll say that we don't have any. Then they'll know that we covered them with reserves."

Alvin had a confused look on his face. "Is that bad?"

"I think it is for two reasons," Frank answered. "First, a portion of our reserves will be used up unnecessarily. I don't think we need to do it."

"And the second reason?" Alvin asked.

"If we do take those steps to protect our earnings forecast when it's not necessary, savvy investors will think there's some ultra-sensitivity to earnings blips on our part. They'll translate that into a lack of confidence in the overall forecast. The whole thing could backfire."

"That wouldn't be fair," Alvin pleaded.

"Fair or not, it would be a reasonable deduction. That's what I'd think if I were on the other side of the fence. Why not just play it straight? I think it will work out for us in the long-run, credibility-wise. The important message is that our Operations are sound and on target."

"I like your thinking," Alvin conceded. "But you know that the stock price will suffer."

"It's suffering already with the rest of the market," Frank retorted. "It'll only be temporary. I think this is the right way to go."

Alvin sat back in his chair and thought for a few seconds. He turned to Aaron. "What do you think we should do, young man?"

"Uh, sir, uh, I agree..." the startled subordinate began to stammer.

"That's okay," Alvin said. "Just be glad for the chance to take some lessons from your boss, first-hand." Alvin turned to Frank. "Okay, you convinced me. We'll do it your way. When will it be official?"

"The lawyers are working on the SEC details right now. I'll know more tomorrow morning. I thought I would have Tyler start working on a press release. You should do a telecon as soon as we can get you prepped." Alvin nodded. "Now, as to the rest of the forecast..."

"Don't expect Blake Hart to change his operating forecast," Alvin said. "He always keeps it pretty tight and we just went through this not long ago. Focus on coordinating between him and Lowell to make sure that the revised R&D is properly reflected in downstream sales and spending."

"That'll make your job easier," Frank said to Aaron.

*********

After Aaron left it was almost noon.

"Seems like a smart young man," Alvin said.

"He's still fairly young, but you're right. He is smart and he knows how to get a job done on short order."

"What did you say his name was?" Alvin asked. "Was it Fishstein, or something like that?"

"Fishman," Frank corrected. "You'll be hearing more from him, I believe. I would consider him for the Controller's job, but he's, unfortunately, still a little green."

"Is he the one Jason saw in the Controller's office?" Alvin inquired.

"I authorized it," Frank said. "I thought it would be better for confidentiality and make it easier to get the forecast rolling faster."

"I've got no problem with it," Alvin replied. "Jason seems to have his nose a little out of joint."

"I can't help it," Frank said. "It'll just have to be out of joint. We've got a job to do and this is the best way to get it done."

"Like I said, no problem. I was going to order something from the lunchroom and eat it here in the office," Alvin said. "Why don't you join me if you haven't got any plans for lunch?"

"How was your trip to Germany?" Frank asked.

"Not so good," Alvin sighed. "The Wertheim people suspected a stall and they developed a cold shoulder."

"Were you able to keep the stock issue confidential?"

"I was vague and I didn't say anything specific," Alvin explained. "I think the Wertheim people figured it out. That's why they turned lukewarm. They expected us to issue the stock regardless of the price and worry about the dilution later."

"Herr Mueller was quite upset," Frank told him.

"Oh, I know," Alvin acknowledged. "I got a call from him right after your teleconference."

"I understand why he's concerned, but..." Frank started to say, but Alvin stopped him.

"He's right to be worried about the Wertheim deal, but he's failing to see the big picture."

"Jim Sweeney put in a surprise visit on Friday," Frank added.

"I know," Alvin said. "He called me over the weekend."

There was a knock at Alvin's door and a worker from the Executive Lunchroom brought in their lunch orders.

"Care for something to go with it?" Alvin offered.

"Too early for me," Frank said. "I'll take a bottle of juice, if you've got it."

"You convinced me on that, too," Alvin said as he set two bottles of orange juice on the conference table. "How are we doing on the interim financing?"

"Slow right now," Frank conceded. "I haven't been able to tell the bankers exactly how much we need, how long we need it, or what we need it for. I think we can finance the R&D, but I can't see them making any loans for the Wertheim buyout."

"In that case, if Wertheim falls through the stock offering doesn't make much sense," Alvin said.

"Not until we develop another merger candidate. We wouldn't even want to. Sitting with all that cash without a use for it would make us a takeover target."

"Good point," Alvin conceded. "I'm starting to have second thoughts on this acquisition. I learned just how uncooperative the Germans can be. We could be headed for a very bad corporate marriage. I'm not saying the deal is strictly off; I'm just thinking about it. I know Jim Sweeney told you he has that opinion, too."

"Then what I was about to suggest doesn't make much sense," Frank said. "I was thinking a stock-for-stock deal at sixty-five dollars. That would make the shelved offering issue moot."

"I doubt they'd go for it. They want cash," Alvin replied. "Whatever we do, we have to keep the R&D program rolling forward. If we fail, competition will creep past us. It'll be death by a thousand cuts."

"The timing might suffer until we get our financing in place," Frank advised. "I'm having Jason furnish a list by priorities with costs attached to each."

"Stay on it, and keep me involved. Be sure that Blake gets a crack at it from the commercialization aspect." Alvin said. "Make it highest priority. I'll talk to Jason. He's new in his job, too, and he's never been through anything like this in academia."

"He appeared overly nervous when we had our Management Group meeting," Frank said.

"Leave Jason to me," Alvin replied. "Keep going on that financing and keep those R&D details tied together."

"No problem, Alvin," Frank said as he finished his sandwich. "I think that about covers it."

There is one other thing—more on a personal note," Alvin said. "Gloria told me that Trudy agreed to join her Western Chemical Foundation. I was real happy to hear that."

"I told Trudy that it's her decision. She's going to try it for a while."

"I'm hoping that Gloria and Trudy get to spend some time together," Alvin continued. "I think Gloria could benefit by it."

"They're not exactly two peas in a pod," Frank pointed out.

"That's just the point," Alvin said. "Trudy's so nice. She's down-to-earth and gets along with everyone. I'm hoping that some of it rubs off on Gloria."

"I always thought Gloria was..."

"I think she's lost some of it over the past couple of years," Alvin confided. "Maybe it's because I don't spend enough time with her. She's become so status-conscious. She wasn't that way when we first got married."

"Geez, Alvin," Frank pleaded, "I don't know how to answer you. I don't know Gloria that well. Everyone changes. I wouldn't look to Trudy to be some sort of missionary. She prides herself on minding her own business."

"I think that Gloria needs a real friend," Alvin mused, "someone with their own mind, like Trudy, who just wants to be friends, and nothing else. That's how I see it."

"Trudy's always willing to give someone a chance."

"It can't hurt," Alvin said.

*************

Juana was waxing the kitchen floor when she heard the doorbell. She set the mop down and started for the front door. She had a second thought and stopped at the sink to clean her hands; she had no idea who it might be. The Señora's guests weren't due for another half-hour.

The doorbell rang again, due to the delay. Juana heard Señora Warner yell from upstairs in her bedroom.

"Juana, what are you doing? Get the door!"

"Si, Señora; I 'ave eet," she called back. There were times when the Señora could be aggravating; and then there were times like this when she had a knack for really getting under Juana's skin.

She hurried to the door before it had a chance to ring again, drying her hands on her apron. When the door opened there was a tall, blonde gringa stranger who stood looking at her with a toothy grin.

"I'm Trudy Bennett," the stranger said as the door opened. Juana took a second to look at her. She was about the Señora's age, but plainer looking. She was wearing black slacks and a nice, white blouse, with a purse with an over-the-shoulder strap and she had some sort of canvas tote bag in her hand.

Juana peered past the strange woman standing patiently in front of her, to see if she was accompanied by others. Juana was thinking that she was too dressed-up to be part of the Señora's crowd. Perhaps she was a saleswoman. The Señora would want her sent away.

"Gloria asked me to come to a meeting here today," the stranger added.

"Who was at the door, Juana?" a troublesome voice from upstairs yelled.

Juana turned toward the stairway. "Eet ees one who calls herself..." Juana had forgotten the stranger's name. She turned to the doorway for help.

"Trudy Bennett," the stranger reminded in a low voice.

"She ees called Trudy Bennett," Juana yelled up the stairs.

"She's early!" the disagreeable voice yelled back. There was a short pause. "Take her to the veranda and get her something to drink."

"Dees way, pliz," Juana bade the stranger. When she was certain that the new guest had stepped through the door and ready to follow, Juana turned and led her to the veranda. She motioned to a large white table with an umbrella protecting it.

"This is very nice, thank you," the woman who called herself Trudy said with her smile that had not left her face. "I'm sorry to be early. I was sure that Gloria told me one o'clock."

"Dee Señora always mins one-teerty when chee says one," Juana informed her. "Dee others weel be 'eere den."

"Oh," Trudy said, laughing out loud. "I thought she just meant one." Juana saw her pause and look at her for a second. "I guess that makes two of us who don't understand English very well." Then she laughed again.

Juana fought back the urge to laugh along with her. It would have been unprofessional. "Would you like a dreenk?" she asked the stranger.

"An iced tea would be really nice," the blonde woman answered.

Juana nodded—she had some already made up. "Chall I bring dee vodka?"

Trudy opened her eyes wider in surprise. "Oh, no thank you. I never drink during the day. I'd never stay awake for the meeting." She was laughing again.

"Very good, Señora." Juana turned and made her way to the kitchen. This tall, blonde stranger confused her. She was unlike any rich gringa she had ever met. It made Juana a little uncomfortable. The woman didn't act like a rich person, yet she must have been rich because all Señora Gloria's friends were. If Juana had permitted herself the indulgence, her curiosity would have piqued. She reminded herself that she was merely fetching iced tea—without vodka.

Juana returned with a tray on which she set a bowls of ice, lemon wedges and mint leaves, along with an empty glass and the pitcher of iced tea.

"I'm so sorry," the blonde woman jumped out of her chair to assist her as she returned to the veranda. "I had no idea that you'd go to all that trouble for me."

It was true, as Juana thought to herself; she wouldn't normally bring out all the fixings for a stranger who was just killing time on the veranda. Some undefined feeling made Juana decide to perform the extra service.

"Señora Bennett, eet ees no-teen," she answered as she set down the tray. "I weel feex eet. Pliz enjoy."

Trudy resumed her seat under the umbrella while Juana crushed the mint leaves in the bottom of the glass. "You can call me Trudy," she called over to Juana. "Not many people call me Mrs. Bennett."

Juana brought the finished drink and set it on the table with a little napkin. She chose not to respond to the stranger's invitation to use first names.

"This will be really nice," Trudy smiled up at her. "I'll just sip this and look at the gardens while I wait for the others."

"Dee gardens pliz chu?" Juana asked.

"Of course," Trudy replied. "I always like gardens. These are the nicest I've seen in a while."

"Dee gardener—eet ees my hoseban'," Juana announced. She allowed herself a moment of pride. "We leeve 'eere een dat leetle house d'ere," she said, pointing to the cottage just visible on the edge of the grounds.

"That's wonderful!" Trudy exclaimed. "How many years have you lived here?"