Copyright 2010 by Wren Phoenix

Michael dressed and went down to his garage. “Well, it’s time to face the music, I guess.”
He decided to wait before looking through his dad’s cars. He would share that pleasure with Jenny.

Jenny...

The drive into the office seemed shorter, somehow. He had chosen to listen to a more aggressive musical mix, something with more hard rock. It helped build his confidence.. He wasn’t sure how everyone would see his situation, but he felt he was ready for just about anything.

As soon as he walked in the door, Lisa jumped up and hugged him.

“Boss, you can sure pick ‘em!” she exclaimed.

“Oh, I’m guessing you got the background report?” Michael calmly asked, to which she nodded in enthusiasm.

“She’s the real thing, brave, apparently honest to a fault and very intelligent. She had her choice of jobs, and she chose to work in a system where underprivileged and difficult children are the norm. She’s dedicated and hard working, and everyone we’ve interviewed has made it very clear, Michael, she’s an angel!”

“I am very glad you feel that way. I think that she might be the ‘one’.”

“I know.” She smiled,

Michael stared at her.

“Well, that wasn’t the reaction I expected.”

“How long have I worked for you? I’m your best friend. You introduced me to my husband, and I expect you to be my first child’s Godfather. I know how you think. Jenny is a special girl, and I can’t wait to meet her. Are you going to bring her out with us this weekend?”

“I hadn’t planned on it, although we are getting together on Saturday.”

“Give her a call; I don’t think she’s working today. I’d really like to meet her!”

Lisa’s reaction had pleased Michael immensely. She seemed to have totally accepted Jenny as a girl. Her acceptance of Jenny could be extremely helpful in the future and he hoped it could help convince his few other friends to accept Jenny as well.

“I’ll call her as soon as I get in my office, all right? Is there anything important I need to worry about?”

“No, but Randy seemed to be anxious to meet with you.” She said.

“Okay, thanks!” He turned, went to his desk, and immediately called Jenny.

“Hello?”

“Hello Jenny Carter, how are you this morning?”

“Michael! Oh, this is a pleasant surprise.” She giggled. “I see we won’t have one of those ‘Oh, he never calls’ relationships?”

Michael chuckled. “Well actually, when I walked into my office, my best friend and personal assistant told me she had received your background information.”

“Oh, I hope this is good news.”

“Never fear, she thinks you are an angel, in her words. She’s planning an assault on Detroit’s top steakhouses, looking for the absolute best in the city. This is something she does frequently, and involves several of my friends. I’ve been ordered to invite you along, and I think you’d have fun. Friday night, I’ll pick you up, if you’re interested?”

“Planning to show me off, Michael? Of course I’m interested. So, should I just wear something casual?”

“Yeah, nothing fancy. Let your hair down, and be ready to spend an evening with some crazy people.”

They agreed on a time, and she gave him directions to her home. Michael was in a very good mood, and he felt as though he was walking on air as he went out to let Lisa know that Jenny had accepted.

When he opened the door, he saw Lisa and Randy. Randy seemed to be very upset.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“You fucking pervert! What the hell do you think you are doing?’ Randy screamed, red faced.

“Whoa there, big fella! What’s your problem?”

He held up some papers, shaking them angrily. “My problem is this disgusting relationship!”

Relationship? What relationship? “Wait, why did…?”

“When did you become a faggot? Your Dad would have killed you!”

“So, you think you’re my father now? Lisa, call security, please.” Michael did his best to remain calm, hoping to defuse the situation. Inside though, he was very angry, and very concerned that Randy had possession of confidential information.

“Already done, Boss.”

Randy, seemingly out of control, angrily punched Michael, knocking him down. As he turned toward Lisa, Michael quickly swept Randy’s legs out from under him. He twisted, landing on his side, while Michael rolled to his knees and jumped atop Randy, holding him long enough for two Security guards who burst through the door to restrain him.

Michael stood, and gathered himself. He had to make sure he did this right, in order to make the right impression on his cousin.

“Lisa, please note that, for the record, my cousin is not to be allowed access to any corporate accounts or company property. I want the keys to his company car, and I want his phone.”

“You can’t fire me!” Randy shouted, as the two security guards held the big man back. “I own just as much of the company as you do, you faggot!”

“Before my parent’s death, you’d have been right, but now I control sixty two percent of the company. You also violated company policy with this crap.”

“No! You can’t do this, goddammit!” Randy sobbed. “You can’t!”

“You’re wrong on several counts, Cousin. I’m legally required to suspend you, per company policy. You know this; you helped write the damned thing! I’m not firing you, yet. I will demand you take some time to think, and possibly seek treatment for your obvious anger issues.”

“We’ll talk later after you’ve calmed your ass down. During the suspension, your salary will continue. I don’t care if you’re angry with me, that’s within your rights, just keep it to yourself. Bigotry and personal assault aren’t going to be tolerated and, I quote the policy, will be dealt with quickly and severely. Get your friggin’ head on straight. This was just stupid. Lisa, contact our lawyers, please.”

Lisa placed a call to the corporate attorneys and then checked on Michael. He would have a black eye, which would probably be painful. She took a picture for the company records, and Michael returned to his office to sort out the accounting mess he had helped create. Without trying to create any further chaos, he appointed two of Randy’s aides to be interim finance directors, and he established a point of contact between the three of them. Michael knew they were both very competent, and accustomed to working as a team, so he was not concerned. In all honesty, they had probably run many of the day-to-day operations already.

Part of the meeting was to establish the procedures for running a general audit of the accounting and finance department. Michael didn’t believe that Randy was dishonest, but there were some indications of “funny stuff”. This would be a good chance to look for any signs of an improper activity. An impartial audit done by an outside firm should protect everyone.

A much more important question was, how did Randy get a copy of that report?

The phone call just before he went home was a surprise. Lisa told him it was a personal call on the primary line.

“Hello, Michael Tallon here.”

“Michael? Are you alright?”

“Hi, Jenny! I’m okay, what did you hear?”

“Lisa e-mailed me a picture! My god, what happened?”

“I think I’ve gotta have a talk with Lisa. Okay, my cousin got ticked off because I’m dating you. It got a little physical. I suspended him, with pay, and we’ll talk when he cools down. He gave me a black eye, but nothing more than that.”

“I hate to see you fight because of me.”

“I had no choice, Jenny. He attacked me and was turning for Lisa. I only stopped him, and Security took care of things from there. It’s all right, you’ll see. We did talk a little about this possibility last night. As I said, some people are not going to be happy with your history. I was ready for it to happen, so I was able to minimize the problem. Please don’t worry.”

“All right, if you insist.”

“All right, then, I’ll let you go, Jenny. I’m going to go put another icepack on this; maybe it won’t look so bad. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“That’s fine, Michael. Have a good night.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

Michael hung up reluctantly.

Calm down, don’t lose control. You’re letting your emotions go too fast. He told himself. He knew that he could easily ruin things between Jenny and himself if he lost control. Better to take things slow and enjoy this time.

But it was very tempting. . .

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