Balance of Power Shifted (16 page)

We had reservations for 7 pm at the
Plantation, which used to be the Owl Tree last time I went there.  We had a great meal and very interesting conversation.  Julius was a wealth of information about not only law, but also contacts.  He mentioned having many personal acquaintances that could put up a ton of money on a moment’s notice as long as there was great rate of return.  With the current administration, spinning their wheels and spending obscene amounts of money mostly borrowed from China, our economy was in a prolonged funk.  Good investments were hard to come by.  He also recommended engaging firms like ADP or Ceridian and others to help jumpstart a benefits and a payroll system so not to bog down key staff during our startup.  By the end of dinner, Julius and Bill were well on their way down happy lane.  Julius was drinking very good scotch and Bill had joined him.  You have to realize that Bill never drinks hard liquor and he was hilarious to watch.  Julius, who was a veteran scotch drinker, was egging him on.  I drove everyone back to the house and as we drove up Iris was waiting for us.  She had decided to come down and find out what all the mysterious talk was about since Julius texted her that she was hired.  It was bad timing on Julius’s part, since he had just lit up a nice stogy and he and a big cloud of smoke exited at the same time.  Iris’s face immediately went from a smile to the sternest look that I had ever seen in a blink of the eye.  It did not help that he was two sheets to the wind.

After some very short hellos, Iris and Julius headed to the master room with the overnight bag Iris had brought for both of them.  Bill and I burst out laughing just thinking about the doghouse Julius
now occupied.  It was still relatively so we sat down to watch a little UFC on the television, and it was not more than 10 minutes later that I heard Bill snoring away.  I decided to take some security issues in my own hands and I shot off an email to Jeremy asking if he could meet us here early next week to discuss us becoming a Clavis Aurea customer and be part of a new venture that could end up being the biggest engagement that he ever dealt with.

The following morning I was up early and decided to run on the beach.  I
started being cold since there was a morning haze coming off the water, but the time at ran about a mile I had a great sweat going.  For those who have never run on a beach, it is a much tougher workout than running on pavement.  You have to run along the water line where the sand is smooth however, there is a slight slope so by the time I hit a mile, my left foot which was closer to the water was bothering me some, so I decided to turn around and run the mile back.  Moving away from the water, I decided to work on some flexibility drills for another 15 minutes before returning to the house.  As I walked towards the house, I saw someone on the back porch and realized it was Fiona.  I had to navigate over the dunes on a special path so not to damage them, and as I got closer, I did not see a smile on her face.  Now this got me worried since a Fiona, who is not smiling, is bad news.  With trepidation, I stepped up on the porch with a nervous smile and said hello.  By now she was standing up with her arms crossed glaring at me.  Finally, she says “Michael” and when she says my full first name, I am really in trouble.  “What did I do?” I asked before she could say anything else.  “What did I do,” she repeats, “I will tell you what you did not do.  Not once, did you invite me out to California or you come back here to visit.  You think a few uninteresting posts on Facebook or group emails to everyone is what being friends is all about.”  She asked this with her voice getting angrier at each word.  I started to defend myself, but she just put up her right hand and shook her head no, then turned around and went inside.

Since I was drenched in sweat, I decided to give her some time to cool down and I headed for the showers.  While the shower was soothing, I did realize that I had not been much of a friend since I left and I wondered
if everyone else coming today had the same impressions.  I hoped not since I had never intended to be a poor friend, but I guess I never considered their feelings while I worked out my own.  With some effort, maybe I could turn things around, because I can tell you just seeing Fiona brought back a flood of emotions and the feeling that I was home.

I came down to the kitchen and Fiona was sitting there with a cup of coffee looking out over the dunes.  I am glad no one was up yet since I wanted to make it right with her.  Sitting down across from her, I just looked at her for a second.  While she ignored
me, I studied her features.  While she was just as beautiful as ever, there were some interesting changes.  She had a sense of maturity about her, which shown in how she carried herself.  Her face had also matured and with more prominent cheekbones that help her give off an air of confidence.  Wow, it was amazing what 2 years could do.  I guess she could not continue to avoid looking at me and most likely felt me staring at her because she did turn towards me.  As soon as she did, I apologized for being such a poor friend and pretty stupid at that.  “Fiona,” I said, “until I saw you out there I never realized how poorly I treated you and everyone else.  It is not as if I did not think about everyone because I did.  I feel like I isolated myself as a buffer mechanism from all that happened so I did not have to deal with it.  I know that you and everyone else felt my pain and helped me like the good friends that you are, but I ended up acting selfishly.  I am sorry and can you forgive me?”  Fiona must have seen my eyes tearing up because she just stood up and hugged me with tears in her own eyes.  After a couple of minutes, she released me and said as she stepped back dabbing at her eyes, “I’m glad we got it straightened out that you are a jerk.”  With that, we were back to normal and all was right with the world.

“
So where is everyone else?” Fiona asked.”  On cue, Bill literally dragged himself into the kitchen saying, “I hear a familiar voice.”  Bill could be a stand in for a Zombie on one of those dead people walking shows so prevalent on Television.  He looked pale, had dark circles under his eyes and his hair was going in many directions.  Fiona gave me a worried look thinking Bill was ill or something.  I just laughed and said just one word “scotch.”  With that, Bill chimed in that “Julius was a ringer and really set me up.”  He continued with “sorry, I wasn’t expecting anyone this early.”  Fiona laughed and said, “We’ll just save the hugs for later and held here nose pinched between two fingers.”  “One cup of coffee and I’m off to the showers” he agreed.

As Bill was walking out
, Iris was walking in with Julius in tow.  Good morning everyone, she said.  I see you got on the road early today Fiona it is good to see you again.  She and Fiona had a quick hug.  Now where’s that coffee, Iris commanded.  I walked over, grabbed some cups out of the cabinet, and poured some steaming coffee into them.  Handing them the cups, I pointed to all the condiments that go with coffee on the counter.  As Iris was tweaking the coffee to their needs, she said, “Julius filled me in this morning on all the exciting news and after chiding him about making decisions without me, I wholeheartedly agree with the plan and I am looking forward to be part of the team.”  With a bit of wistfulness, she added “those exotic locations around the world will just have to wait. I am particularly excited to be part of something that will ultimately benefit mankind and our lovely planet.”  “I am so happy that you and Julius can be part of this.  I have found myself getting a little overwhelmed at times and know you both can shed a lot of knowledge on how to succeed,” I gratefully added as I laid out a tray of fresh fruit and pastries.

I asked Fiona to take a walk
on the beach with me while we waited for everyone to arrive.  I had a slew of text messages on my phone updating me where they were and when they would get here.  We went out to beach and started walking in the direction of Barnegat Light.  Before we were 20 steps, she started to pepper me with questions about why everyone was coming and what is generating all the excitement.  “You’re just going to have to wait until everyone is here and it will be all explained,” I said sternly. 

Fiona
would not give up until I started to ask her about how she was doing and how her family was.  She said everyone was doing well and in good health.  John, her father, recently changed jobs and was getting out of the brokerage business due to stress.  “How about you” he asked?  How are you doing?  “Pretty good, I must say. I am responsible for web site design and leveraging the use of social media for our marketing firm.  Some of the work I have created is already out there on the websites of big name companies.  I have also written a number of applications for iPhones and Android phones that our clients are ecstatic about.  The owners of the company are hinting at making me part of the senior management team.  My biggest news however is Fred.”  My stomach dropped a bit as I asked who Fred was, which Fiona noticed right away.  She ended toying with me, telling me he was a great guy, who is a huggable and a great companion.  With each comment, I got a little sadder.  Finally, she decided not to string me along and told me Fred was her 4-month-old Chocolate Labrador.  With a relieved smile, I said, “I love Labradors and you should have brought him with you.”  “My mom is attached to him now that I drop him off at my parent’s house when I go to work and she and she wanted to keep him with her.”

About a mile up the beach we stopped next to a seaweed clad
jetty that jutted out about a 100 feet out into the early morning waves.  Fiona was looking out that way and with the sun shining on her face and the soft breeze gently tossing her long hair around, I was struck with how beautiful she was and with a pang of guilt, just how much I had missed her.  While she was still gazing outwards, I said in almost a whisper, “I missed you.”  There was no reaction from her, so I thought that the wave noise may have drowned me out, but almost as softly as I said it, I heard “I missed you too.”  I then said we should start heading back, and with that she put her hand in mine and we headed to the house.  We were almost there when I did tell her that I hope she was keeping up on her martial arts since the new business venture could get rough; I said to tease her some.  “Rough” she said, “what kind of stuff are you getting us into Rico?”  She added, “Not to worry, I teach different MMA disciplines three nights a week.  One night at the YMCA for kids, one night for adults and I am still working with the State Police Academy.”  Cool I said as we walked in the back door to a kitchen full of my favorite people.  “We saw you guys holding hands,” Steve said, pretending to sound like a grammar school kid and added a final “yuck.”  I spent the next five minutes hugging everyone and patting each other on the back.  I heard Fiona’s voice rise up above the others and say, “Just for the record everyone, Rico admitted to me that he has been a real jerk to his friends and that he is really sorry.”  “Don’t let him off the hook that easy!”  Everyone chimed in at the same time saying, “yeah what’s up with that, and a fine friend you were” and so on much to my chagrin.

There was a knock on the
door, which was the caterer I was expecting.  While everyone was in the kitchen the two girls form the catering company set up a sandwich platter, tossed salad, some potato and pasta salads in the dining room with a delicious looking cookie tray assortment.  After they set up, I went back into the kitchen and announced, “Lunch is served, and we could continue the conversations in the other room while we eat lunch, and following that, we will let you all know why we asked you here today.”  With a plate of food in hand, I circled back to Taylor and Kristen who were sitting at the dining room table.  “Congratulations I told them again, September is going to come up awful quick you know.”  “Don’t we know it,” Kristen responded for both of them, In fact while we are down here we are going to confer with the reception hall manager.  “That’s right you guys are renting that beautiful place right at the end of the causeway where Margo’s used to be.  I heard you had to reserve that place like 18 years in advance” I joked.  “It sounds like you must have been holding out on us for a while.”  They both laughed at that and did not say anything to implicate themselves, so I know I was right.  “Can’t wait I said.”

Bill headed into the living room to get prepared.  Truth be told he was nervous and hoped he could convey how important it would be to have their friends on board to succeed.  Rico was the real polished speaker of the two, but he had agreed to do the presentation except for the very end when Julius would talk about a few details.  It had all been extremely exciting so far, but the nervousness he felt now was a product of reality setting in and enormousness of what they were embarking on.  After today, they would be committed to this
effort, which was going to change every aspect of his life.  With a gulp and a deep breath, he fired up the laptop and the large flat screen.  Julius and Iris were the first in the room and he worked out a few logistics with them.  Julius and Iris had each visitor sign a confidentiality and non-disclosure document while they were eating.  Soon everyone filed in and sat on the sofa, living room chairs and chairs brought in from the dining room.  Looking out on the group, it was evident in the looks on everyone’s faces that they were in fact anticipating some monumental information in the next few minutes.   He saw Rico take a deep breath then he started his introductory speech.

“
First off, I want to thank everyone for being here on such short notice, and I can tell you up front that what we are about to share with you will change all of our lives, but more importantly, is has the potential to impact everyone on this planet.  There is some information we cannot share at this time until all the legal and security aspects around it are in place.  Our goal today, is to tell you about what we have been up to and at the end of the presentation to ask each one of you to be part of this, so keep that in mind while you listen and see.  Without and further delay, Bill will take it from here.”