Perfect Match (7 page)

He couldn’t figure her out, but he said, “What’s the catch?”

“Well, let’s see. Your vitals are as normal as can be.
You’re a very healthy male with the exception of that ankle, but it seems to be
coming along nicely, according to your doctors. Your appetite is a little weak,
and of course your attitude has just about flatlined, but you already know
that. You haven’t been out of your room since you’ve been here.” She paused a
moment, looking at his eyes. “What do you want to work on first?”

He glanced at the clock, nearing noon. “Is it too late to
order lunch?”

The patient outside D.R.’s door quickly navigated her
wheelchair over to the large window overlooking a grove of trees, when she heard
the swift footsteps of Rachel coming toward the door. As Rachel started down
the hall she slowed and asked, “How’s my favorite inspiring person this
morning? Watching the birds again?”

With an innocent smile the patient said, “Yes ma’am. Spring
is here. The birds are chasing each other.”

“About time. I’m glad for winter to be over. I’ll check on
you later, honey.” Rachel hurried on down the hall.

The patient cautiously eased her wheelchair back near D.R.’s
door, listening. She could hear him mumbling to himself. She barely deciphered
“…gotta get out of this damn place.” She headed on down the hall toward the
corner sunroom, thinking that the patient in 405 must be crazier than she first
thought.

Sunday Afternoon

Janice Smithfield parked her car and hurried into the
Asheville Regional Airport, awaiting the arrivals of the managers of the
Fallington branch offices. She’d coordinated flights that would land within an
hour of each other, as Madison had specified. The country was enjoying several
days of good weather. No flight delays, yet.

Nancy Stutts had arrived from Atlanta, and Phil Sternberger
from New York. Nancy was an easy going, conscientious single woman, pushing 48,
but looking 40. Phil was married with two small children, two dogs, three cats,
and two pyscho hamsters. He was 30 with a type A personality, and the explosive
tension of a cannon about to fire a watermelon at a fall festival. He looked at
his watch, and the time displays in the waiting area, as he paced back and
forth in front of Janice and Nancy, seated. “What time did you say Hollis’s
plane arrives from L.A.?”

Janice gave him a wry look, repeating for the fifth time,
“Three o’clock. Relax, Phil, we’ve got another twenty minutes.” She was
thinking the office wouldn’t be large enough with Phil and Rodney pacing at the
same time.

“Think I’ll get another cup of coffee.” Off he shot like a
cannon.

Janice and Nancy rolled their eyes and muffled their
laughter.

Hollis Redgrave strutted from the arriving gate, a foot
taller than other passengers. He was tanned with movie-star thick graying hair,
and wore a navy blazer with khaki pants and blue shirt open at the collar. As
he gawked around, his mouth and nose were pinched as if he’d found something
that smelled bad.

Janice recognized him from his photo in his employee file,
and was on her feet to greet him. “Hollis, I’m Janice Smithfield. We’ve met by
phone once; I’m your ride, along with Nancy and Phil.” Everyone gave the usual
nods, but Nancy kept her distance. She’d met Hollis before.

After loading the car, with Nancy riding shotgun, Janice
pulled away from the baggage area and eased into traffic heading for their
hotel. Phil spoke first. “How far is it?”

She looked in the rearview and caught his eye. “About ten
miles.” Phil began to squirm, as he glared at each passing car on Interstate
26.

Hollis leaned forward from the back seat. “Tell me about
these accommodations, Janice. I’ve never heard of Shiloh Mountain View Inn.
Sounds like something out of the movie Psycho.” He laughed, the only one.

Janice asked over her shoulder, “Ever been to Asheville?”

“No.”

“Then that’s probably why you’ve never heard of it.”

Hollis huffed and sat back.

“How much farther is it?” asked Phil.

“Relax, Phil, I’ll let you know when we get there.”

He squirmed even more not knowing what he wanted to know. He
felt trapped riding in the backseat, not driving.

Hollis leaned forward, his left hand grazing Nancy’s left
shoulder. “Nancy-girl, you doing okay?”

She flinched. “No…yes, fine. Don’t...touch me.”

Janice had the urge to stop the car and tell them to get out
and hike the rest of the way; instead her foot pressed the accelerator on her
SUV. She didn’t envy Madison having to deal with this trio of tension.

After Janice made sure their check-in was without problems
she said, “I’m to remind you to read over the changes in allowable expenses.”
She handed each a sealed envelope with info they’d need for the week’s staff
meeting. “You’re on your own for the rest of the evening. I’ll be by to pick
you up in the morning at eight o’clock.”

Hollis said, “Whoa, whoa. What about this jet lag we’ve got?
Eight o’clock is too early.”

Janice glanced at her watch, doing a quick count. “Well,
you’ve got almost 15 hours before I pick you up. Better jump in bed now if
you’re concerned about sleep. If it’s a real issue, take it up with the new CEO
in the morning.”

Janice smiled and headed for the front door.

Nancy had already started for her room down the hall,
enjoying the quietness of the quaint bed and breakfast inn, but anxious to keep
her distance from Hollis.

Hollis and Phil trailed Janice out to the front rambling
porch with white rockers. They stood, looking lost, mouths gaping at the air,
as Janice’s SUV disappeared down the winding drive. Birds fluttered in a nearby
bush.

Monday Morning

Madison had spent the weekend combing over every bit of
information on Fallington Enterprises from its founding to the present. Edna
Fallington had taken the fledgling two-year old company, after her husband left
her, and given it leadership to produce decent profits year after year.

When Edna stepped back somewhat, and her grandsons entered
the business, the company began to lose profits gradually, before plummeting
over the past year. Madison had sketched and graphed the various turning points
as expenses rose, productivity faltered, profits shrunk, and harsh loses came
in a rush. But the company had had a respectable financial cushion, so everyone
had been giddily happy. But not anymore.

Madison made her final notes for the staff meeting, as she
sat in her office. She shook her head thinking what a nightmare she’d stepped
into, but she was confident she could turn the company around. She’d let her
daughter know that she’d been promoted with additional responsibilities, but didn’t
want to worry her with the details. Her daughter knew their time would be
limited this week because of Madison’s extra work.

She walked over to the large office window overlooking
Asheville. She loved the city and what it had become. Trendy, but with a flavor
of country mountain simple. She loved the mixture of people, and how she and
her daughter had been accepted in their neighborhood, school, and church.
Asheville had truly become home for her.

There was a knock on her door. Janice peeked in. “Five minutes
until launch.”

Madison smiled. “Thanks, Janice. Be right there.”

She had decided not to mingle with the branch managers
during coffee, juice, and donuts. Although she’d had a couple of brief phone
calls with each one, she wanted their first impression of her to be as the CEO
of Fallington, not their pal. She’d socialize later during the week.

She gathered her thin leather portfolio and phone and walked
briskly to the conference room, heels tapping with confidence as she went to
the head of the conference table. She wore a black pant suit with jacket, soft
blue blouse, and simple pendant. Her full head of rich brown hair draped her
shoulders. Her hazel eyes were extra penetrating as she scanned their faces.
Her movements were sure as she placed her portfolio and phone on the table.

She smiled. “I’m Madison Winston, CEO of Fallington
Enterprises, and it’ a pleasure to finally meet you in person. We have a big
week ahead of us and a tremendous year before us to do some important things. I
encourage you to fill your coffee cup often, keep your eyes and mind wide open
because I’ve got lots to share with you.

“Each one of you has a phone. Take it out, turn it OFF, and
place it face-down on the table. We have three personnel in the office who will
take phone messages that you might receive during our sessions.” Madison picked
up her phone and demonstrated with a couple of hand motions. “See, mine’s off
also.” She placed it back on the table.

Hollis was feasting on Madison’s blue blouse that shimmied
every time she moved. He couldn’t take his eyes off her breast, imagining them
rocking unseen beneath the blouse. Her pant suit fit her hips perfectly and
showed her lean curves. He’d laughed when D.R. referred to Madison by phone as
‘taco lady.’ Hollis had no idea she was such an attractive woman. He’d have a
piece of that ass before the week ended, he thought. He grunted a low, “Uh
huh.” Phil squirmed and cut him a look. Nancy’s eyes shot daggers at him.

“So how was the Shiloh? Everybody get plenty of sleep last
night?” Madison asked.

Nancy nodded affirmatively.

Phil squirmed. “I loved it. Best coffee and breakfast I’ve
ever had. I’d like to bring my wife sometime.”

Hollis looked sour.

Madison gave him a nod. “How about you, Hollis?”

“Well, it’s not California.”

Madison smiled slightly. “Brilliant deduction. I hope your
deductive brilliance shines when we get to the serious stuff this week.”

Nancy and Phil chuckled. Hollis cleared his tight throat, as
his face deepened in color. He thought, I’ll show her brilliance when I get her
ass in bed.

Madison said, “Let’s get started.”

As Janice passed out folders, with the week’s agenda and
training materials, Madison continued, “We’ll be spending about 10% of our time
describing Fallington’s current business status and 90% on how to fix it, so
get yourselves into the problem solving mode.

“As you know, Fallington buys bulk quantities of goods and
products, and then sells them wholesale to retail businesses. Our suppliers are
in several different countries. Our Hong Kong office has primarily coordinated
that part of our operations, at least to this point. We’re going to be taking a
close look at that process very soon.

“We’re going to be looking at company-wide data so we get a
big picture, and also an in depth analysis of each branch office.” Madison
clicked her wireless remote and a PowerPoint graph hit the screen. “A look at
this graph shows that the L.A. operation is in the negative, New York is barely
breaking even, and Atlanta is showing positive, however a single branch can’t
carry the whole load.”

She watched the group. Nancy sat, pleased. Phil squirmed and
looked at everything but the graph. “Don’t get alarmed, the intent is not to
make a glaring comparison, or put anyone on the spot. We’re in this together
and we’ll get where we need to go by working together. This week’s meeting is
not about placing blame, but finding solutions.”

Hollis blurted out, “I’d like to remind everyone that the
west coast is unique. These numbers and…and…colorful little graphs don’t mean
anything.” His hand gesture was dismissive.

“Oh, really?”

“Look, Madison, with all due respect, you’re new…what, a few
weeks as CEO. L.A. and the west coast tend to bump along. It has its own
personality. You can’t fit a graph around a dynamic area like California.”

Madison took a deep breath, calming herself. “Hollis, the
graph was shaped by the unique figures you submitted on your reports. The graph
came from performance…or the lack.” The air got heavy.

Hollis sulked.

Madison said, “Let’s think about this ‘unique’ factor that
Hollis mentioned for a moment. We’re all unique, different. No shortage of
diversity in the world, but we have many more things in common that often times
help define broad consumer markets. We want to be certain we are finding the
markets and fulfilling them.”

Nancy and Phil were busy taking notes. Hollis was leaning
back with both hands clasped behind his head glaring at the ceiling thinking he
couldn’t wait to get in Madison’s hot little pants before the week was over. He
almost chuckled out loud thinking how ‘unique’ that would be.

The morning session moved briskly and after lunch Madison
raced them through more stark details of the business. The details eventually
got the attention of Hollis, and his tacky comments faded into silence. By 5:30
the three had hoot-owl eyes, zoned out.

“One other thing, before Janice takes you back to the
Shiloh, Rodney will be coordinating on-site training and assistance for your
offices.” Madison gestured to Rodney. “He—”

Hollis cut her off. “Rodney? Why D.R. never let him—”

Madison jumped in. “Stop. Hold it right there. I don’t know
what your history is with D.R. or Rodney and I don’t care, since I’m all about
moving forward. I’ve met extensively with Rodney. He knows my thinking on
Fallington’s future, and you will too by the end of the week.

“I’m giving Rodney expanded responsibilities because I have
complete confidence that he will fulfill them. If at any time you feel Rodney
is not challenging you or your staff to extraordinary limits, you let me know.
Anything else?” She paused. “Don’t forget that I’ll have afternoon individual
sessions with each of you, separately on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.”

Janice followed Madison to her office. After closing the
door she said, with a bow, “Great session, Madame CEO Winston.”