Storiesonline.net ------- Breaking Point: Gordy by Shrink42 Copyright© 2009 by Shrink42 ------- Description: A potentially life-changing event can interrupt a person at any time. Their reaction to that event is affected by beliefs, prejudices, strength of character, and the effectiveness of their support system. Is their previous life regained, lost, or even improved upon? Codes: MF rom ------- ------- Chapter 1 It was almost enough to make him forget his anger and disappointment. It was the eyes that did it. In them, he saw intelligence, warmth, and ... sympathy? Apparently, word spread rapidly. Of course, he had not been at all discreet about his upset at the assignment, so no wonder she knew. Well, it wasn't her fault, and maybe she did not like it any better than he did, so he tried to call up his manners. "Good morning. I'm Gordy Alford." "Marielle Gilson," she replied with a smile and her hand extended, "and yes, your objections were pretty much heard all over the building. If it's any consolation, I screamed almost as loudly when I was put on one of these assignments the first time." "Yeah, but this is more lawyers' work and not for engineers. I want to do constructive things. I built this thing. Why can't someone else play the political games? It's a waste of my time," Gordy objected. The breakthrough device, which he stubbornly insisted on referring to as his 'cardiac roto-rooter', had indeed been his baby from the beginning. Of the many competing technologies for clearing clogged arteries without surgery, all in the company agreed that the 'Tru-Pulse' was the best available combination of safety, effectiveness, and ease of use. Cardiologists who had been involved in field tests agreed. The problem was that until the FDA agreed with those attributes, all of the development expense would be sunk cost. His company, Medi-Vanced, had from its founding followed a policy of having developers shepherd their products all the way through approval. If there was one thing that had almost caused Gordy to look for another company, it had been that policy. Fortunately, he could be working on his next miracle while the approval process groaned on. He could also spend time with the product manager monitoring live field tests of the Tru-Pulse with cardiologists. Even so, he would never be happy about the 'dead time' this would cost him. Working with the very attractive lawyer should at least make the time more pleasant than it might be. "I suppose you have done this numerous times," he observed. "It's my first 'sentence', so you'll probably need to keep me out of trouble." Her laugh was as captivating as her eyes. "You are correct. All of us on the legal staff spend a lot of time on approvals." She pointedly looked him up and down with a half-smile, half-smirk on her face and commented "Well, I least I don't have a presentability problem with you. I'm working with Jerry Grunewald on his device, too." "Ohhhh. My sympathies," he joked, and they shared a laugh. "I'm not sure how you view our 'team', here," he went on. "Since I know nothing about the approval maze, nor do I really care to learn, I will consider myself to be a resource that you can use as you need me. If you can tell me where to show up, what preparation to have done, and how to behave, I will comply to the best of my ability. Hopefully, that will get us through to making money in the shortest time." Marielle tried to keep her astonishment from showing. The proprietary attitude of the engineers almost always led to many struggles over who was actually in charge of the approval team. If Gordy would really do as he claimed, this could be one of the most pleasant assignments yet. She had already noted the lack of any condescension on his part. That was also unusual. The assumption that the lawyers knew little about the technology was widespread among the developers. She would not advertise the fact that she had her B.S. in mechanical engineering. Her choice of undergrad study had triggered a monumental battle with her parents. Her father, Peter Gilson, was a billionaire, some by inheritance, but even more by his own drive and skill. He did not take kindly to that kind of show of independence from his daughter, the only child from him and his equally controlling wife, Frances. Peter's assumption had always been that Marielle, even though she was not the son he had hoped for and expected, would be groomed to take over his real estate development business, along with ownership in dozens of other generally successful enterprises. What he considered his daughter's naively idealistic wish to do something 'more significant' had not set well with him. Peter's problem was that he was no more immune to Marielle's personality than was any other male. To his credit, once inevitability was conceded, he supported her. Unfortunately, the same could not be said of Frances. She did not come from money, as did Peter. Even with everything she now had, the 'grasping' instinct had not been satisfied, but had been translated to her only child. She regretted that Marielle was aspiring to be 'less than she could be'. When Marielle decided to go into law rather than seeking advanced engineering degrees, it was a great relief to both parents. They believed that she would eventually abandon her idealism and get into the more lucrative areas of the legal profession, or perhaps even politics. That would be much more fitting, given her social status. Fairly early in life, Marielle had decided that she did not like being separated from other young people because of her family's wealth. By no means did she reject the wealth or the things it could provide for her. She just did not like the idea that she was limited in who she could associate with. At Medi-Vanced, very few people knew about her family's wealth. What she wore and what she drove were perhaps beyond what might be expected of a staff attorney of her age, but not way beyond. Her speech and manners showed impeccable breeding, but were in no way affected. In short, Marielle had become adept at 'passing' as just a classy, successful, well-off young staff attorney. At his first meeting with Marielle, Gordy was, of course, unaware of her privileged upbringing. That she was very attractive, classy-looking, polite, and composed was immediately apparent. That she was very intelligent, caring, and perhaps fun-loving took only a direct look in her eyes to detect. Responding to his offer to let her run the show, Marielle finally answered "I appreciate your consideration, Gordy. Actually, we are in a time bind already. Please don't be offended, but do you have a nice business suit?" "Oh. A suit? Not just a blazer?" "I'm afraid not," Marielle said. "It's company policy. Even though a lot of the people on the government side will be dressed more casually, we are supposed to maintain a standard." "I do have two suits, both conservative - non-formal wedding grade, if you know what I mean," he admitted. "One of them has been worn only once." "It sounds like you are well prepared, then," she said with obvious relief. "If you need to, take off now and get to a one-hour cleaner. We are scheduled to leave on the corporate jet for D.C. at seven tomorrow morning." "Will there be time on the flight to brief me?" he said, trying not to let either the irritation or the slight panic show. "Since this is the first meeting after submission of the request for approval, everything should be very preliminary," she assured him. "Will it be just the two of us? I would think there would be someone, uh, more senior involved." "Very astute," she said with a nod. "The V.P. or Cardiac Products will be present for all interactions until we get down to technical squabbling." "I'll bet she doesn't like this much more than I do," Gordy quipped. "I think she realizes that it is the key part of her job. With wizards like you in development, getting products ready is the easy part." "Oh, I wouldn't say that, given some of the shouting matches I have heard. Thank you for the compliment, though." She just nodded in acknowledgment. Once again, she had to suppress her surprise and pleasure. Despite his protestations, Gordy promised to be the best engineer to work through the red tape with that she had ever been assigned. As much as anything else about Gordy, the fact that he did not seem at all flustered by her was a pleasant change. She knew the affect she had on men. The generally unsophisticated engineers were usually the worst. Not Gordy, though. There was a moment of irritation that he seemed resistant to her charms, but she swatted that down quickly. This was business and Gordy was behaving just as he should. ------- After two months, it seemed to Gordy that no progress at all had been made. The people that they worked with at the FDA seemed to have no appreciation that Tru-Pulse could save lives and needed to get into hospitals as quickly as possible. He was sure that they were being purposely obtuse about the technology used. Either that, or their IQs were far too low to merit such key government positions. The V.P. of Cardiac Products, Dr. Gretchen Kohen, M.D., had graciously spent a number of hours explaining reality to him. "Face it, Gordy; you will not be dealing with best and the brightest, here. Our job is to get approval and support from people who don't really understand what we are doing and who don't feel any particular incentive to approve our products. On the contrary, they feel it their duty, or privilege, as the case may be, to 'protect' the public from what we want to sell." "And we have no choice but to go through this silly dance?" "None." "How do we get beyond the drones to someone who understands and who can make a decision?" he asked. "You certainly understand the essence of our challenge. Despite the seeming disinterest, our clinical trials are being closely monitored. Uniformly positive results, especially if some are dramatic, are the best way to speed things along." "All of which is out of my hands," he lamented. "So, it is perfectly understandable that I feel helpless." "I'm afraid so." "Doesn't the company recognize the waste of my time, here?" "Yes, and no," Gretchen answered. "They recognize that you are being kept away from what you do best. On the other hand, things would go even more slowly if we did not have the proper technical expertise always available." "Even if no one understands a word I say? Even if they don't know meaningful questions to ask me?" "Even if." On the good side, the frustrating negotiations meant time spent with Marielle. For really the first time in his life, Gordy had encountered a woman who could hold his attention for more than a few weeks. Romance had never been high a priority for him. Not to say that his libido was in any sense atrophied. He just had a very disciplined approach to what was truly important in his life. Early on, it had been survival and recovery. Then, it was completing his education. After that, it was establishing himself. None of that left room for romantic entanglements. Every ten to fifteen days, there was another trip to DC, always requiring an overnight stay, and usually more than one night. After the often brief sessions with the FDA people, there was a lot of free time. From the beginning, Gordy and Marielle spent that time together. She had been to DC many times, but she never showed any reluctance to tour the various sites and attractions with Gordy. They shared numerous dinners. They even went dancing, something that Gordy felt embarrassingly incompetent doing. She was persistent, though, and as in most things, he was a fast learner. When the dates continued back home, things progressed to hand-holding, hugging, kissing, and very light petting. Marielle was beyond ready for things to go all the way. Gordy, however, always retreated from greater intimacy. Assuming that he might be trying to retain some semblance of professionalism, she took his retreats with outward calm. All the while, the longing and frustration was tearing her up inside. She had passed 'in love' very early in their acquaintance. That a healthy, well-built, good-looking young man should have such disciplined control over his hormones had everything to do with the tale of Gordy's late teens and college years. ------- He grew up in a very typical family: mother, father, and a sister a little more than five years older. He had heard many times how easily his mother had conceived his sister, Cheri, and how hard they had tried to get her pregnant with him. Perhaps in one way, his family was not completely typical. His mother was a beauty of movie star or beauty contest caliber, even in her forties. His father, quite a handsome man in his own right, was well aware of his wife's beauty. Unfortunately, he lived in fear of losing her to someone more wealthy, dashing, or perhaps unnaturally endowed. Also unfortunately, no suspected how much that fear dominated his life. Unlike just a typical jealous husband, Gordy's father was never accusatory or overly suspicious. He channeled his fear and uncertainty into efforts to make his wife as happy and as satisfied as his time and resources allowed. He just could not be confident that his best would be enough. Gordy's father's fear had no basis in his mothers' actions or inclinations, though. She was in no way pretentious about her beauty, and she was completely devoted to her husband. They lived in a medium-small town that was dominated by one industry. That industry was owned by one Robert Krenz, the man who was the de facto baron of the area. Krenz's privately held company was certainly not abusive of its employees or the area, but there was no question that he was in complete control of everything. Gordy's father had held a responsible financial position in Krenz's company for as long as Gordy could remember. He did not hold a high opinion of Krenz, but never, ever mouthed anything negative where his family could hear it. In fact, if Gordy or his sister ever parroted the widespread dislike of Krenz, his father rebuke them sternly. Gordy's mother did some part-time and fill-in work at the executive offices of the same company, but she was always home for the children. When Gordy reached high school, though, his mother began spending more hours working. One summer day, Gordy's comfortable little world came to a cataclysmic end. His summer job was at the local country club, and it had rained too heavily for any course maintenance, so everything was shut down. Arriving home, he was surprised to see that his father's car was there. Casually entering the house, he heard his normally soft-spoken father yelling "Just answer the question! Is it true that you have been having sex with Krenz?!" As Gordy was frozen by the shock of those words, his mother tried to stammer "But ... but ... I had to ... your job ... I..." "Did he threaten my job?" His father demanded. "He ... he ... didn't say ... I mean, there was no ... Ohhhh, please, I ... I..." By then, Gordy, had come out of his frozen state and moved from the back door where he had entered the hous toward the front entryway, where the unbelievable confrontation was taking place. He arrived just in time to see his father put a pistol to his head and pull the trigger. From all psychiatric evidence, the sight of her husband's brains blowing against the wall was the last completely conscious memory his mother ever had. She essentially checked out at that moment. From then on, she was able to move, to speak, to eat, and to do most normal actions. She just did them without any connection to reality. The psychological overload of what she had seen was just too much. Her own feelings of guilt and responsibility must have contributed, as well. She never saw Gordy watching the grisly scene. Later, psychiatrists would debate whether concern for the impact of the tragedy on her son might have kept her from withdrawing if she had seen him there, but it was all just meaningless speculation. Once his autonomic system forced Gordy to take a breath, his mind started to work. Despite being shocked at what she had just admitted, she was his immediate concern. It was only when he got close enough to see her eyes that he sensed that he had effectively lost both parents. From somewhere finding the poise, Gordy backed away from the scene, leaving his mother standing there in a catatonic state. It came to him that the reason for his father's suicide must never be known. He called 911 and simply said that he had heard a gunshot as he approached the house and had found his father shot to death and his mother unresponsive. The next call was very, very difficult. He and Cheri, because of the difference in their ages, were not very close, but they always got along very well. She had to hear it from him first. Fortunately, she was in her small apartment on the campus at a nearby city. He could barely speak the words. Somehow, he was able to call his grandparents on his father's side and he was on the phone with them when the police arrived. All he had told Cheri and his grandparents was just what he had told the 911 operator. ------- Gordy would most likely have carried the terrible secret to his grave, except for Krenz's arrogance. Well, that may not be completely fair. Gordy's father had, after all, been a faithful, valued, long-term employee of Krenz's. Given Gordy's mother's catatonia and Gordy's statements to the police, Krenz had no reason to think that Gordy or anyone else knew about his dalliance with Gordy's mother. Thus, the baron came to the interment to pay his respects to a loyal vassal. Gordy stood at the grave site between the people he wanted to protect, his sister Cheri and his paternal grandparents. His maternal grandparents were not there, too upset at their son-in-law for his action that had sent their daughter into insanity. Gordy loved them and wanted to protect them, also. It took unexpected psychological strength for a fifteen-year-old to hold the awful reality to himself. When Krenz made his grand entrance, Gordy's psychological strength was exceeded. The minister had just taken his place to begin the burial rites when Krenz emerged from the limo, his personal assistant/body guard holding the door for him. Naturally, all of the sixty or seventy attendees looked toward the limo, just as Krenz had carefully planned. Gordy snapped. Disentangling himself quickly from the comforting arms that were around him, he dashed straight toward Krenz, yelling at the to of his lungs "You get out of here, you monster! You can't be here! You're the reason he's dead! We had a happy family until you went after my moth... !" At that point, the bodyguard reached Gordy and clamped a hand over his mouth. "You stupid kid! Shut your fuckin' mouth! What are you trying to... ?" It was not a very masculine reaction, but in his rage, it was instinctive for Gordy. He bit down as hard as he could on the flesh of the bodyguard's hand. A few moments later, when he tasted blood, Gordy would realize just how hard he had bitten. As soon as the hand was pulled away, Gordy continued his tirade. "She was a good wife and mother and you tricked her! What right did you have, just because you own everything? You're a murderer! A murderer!" Once again, the bodyguard had Gordy restrained and silenced and the man looked toward his boss for instructions. With the augmented strength of a super adrenalin rush, Gordy stomped on the man's foot, then used the slight release of pressure to spin away. Being restrained had only amplified Gordy's rage, but he had enough awareness to realize who the true target of his rage should be. He charged toward Krenz with such ferocity that the man recoiled, leaving himself vulnerable to Gordy's frenzied kick at his groin. "You won't ever want to steal anyone's else's wife! Never again!" Gordy screamed, landing a second kick before Krenz could turn away. Both kicks had landed, but it was late fall and Krenz wore an overcoat. He was unable to stand straight as he staggered back to the limo with the assistance of the driver and the battered bodyguard. As the roar of the departing limo died out, there was no sound but a few wintering birds to replace it. It took fifteen or twenty seconds for sounds of crying from relatives and close friends to fill the silence. Then, Cheri rushed to the now motionless boy and wrapped him in a hug. "Oh, God, Gordy! How awful it must have been to hear that. You weren't going to tell, were you?" "I'm sorry, Cheri! I'm sorry! I didn't want to tell, but when he..." "It's OK, Hon. It's OK. You can't keep that to yourself. At least, now, I know why ... OH, God!" With that, she lost it in tears, and Gordy went with her. It was over ten minutes before the minister was able to do a very abbreviated service. ------- Gordy's Grandfather, Bent Alford, was a very astute man. He did not live in town, but from many discussions with Gordy's father, he had a good idea how Krenz would react. Bent immediately called a lawyer friend from his own town and asked him to get to Gordy's house right away. The lawyer said that the best he could do because of court commitments was about two hours. Bent got both Gordy and Cheri in his car and they all drove away quickly. "Where are we going, Grandpa?" Cheri asked. "To the TV station in Braxton. They would love a chance to do a negative piece on Krenz. He has tried some pretty rough stuff on them." "They will probably arrest you for assault," Bent warned Gordy as they drove. "But that goon assaulted me, first," Gordy objected. "I know. This gets complicated. Krenz himself did not touch you, but the goon was his agent. We have to file charges right away. What makes it tough is that Krenz pretty much owns the police here." "Let's have a big trial, then," Gordy snarled. "We can call all sorts of witnesses and they have to testify. We can find out what he really did to Mom." "They have to testify, but they don't have to tell the truth," Bent warned. Gordy's poor grandmother was so grief-stricken over the loss of her son that she was not able to enter into the conversation. Only Bent's concern for the boy and his natural sense of fair play enabled him to take charge. He had been in combat in the army and he tried to view this situation the same way. It did not ease the pain in his heart, but it helped him function. It was a forty minute drive to the TV station. With the confusion of finding someone to talk to, they knew it would be more than two hours before they got to the house. When Gordy was finally talking to a reporter, Bent called the lawyer's office and they assured him they would reach the lawyer and have him wait down the street from the house. The astute admin also asked for a credit card from Bent to seal Gordy as a client. After some initial puzzlement and skepticism, the reporter quickly became very excited about the story. Because of his age, there was a question whether Gordy's name and face could be shown. They ended up shooting both with and without ID and would let the lawyers sort it out. After all, underaged victims of accidents, fires, etc. were routinely identified. It was only the underaged accused that were to be strictly anonymous. At that point, Gordy was not accused of anything. Just as they were finishing off the interview, Bent received a call from the lawyer advising them to meet him at the police station to file charges against the bodyguard. "Won't they be apt to arrest Gordy if he shows up there?" Bent asked. "Quite likely. But if so, it would have happened anyway," the lawyer answered. "This is to put them off-balance and cause a little confusion." "Will the charge be just against the bodyguard?" Bent inquired. "No. Against Krenz, also. Does the boy seriously want this to go to trial?" "I believe him," Bent answered. "He wants to do anything that will get back at Krenz in any way." "Would it be all right if I set up a polygraph?" the lawyer asked. "It will only be useful with the media, but if the idea is to hurt Krenz..." "I'm sure Gordy will be more than willing," Bent agreed. "If I can, I'll set that up before we go to the police station," the lawyer said. The adrenalin of the encounter and the interviews had pulled Gordy out of his remaining funk from the tragedy, and his anger and lust for revenge seemed to increase by the minute. When Bent explained the plans, he was all for them. The lawyer succeeded in setting up the polygraph, and it took quite a while. Since only binary questions could be evaluated, they first had to write out a script of what Gordy heard between his parents and what his own actions were. Then, the analyst broke every part of the grisly drama down into 'yes' or 'no' questions. The resulting probability of falsehood was insignificant. Bent immediately called the TV station and asked how they would like to receive the results. As they were waiting at the police station, the lawyer suggested that Gordy file suit against Krenz for sexual harassment of his mother and alienation of affection. He thought it would be productive to come up with two or three more complaints, as well. "It's the shotgun approach, Gordy," the lawyer explained. "We want to create enough irritation so he offers a settlement." "I don't want any of his damned money!" Gordy snarled. "Yes, you do. What if your mother needs care for the rest of her life? Who will pay for that?" The lawyer had not meant to cause tears, but the two women and Gordy broke down at that. Gordy finally nodded in agreement. Because of the way complaints and arrests were handled by different people, they were able to get the assault complaints filed before anyone realized that there was a charge against Gordy. Having him at the station with a lawyer on a misdemeanor assault charge meant that even a 'captive' police force could not find justification to hold Gordy. ------- The TV station was in a different town and even a different county. At one time, Krenz had attempted to close them down because of some unflattering coverage of one of his business moves. They had weathered the attacks, but the same ownership and management was still in place, and they definitely held a grudge. Gordy's heart-rending tale got a long teaser on the dinner-time news and was the feature story for the late news. It was obvious that the station's best people had been put on it. It was tight and hard-hitting. Nor was it a one-shot effort. Somehow, the station's investigators had found out who tipped off Gordy's father to his mother's infidelity with Krenz. That led them to anonymous statements from several of Krenz's employees. Some statements described his mother's lengthy times in Krenz's office suite and her appearance and attitude afterwards. Others told of different female employees who seemed to have succumbed to the same allure or pressure. In all, parts of the story occupied air time for four nights. The lawyer felt that going to the TV station had damaged the potential for a lucrative settlement. Gordy, however, was adamant that the money was not as important as getting back at Krenz any way he could. The lawyer tried to compensate by flooding the docket with seven different suits. All that Krenz had to hit back with was the assault charge. Keying on Gordy's attitude, the lawyer acted as if they were eager for the trial. He stated that his defense would be based on extreme mental distress and laid out a long list of Krenz's employees who would be called as witnesses. He also petitioned early for a change of venue to the next county, citing undo influence and close friendship between Krenz and almost the entire county judicial structure. Even though he was the kind of autocrat who surrounded himself with yes-men, Krenz did have a lead attorney who told it straight and to whom he listened. "Robert, don't fight the change of venue. If you have to pursue the charges, let it be moved. I suspect even your friend Cecil will have to grant the change." "He wouldn't dare! He owes me a lot," Krenz declared. "Look, Robert, if you get a conviction here, it will be granted an appeal. There is no doubt about that. There is no judge in the county who is not too close to you. Getting retrial on appeal is a very bad thing for a judge, particularly for that reason. Why get your friend disbarred?" "You sound as if I shouldn't even push the charges," Krenz grumbled. "I thought I was very clear on that. I know their attorney. He is very, very good, and very, very tenacious. He will have people on the stand that you don't want there." "But they wouldn't dare say anything against me!" "They won't even know they are doing it. They will just answer seemingly innocent simple questions, and suddenly, he will have built something damning. "Robert, you have nothing to win with the assault charge. The weight of sympathy will be with the boy. The fact that your agent attacked first will make even a conviction questionable." "But he kicked me!" "After your man grabbed him." "And the kid bit Mark!" "Legally, words are not sufficient justification for a physical attack, Robert." "The kid can't get by with what he did - the TV shit and everything. Nobody gets by with that!" "The problem, Robert, is that it's true. How much more exposure do you want for your, uh, philandering?" The attorney was the only man alive who could have said that to Krenz. "How much more do you want your wife and kids to be subjected to. What if Claire decides enough is enough. She could clean you out." "So, you're suggesting... ?" Krenz asked testily. "Set up two trusts. One for lifetime care for the woman. One for living expenses and college tuition for the kid. I'm sure they only filed all the suits to force that." "So, you want me to let them win?" "Robert, you are not all-powerful. You are not exempt from the law and from public opinion. You have been lucky with all of your manipulations of women until now. If you don't do everything you can to put a lid on this, you could be hurt quite badly. Believe me, absolutely no one is on your side, this time." Muttering "And she wasn't even that good - too fuckin' full of guilt. Sure wasn't worth this," Krenz gave in. The attorney knew that the resigned flap of Krenz's arms was the most definitive go-ahead he would get. Thus, Gordy's educational future was taken care of, along with his mother's long-term future care. At first, he wanted nothing to do with Krenz's 'blood money'. The other four were able to change his mind, but he would never be happy about it. It certainly did not soften his hatred for Krenz, a hatred that extended to all wealthy, powerful, manipulative people who took advantage of their underlings. ------- Gordy was puzzled when he heard the doorbell at about 8:30 on a Friday evening as he was reading a book. It was a little over two months since he and Marielle had started working together. Marielle was out of town at some family event for the whole weekend. Otherwise, they would have undoubtedly been together. Looking through the peep hole, he saw a man that he did not recognize. The man wore a suit and tie, but that was all that Gordy could tell through the tiny lens of the peep hole. Company security had given all of the employees stern warnings about personal security. It had been pointed out that industrial espionage was not above kidnapping to gain vital competitive information. However, Gordy did not like to seem a frightened wimp, so he opened the door. Before Gordy could say anything after opening the door, the man introduced himself, named the law firm he was with, and asked if he could come in and speak to Gordy for a few minutes. Having already committed when he decided to open the door, Gordy motioned the man in. Without bothering to sit down, the man said "I am here on behalf of Mr. & Mrs. Peter Gilson. I am authorized to offer you a healthy cash settlement for your agreement to terminate your relationship with Miss Marielle Gilson." Gordy was physically knocked backward by the brief, blunt statement. Before he could compose himself, he blurted out "Peter Gilson is Marielle's father?" The man looked at him quizzically, and the slight widening of his eyes told Gordy that the man assumed Gordy had known that. "Yes, of course," was the man's response after his very brief look of surprise. As Gordy's surprise diminished, his anger more than took its place. "What kind of arrogant asshole sends a lackey to 'protect' his daughter from a gold digger? For your information, I had no idea that Marielle was anything but a successful lawyer. I'm doing my best to control my temper. Get out before I lose it!" "I'm just the messenger," the man protested. "Then, I'm sorry you're so hard up for employment that you would work for someone like that!" Gordy shot back. While Gordy never considered himself physically imposing or frightening, the lawyer was obviously not interested in any kind of confrontation. "About the offer... ?" the man tried to ask. "OUT!" Gordy shouted, visibly trembling with his rage. There was a long-unused bottle of Scotch somewhere in the apartment, and he searched for it like a man dying of thirst. When he found it, he barely managed to open it because of his trembling, then drank straight from the bottle. The resulting burn and the gasping it produced controlled the trembling the hard way. A second, slower swallow gave him a chance to get his pulse and respiration down to something at least in the vicinity of normal. Marielle was the heiress to the Gilson billions! Rationally, that should have sent him into wild celebration. Because of what had happened to his family at the hands of Robert Krenz, though, Gordy was not at all rational on the subject of wealthy people. The attempted 'buy off' hardly disturbed him. It fit perfectly with what he would expect from such people. His overwhelming anger was because Marielle had hidden everything from him - lied to him, in his opinion. The next hour was divided between teeth-gnashing, stomping rage and wracking sobs. He had been on the precipice of falling in love with Marielle. Now, his irrational but very real hatred of wealth and all that it had done to him made a relationship with her impossible. He alternated between anger at how she had deceived him and sorrow that she could never be his. Marielle called as planned around ten that evening. He took the coward's way out and let it roll to voice mail. The only sleep he had that night was from sheer exhaustion while sitting in his chair in front of the TV. It was on, but later, he could not have recalled anything that he was supposedly watching. Early Saturday morning, he decided that it was best for both he and Marielle if he did not try to talk to her until he had some kind of control over his emotions. Part of him understood why she felt the need to hide her wealth, but no part of him could accept it. Other than the big thing, though, her treatment of him had been without reproach. Breaking off with her would hurt her, but she deserved to have the blow softened as much as possible. An angry blast over the phone would definitely not be the way. He knew he could not yet contain himself while talking to her. Because he could not stand the guilt of just ignoring her calls, he packed a bag and set off in his car with no particular destination. He also turned off his cell phone. After driving for about two hours, he found some roadside cabins on a river bank and rented one. The rest of the day and evening, he just walked, skipped stones, and thought. ------- "I believe he truly had no idea that she was your daughter," the lawyer who had brought the offer to Gordy told Peter and Frances Gilson. They had summoned him Saturday morning to find out if they had successfully chased away Marielle's unacceptable suitor. "Have you ever talked to her about this Alford character?" Peter asked his wife. "Do you believe she could be that successful at hiding who she is?" "The only times I have talked about her social life," Frances answered sharply, "all I got was complaints about the men I had arranged for her to meet." "I thought you had connected her with the cream of the crop," Peter commented. "She definitely does not think so." Turning back to the lawyer, Peter asked "So, did he accept the offer?" "No. He, uh, got extremely angry and chased me from his apartment. He never even heard the amount." "So, he plans to continue the relationship?" Frances probed. "I have no way of knowing that," the lawyer answered. "Replay the encounter," Peter ordered. "I wrote notes when I got to the car," the lawyer said, "I, uh, hate to repeat some of the things he said. They're rather harsh." "I want it verbatim," Peter insisted. "We're trying to get a feel for this guy." Obviously worried about the reaction, the lawyer nevertheless replayed the short meeting. After the lawyer had left, Peter got rather agitated. "I guess we'll have to do something stronger to chase this guy off." "Don't you think we should investigate a bit more? We know nothing about him. For that matter, we don't know that there is anything serious between them," Frances cautioned. "Now that he knows she has access to serious money, I'm sure he will become serious in a hurry," Peter predicted. "If they just weren't working together, perhaps things could die down," Frances suggested. "If we offered Marielle a better job..." Peter wished aloud. "We've tried that several times," Frances pointed out. "If she is interested in him, there is even less chance of success now." "Could we do something to get him fired?" "You mean frame him?" Frances asked, genuinely surprised. "Are you really that concerned?" "We know he is not the right kind of people," Peter stated emphatically. "We have enough problems with her without some white trash gold-digger turning her head." "I just think we should check him out a lot better before we set anything up," Frances said. "Maybe we could offer him a job." "After what he said to the lawyer, that would be worse than useless..." "But if one of your companies called, he might not realize the connection." "Hmmmm," Peter mused. "That might work. You are right, though. We have to stop them working together." ------- By Sunday morning, Gordy felt he was calm enough to treat Marielle decently, so he turned on his phone. It took less than an hour for her to call. "Gordy, I've been worried. What happened." "I found out who Marielle Gilson is," he answered as gently as he could. A strangled-sounding "Oh" was her only response for many seconds. "But why wouldn't you talk to me?" she was finally able to ask. "I ... I had to get control of myself. It took a while." "Oh, nooooo!" she moaned, and he heard a catch in her breath. "Gordy, why does it have to make such a difference." "Marielle, I'm afraid it makes a very big difference, and not just the way you deceived me." "Deceived you? I didn't do that!" "Marielle, I'm terribly sorry. You can't know how sorry I am, but this is just something I can't deal with." "So, you're breaking up with me just because I happen to have a lot of money?" she whimpered. "It's ... it's like we live in different worlds," was the only answer he could find. She was about to lay into him about being chauvinistic. It had been a fear of hers since she started dating, and now it was coming true in the most painful way. Instead, she said a soft 'goodbye' and hung up. ------- By unspoken agreement, Marielle and Gordy avoided each other at work on Monday. They knew they would have to work together, but it was just too soon. For his part, Gordy accomplished almost nothing that morning. Just before noon, he received a phone call that surprised him. After the greetings, the caller said "I am the head of Human Resources for RCS International. We have several engineering positions to fill and you were recommended by someone on our staff who attended college with you. When could we talk in some detail about the position, the compensation, and our company?" At took Gordy several seconds to absorb this unprecedented event in his experience. On top of his general upset because of the breakup with Marielle, this was not a welcome intrusion. His first identifiable reaction was anger. Rather quickly, though, it occurred to him that from a career standpoint, being sought was a very good thing. He forced himself into polite mode. "Ma'am, I am flattered that you called me. Please thank my classmate for the recommendation. Right now, though, I am deeply involved with a new company that has great potential. I am the lead engineer on a critical new product, and there is no way I could leave until it is approved for sale." "Mr. Alford, we are prepared to offer you substantially more money than you are making now." "I suppose I should be offended that you were able to find out my compensation in a private company. All I will say, though, is that it does not really matter. I have committed to seeing this through. I would not be a credible professional if I abandoned the product just for more money. Even more than that, I could not live with myself. I am just not wired that way. So, thank you again for the call, but there is zero chance that I would leave Medi-Vanced in the near future." ------- "You mean you never even got around to talking money?" Peter almost shouted at the woman who tried to recruit Gordy. "He cut me off very politely but very firmly. Mr. Gilson, I have to say that I wish we had many more employees with his attitude on our staff." Frances had heard the short conversation on speakerphone. When it ended, she said "Peter, just buy the company and have him fired." Having said, it, she wanted in the worst way to take it back. It was an idea fraught with danger. "Off course, that is a ridiculously extreme way to handle it," she backpedaled. "No, it's not. I'll do it." Frances was both surprised and concerned at her husband's vehemence. All she could figure out is that the insulting reference to Peter from Alford to the lawyer had turned Peter into Alford's bitter enemy. Peter had indeed bristled when the lawyer had fearfully related the 'asshole' comment. "But what if his firing hurts the company?" Frances cautioned. "I don't see how it could matter," Peter declared. ------- Chapter 2 Tuesday was another day of dodging Marielle and accomplishing only slightly more than Monday's meager output. Wednesday morning, he was pondering how to handle the first interaction with Marielle as he approached the company's entrance. He was brought up short by a hand on his chest. "Gordy, I'm terribly sorry, but you have to wait here." It was Cal, the head of company security. Another member of the security staff was right behind him holding a box. Within a minute, the head of HR and Gretchen Kohen came through the door, apparently summoned when he was first sighted. "Gordy, this is just awful!" Gretchen said, hugging him and sniffling. "A majority stake in the company was purchased yesterday afternoon. The new owner specifically ordered that you be let go." When Gretchen released her hug, the HR head handed him an envelope, his hand shaking, saying it was outstanding pay, vacation pay, and severence. It took several seconds before Gordy could speak, but his mind was ahead of his speech. With a cynical smile, he addressed the HR head. "Tell Mr. Gilson that it's a double joke on him. The relationship between Marielle and I, whatever it was, ended on Sunday. He didn't have to pay me off, buy the company and fire me, or anything. How the hell does he make so much money when he doesn't pay attention?" "Oh, and the other joke; since he broke my employment contract, the non-disclosure and non-compete clauses are voided. Sadly, I'm sure he doesn't give a shit about the company, anyway, but tell him." As Gordy took the box of his personal effects and turned away, he looked up and saw a horrified Marielle in the window above the entrance. ------- Marielle's shoulders slumped when she looked through the peep hole of the hotel suite and saw her mother in the hall. She had known it was only a matter of time until Frances Gilson located her. Actually, Marielle had not taken any extraordinary measures to remain hidden. She just wanted to be sure that her parents knew that she was avoiding them. After seeing Gordy sent away from the company that Wednesday morning, Marielle had sought out Gretchen and heard the whole story. She had one question, though: "What did Gordy mean by 'pay me off'?" "I don't know any more than you do, I'm afraid," Gretchen had lamented. "We're all in the dark. Would your father really buy a whole company just to get rid of someone you were involved with?" Marielle had just shrugged and gestured toward the nearby freeway. "This is unbelievable! They didn't have to fire Gordy. They must have known that as soon as they bought the company, I would leave. Consider this my resignation." That had been over a week ago. Since then, Marielle had not answered her phone unless she could see for sure that it was not her mother or her father. She doubted that her father would actually contact her directly, but she did not want to take that chance for a while. Well, her 'recovery period' was over, and it had helped her a lot. A confrontation with her mother was never something to be looked forward to, but now, she felt more confident and at peace than she ever had. She opened the door, but stood in the center, clearly denying admittance. She offered no greeting, just waited. Frances recognized the game instantly. Mother and daughter stood motionless and silent for a full minute before Marielle gave a very slight nod and began to move back. Thinking that she had scored the inevitable little victory, Frances began to smile and changed her grip on her purse, only to be stunned by the door being closed before she could move forward. 'Well, girl, you have definitely declared war, now', Marielle said to herself as she leaned back against the door. Rather than upset, though, she felt greatly relieved. It was as if her whole life had been pointing toward this moment. It was a 'declaration of independence' that she had put off and put off for years and years. Peter and Frances Gilson had not been bad parents in any specific way, except for their very firm expectations for her. By and large, Marielle had acquiesced through her teen years. It was a fairy-tale life, after all. Her choice of engineering for her undergrad degree was the first significant 'rebellion', but that had been followed by absolute refusal of any more arranged dates. The parade of distant cousins and sons of business associates or society page regulars had almost driven her to lesbianism. There was not a single one that she wanted a second date with. Two of the dates that were much older had ended very badly when she refused to go to bed with the men. Now, Marielle was not at all averse to sex, and she had not been a virgin since sixteen. She still thought often of a college boy who was doing pool maintenance as a summer job and serviced the Gilsons' pool complex. They had managed five times together, and fortunately, those trysts had left her with a very positive attitude toward sex. On the bad side, all through college and her legal career, she had not found a man who could bring back that early joyful sex. Her instincts told her that Gordy could be that man, but now, she would probably never know. All of those thoughts ran through Marielle's mind as she leaned against the hotel room door. Her musings were interrupted by renewed knocking on the door. That was a very surprising development. She had to think hard about her feelings toward her mother before her next move. It was not until she entered the work force that she began to encounter young women who were extremely close to their mothers. The first time a mother of a colleague dropped into the office and she saw the two giggling together over a risque purchase, it literally brought tears to Marielle's eyes. Of course, she had seen such relationships portrayed in movies and on TV, but she had had no reason to believe they were anything but fiction. Being thoughtful and intelligent, Marielle believed she had a realistic picture of what her mother was like. The single important goal in Frances' life was to retain and properly fill the role she had won as the wife of American 'royalty'. That meant that her total focus must be on the satisfaction of her 'nobleman' husband. Naturally, then, Frances's child must be made to focus on Peter's satisfaction, as well. If he became unhappy about Marielle's life, it could conceivably endanger Frances's position. A divorce would leave Frances very wealthy, but she would no longer have the power and influence that she truly desired. Thus, 'managing' Marielle was important to Frances's own success. Marielle knew that she had inherited much from her mother. Not the least was her intelligence and perceptiveness. Frances was adept at 'plugging the holes' in Peter's abilities. As far as Marielle could tell, her mother's position was secure because Peter both acknowledged and valued what Frances brought to the partnership. When she was a young teen, in the midst of her most idealistically romantic years, Marielle had wasted a lot of time wondering if there was real love between her parents. There was one aunt who was the 'most human' of all the extended family, and with whom Marielle shared more than with any other person. When Marielle was fourteen, the aunt had told her something profound. "Don't look for love between your parents as you see it in your fantasies. Someday, if you are very fortunate, you may find that dream love for yourself. I suspect that love as your parents see it does not much resemble what you dream of. Just keep this in mind; love as they see it is real to them and satisfying to them. If they have found love as they see it, let that be enough for them. Just don't let it change what your heart seeks." That was heavy stuff, but Marielle had understood it completely. The problem that she faced in that hotel room, with her mother seeking admittance a second time, centered on those different perceptions of love. How could she once and for all make her mother understand that she could not accept for herself what Frances had 'settled for'? How could she do that without denigrating her mother's perception of love? Well, the first step had to be letting her mother in, so this time, she opened the door, turned her back, and strode toward the seating area. She was already seated, still having not said a word, when Frances sat and challenged "Is this all a show of independence from your family?" Marielle knew that her face flushed with anger. She could not prevent it, and Frances undoubtedly caught it and it probably said more than many, many words. Still, the words popped from her mouth without much thought. "I want a life that is mine, not one that you have constructed for me." "I don't understand what is so bad about what we want for you," Frances complained, some exasperation showing through her normally unruffled demeanor. "No, Mother, you definitely do not understand. You do not see that there can be other kinds of relationships than the one between you and Father." "But out of all of the men I have set you up with, certainly some must be acceptable." "None. They are all men that you would find suitable, but I do not." "How can that be?" Frances was not trying to hide the frustration any longer. "You chose a man that you could mold into what you wanted him to be," Marielle said carefully. "I want a man that I can love and respect for what he is at heart. Can you honestly tell me that you have ever felt a deep respect for Father?" Frances never gaped. Never until just then, at least. This child of hers was much more dangerously perceptive than she had realized. She dared not respond to that question. "But your Mr. Alford had already rejected you because of your wealth." "Yes, and you made certain that I had no chance to try to change his mind," Marielle retorted in an undisguised snarl. "If you had bothered to find that out, you would not have had to do that insane move of buying a whole fucking company to show that you controlled me." The fact that Marielle was nearly shouting at the end and the insertion of the 'f' word had a huge impact on Frances. Any doubt that her daughter was speaking from deep conviction was erased at that moment. Of course, she could not acknowledge the impact of Marielle's outburst, so she composed herself and diverted the conversation. "If he really cared about you, the firing would make no difference," Frances said quickly. "He must know you had nothing to do with it." "He must feel that arrogant manipulation of people is hereditary," Marielle countered. "But ... but he's just a..." Now, inexplicably, Frances was stammering. "A human being, Mother. A very exemplary human being. The kind of person the world needs a lot more of. The world would be much better off with many more like Gordy and many less like Father." Once again, Frances was left without a meaningful reply. She could not recall when Marielle had attacked Peter as directly. "With the attitudes you have, Marielle, how will you ever take over all of our assets when we are gone?" "I won't. If Father does not disown me before he dies, I will just parcel out all the pieces as carefully as I can." None of their family battles had ever resulted in a threat like that. "Wh ... why would you say something so terrible?" Frances moaned. "Because I want to be certain that I never turn out like Father. He ruined a very nice company just to spank my hand. He messed up the careers of some very fine people for his own petty reasons." "The company is not ruined," Frances protested. "He has helped many companies succeed. He knows what he is doing." "Medi-Vanced is dependent on a few key people. He fired one of them and the others will all find new positions soon. Even if the others stayed, Gordy was critical to one of our key products. At a minimum, his loss will delay FDA approval. Pushing that needed revenue back will definitely threaten the company's future. My departure will also impact the FDA approval, just not as much." Choosing to defer comment on the news of Marielle's resignation, Frances asked "Why would the others want to leave? Surely, the loss of one engineer can't ruin their future." "Everyone knows why the company was purchased. They will never believe that Father has any serious interest in making it succeed. It will just become a nice tax write-off." The flash of guilt on Frances's face was brief, but unmistakable. Marielle snapped "Oops! Wrong villain. Does Father even know that you did it?" "I don't control the money to do something like that." "Then you took quite a risk, Mother? What if that is the one thing that starts him wondering if he really has the right wife for him? Is it really that important for me to marry who you choose?" "Do you really see your parents' relationship as that shallow?" Frances fired back in near panic. "Absolutely. That is why I am so determined not to have a marriage like yours." Marielle knew that she was being cruel, but what had been done to Gordy was unforgivable. She took a deep breath to keep the revenge lust from getting any stronger. "Per ... perhaps firing Mr. Alford was unwise," Frances said softly. "I had no way to know that others would react so negatively. We can rehire him." "See!" Marielle was nearly shouting again. "You only think it was wrong because it had unexpected negative consequences to you! You have no conscience! You do not understand that it was a wrong thing to do no matter what the consequences!" It pleased Marielle to see Frances wince just a little. Taking a few breaths to calm herself, she went on. "He won't come back as long as you own the company. I can guarantee that," Marielle said firmly. "How can you know that? Good engineering jobs cannot be that plentiful." "Believe it or not, there are people who value other things over money." A very subdued Frances left the hotel to be picked up by her chauffeur out front. Her daughter's warning had frightened her badly. She had suggested buying the company almost as a joke. It had always been her role to make sure that Peter did not do such things. She had kept him from numerous negative situations, or at least earned a never-spoken 'I told you so' on others. Now, she had inadvertently pushed him into a move that could only end badly. Instinctively, she knew that she could not afford one big mistake. She was still a very beautiful woman, but she could not compete with the hordes of twenty-something centerfold candidates who would drop panties at a hint of the Gilson fortune. Peter had quite eagerly jumped on her off-hand suggestion to buy Medi-Vanced. Despite her immediate cautions, if it fell apart, he would remember that she suggested it. Marielle had been frighteningly correct. What could she do to try to reverse the damage done? ------- Randall Jensen was still in shock. Medi-Vanced was his baby. He had worked for nine years to build it to where it was today - on the threshold of being a major player in the field of high-tech medical equipment. It had cost him his marriage and only an all-out effort to change his habits had prevented some serious heart problems. The last week since the surprise buyout had been surreal, to say the least. Peter Gilson had turned Randall's dream into a joke, all to chase away his daughter's boyfriend. Ever since the buyout and the firing of Gordy Alford, Mark Fine had been trying to reach Randall. Mark was the head of the VC group that had held the largest share of Medi-Vanced, other than Randall's share, that is. Randall had ignored the calls, afraid that he would not be able to control his anger. Feeling genuinely distraught about what he had inadvertently caused to happen, Mark had come to see Randall in person, unannounced. The timing was awful, since Mark arrived just before Randall's scheduled meeting with Mrs. Frances Gilson, wife of the new majority owner. Eileen Vasquez had been Randall's admin assistant from the very beginning, and she was at least as upset as was her boss. Forgoing the usual offer of drinks for her boss and his visitor, she instead walked into Randall's office and surreptitiously pressed the intercom button. She desperately wanted to hear the conversation that was about to happen. As she returned to her desk, she was dismayed to see Mrs. Gilson approaching, several minutes early. Pushing the intercom button had been done so Randall had not noticed. Did she dare return to his office and turn it off? Trying to keep a courteous face as she turned to greet Mrs. Gilson, it suddenly occurred to her that it would serve the bitch right to hear what people really thought of her and what she had caused. Frances could not avoid a startled look as the first words from Randall's office came over the intercom. Eileen could not avoid a satisfied smirk. Randall could not bring himself to rise and shake Mark's hand. Instead, he just sat behind his desk and stared glumly. Mark was only taken aback for a moment. "Randall, try to look at it from my viewpoint. It was Peter fucking Gilson making the offer, for Christ's sake. I honestly thought I was doing you a favor while we made some quick money. Tell me; how many failures of Gilson companies can you name?" "Yeah, I know," Randall said with a sigh. "It should have been a big PR boost for us." "Why can't it still be?" Mark demanded. "What good is PR if I don't have a company left?" Randall snarled. "One engineer, no matter how good, can't ruin your company." "No, but after twenty or twenty-five percent of my top people find other jobs, I'll be ruined." "Other people got fired, too?" Mark asked in amazement. "No. They want to leave. They see that what we've worked so hard to build has been turned into nothing but a paddle for some arrogant rich bitch to spank her daughter with. Did you ever meet Gordy?" "A couple of times," Mark answered. "Well, he's the kind of employee you dream about for a startup. He bought into the dream. Literally everyone looked up to him." "He was that good, huh?" "Absolutely." Randall said firmly. "And they were two great people who deserved each other. Hard to imagine how a couple of assholes like the Gilsons could produce a gem like Marielle." Mark just shook his head. "Randall, you have to believe I had no inkling they would do something like this. I mean, shit like this is beyond even the soap operas!" "Oh, I believe you. Doesn't do anything to salvage what I risked everything for, though." "I've talked to some of the other VC's," Mark said. "You're still the man. We're sure willing to try it again." Randall shook his head sadly. "I lost my marriage, what little wealth I had, and came close to checking out from overwork and neglect. I don't have another run in me, Mark. Besides, can you imagine the legal mess over patents and employment contracts and everything." "I guess you're right. 'Sorry' isn't much, Randall, but it's all I can say." "And when you leave, I've somehow got to act civil to the bitch who turned my dream into a joke. And she didn't even do it for money!" Randall did manage to get up and shake Mark's hand. Mark was barely out the door when Eileen showed Frances Gilson in. For her part, Frances was torn between anger and chagrin at what she had heard. Looking pointedly at Randall to make sure he understood the significance, Eileen reached over and turned off the intercom button. Randall's eyes widened and his face flushed briefly. Then, he just let out a sigh and faced Frances. "I believe there are now fewer things that need to be discussed. I can have my resignation typed up before you leave," he said grimly. The angry part of Frances wanted exactly that. The rational part, however, realized that Randall's departure would be the final blow that would make their purchase nothing but a write-down. "Mr. Jensen, the reason I am here is to see what can be done to keep the company viable and successful. I will admit that having Mr. Alford fired was precipitous and unwise. What will it take to keep that from ruining the company?" Still standing, Randall responded. "The only sure thing is to get both Gordy and Marielle back. They are the approval team on our most important new product. Their departure will cost us several months, at least, in getting approvals done and revenue flowing. Unfortunately, getting them back is most likely impossible." "Impossible? Why?" While trying to formulate a diplomatic response, he mentally threw up his hands and just went with what he was thinking. "Apparently, Mrs. Gilson, you are not used to dealing with people who hold strong convictions." If she had not already absorbed several gut punches to her ego, that would have enraged Frances. As it was, she shrugged it off and told Randall. "Regardless of what people think, Peter did not buy this company to see it fail. He is used to seeing his investments pay off. What do we have to do to see that this one pays off?" "About all I can do, Mrs. Gilson, is relay that message to the people who are seeking to leave. As far as your daughter and Gordy are concerned, you created the mess. If it is to be straightened out, you will have to do it." ------- Assuming that it would be Marielle ringing his doorbell, Gordy was very tempted not to respond. When the woman he saw through the peep hole was not Marielle, he looked quickly around the apartment to assess its cleanliness, put on his courteous face, and opened the door. It was not obvious from the distorted view through the door, but when he opened it, Gordy had no doubt that he was facing Marielle's mother. Frances must have wondered why she was seeing so many angry flushes lately. It was not something that she was used to. "Come in, Mrs. Gilson," he said when he had tamped down the anger a bit. After they were seated and she had refused his offer of something to drink, Gordy asked "What brings you here, Mrs. Gilson?" Frances was immediately impressed with the way he had phrased the question. She had rather expected 'Why are you here?', or even 'What the hell are you doing here?'. She had her own piece to say, though. "First of all, I want to apologize for the very unwise way that we engineered your dismissal. I have been assured that it will do no good, but if you wish to return to your position, you are welcome to do so." "I assume the Gilsons will retain ownership," was his only answer. "We bought out the majority shares held by the venture capitalists, paying a premium, I might add. There is no way they would care to rescind the transaction, I'm afraid." "Then you were assured correctly." "It has been pointed out that your dismissal could prompt other key people to leave, thus seriously damaging the company's potential for success," Frances pointed out. He could not resist. "Isn't that just too bad? Another tax write-off for the Gilsons." "But what of the careers of your friends and co-workers at the company?" she tried. "Oh, please! When has that kind of consideration ever entered into anything the Gilsons did?" "Mr. Alford, that was unnecessarily harsh." "And your recent actions toward me were not?" he retorted. "We are the major supporters of several charities." "Only because the tax advantages help your balance sheet." Frances just took a deep breath. She was not making any progress. "Is there anything we can do so that you will give Marielle a chance at a relationship with you despite her wealth?" "Just you coming here and asking that makes it even less likely than it already was," he shot back. "Why are you so antagonistic?" "If you knew anything at all about me, you would not have to ask." Saying that, Gordy stood up. "Mrs. Gilson, if we talk any longer, I am afraid that I will say things that should not be said. I have already been much less than courteous." Frances stood up and moved toward the door. As he opened it for her, she turned and said to him "One thing you should know. We have done all of these unwise things because Marielle is not at all like us, and we just don't know how to deal with that fact." ------- Gordy could not sleep that night. The first thing in the morning, he called and left a message for Gretchen Cohen. She called back within a half hour. "Gretchen, is it true that several key people are looking for other jobs?" "I'm one of them," was her answer. "Why? My departure can't be that destructive." "This is a startup, Gordy. Teamwork, belief in a goal, and willingness to stick it out are critical to success - to survival as a company. Ownership that will use the company for personal reasons does not fit what is needed for success. We all know that. I would characterize it as somewhat of a stampede. There is even talk of several of us joining to form a whole new startup." "Where would you get the money?" "The original VCs only sold out because of the rather ridiculous premium the Gilsons paid. They want to do it again." "But the waste! Gretchen, don't let that happen." "Gordy, I don't think there is any way to stop it. If it was possible, you are the only one who could." "Me?" "Of course. Your return would be a sign that you believed we could survive despite the Gilsons. Remember, Peter Gilson has quite a track record." "Shit!" "I can't imagine how that makes you feel. Give in to the Gilsons to save the company. That's tough." ------- That conversation caused Gordy to get out the bottle, again. At his first sip, though, he realized how stupid that was and he hurried to the sink to spit it out. For the next few hours, he mostly just paced the limited space in his apartment. Finally, he worked out a compromise he could live with. He got along well enough with the head of HR, but Gretchen was the one executive he was really close to. She was the one he called. "Gretchen, people there have to realize that there is no way I can purposely work toward enriching the Gilsons after what they did. At the same time, I am dismayed that other people want to bail out because of what they did to me. I cannot live with myself if it kills the whole company. Here is the best I can do. I will agree to contract with Medi-Vanced under some non-negotiable conditions. "First of all, I will work only toward gaining approval for Tru-Pulse and seeing it available for sale. In addition, I will help as needed in getting another engineer up to speed. "Second, the rest of the staff has to agree to stay, at least the management and key technical people. If anyone bails out, I'm done." "Gordy, that's pretty severe," Gretchen objected. "Why would you demand that?" "I know it's severe, Gretchen. People have to realize how much I am going against my beliefs and feelings to keep the company from failing. If they can't show the same level of commitment, why should I bother?" "Well, speaking for myself, I can commit," she said. "Are there more conditions?" "Just one. While I am under contract, the Gilsons' ownership must be completely blind. One little indication of any kind of interference from them and I'm done. They are not even to attend board or stockholder meetings." "I have no idea if we can get them to agree," Gretchen said. "Why didn't you call Randall with this?" "I would guess that he is pretty much a mess, right now. He has the most to lose of anyone. You're the management person I'm closest to. Sorry." "No. No, Gordy. I'm just grateful that you're willing to compromise that much. I can imagine how difficult it must be." "No offense, Gretchen, but I don't think you CAN imagine." No one in the company knew the true story of Gordy's past. She let his last statement pass. "Gordy, if we're going to get back on track for approval, we may have to work something out with Marielle. Can you work with her?" "Of course I can, Gretchen. I don't dislike Marielle. Quite the opposite. I just can't pursue a closer relationship with her." ------- Before she went any farther with passing on Gordy's proposal, Gretchen got ahold of Marielle. She explained what Gordy was going to do and asked Marielle if she could make a similar arrangement. "Gretchen, just get Boz to handle the approval," was Marielle's response. Emil (Boz) Bosworth was the head of the company's small compliance team and Marielle's former boss. "It's always a positive thing with the FDA when someone higher level gets involved. Besides, we're working with all males from the FDA end." "I hate to think that the male bit makes any difference," Gretchen mused, "but reality is reality. Boz won't be happy, but what you say makes sense. Honey, is it because you want to be away from Gordy?" "I can't deny that, but I just can't be involved with my parents in any way. I guess if my involvement was as critical as Gordy's, I might look at it differently, but we won't lose anything with the FDA." Gretchen knew that was the best she would get for an answer. As soon as she got off the phone with Marielle, Gretchen called Randall and told, rather than asked, him to get HR and Boz into his office. Telling Randall that she had gotten a proposal from Gordy did the trick. It took only a few minutes to lay out Gordy's conditions. Randall's immediate objection was "How am I supposed to get that kind of a promise from the rest of the team?" "Come on, Randall," Gretchen chided. "You've been the one selling the dream all along. Just do it one more time. There's too much at stake not to sell it." "You're right. I've got to get out of this 'poor me' mode. What about the Gilsons?" "'Fraid that's up to you, too," Gretchen said. "You're the only one with any contact." "What if they refuse?" "Then I'll see you at a convention somewhere, sometime." "Probably not," Randall grumped. "I think I'd just sign on a freighter or something." "The Gilsons have everything to gain and nothing to lose," Boz interjected. "Why wouldn't they go along?" "They should, if they're rational about it," Gretchen agreed. "In light of previous actions, their rationality is debatable," the HR head commented. Randall countered that. "I got the sense that Mrs. Gilson has learned a very painful lesson. 'Desperate' would not be an inaccurate description of her attitude when she came here." "It's my guess that she has just lost her daughter," Gretchen observed. "We'll probably miss her a lot more than the Gilsons will, though." "Tell you what," Randall said. "I'm just going to tell her what is going to happen. I will not ask. I will also explain that Gordy will absolutely disappear if they do not comply." "Serves her right," or similar comments came from the others. ------- Frances did not even bother to enforce the obligatory wait to which less important people were usually subjected. When she got word from her assistant about Randall's call, she called him back immediately. Randall had been cranking himself up for the phone encounter. "Mrs. Gilson, we may yet be able to save the company. Here's what's going to happen. Gordy Alford will work as an independent contractor, strictly on Tru-Pulse." "What is Tru-Pulse?" Letting out an audible sigh of exasperation, Randall explained. "He will continue until either Tru-Pulse is cleared for general sale or I decide that he has been adequately replaced." "That is good news, Mr. Jensen. How did you manage that?" "Gordy is doing it for the good people here who are his friends, in spite of the fact that it will benefit you. He has set some pretty strong conditions, though." Hearing nothing from the other end, Randall went on. "First of all, I have to get agreement from the other key people not to leave." "Can you do that?" she asked. "Gretchen - Dr. Cohen - has already agreed." "Who is Dr. Cohen?" "Can you see, Mrs. Gilson, why people here have no confidence that you will treat Medi-Vanced seriously? You own a majority share of the company, but you know nothing about the key people or the products. Dr. Gretchen Cohen, M.D., is head of cardiac products. I would say that her influence on the staff exceeds my own." "That is quite an admission." Stifling the 'sermon' he wanted to deliver, Randall continued. "There is one other condition upon which it all depends. The Gilsons will remain completely invisible until Gordy's involvement ends." "What do you mean by invisible?" "You or your agents will not attend any board or stockholder meetings. You or your agents will not communicate with anyone here at the company. You will not increase your ownership position in the company." Randall had added that last on his own. "Mr. Jensen, that is not the way Gilson companies are treated." "Either treat this one that way or take the write-off. If Gordy gets any inkling that these conditions are violated, he'll walk, guaranteed. Then, we'll be right back where we are now." "If I understand you, if some key people leave, we'll be there anyway, and it won't be our fault," she objected. "Don't forget; all of this crisis is your fault. The way I will keep my key people from leaving is to convince them that you will leave us alone to succeed. If they find out that you won't, they will walk." Frances was silent for a bit, then asked "So the eventual loss of Alford won't cripple you?" "It will hurt us," he answered. "We will probably not find anyone quite as good. The critical thing for now, though, is to keep Tru-Pulse on track. We need the sales revenue. The longer it is pushed off, the more it will hurt." "Will Marielle's departure hurt?" "It always hurts to lose a top-notch employee. We have to cover by having her boss handle the FDA process. Putting in someone of higher rank makes a good impression on them. That will hurt some other projects, but Tru-Pulse is critical." Every time she had contact with anyone from Medi-Vanced, it seemed like the impact of what they had done got worse and worse. If Peter had set out on purpose to ruin the company, he could hardly have picked a better person to force out than Alford. How were they to know that? As soon as she had asked herself the question, the answer was obvious. They did not need to know that. What they did was totally stupid and manipulative. "You will not know that the Gilsons have anything to do with the company," she promised, then hung up. She could not handle any more of the guilt and regret that seemed to increase with every minute of conversation. She so badly wanted to ask if anyone knew where Marielle was, but that would have to wait. ------- Not completely insensitive to his wife's moods, Peter Gilson asked at dinner "Did something go wrong with Medi-Vanced today?" "No. Alford is back to work, at least temporarily, and there seem to be no other looming defections," she told him. "Were other employees really looking to leave?" he queried. "Oh, yes. I talked with the head of Human Resources. The company was about to be gutted." "Then it's a good job you were able to turn Alford around. Did you have to pay him?" Frances laughed mirthlessly. "If I had tried that, he would have been gone for sure." "Really? That's surprising. He seems a strange sort. You said temporarily?" "He will only work as a contractor. He will work only until the key product is approved for sale or he is adequately replaced." Frances explained. "He will disappear if we have anything to do with the company while he is still there." She went on to explain the conditions in some detail. "Have you any idea why he would do that?" "He cannot stand to work for us," Frances said firmly. "He only went back because he cared about his co-workers." "And you believe he meant that?" "I'm sure he did." "A very, very strange fellow, indeed. It's good that there is no longer anything between him and Marielle. By the way, it has been some time since we've seen her." "I'm afraid it could be an even longer time," Frances warned. "Our attempted interventions seem to have unearthed an unexpectedly strong independent streak in her." Putting his coffee cup down, Peter said seriously "I just don't understand that girl." "No, Dear, I'm afraid neither of us understand her. She has some, uh, values that are distressingly different from ours. I'm afraid I have been guilty of writing them off as girlish dreams and romantic fantasies. It is becoming clear that they are actually strong convictions that she is building her life around." "I never thought she would be so ungrateful," Peter complained. "It's not being ungrateful. She just sees things in a different way. I guess some of it is the generation gap." "And she is really that upset about losing Alford?" "Yes, she definitely is. She is even more upset about what we did to separate them. It also brought a lot of other things to a head," Frances explained. "But I thought you got some impressive young men lined up for her," Peter complimented, "That is what I thought. She did not see them that way, at all." "Do we need to put some pressure on her? Threaten to cut her off, or something?" "She would just walk away. Her trust provides a very nice income, after all." "You can't be serious." "Let me tell you what she said, Peter." Frances recounted Marielle's statement about giving away all of the assets and ownership upon their death. Fortunately, though it upset him, it did not cause him to make threats. Perhaps he thought it through enough to realize that if she did not value the estate, there was no meaningful threat that he could use. He seemed genuinely sad. "What do you think we should do?" he asked dispiritedly. "Frankly, Dear, I am afraid to do anything. It all seems to backfire," she warned. He did not miss the seriousness of that admission. His wife ALWAYS had an idea what to do. "Is there any risk of Medi-Vanced embarrassing us?" "It seemed to be on track for success when we bought it," she assured him. "It should be back on track, now." "Even with Alford leaving later?" "By then, the others should be convinced that we won't interfere," she reasoned. "Is there a chance Marielle could get back together with Alford?" he asked in a sudden change of topic. "I would have said definitely not," she stated. "However, I thought he would never go back to the company, either. Would you consider it good or bad if she did?" "If you are confused about her, think how I feel," he complained. ------- "Come on, Gordy. I want the whole story, with all of the juicy details." Having not seen him for some time, Cheri had left hubby to take care of the kids for the weekend and had flown to spend it with her brother. With all of her questions, they talked for almost two hours. When conversation died down, Cheri said "You screwed up big time, Hon." "How?" "You walked away from the woman who is just what you are looking for." "No way. She's a spoiled rich kid." "Oh. In what ways did she act spoiled?" "Well, I certainly can't afford the kind of things she has," he protested. "I haven't met her, Hon. It's just that from everything you say, she's a wonderful woman. She's not at all what you expect from a family with that much money." "Her parents are exactly what I expect." "Tell me: did you think Mrs. Gilson was serious when she said Marielle was not at all like them?" With a sigh, he admitted "Yeah. I think it was distressing her a lot." On a previous visit, Cheri had met and instantly liked Gretchen Cohen. Gretchen had given Cheri her card. Feigning the need to do some shopping, Cheri went out Saturday morning and immediately called Gretchen. After the two spent some time getting into a matchmaking frenzy, Cheri got Marielle's phone number. Gretchen insisted that Cheri come to her house to make the call to Marielle, and it was a wise move. Marielle answered and Cheri immediately told said "Hello, Miss Gilson. As you can tell, this is not Gretchen, but I am calling with her permission and encouragement. My name is Cheri Hubbard, and I am Gordy Alford's sister. Please don't hang up quite yet. "I know he hurt you, and for nothing that you did wrong. Believe me, I have been all over him about that. Right now, you are probably struggling to forget about him, but believe it or not, he is doing the same. That's stupid. "If you would allow me, I would like to tell you a story - a very sad, very tragic story. It is my hope that I can get him to come back to you. If so, this story could help you be more receptive, despite how he treated you. If you two never get back together, perhaps some understanding of his motivation will ease your emotional distress. Will you listen to the story? Gretchen would like to hear it, also. You would rather come here? By all means." Gretchen hardly let Marielle through the door before she wrapped her in a hug and the two shed some tears. After introductions, Cheri told the story. None of the women escaped crying, and none had dry eyes for any significant time. "So you see, Marielle, with Gordy, it's more than simple prejudice. I'm not saying it's right, but I hope it is more understandable," Cheri finished. "Do you think you can get him to call me? I don't think I should," Marielle pled. "One sure way is to come back to work," Gretchen interrupted. "I made them sit on your resignation letter." "You did?" "You needed a leave, not to quit. Everyone understood that." "I'm sorry, Gretchen, but I can't. This is the perfect time to distance myself from my parents. Working there, I will always feel that they have some hold on me." "I was pretty sure that's what you would say. You can't believe how much you will be missed." "And I will miss the company and the people. It was so exciting to be part of something with so much potential, so much promise," Marielle said through a fresh round of tears. "It's not enough, though. The wounds are too deep." Gretchen took a big chance. "Gordy's wounds are awfully deep, too." "But the company can survive without me. Without him, it can't." Gretchen could only sigh rather dramatically. "Will you at least keep in touch with me?" "Gretchen, you know you are more like a mother than my own mother. Of course I'll keep in touch. I suspect I am not done needing a shoulder to cry on." As Marielle walked out the door, Cheri assured her "I have some leverage on Gordy," Cheri claimed. "I'll try hard to get him to call. I think he really wants to." ------- Gordy called, but it did not lead to a reconciliation. He talked with Marielle for quite a while, and they both shed tears. "Marielle," he said in one of the back and forth sessions, "I could not live knowing your parents wanted so badly for us to be separated. Worse yet, they have all of the resources in the world to do things to break us apart. That is no way to live." "Oh, I don't think they would actively try anything if we were to marry," she objected. "Tell me honestly," he argued. "What evidence do you have to say that?" As she had on several other points of his, she answered only with silence and sniffles. ------- Chapter 3 With constant urging from Gordy, Randall found a very good engineer who was able to replace Gordy after eight months. The final five months before approval probably did not suffer from Gordy's abscence. At first, Gordy had been tempted to contact the HR person who had called him out of the blue. First, though, he investigated that company's ownership. Obviously, he never called. While still contracting with Medi-Vanced, Gordy was contacted by another medical firm, but one with no products directly competing with Medi-Vanced. In the gaps between FDA sessions and clinical trials, Gordy made several multi-day visits to the new company. When he was replaced on Tru-Pulse, he signed on as a full-time contractor. He also moved twelve hundred miles away. Gordy did not date at all. Before the attempted payoff by the Gilsons, Marielle had substantially overcome his wariness of romantic involvement. The painful breakup with her not only reversed the progress but deepened his mistrust of romance. Marielle had no more interest in romance than did Gordy. The revelation of Gordy's tragic past gave her a rational reason for his turning away from her. The problem was that rationality is no cure for lonely sleepless nights. Nor does it provide for any soul to soul sharing. She was off-kilter as far as a career. For the first time in her life, she was actually embarrassed by and disgusted with her wealth and its affect on other people. Perhaps searching for some sort of redemption, she volunteered full-time at a legal aid office. Never a profligate spender, the money she had always received from her parents was a barely noticeable trickle to them. After the breakup, she refused to accept anything from them. For the first time, she began to draw from the very generous trust set up by her grandfather. Thousands of times, she debated whether she had been wrong not to make her parentage public at Medi-Vanced. Given what she knew about Gordy's past, she was certain that even their working relationship would have been frosty if he had known. His accusation of deception, though, hurt her badly. She made no attempt at contact with her parents. Every few months, Frances would try to set something up, but Marielle always refused forcefully. The aunt with whom she had been close was her only family contact. From her frequent contacts with Gretchen Cohen, she got the same message as from her aunt: she should talk to her parents. "Gretchen, I just can't. When I even think of them, I feel the pain of what they stole from me." Gretchen kept giving the same response. "Honey, the odds of a relationship with Gordy were always heavily against you." "But I deserved the chance to try. If he had fallen in love with me, he could have changed." "I believe he was in love with you, Marielle - probably still is. It didn't help. Sad to say, Gordy will probably never be your husband. Your parents will always be your parents." "So what? Except for genetics, what value have they been in my life? And don't say money. That's more of a curse than a value." Gretchen was convinced that Marielle actually believed that. If she could rerun her life, Marielle would have preferred to struggle on her own to get her law degree. In her mind, her wealth had cost her more of significance than it had given her. The same 'discussion' had been rerun numerous times. Marielle seemed to need Gretchen to tell her the same truths. She also seemed to need to repeat her counter arguments. ------- Even after Gordy left, the Gilsons continued their 'blind' ownership. Medi-Vanced had come to represent the estrangement of their daughter. When sales of Tru-Pulse took off, the market seemed receptive to an IPO. Through their broker, they agreed to sell enough to Randall so he held the majority of the shares. Randall needed massive financing, but the meteoric rise of the stock nearly covered his indebtedness in a matter of months. The Gilsons still made plenty on the shares they did not sell to Randall. The sale to Randall was completely unprecedented and unnecessary. Although Gordy, and probably Marielle would never believe it, it was an act of contrition. There was no way they could repair the damage they had done to their daughter and her heart-throb. They had toyed with Randall's dream - almost his life's work, though. From anger at what she had heard waiting outside Randall's office that day, Frances more and more felt regret that so many people saw her as a thoughtless, arrogant bitch. She especially regretted that her daughter saw her that way. Eighteen months after the debacle, Frances was sick at heart from Marielle's rejection. Heavy doses of guilt and regret did not help. Always self-satisfied with her management of the family, Frances had needed professional help when it became obvious that Marielle was truly estranged. With every phone call or relayed message having failed, she finally attempted a face-to-face on Marielle's turf. Growing more and more shocked as her limo moved deeper into the poor section of town, Frances was appalled at the run-down building that housed the Legal Aid office. She would never be able to understand why Marielle was doing this. With help from her therapist, though, she was determined not to confront her daughter on anything but the key point. The key point was at least some kind of relationship. Marielle's reaction when Frances entered the crowded bullpen that several volunteers shared was more resignation than anger. She had assumed that her mother would force an encounter at some point. She always assumed that it would be at her apartment, but this would have to do. Because the volunteers spent much of their time talking with clients, there were two questionable-looking side chairs in front of Marielle's shabby desk. Without even a hello, she motioned Frances to a chair. The therapist had counseled Frances on how Marielle might react if accosted, so Frances was not completely surprised. Looking around rather nervously at the half-dozen or more people who were within earshot, Frances determined that she would not beg for privacy. "I've missed you" was the simple, sincere opening she had decided on. Of course, Marielle had played a possible encounter over in her mind countless times. When the situation actually arrived, she could only go with what she felt. "Is it hard without anyone's life to toy with?" The bitterness and anger in Marielle's delivery were almost a physical shock to Frances. "That's ... that's not what I was doing," Frances protested. The therapist had cautioned her to use 'I' - to take responsibility herself. "Yes, it was. You broke your doll and now you're upset because it won't work like it's supposed to." "Marielle, I can't undo what I did. What good will it do to keep apologizing over and over?" "Once would be good," Marielle hissed. "But, I've ... I've..." "The most you ever said to me was that firing Gordy was 'unwise'. You never admitted that it was cruel, inhuman, heartless, and criminal. You never said you were sorry, much less ask for forgiveness. If you tried to say it now after all of this time and suffering, it would be a hollow gesture." Desperate for some kind of comeback, some kind of defense, Frances argued "There is no need for any suffering. You don't have to resort to this." She swept her hand toward the crowded room, only then noticing that it was now empty. "I feel sorry for you, Mother. You will never know the feeling of loving someone so much that there is a physical hurt when they are torn from you." Frances wanted to say that she indeed felt that hurt over the loss of Marielle. She just knew that such an admission would not be received well. Before she could say anything, though, Marielle went on. "Even if Gordy had been the most worthless gold-digger, you had no right to try to drive him away. That you did not take the time find out what a quality person he is just shows your lack of humanity. Gordy is worth ten of the assholes you tried to set me up with." Frances had worked hard at setting up dates with 'appropriate' men. Marielle's criticism of those men always surprised and angered her. She could not restrain herself and demanded "Just what was so wrong with all of them?" "What was wrong? Well, let's see; to start with, they all treated me like a paid escort and a possible trophy. Every one of them assumed we would end the evening in bed. A couple bragged about it afterward, even though it never happened. How about spending the whole evening talking about the frivolous but exciting ways they had squandered their inherited money? How about a constant litany of starlets, cheerleaders, and other notable bimbos they had bedded? How about drinking so much I had to refuse to ride with them? How about having to leave in disgust when they snorted a line of coke? How about blank stares when I tried to make conversation about the day's biggest new stories? How about not one single question about me between the seven of them? How about attitudes as bad as yours and Fathers about the 'little' people? - right out of the middle ages? Is that enough of a litany of what was wrong with your 'A' list of suitors?" Marielle had never talked about those dates afterwards, except to say that she would never go out with that evening's candidate again. If she was telling the truth, Frances had to agree that it had been a pathetic collection. "I had no idea," she murmured. "You didn't even care what they were like, personally," Marielle charged. "All that mattered was that they were the 'right people' and not 'white trash gold diggers'." Frances' urge to win points could not be subdued. "You had no chance with Alford, anyway." "If I had had time to convince him that I was nothing like you, I might have had. You made sure I never had that chance. When you tried to buy him off, you ended my chance." "Why would he react so strongly?" Frances asked. "You still don't know? You drove away the first man I found worth loving. You derailed a promising career of a brilliant engineer. You knew nothing about him then, and you still don't. See, he has no billions or even paltry millions. He just doesn't matter. You have completely lost any humanity you might have had, Mother! There is nothing about you that I want: not your money, not your willingness to do anything to keep your place as a 'royal' wife, certainly not your total insensitivity to other people. Don't you get it? I am trying to erase you and Father from my life. I want to be a real person. Why can't you just leave me alone?" That was far more of a rant than Marielle wanted to allow herself, but it all just poured out when Frances pushed the wrong buttons. Frances's reaction was not to disintegrate in tears. She did feel genuine remorse over what she had done and especially over the consequences. When Marielle attacked her beliefs and her values, though, and Peter's along with hers, Frances became defensive. She had prepared herself to resist showing any anger, and she restrained her outward demeanor. To do that, though, she had to leave rather quickly. "Marielle, your judgment of us is unfairly harsh. I hope you will someday see that we do love you and want the best for you. If our view of the best for you is not the same as yours, it is not because we are bad or 'inhuman' people. Unless you decide to contact us, I will do as you wish and we may never see each other again. If you could find a way to at least let us know what you are doing, I would really appreciate it." Seeing Frances stand to leave, Marielle bit back the hundreds of additional harsh words that fought to be said. Instead, she stood behind her desk, said a curt "Goodbye, Mother", and watched Francis leave. Marielle could not helping wondering if it was truly her last meeting with her mother. Marielle was quite certain that Frances knew about her life on a daily basis. She thought she had noticed a succession of unexplained people ever since the breakup. Her mother's plea for news about her life was simple posturing. In the limo, Frances turned off the sensitive recorder in her purse. Her therapist wanted to hear the conversation. She would get an earful. So far, Frances had refused to admit in social situations that Marielle was estranged from them. According to the therapist, unless there was something hopeful in the conversation, Frances should start telling the truth when asked about Marielle. ------- Part of the compensation for Medi-Vanced employees was company stock. When the stock was issued to the venture capitalists and the principals, a designated block was set aside for employee compensation. Unbeknownst to the Gilsons, Gordy had been allowed to retain his stock. In fact, when his contracting ended, he was quietly given the equivalent of three more years of earned shares. In Randall's mind, it was a very small gesture of apology and regret. Gretchen had lobbied hard for much more. When the IPO occurred, Gordy watched the stock price soar. Somehow, he could not make himself liquidate, even though he accurately sensed the peak price and knew that it might be years before shares ever hit that mark again. It was irrational, but the Gilsons' ownership made the stock seem tainted. As soon as the unloading of the Gilson holdings became public, Gretchen called Gordy. She had kept contact on a regular basis, but she had never mentioned coming back. This time, she not only mentioned it, but begged Gordy to do it. "Two problems, Gretchen. First of all, I can't leave an unfinished project here." "How long?" "Oh, ten to twelve weeks, probably. Second, what if there isn't a spot for me at Medi-Vanced?" "Don't be ridiculous, Gordy! Of course there's a spot. There will always be a spot. You did as much as any engineer to make us all a lot of money. You are still a hero, here. Please, take a weekend and come back to talk to us." "I'll tell you what, Gretchen; if I get that invitation right from Randall, I'll come. Is that OK?" "Bet he'll call within the hour." It was much less than an hour. Randall even had air, hotel, and rental car reservations all arranged when he called. Gretchen met Gordy at the rental car counter Saturday afternoon. He had taken Monday off in order to extend his visit and spend time in the offices, meeting old friends and finding out how things were going. "I took a cab out here," Gretchen said after her nearly embarrassing hug. "You're stuck with getting me home and to our dinner tonight." In the car leaving the airport, Gretchen stopped the light chatter she had kept up and became serious. "Gordy, I believe I have earned the right to meddle. Do you agree with that?" "You're female. It's your birthright," he quipped. Since there was no sign of anger, she took that as a green light. "I'm going to show you some things and give you some facts this afternoon. We will not discuss what you see until tomorrow." Without her having said so, Gordy knew that 'meddling' meant Marielle. He was actually relieved that Gretchen had broached the subject. He had been completely unable to get over Marielle. The guilt over what he had done to her was huge. He knew he had been unfair in lumping her in with her parents and all other wealthy people. Cheri had been on his ass constantly about that. The problem was that he saw her through the lens of his bitter experience. While he cursed himself for being too weak to treat her as a unique person, he could not shed the memories and the pain. He made a point of visiting his mother at least every three or four months. Even though the visits tended to strengthen all the old hurts and hatreds, he considered it a duty. There was never any change. He remained an anonymous male to her. As they exited the freeway into the poorer section of the close in city, he began to doubt that the trip concerned Marielle. When Gretchen pointed to a parking place on the street near a busy-looking older building, he was puzzled. "See the 'Legal Aid' sign on 11201? That's where Marielle has been volunteering ever since she left Medi-Vanced." "Volunteering?" Gordy asked. "Are her parents funding this?" "No way! She has a trust fund that is plenty to live on. She has completely cut herself off from her parents. Her mother came down here once, and that was pretty much the end of their relationship. Oh, that's her car over there." Gretchen pointed to a five-year-old minivan that showed more than its age. "She wouldn't dare park a new BMW down here." "But this is Saturday!" "She loves what she is doing. I could not keep the schedule she does." "Same apartment?" "Yes. As you know, it is not expensive or pretentious. Gordy, I don't want to talk about this any more today. In fact, unless you bring it up, I won't mention Marielle the rest of this trip. Randall won't mention her, either, on threat of grave bodily harm." Gretchen was as good as her word. Dinner with her and Randall was delightful. Randall looked healthier and more relaxed than Gordy had ever seen him. Why shouldn't he? The man's dream had been rescued and had succeeded. Maybe he was more sensitive because of all his rehashing of the Marielle situation. Gordy noticed some very subtle signs between Randall and Gretchen that indicated more than a boss/co-worker relationship. Astute as she was, Gretchen caught Gordy's questioning look and failed to stifle a brief blush. Randall detected nothing. "Gordy, as good as our staff is, we don't have a break-through thinker like you on our engineering staff. We need you back for more of the unconventional approaches that have made Tru-Pulse such a success. I know you have project commitments, but will you come back when you're free?" "No offense, Randall, but I don't want to answer that right now. I will say that Medi-Vanced is where I always wanted to be, and I am leaning that way. I promise a more definite answer before I leave on Monday." ------- Cheri had become Gordy's only real confidante. He already knew how she felt about Marielle, but he needed to run the new information by her. As he should have guessed, she already knew everything through Gretchen. "At Marielle's insistence, we didn't tell you anything about her life. We knew that she was constantly on your mind. It was better that you reach some decisions from a clean slate. So, what have you decided?" "Cheri, this trip is to talk about returning to Medi-Vanced," he protested, fully anticipating her response. "Bullshit. Did you really manage to convince yourself of that?" Cheri said with a snort that was audible over the phone. "Listen up, Little Brother! The tragedy of our parents is enough to buy you a couple of years with Marielle. You've used that up. "I hope you realize that regardless of parents or wealth or hiding who she was or anything else, she is about the finest person you will ever meet. For some unfathomable reason, she seems to feel the same way about you. I can't threaten to disown you, but if you don't set this all right, I will have to re-evaluate my own opinion of you. "Gordy, if you lose Marielle forever, God-damned Krenz will have won. Did you ever think of it that way?" "That's ... that's..." "Admit it, Gordy. If it hadn't been for Krenz, you would have given the finger to the Gilsons' meddling and been happily married to Marielle by now." "How do you know that?" "I know you. I know how you react to any kind of pressure or coercion when there is no connection to the tragedy," Cheri declared. He was silent for quite a while. "But how can I approach her after the way I dumped her? What if she just blows me off?" "Won't happen, at least if you do it now, it won't. Someday, she may get over you. I'm not going to tell you how to do it, Gordy. It has to be sincerely from you. Just find a way to talk to her." ------- "Gretchen, I know you want to talk about Marielle, but I respectfully ask for today by myself. I don't think any more conversation will help, anyway. Call Cheri, if you haven't already." It was late Sunday morning and Gretchen had called Gordy's hotel room to try and meet with him. As Gordy had guessed, Gretchen had indeed called Cheri first. Together, they admitted that there was nothing more they could do. It was all in his hands. Gretchen was actually encouraged by his desire to be alone. When Gretchen heard that Gordy had called the office Monday morning to say the he would not arrive until later, she was both fearful and hopeful. Of course, she immediately updated Cheri. Gretchen did not know about Gordy's call to Randall very early that morning. "Randall, can I trust you to keep something very confidential for a few days?" Randall would have agreed to almost anything right then, just to make sure that Gordy came back to the company, so he agreed. "Do you still have a way to contact Frances Gilson? Don't even ask why." That was about as far from anything Randall could have expected as it was possible to be. He had it on his cell phone and gave it to Gordy. Waiting until what he considered a reasonable time, Gordy called the contact number. It was, of course, answered by an assistant. "Please tell Mrs. Gilson that Gordy Alford would like just a word with her," and he gave his cell number. Not at all sure it would happen, Gordy was quite surprised to receive a call back in barely twenty minutes. "Mrs. Gilson, I would very much appreciate it if I could meet very briefly with you and Mr. Gilson in the next three hours. Do you think that is possible?" That meant another wait when the surprised Frances said she would get back to him. As it turned out, he was directed to be at the Gilson offices at 9am. Later, Gordy figured out that he was being watched to see how long it would take him to simply leave, and was invited in just in time. Entry into the office where both Peter and Frances were waiting was as awkward as any situation he had faced. "Under the circumstances," Gordy said, standing while both Gilsons remained seated and no form of greeting had been offered by anyone. "I am sure you will find this very strange. I came to inform you that I will shortly propose to Marielle." Peter reacted quickly and sharply. "Is it not customary to ask permission of the father?" "Since your answer was a foregone conclusion and would not have affected my intentions, I chose not to approach it that way." "How can you assume to know what my answer would be?" Peter demanded angrily. "What else could I think from your past actions?" Gordy said with a dramatic shrug that he did not know he was capable of. "I am well aware that you could sabotage my intention right now and could cause any amount of trouble in the future. I do not even know if Marielle will be receptive. After all, I treated her very badly. "It is my hope that you will return this small courtesy by letting things between Marielle and I happen as they will today. Please, have your watchdogs back off for one day." With a nod to both of them, Gordy turned quickly to leave the office. "Mr. Alford, wait," Frances tried to say before he was could leave. "Why have you changed your mind?" He did not respond. "Watchdogs?" Peter asked in confusion when Gordy had left. "Do you have people watching Marielle?" "We have people on our competitors, our key employees, and our partners. Of course I am having our daughter watched," Frances replied. "But how did he know that?" "We seem to be consistent in misjudging Mr. Alford, wouldn't you say, Peter?" ------- Gordy waited for several minutes across the street from the Legal Aid office. When he saw a woman who looked like one of the lawyers leave the office for a convenience store in the next block, he knew how he wanted to proceed. When she walked back toward the office with a carrier of four coffees, he intercepted her. "Excuse me, I would very much like to talk with Marielle for a few minutes. I don't want to interrupt while she is with someone. Could I ask you a big favor? Would you come out and signal me when she is free?" "And who are you?" the woman asked suspiciously. "My name is Gordy, but please, don't say anything about me being here." When the woman's eyes widened, Gordy knew she would do it. He waited over twenty minutes before a woman with an infant left, followed by the lawyer with a signal that Marielle was free. His heart was pounding so hard he could barely walk. She was so intent on the papers on her desk that she did not notice him until he sat in the chair facing her. He could not know that it was the same chair Frances had occupied months earlier. When she looked up and saw him, she gasped and her face lost all color. Neither of them noticed everyone else leaving the room. He forced himself to speak. "Marielle, I made a terrible mistake back then. Is it too late to try to correct that mistake?" "Wh ... why are you in town? I thought ... I thought..." "Randall wants me to come back. Your parents are no longer involved with the company. It may take three months, but I want to return," Gordy explained. "It ... it will only be worthwhile if we can be together again. Otherwise, it would be too painful." "Do you mean that, Gordy? Please, if you're not serious..." "I am completely serious, Marielle. I'm sorry it has taken me so long to get past the pain and the prejudice. It was unfair to you, and I don't know how I can apologize enough. I know we face some serious challenges. Most of them have to do with my fears and my stupidity. With your help, I can get through them, I know it." "Wh ... why now?" "I guess ... I guess Randall's invitation triggered a lot more thought. Then ... then Cheri told me that if I never got back together with you, Krenz would have beaten me." Pausing to screw up his courage, he pulled a jewelry box from his pocket. It contained a ring that was a major stretch for an engineer's salary, but far from what a billionaire's daughter could expect. He was not going to apologize for that. In fact, he considered acceptance of his relatively meager offering a final test of her independence from the wealth in which she was raised. It would indicate that she had truly chosen to join 'his world'. Opening the box and placing it on her desk, he said "Marielle, to prove how serious I am, will you marry me? I know there are many things that we have to work out between us first, and I won't be around for a while, yet. This is what I want, though. It's what I have always wanted. My fears and my anger and my prejudice just got in the way. Will be you promise to be my wife?" It was a terribly unfair thing to do to Marielle. She actually became faint and swooned for a few moments. He jumped up and came around the desk to steady her. When her head cleared, she stood and wrapped him in a frantic hug. "Oh, God, Gordy! I was afraid to even dream about this. But, dammit! How am I supposed to work today? I have to be in court in half an hour!" Having said that, she picked up the ring and slipped it on her finger. It was only a little too large. "I'll drive you and wait until you're done. Is there anything else today that you couldn't cancel?" Gordy said. "Just drop-ins. The others will have to cover as best they can. What do you want to do?" "I want to be with you, but I promised to show up at the company. Wouldn't you like to wave that in Gretchen's face?" "Great idea! I need to tell the others, then we have to hurry to court." ------- While he waited outside the courtroom, Gordy called Cheri. Wanting to pull her chain at least a little, he said rather somberly "I don't know how to tell you this, Sis, but I just got engaged." "FINALLY!" Cheri screamed, causing him actual pain. "Oh, I'm so happy for you, Gordy!" "Would you do me one big favor?" he asked when the ringing in his ear subsided. "Sure. What?" "Don't call Gretchen. We're heading to the company in a little while. Let Marielle tell Gretchen." "Ohhhhh! That's an awfully big favor, but ... OK. For Marielle, not for you, you clueless oaf, you." They both knew there was a lot more she wanted to say, but mush was not their style. Both appreciated the other's long-missed happiness. They lost the chance to surprise Gretchen, though. Marielle's co-workers had become just as fond of her as everyone seemed to be. The woman who had signaled Gordy overheard the beginning of their conversation. She also saw the ring when they left the building, but that was an unnecessary indicator, given the glow on both of their faces. The co-worker had spent some time with Gretchen on the several occasions when Gretchen visited the offices. She called Gretchen with the news. Randall decided that that Monday, at least the afternoon, was pretty much like a paid holiday. There were only seven people in the company who had not worked with Marielle and Gordy. Everyone else came pouring out the door when the couple drove up. It was thrown together in a hurry, but it was a memorable party. It was a forgone conclusion that Gordy was coming back, but Randall needed at least a few words with him. "First of all, your flight has been changed to late tomorrow morning," Randall told Gordy. "I called the president - he's an acquaintance. Oh, by the way, he dangled the idea of a possible merger. "Well, that's not something for today. I want to offer you the new job of Director of Development. Although it is at director level, it will have no admin duties and no approval responsibility. You job is to think and innovative. As many people as you need will be assigned to you, but they will actually report to engineering or product management. How does that sound?" "Like I'm starting to have trouble remembering the mess of the last two years!" Gordy exclaimed, giving Randall a spontaneous hug. "Good! Now, thanks for a reason to party, but you two get the hell out of here. You've got an awful of catching up to do." Randall was absolutely correct - Marielle and Gordy had a lot of catching up to do. They also had a lot of major questions to resolve: What about her parents - what should the relationship, if any, be? Would they invite her parents to the wedding? Would Marielle return to Medi-Vanced or stay with Legal Aid? Each of them had individual questions, as well. Marielle could not help worrying whether Gordy was truly past his paranoia about wealth. She could not forget that her parents had the power to hurt them badly. Gordy would always wonder if Marielle had truly forgiven him for breaking up with her. He would also dream of new therapies that could bring his mother back. Then, he would wonder if bringing her back would actually be a favor to her. He also saw the specter of the Gilsons as a sword hanging over their future happiness. Fortunately, there were some certainties among all of the questions. That they loved each other deeply was not in doubt. That they would marry as soon as possible was a certainty. With her trust and his new position, living comfortably was assured. As they left the impromptu party at the company, only one question occupied Marielle's mind. Would making love with Gordy be as wonderful as she had dreamed? Along with that question was a certainty. By the next morning, she would know. ------- The End ------- Posted: 2009-06-02 ------- http://storiesonline.net/ -------