Dexter's Renaissance Ch. 05-06

"That's very kind of you. Thank you," I said with a smile. Never upset the receptionist was a golden rule of mine.

She dialed a number and waited for a few seconds.

"Mr. Flannery, it's Brigit at the office. There's a Mr. McLeod from Vancouver here to see you."

I couldn't hear the other end of the conversation but I gather it wasn't pleasant if the frown on young Brigit's face was any indication.

"Yes, sir, I'll tell him," she said finally.

"I'm sorry Mr. McLeod. Mr. Flannery won't be in until nine o'clock. He suggested you might want to have a coffee and wait here in the lobby for him."

She looked embarrassed and I felt for her. She was the messenger and Flannery was obviously one of the senior executives.

"Who is Mr. Flannery?" I asked.

"He's the senior partner. Mr. Golowitz and Mr. Zarek are the other partners. They will be here at nine this morning as well. I'm sorry no one was here to greet you, sir."

"Please, call me Dex. Everyone does. I'm here to modernize the design department."

"I don't think Mr. Flannery would be very happy with me if I was too familiar with one of our vice presidents," she said seriously.

"Well okay then, but when no one else is around it's Dex and Brigit, right?"

She smiled and agreed. One on my side, I thought. I was now alerted that perhaps the senior people were not quite as enthusiastic about the acquisition as I might have been led to believe. I cautioned myself not to jump to conclusions and wait and see what happened.

Just before nine, a large, imposing man of some sixty-plus years entered the office, looked me over once and turned to Brigit. She handed him some message slips and he looked at them casually. Finally, he turned to me.

"Are you McLeod?" he asked in a no-nonsense tone.

"Dexter McLeod, Mr. Flannery," I said standing and holding out my hand.

He ignored it. "I've got some things to do first thing this morning. I'll let you know when I have time to see you," he snorted, turning his back on me and walking away to the back of the offices.

I was stunned. What the fuck was this? I turned to Brigit and she was red-faced but shrugged as she took another call.

I had another hour before Tom would be in the office so I would bide my time. I wasn't about to pull rank but I wasn't going to be treated like a second class citizen by some eastern stuffed shirt. He needed to be reminded who owned the majority of this business but not by me.

As the clock struck ten, Flannery had still not shown his face, so I approached the reception desk and handed Brigit another of my cards.

"If Mr. Flannery should decide to grace me with his presence, tell him he can contact me on my cell. The number is on the card. Thank you, Brigit."

I turned and walked toward the door to the elevators.

"Mr. McLeod," Brigit called after me. I turned. "I'm sorry, sir." I nodded.

That young lady was a keeper. Flannery on the other hand was really pissing me off. I headed for the washroom I saw off the elevators. It was empty so it would serve my purpose.

"Tom Yardley," he answered.

"You bastard!" I spat.

I heard his outburst of laughter as he recognized my voice.

"I take it you've met the esteemed Mr. Flannery," he said, barely able to contain himself.

"Not really. He waltzed into the office at nine o'clock, told me he'd see me when he had time, said I could wait for him in the lobby, then disappeared. I still haven't heard from him."

"I should have warned you, Dex. He's miserable old man. He's convinced that we stole the company from him. The other three minority partners were all for the deal but Flannery was convinced the business just needed some capital and everything would be all right. He and Wolf had a real ding-dong when the final deal was proposed but Flannery lost because we had the shares of the other three partners and he was screwed."

"Three? I thought there was just two besides Flannery."

"No ... one of the widows of another partner had shares that tipped the balance. She's not active in the firm but is interested in seeing it restored to its former glory."

"And you couldn't see yourself to warn me about this," I said, not altogether happy with my boss.

"Sorry, Dex. I didn't want to pollute the water before you even got there. I will call Mr. Flannery with whom I have at least a civil relationship and tell him that you are not to be treated in this manner. He doesn't need the problems we can cause if he keeps up with this attitude."

"Thanks, Tom. I'll cool it for now but you'd better give me someone else to work with. I don't think I could stomach much of Flannery on a regular basis."

"Okay. He'll probably be relieved to remove you from his sight. I knew he wasn't going to be pleasant and I guess I owe you one from dropping you in it. My apologies."

"All right, Tom. I have a feeling this job isn't going to go quite as nicely as my last one. I hope I'm wrong."

"Dex, you can handle it. I've watched you with your people for years. You'll figure it out. Call me if Flannery gives you any more trouble."

"Okay. I'd better get back to the office before His Majesty reports me absent without leave."

Tom laughed again and that was the end of our conversation.

Chapter 6 Smoothing the Waters

It was almost 10:20 when Mr. Flannery decided to make an appearance. He looked decidedly unhappy when he strode out of his hideaway and marched up to my chair in the reception area.

"I'll see you now, Mr. McLeod," he snarled and immediately turned and stomped back from where he came.

I turned and looked at Brigit and saw her shake her head with a look of dismay. I pushed myself up out of the chair and followed Flannery. His office was in the far corner of the floor with windows on two walls overlooking the city and the lakefront. He pointed to a chair at one corner of his desk and I sat.

"So what are you here for?" Flannery began without the slightest hint of politeness.

"Are you telling me you haven't been informed of the purpose of my visit?" I was all set to go one on one with him if he pushed his attitude much more.

His head came up and his eyes narrowed. I don't think he quite expected me to confront him.

"There was some mention of a visit by one of the Vancouver people," he said, offering nothing more.

"I find that hard to believe. I talked to Tom Yardley a few minutes ago. I'm sure he told you what the object of my visit was. Is there some reason you object to my presence?" I was working hard to keep my voice even and controlled.

"I object to the theft of my company by a bunch of western upstarts. There's nothing you have to offer Trent Engineering that we can't do ourselves," he snarled.

"Mr. Flannery, I'm here to upgrade your CADD systems and bring them in line with the Pinecone systems. I'd be very disappointed if you're telling me I can't expect the cooperation of your staff."

"You'll get your cooperation, Mr. McLeod. Just make sure you don't interfere with the work we have on hand. We have deadlines to meet and I expect them to be met regardless of your little project."

I tried to stare him down but he was reluctant to look me in the eye.

"Who will I be working with in the CADD department?" I asked.

"Whoever can spare the time," he said dismissively. "You'll have to work that out yourself."

"I'd like an office as well," I said, struggling to keep my temper.

"You'll have to make do with whatever you can find."

"Are we finished here?" I asked, beginning to rise. I wanted out of this office as soon as I could.

"Yes," was all I got from him in response.

I walked out to the reception desk and flopped into the chair I had previously occupied. I needed to cool off before I said or did something I would regret. Brigit looked at me and I think I was pretty easy to read.

"Don't be too upset, Mr. McLeod. He's been very unhappy these last few months. He's been nasty to just about everyone," she said apologetically.

"Thank you, Brigit. By the way, do you know if there are any unused offices available, preferable in the design area?"

"Oh yes, we have three. If you wait until lunch hour, I'll show you around and you can decide which one is best for you."

"Thank you again. I'm grateful for your help."

I went down to the café in the lobby at 11:30 and ordered a sandwich and a tomato juice to go. I didn't want to cut into Brigit's lunch hour any more than necessary.

"Where do you and the staff eat lunch, Brigit?" I asked when I returned.

"There's an area in the back that's not being used and we put some chairs and tables in there. Some people go out to lunch but a lot of us go there or eat at our desks. I can't do that, naturally."

"Mind if I join you?"

"No ... of course not. It might be a chance for you to meet some of the people."

The more I was around Brigit the more I liked her attitude. I had a hunch I was going to need all the friends I could find in this job.

Just after noon I followed Brigit to the so-called lunch area. I noticed it was about as far from Flannery's office as you could get. It was an open space of about 500 sq. ft., with a collection of unmatched chairs and tables scattered about the room. There was no sink but a rather ancient microwave was sitting on one table and an old refrigerator was standing in a nearby corner. Not exactly what I would describe as a lunch room.

Brigit guided me to a table near a window and we sat. There was room for another four people at this table but so far no one had approached. A couple of minutes later another young woman entered the room, saw Brigit and waved while walking directly to our table.

"Hi, Brigit," she said brightly, giving me the once-over.

"Hi Petra. This is Dexter McLeod. He's going to be working with us for a while."

I stood and shook the young woman's hand. "Nice to meet you, Petra. You can call me Dex. What do you do here?"

"I'm in the design department. Slaving away in front of a computer screen all day," she grinned.

I took a card from my shirt pocket and passed it to her.

"Looks like we'll be spending some time together then," I said. "I'm here to update the CADD systems and equipment. Bring you up to the latest standards."

"Oh, wonderful! That's great to hear," she enthused, looking at my card. I saw her eyes widen as she read the card.

"What are you doing here?" she asked. "I mean in this place. Shouldn't you be with the other managers?"

I shook my head and I could see a big grin on Brigit's face.

"Nope. I'm happy with the people I work with. I'd like to have that kind of relationship with your department."

"Well ... that'll be different," Petra said with a wrinkled brow. "Most of the senior people don't mix with us peons."

"I was a peon for many years, Petra. I don't forget where I came from and don't be fooled by the vice president title. It's new and shiny and unused. Around my office in Vancouver everyone calls me Dex. We don't stand on formality."

"I'd get fired or maybe shot if I didn't call all the senior people Mister," she said. "This place is pretty 'old-school' in my opinion."

"I've only met Mr. Flannery so far but I can see where that idea comes from."

Both women giggled at my comment but didn't offer any reinforcement.

A couple of minutes later, a short dark-haired man joined us at the table.

"Mr. McLeod, this is Carlo de Prata, also one of our CADD operators."

"Hi, Carlo, Dexter McLeod," I said, handing him one of my cards.

He looked at it and like Petra, his eyebrows raised and he looked at me.

"Uh ... nice to meet you, sir," he said uncertainly.

"Relax Carlo. It's Dex to most of the people around here. I'm here to bring the systems up to date on both software and hardware."

"Oh ... good ... I've been hoping something would happen when we heard that there'd been a take-over," he said with an obvious sigh of relief.

"Well, it's not exactly a take-over. Pinecone are partners with Trent Engineering now. Our job is to help you grow back to what you once were and more. It looks like we might need more than just computers and software, though. You could use a proper lunch room."

"Wouldn't that be nice," Petra said, with Brigit nodding.

"I'll see what I can do," I said with a smile. "In the meantime, I need a guide to take me around the design department. Any volunteers?" I grinned.

"I'm probably the best one to do that," Petra said. "I've been here the longest after Terry Sanderson. He's the senior man in our department."

"Maybe I should meet with Terry then so I don't ruffle any feathers," I suggested.

"No problem. I'll go get him and we can talk," she said, rising to walk to another table. She bent over near a big red-headed man and said a few words. He turned to look at me then nodded to Petra and stood."

"Mr. McLeod, this is Terry Sanderson, senior operator."

I stood and shook hands with him. He was a large, friendly, freckle-faced man in his forties I guessed.

"Nice to meet you, Terry. I'm Dex," I said, handing him my card.

"Yes, I've been expecting someone. Nice to see you're here so quickly. I understand you'd like a tour."

"If you've got the time. I don't want to interrupt anything important."

"Not a problem. I've finished my lunch so we can go anytime you're ready," he said.

"Ladies, if you'll excuse me, duty calls," I smiled. "Nice meeting you, Petra. Oh, and Brigit, do you know where I can get a key to the office?"

"Yes," she said, "but you won't like my answer. Only Mr. Flannery can authorize that. Sorry."

I nodded. "Okay, I'll find a way. Lead on, Terry," I said, hiding my irritation at the roadblocks I seemed to be encountering so early in my stay. Another thing to talk to Tom about, I thought. I'd better start writing this down. The list was getting longer and I'd only been here a couple of hours.

Terry gave me a comprehensive tour of the twenty station CADD room. There were twelve active units, symptomatic of the decline in their business. He admitted that some of the unused units had been cannibalized for parts or software when problems arose. They had no budget for anything short of essential repairs.

Terry was candid but careful in his comments. He admitted he was hopeful that the merger would bring the equipment and software up to date but didn't expect to have it happen this quickly. He said it would be a big boost to the morale of the people in the office. I was glad to hear that. That should put a few more staff on my side.

Brigit had shown me the open offices and I found one just where I wanted it with easy access to the department but private enough when it was required. I put my laptop down on the desk, pulled out an Ethernet cable and hooked into the wall outlet. Within seconds I was confronted with a gateway that required a password. Good. There was some security in place.

Terry gave me the password for the week and I set up my station, logging on after registering. I spent the next hour surfing the site and seeing what we were working with. There was a job log and I reviewed that to see what our people were working on. It wasn't a very long list. The sooner I got this department up to speed the sooner I could turn Wolf loose on the potential clients.

At five o'clock I called Tom once more, having written a list of things I needed to resolve ... or work around.

"I can't even get a key to the office without Flannery's approval. Doesn't he delegate anything? Who's the second in command?" I asked.

"The two junior partners are active engineers and you should make their acquaintance. In the meantime, borrow a key from someone and make a copy. I'll cover for you if it's necessary. I doubt it will be. Flannery was never there before nine and very seldom after four."

"Jesus, Tom. No wonder the business is in trouble."

"It isn't that simple, Dex. Flannery's wife has contracted MS and I think that's contributed to his problems. It's one thing to have the business shrink, it's another to try and deal with an ill wife. This is not public knowledge, Dex. I got the information from Michelle Gauthier."

"Who is she?"

"The minority fourth partner. Her husband was a real go-getter and when he died unexpectedly, the aggressive hunt for new work died with him. The rest of the people there are pretty much stay-at-home engineers."

"Can you give me a breakdown of who owns what shares, or is that top secret?"

"Nope, it's not secret, although I wouldn't want it to become common knowledge. In the total structure, Pinecone owns 55% and Trent owns 45% of the outstanding shares. Inside Pinecone, Wolf and I own 40% each. The other 20% of Pinecone is made up of people like you.

"At Trent, Flannery owns 42%, the two junior partners own 20% each and Mrs. Gauthier owns the remaining 18%. It was the two junior partners and Mrs. Gauthier that made the merger possible. You already know how Flannery felt about that."

"I haven't met the other three yet. Should I?"

"Yes, particularly the two active partners. You know how hard we worked to get a good relationship between the engineers and the designers. I'd like to see that at Trent too."

"Yeah. I guess we've had it pretty good at Pinecone and haven't had to deal with this kind of problem. Well, I'll introduce myself to the engineering department tomorrow. I'll let you know how that goes."

"By the way, is there any wiggle room in my budget for a lunch room? These people have nothing here. The space is available but right now it's not very impressive."

"As long as you don't turn it into a luxury restaurant, go ahead. I'll circulate an e-mail authorizing that and other changes as required. Just keep me informed."

"Thanks, Tom. I feel a bit better. If I can get Flannery off my back I should be able to make some progress here fairly soon."

I put the phone down after we signed off and sighed. This was definitely going to be a challenge. I walked out of the office as Terry was packing up to go home and asked him if he had a key to the office.

"Sure. I don't use it very often but if you need it, just ask," he said.

"I'd like to borrow it and make a copy. I can get it back to you tomorrow."

"Did Flannery okay this?" he asked nervously.

"Nope, Tom Yardley did. Don't worry, if he kicks up a fuss he won't know I got it from you," I grinned.

Terry snorted a laugh and handed me the key. "Nice to see things changing, Dex."

I nodded. We were making progress already.

The next four days went by in a whoosh. I met with the company that provided IT service for Trent, getting their advice on reliable suppliers of hardware in the area. The IT rep, whom Terry had recommended, was quite surprised that we would ask his opinion. Not that other companies didn't, just that Trent had never asked.

I introduced myself to Rueben Golowitz and Dick Zarek, the senior engineers and shareholders. I got a pleasant reception and promised I would follow up with them in a week or so.

I did a station-by-station assessment of what we had on hand and it was discouraging to say the least. Band-Aid solutions were everywhere and the software was a mish-mash of dated programs. The only thing that seemed to be in reasonably decent shape was the server itself. It had expansion capability and I knew immediately that we would need it.

I was making a list of needs as I went and it was getting longer with each progressive step. On Friday afternoon I e-mailed my findings to Tom, hoping it wouldn't cause a melt-down in Vancouver when he saw it. I had a return phone call within thirty minutes.

"It's a good thing we put a big contingency in the budget, Dex. That list you've given me. Do you need all of it at once?" Tom asked.

"No, but this just covers the active work stations, Tom. They're only using twelve stations of the twenty available. We should fix those first, then add the others as the work picks up."