The Inheritance

Another reported asked, "Is it true that you own one hundred percent of the stock in West Coast Environmental?"

I drew in a deep breath, "No it's not. My executive assistant, Audrey Livingstone had five percent of the stock in Pacific Explorations. She now owns fifteen percent of the stock in West Coast Environmental. I was simplifying things for the sake of clarity. I have sold some stock to my cousins and put some on the market. The rest is in reserve for sale if we need more capital. I intend to retain at least forty-five percent of the stock."

The feeding frenzy had started:

A third reporter shouted, "Why didn't you stop it! The problems with Pacific Explorations? Why didn't you do something?"

"Because I couldn't. It's like standing in front of a runaway train holding your hand out and expecting it to stop. You simply get run over. I decided to salvage what I could from my Uncle's corporation. That's what I've done with West Coast Environmental."

An environmentalist yelled, "Coward! Why shouldn't we lump you in with Pacific Explorations?"

"I expect you as reporters and environmentalists to be fair and objective and I expect the same from your bosses in the newspapers, magazines, and broadcast media outlets you represent. I want you to look at the things West Coast Environmental has done and is doing and judge us for our outcomes and not for the things another company has done. Talk to the people at Westport and Eureka. Talk to the city councils of Fresno and Bakersfield. Look at what we do and judge us on that, not on what the corporation we came from does."

A voice shouted out, "What do you do?"

"What do we do? Like it or not global warming is real and nothing short of a natural catastrophe on a bigger scale can change that fact. What we do is try to provide solutions. Desalination plants to convert the rising sea water to potable water for drinking and for crops in areas where rainfall is failing to keep up with the need. So far our solutions are good for small communities. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to scale them up for larger cities. The plants are very energy efficient. We are working on research to improve them. We are also recovering the minerals that are removed from the sea water. These are sold to manufacturers so we are not building slag heaps of toxic minerals. Our other major product is advice on how to ameliorate the effects of climate change. Our contracts with Fresno and Bakersfield have just been renewed. They must find value in our advice and our forecasts, ask them. Finally, we conduct research to try to find new and better ways to deal with the effects of global climate change. That is what we do at West Coast Environmental."

The news conference continued for another hour. I walked off stage thoroughly depressed and as exhausted and sweaty as if I'd been running a marathon. I figured I'd blown my first meeting with the press.

Audrey flung herself into my arms when I got off stage. "Brilliant! You were brilliant!"

"Audrey I blew it how can you say I was brilliant?"

She sat me in a chair at the make-up table and started removing my makeup. "You did not blow it! You explained in simple words why we split the company. You explained why we are not responsible for the actions of Pacific Explorations. And you explained what we do and why. We couldn't pay for better advertising. This will go out over hundreds of television stations and in hundreds of newspapers and magazines. NPR was even there! You challenged the environmental groups in the best possible way. You said, check on what we do and how it impacts the environment. You told them to check on how we can improve the lives of people caught in climate change. You did brilliantly. I'll bet we get inquiries from dozens if not hundreds of cities stretching into to midwest maybe all the way to the East coast for our climate forecasts. If you blew it today I don't want to think about what will happen if you really nail it some day." She finished with a kiss, a long lingering kiss.

Audrey was right. Within two weeks the papers started writing articles about the desalination plants and their energy efficiency. They also noted that we sited the plants above the predicted maximum sea level rise for the next fifty years. Another set of articles came out about our advice to Fresno and Bakersfield. They showed graphs of our predictions against reality. The two were very close. The environmentalists did a one-eighty and suddenly West Coast Environmental was their darling.

Our stock also did a one-eighty and jumped to five dollars over the price it was selling at before the firestorm. The Pacific Explorations stock continued to decline even tho it still had major assets in plants, it was now down to a quarter of it's value when the corporations split.

Audrey was also right about a boost in our orders. Everyone from Port Isabel Texas to Belfast Maine wanted a desalination plant. Towns and cities all over the states wanted climatological forecasts.

I had to reel the salesmen in. I couldn't have them promising things we couldn't deliver. Audrey was disappointed. We came close to our first fight over it but I had her sit down and go over the capacity for the desalination production and compare it to the list of contracts we already accepted. Then she understood.

"Thank you Ryan. You're right you stopped me from creating a public relations disaster."

"You're welcome," I said. "I also want to send the head scientists for the desalination plants to Texas and all the way up the coast into Maine. I want to be sure our system will work in all those areas. I want to send a crack climatological team to the midwest and to the East coast to see how our predictions stack up against reality in those areas. Again, I don't want us to promise unless we can deliver. I'm going to make our chief climatologist responsible for determining which areas we can cover. I'm thinking we'll want to build another desalination factory on the east coast or more than one if the plants need to be altered. The same thing for the climatology. We may want to make several centers to serve different areas. Does all that make sense or am I being over cautious?"

She just looked at me for several minutes. "You may be smarter than Roger. He almost got over extended when I first started to work for him. It took almost a year to dig out of the hole. I think this is a really smart long term plan."

"Good now all we have to do is convince the sales people to rein it in. Also we need to be candid with the customers. We need to tell them flat out that we are working at capacity and that we are looking at building new factories but that they take time."

She laughed, "Yeah, they are really enthused. It's not a job selling our products because customers are besieging our sales staff.

In January, we had all of the cousins over to the house to commemorate Roger's funeral. The party was much more convivial than the year before. That is until Jerry got into the whiskey.

Suddenly he bellowed, "Ryan, you back stabbing son of a bitch! You owe me two hundred and fifty thousand dollars!"

I sighed, "Jerry, you're drunk. I don't owe you a brass farthing."

"Yes you do," he shouted. "You let me invest in that hole of Pacific Explorations when you knew it was going down the tubes! You owe me my inheritance!"

I started to answer but Sam said, "Let me take this." He turned to Jerry. "Jerry you're a nasty man and a nasty belligerent drunk! You got the same advice as the rest of us. Audrey warned us against investing in Pacific Explorations at the risk of being hauled in for insider trading. When Ryan formed his new corporation he wouldn't let anyone buy more than ten percent of their bequest because he was afraid of what could happen if it failed. Like a fool I followed you into buying into Pacific Explorations. Luckily, Janie talked me out of it. I pulled seventy-five percent out and put forty thousand into shares in West Coast Environmental. The rest I put into a mutual fund. I was really lucky, I've almost got all of the bequest. Ryan and Audrey tried to warn you off. Of course that just made you more determined to do just the opposite. Ryan is not responsible for your poor decisions."

Then Janie stepped in front of Jerry with Sam. "Jerry I discovered what a shit you are just in time to avoid all the hassle. That cold boat ride and puking my guts out over that rail woke me up. I even talked to you while you were in jail and tried to talk sense into you. If you'd listened, as Sam did, you wouldn't be hurting now. Dump the Pacific Explorations stock and put it into a good mutual fund and let it grow."

Megan was next, "Jerry, Alicia and I followed Audrey's advice to the letter. We put as much as we could into our 401K and 403B accounts. We put the rest in a mutual fund. When Ryan formed his new company we each withdrew ten percent and bought stock in West Coast. Our broker warned us against the investment. Now he asks us weekly how he can get his hands on some stock in West Coast."

Jerry was still belligerent. "I'll sue."

I said, "Jerry that's a sure way to pour the rest of your bequest down the toilet." Jerry sat on the floor and started crying.

Rory changed the subject. "Meg you said, Alicia and you. Doesn't Alicia live in Bakersfield and you work in San Francisco?"

Megan put her arm around Alicia. "Not any more. Alicia got a job in San Francisco. Alicia and I live together now."

He nodded, "I guess that makes sense apartments in San Francisco are expensive."

Alicia quietly said, "No Rory you don't understand. We're lovers. Megan is my mistress. I'm submissive like Audrey. Megan takes care of me."

Rory asked, "When did this happen?"

Megan smirked, "Last year at Uncle Roger's funeral."

Alicia added, "Audrey announced that she was Ryan's submissive. It released something inside me. I wanted to be her but knew I was afraid of men. How else could I have lasted this long and still be a virgin. Megan talked to me and everything just fell into place. Megan claimed me that night in the hotel." She giggled, "The next morning I had to race across the hall naked to get dressed for the burial at sea. Megan commanded it." Her eyes were sparkling with the memory of the excitement.

Everyone was stunned. I broke the silence when I said, "Congratulations to both of you." I gave each of them a hug.

Audrey followed me in congratulating the pair of them.

Soon everyone except Jerry gathered around them to offer their good wishes. In fact Jerry was no where to be seen.

Anthony came into the room, frog marching Jerry in front of him. "I found him in your bedroom Ryan."

Audrey was on the phone to the police. She said, "I know that door was locked. He must have picked it."

Anthony sat Jerry on a stool at the bar. I went to the other side of the bar and looked him in the eye. "Jesus you're a stupid asshole. Didn't the time in jail teach you anything?"

Audrey said, "I'll do a sweep for bugs" and she left. She came back in a few minutes with six bugs in a baggie. She held it up in front of his eyes.

I ask him, "Who told you to plant the bugs Jerry?"

"I don't want to go back to jail. Ryan?"

"I can't help you there Jerry. You broke the law again. I suggest you pull your money out of Pacific Explorations before it all evaporates. You'll be in for longer this time. It's your second offense."

"Wilson, Sherwin Wilson talked me into planting the bugs. What can you do for me?"

"Jerry it's out of my hands. You need to talk with the prosecutor. Maybe he'll cut you a deal if you give Sherwin up." The doorbell rang and Janie ushered the police into the living room.

The senior officer said, "You again, where is the receiver this time?"

Jerry seemed to wilt he took them outside and showed them his new hiding place. Audrey gave them the bugs we found and they left hauling Jerry off in the back of a squad car.

Once they were gone Janie sighed, "I wish there was something I could do to help him."

Audrey suggested, "Arrange for his broker to see him so he can bail on those Pacific Exploration shares. See if he can talk Jerry into a stable mutual fund."

The mood lightened considerably and we all had a good time reminiscing about Roger.

When we went to bed that night Audrey snuggled up to me and whispered, "You know Ryan, Roger was very worried about the company, actually about the research grinding to a halt and the lack of progress. I don't think he could see a way out but you found a way. Maybe the only way. You're running the company Roger envisioned, the one he started and nurtured. I think he's looking down from heaven and he approves.

I ran my hand down her back. "We're running the company. I don't think I could have done this without you. I hope he approves... You know you haven't compared me to Roger in almost ten months."

She leaned in and kissed me on the throat. "Ryan, I compare you to Roger many times a day. I often find Roger compares favorably with you. You are my master now and a girl couldn't want a better master. I guess I've transferred all my feelings for Roger to you. I love you Ryan, as much as I loved Roger now I love you."

I took her by the neck and kissed her. "What did I do to deserve all this?"

"You're just being you. The real Ryan is a human being who is trying to do his best."

"Like what?" I was expecting her to talk about the company.

"Like when Megan and Alicia announced they were lovers. You congratulated them immediately. Everyone else followed your lead and they felt truly good about their declaration love. If you'd have blown up they would have felt terrible and betrayed. You did the right thing. Did you know that is helping our business?"

"Helping the business how?"

"The company is getting a reputation for being 'Freak Friendly.' In other words people with different lifestyles are being welcomed instead of being ostracized. We've gained dozens of highly talented people that are gay or lesbian or transgender or cross dressers or you name it. They do excellent work in our environment where they are not looked down upon because of their orientation. Your attitude has permeated the entire corporate structure. Because of it our HR department is half the size of most companies our size. We have almost no discrimination complaints or claims. We have half the turnover that other companies have. Our work statistics are the best in the United States. We have far less absenteeism than most companies. Far fewer sick days are used. You've allowed three different unions to try and get a toe hold. The employees have all rejected them by large margins. The women here are paid the same as the men for doing the same job. They really produce because they know they are treated fairly. They know they couldn't get as good a deal anywhere else. Our productivity is twenty to thirty percent higher than anyplace else in the country. It boils down to leadership, real leadership not something that comes out of a text book. That's how it's helping the business. I guarantee you that if you announce you're starting a plant in Marfa, Texas that you'll have at least five candidates for each position. They'd be ready to leave today and live in tents for six months thru the summer. Like it or not you've made us an industry leader."

"Well, I hadn't noticed I'd made that much of a difference."

"Love, we had an OSHA audit three weeks ago. We just got the report. We got the highest rating they've ever given. That's because of your insistence that it's done right the first time. The same for the Equal Opportunity commission. They inspected us with a fine toothed comb. They didn't find anything wrong. Nothing."

I kissed her. "Thank you for keeping me straight. I'm really happy that we're doing so many things right." I kissed her again.

She asked, "What was the second kiss for?"

"It was because I wanted to. You're so beautiful and you taste wonderful."

She blushed, "Oh!" She snuggled closer, turned her face up to me and her lips parted slightly.

She didn't have to wait long, I kissed her again and started caressing her hair. That was the night I decided that I wanted Audrey in my life forever. We made soft tender love that night. As always Audrey gave everything of herself to me. I don't know if she sensed something but she seemed extra tender as she washed me after making love.

The rest of the year was very hectic. We were working like crazy trying to keep up with the demand for our products and services and maintain the quality at the same time.

While going thru the items in my uncle's safe shortly after I became his heir, I found Aunt Abigail's engagement ring and her wedding band. I'd left them in the safe. After I made my decision to marry her, I waited until Audrey was out and went thru her jewelry box. I made a cardboard blank and sized one of the rings she wore on her third finger of her right hand. The next day I took the blank and the rings to a jeweler and had rings resized.

For Thanksgiving we had a group over. The boat crew, the maids that cleaned the house, the gardeners, the limo drivers and their families. I also invited the secretaries that worked directly for us. It was mostly people we interacted with daily. We also had my cousins, the five who were out of jail, to the celebration.

After we'd all finished eating and were gathered in groups talking, I snagged Audrey's hand and pulled her to the opening between the living room, the dining area and the lounge. I loudly said, "Attention please! I have an announcement! ... More like a question!"

Dead silence followed. Audrey looked at me with a question in her eyes. I sank to one knee and asked her, "Audrey Livingstone, I've fallen deeply in love with you. Will you be my wife and live with me for the rest of our lives?"

Audrey turned white and swayed a couple of times before she mastered herself. She slipped to her knees to answered me. "Yes Master Ryan. I'll be your bride. I've never thought I could love anyone as much as I love you!" She almost didn't give me time to slip the ring on her finger before she collapsed into me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and gave me an incredible kiss. She sealed out mouths together and opened hers to me. I don't know how long our tongues dueled but I was getting short of breath before she loosened her death grip around my neck.

I rose and helped her to her feet to the cheers and applause of everyone in the house. I was pounded on the back so much it felt like I'd gone fifteen rounds with a heavy weight boxing champ. Audrey was surrounded by a gaggle of women all talking and looking at the ring.

After about a half hour of this Audrey made her way to me. "Ryan where did you find this ring? It's beautiful. I think I've seen it before."

"It was Aunt Abigail's ring. I found it and her wedding band in Roger's safe. I had it resized to fit you. I think both Roger and Abigail would approve. I hope it brings us at least half as much happiness and love that they had."

Audrey started sobbing and fell into my arms. She whispered in my ear. "Ryan, I can't imagine being any happier than I have been these past two years."