A Fantasy about Love Pt. 18 - Final!

Chapter 57: A New Dream

The drive back was uneventful, and the rest of the day was spent to put things away, plan our agendas and come back to real life.

Weeks came and went, and we had one major problem. The due diligence we had ordered when we had looked at the company in Southern Australia was full of flaws, and I assumed that fraud was involved. It took us time to get out of that mess, but the integration of the Victoria company went very well. There were the obvious problems with the unions, but after several townhouse meetings, staff accepted our rules. We were flying to success. There was another offer to invest in NT, that valued us at about two billion dollars, but we rejected the offer. It was a family company, and it would stay that way. Cash flow was excellent, and we always had enough money to invest in new projects. We expanded our international branch and bought a company in New Zealand.

Maureen was an exceptional people manager and had instituted rules that guided our HR departments how to look at new employees, and every management level candidate had to meet her personally. We made few mistakes when we hired new people; it was surprising, however, how the percentage of female employees grew rapidly!

Our management team was coming along fine, with Jenny the driving force behind our excellent productivity drives. Peter was doing well in Queensland and we had two good candidates for Victoria. Jason Simpson was happy in the University of Sydney and his lectures were well attended; his contacts in academia and business often led us to new projects and potential new hires. Eileen had started soirées inviting leaders in politics and business and it had become a success story -- people occasionally contacted me with a plea to be put on her invitees list. Jane and/or Jean came to Sydney quite often and soon they had their own room in Allan's home. We saw them all the time and temptations were always dangled in front of me, but we both knew that it was a game.

We continued our exercises even in light rain and I was proud when for the first time, we kept Jenny in sight after three laps in the park. Perhaps it was just courtesy, but Jenny was too competitive to be nice! Maureen's and my times had been improving with the regular running. We had our sessions at the dojo and the sensei had asked me to teach new students: proof that I was doing well.

Maureen had stopped at the first Dan in her black belt, but Jenny was trying for the fourth Dan. One night an elderly Japanese was sitting beside the tatami, apparently a guest of the sensei. He was dressed in his karategi in the traditional kata cut, but his obi was still hidden. The sensei called us to the tatami to greet the guest: we bowed, and he bowed back. I was asked to teach the younger students and it was difficult: especially one didn't seem to understand one move and messed up others. I had to use all my patience to get him to concentrate and get the kata right. The guest seemed to observe me more than the others and at the end of the session, the sensei called me to present the katas and then, in an unusual move, asked me to fight him. He was a seventh degree Dan and much better than I, but I decided to go out and do my best; the visitor had observed me all the time and that must mean something. We knew each other well and even with his better technique, it took him several minutes to score a hit. We bowed to each other and the visitor came to the mat. The sensei introduced us, and I took a deep breath: he was the highest-ranking Dan master in Australia! He asked me to go through the katas once more and then he nodded. Saying something in Japanese to the sensei, he bowed to me and the students and left. It was wonderful to see the grace in all his movements. Everyone had stayed, watching us and the sensei called for attention.

He called us back to the tatami and when we were sitting in front of him, he bowed and again, we bowed back. He stood up and called me to the middle of the mat and bowed to me. I did not understand anything, but as tradition required, I bowed back.

"Students, we had today a visit of the master sensei in Australia and this is an immense honor. He was here to observe the class, but specifically James. As you know, a promotion to a higher Dan can only be granted by a master sensei, and I have recommended for some time now that he should visit us and observe James. He agreed with my recommendation and James, you are here hereby promoted to sixth Dan. Honor the trust we have in you and continue your work, teaching and leading."

He bowed again and everyone in the room bowed to me; overwhelmed, I bowed back, accepting the honor and the responsibility. I bowed back once more, and the sensei handed me my new obi and there was a final bow. There was applause and I knew that I had received a great honor and now it was my duty to deserve it. Martial arts were not only exercising and fighting; the higher Dans were expected to show leadership, competence in instruction and motivation and were officially authorized to teach students. I knew that my responsibility in this dojo had increased significantly. At home, Maureen took out a bottle of champagne.

"Do you know that there are probably less than 50 master sensei in Australia, and you are one of them? Congratulation, my love."

Jenny kissed me. "Oh Master of the Sixth Degree, will you show us new moves tonight in bed?" They laughed, but later there were no new moves, only the old ones, created in love and tenderness.

One night Peter was in Sydney and he had matured and was now a successful business executive. We invited him and the J´s for dinner and it appeared that some interest had flared up; it seemed that they were interested, too. It might have been a coincidence, but after that encounter, somehow Peter always managed to be in Sydney when they were there. At the end, it was Jean, who got attached as the two clicked: one a bit laid back and disorganized, Jean more disciplined, but with a drive of her own. I hoped that it would end well.

Business life continued as usual for us during the next months. We signed more contracts, the mess in Southern Australia had been straightened out and business was picking up. There was an article about NT in the Sydney Morning Herald and to my surprise, there was a short note about us in the business section of the Economist. When there was another offer to invest in NT, now valuing us over three billion dollars, a reporter from the Wall Street Journal interviewed us. He was surprised by the rapid growth of our company and even more about the very positive evaluation we received from almost all customers. He wondered how long we could stay as a family run business and I told me him that one of the first things I had learned in business, was never to run faster than your feet could carry you. We had good positive cash flow that financed our expansion, were lucky enough to find companies with good potential but bad management, and to my surprise, one day I was called to Canberra.

The Minister for Commerce and Services had asked for a presentation and he was quite impressed; obviously it helped that Allan was by my side. He hummed and hawed and then he gently suggested that it might be time to expand outside of Australia, since he had received a lot of pressure from our competitors to limit our growth. We were by now the biggest logistics company in Australia and he wondered when somebody would go to court against us. If we were expanding abroad, we would receive full support from the government and business associations; in Australia, we could expect problems from unions, competitors, the left media, and whoever else was against a solid success story. We took the hint and looked at other countries. We chartered our second business jet and within a few weeks it was flying nonstop.

Maureen had practically left the management floor and only occasionally appeared for specific problems. She had taught her replacement well: a young woman out of university, who showed a lot of promise. Jenny, as always, was running the company like a well-oiled Swiss watch.

Christmas was coming and we decided to go back to The Blue Mountains. Peter would be coming, too, since his attachment to Jean had become very tight. It was wonderful again and at the pool, dress code was minimal; unfortunately, when Peter joined us, minimal became small. The restaurant had maintained the two stars in the Michelin Guide and Allan and I made certain that we stayed at the bar while the ladies were discussing wines. Jane seemed to have found a suitor, too: the son of one of her major food suppliers. I was happy for her, but even so, she would not stop flirting with me, to the amusement of all. Peter proposed to Jean and she accepted his ring.

We went back content and relaxed, ready to enter real life again.

Business was still growing and another offer to invest valued us now at over four billion dollars, but we rejected it again - we were a family business. I was named NSW Young Executive of the Year and the politicians became interested. Would I like to join the Labour Party? Or the other one? I declined politely, but got more involved in our business associations, and the new government asked Allan to join it as the Minister for Business Development. He was ideal for the position and accepted the position. This caused some problems for us, since he could not participate anymore in the decisions of NT, but the company ran now as a well-oiled machine.

It was time to protect our children's future.

We went to the Head Mistress of the school close to our house and asked her how we could help the school to become even better.

She was open to new ideas and we developed together our 'NT Project Future'; we would finance additional courses for the teachers and installed a merit system where at the end of the year, all teachers who had exceeded their targets (and that included principally the grades of the students in a final test) would receive a generous bonus.

This caused problems: the unions were against a merit system and the neighboring schools wanted the same system and especially the benefits, but without the sacrifices. We were lucky with the Head Mistress; she defended the new system and since she had local support and some friends in the State government, we finished the first year with a small, but promising success. Eileen decided to implement the same system in Brisbane in another school and there it went well, too.

Looking back today, I realized how lucky I had been that I went to Peter's party. Most of the society accepted our unusual life style, and people were getting interested in the school we had sponsored, which started to have special projects for outstanding students, even if they were still rather young.

Other schools had copied our system with varying success; I believe that our school worked better because we stayed closely involved. Maureen was the center point of our family and was thinking to start a vineyard with her mother -- super premium wines only, naturally (watch out, Grange!), and she started a project to help young orphans.

I ran the company, which had expanded into Asia and Great Britain. We had now our own small fleet of cargo planes and fully integrated logistics. DHL and FedEx started to consider us as a serious competitor and we gave them a good run, but they had no chance against us in our own backyard. There had been a two-year economic downturn; we managed to hold on and our staff supported us to the full; when it passed, we gave them all a very generous bonus.

Whenever I had to travel, either Maureen or Jenny traveled with me; when once I said I was old enough to go out on my own, they reminded me of their promise that I never would sleep alone. We had our arguments and sporadically someone snapped at the other, but we always obeyed one of our basic rules: never go to sleep angry at the other, even if it would cost hours of heated discussion.

We enjoyed each other emotionally and physically, including an occasional smoked salmon and vodka night! We were working hard, but continued our running and martial arts exercises. Jenny won a state-wide competition and her fourth Dan, and I was now a teacher at sensei's dojo.

Maureen decided to visit Germany and try to see the old de Winter estates, now situated in Poland. It took some time to organize our agendas, but we managed it in May.

The main problem was Jenny. She protested vehemently that first, she could not run the company on her own, and second, how could she survive with the two of us travelling for over a week? Where was the commitment that we would never separate? Actually, she could run the company, but certainly would not survive the separation! There were tears, mumbled comments that were better not to listen to, and at the end, the big sacrifice: if we really wanted this and were ready for her to cry every night, alone in her bed, unable to sleep, she would consent ... but she would have an infinite amount of Brownie points!

Well, the company problem was easy to resolve: we promoted her to Executive VP, Operations. The other problem was only resolved when Maureen promised her that the next time, she could travel with me the same amount of days. As always, I was not asked.

The flight to Berlin was fine: by now we always bought Business and were upgraded to First Class. The three-hour flight from Berlin to Gdansk, however, was austere and bumpy; we were happy when we landed safely. I tried to give to Maureen a summary of what had happened to the city. Our estates had been not far away from the city and it was always the central point for the region.

Gdansk (for centuries the German name was Danzig) was annexed by the State of Brandenburg in 1308 and the Teutonic Knights started to dominate the region and the city joined the Hanseatic League in the late 1300's, becoming rich and powerful. Prussia annexed the city and surrounding areas in 1793, and later, after the unification of Germany, it became a part of the German Empire. After the First World War it was decided by the League of Nations that it would be converted into a Free City, with its own boundaries and even its own currency. After the second World War it was annexed by Poland and Germans were forcefully expelled. Danzig was the city where Lech Waleska freed Poland from communist domination.

My family, centuries ago, had been part of the Teutonic Knights and in recognition of the services given to the Order and Brandenburg, was elevated to the status of Counts. This was confirmed about 150 years later by a German Emperor, giving the de Winters the title of Reichsgraf, becoming part of the upper nobility in Germany.

Maureen was thoroughly impressed, but with a little smile asked: "Why did you not receive the right to wear a crown?" I started to go back to definitions of nobility and royalty, but she stopped me with a kiss. "It was just a joke, my love."

We rented a Lada (no BMW this) and drove east for 100 miles until we reached a small city. The landscape was fabulous: small rivers, vast forests, and when we reached Elk, there was a big lake. The agency had recommended the Jasminspa hotel, and while it was not up to the standards we were accustomed to by now, it was clean and the staff was friendly. We had our shower (no fooling around) and then asked for directions to the de Winter Schloss. The manager, an elderly gentleman, looked at me.

"De Winter? Are you from the de Winter family?"

When I nodded, he came forward and shook my hand. "Welcome, Mr. de Winter. Your family has been here for centuries, and you always were fair and just with us. We regret that you had to leave, and the people who replaced you, are not what we expected. The Schloss has been abandoned and you'll cry when you see it. These people have no respect for history and tradition!"

His German was a bit bumpy, but I could understand him easily. He asked us to sit with him and he got a bottle of something distilled; Maureen had one sniff and politely declined. I poured the drink down -- occasionally, suffering fast is better than suffering for a long time. It was vodka, and not a bad one.

"Tell me, how is the Graf de Winter? We still remember him from before the war; do you know that the last thing he did before he went off for the war was to build a school? And gave us money to maintain it? All is gone now, because these new people only want to stare at a computer and earn money."

I told him about the death of my father, and he swallowed, switching to English, about as bad as his German.

"He was a good man, sir. Is there still a Graf de Winter?" Maureen smiled. "You're looking at him, Sir. This is James Gustav, Reichsgraf de Winter, and I am his wife Maureen."

He jumped up. "Herr Graf, forgive me. Frau Gräfin, please forgive me!" I told him to calm down and tell us what had happened to our old estates and the castle.

It was a long and sad story. The communists had come into power and the party chief claimed the castle for his own; then he got fired for corruption and nobody seemed to care anymore. There was no maintenance, farming was too much work for the young, and the forest had claimed most of the area around the castle. The city was slowly dying because there was no industry, no tourist attraction, and the population had become old and poor.

"Herr Graf, it was so different when your family looked after the area and us. We had a good school, an excellent hospital and there was even a good cultural life. And now? Dead, dead, dead!"

He poured another drink and I saw part of the reason that this had happened. With no goals for life, no expectations for a better future, people just gave up or left. What a pity!

After a while he recommended a restaurant run by a friend of his that offered good and solid food. "You will like it! I'll call him to make certain that he treats you decently!"

When we arrived there the gossip mill must have been busy. A lot of people were sitting in the dining room, mostly elderly men and women. The owner welcomed us. "Herr Graf, welcome to my restaurant. We have duck and fish. What can I offer you?"

I told Maureen that the duck was always a good choice and he went to prepare it for us. One of the men got up and approached us. "Are you Graf de Winter?" I nodded and he sat with us.

"I knew your father when I was a little child. He always treated us well, even the young ones. We miss your family in this city, Herr Graf. We were always loyal and respectful, and you treated us the same way. Is there any chance that you could come back?"

There was silence in the room, as everybody waited for my response. What could I say?

"Mr..." he sat up proudly. ".... Bronislaw, Herr Graf."

"Mr. Bronislaw, for me this is all new. I only know about you and the region from what my father told us, and I must add that he always talked about you in a respectful tone. He was happy, when he grew up here, and he told me that the centuries that we had been here, had created a strong bond between you and my family. What can I do? I cannot answer this right now, Mr. Bronislaw. I live in Australia and have never travelled to Elk. For me the situation was resolved: we had lost our properties, the family had been expelled, and we had to start from zero. All I can say is that I'll drive tomorrow to the castle and discuss this with my wife. Perhaps we can meet again tomorrow at the same time?"

He nodded, thanked me and left as the owner came with the dishes. The duck was excellent, and he poured two shots of a clear liquid into small glasses "Our best vodka, Her Graf!"

Maureen started to laugh. "James, do you think that they have smoked salmon here?" Well, the idea counted!

The next morning, we got driving instructions from our host and when we arrived at the castle, I was tempted to cry. It had been a grand building, with a moat around it, an easily defended entrance through a big gateway, a small driveway to the main entrance and an imposing façade, with it seemed an abundance of windows. The original lines were still there: alcoves, turrets, staircases, and I could imagine the glory that had been. Now, reality was completely different.