Inheritance Ch. 00(ii)

As soon as he had said it, John realised, that he had meant it, in that moment he had come to terms with what was happening. The frustration was still there, but that had become the fuel to do what was necessary. He still felt regret for things not done - that still stung, and there were dozens of other feelings and issues and thoughts, all of which would need to be dealt with, but finally John Porter knew he had accepted his fate.

The members of the management team that John had assembled in the last couple of years - Philippa, his personal assistant, accountant Judith, Laura from Human Resources, Michelle (though she generally went by Shell) the lawyer and finally Katherine with a K, his PR guru - took the news as well as might have been expected. There were tears. Most, if not all, of them saw John as more than an employer, and the meeting at Thrallthorpe was adjourned temporarily, while they recovered their composure. But to a woman, all of them saw that this was an opportunity to repay the attention, the training and the rewards that had come to them, John needed them, it was time to step up.

"The main point - the day-to-day objective", John told them - was to carry on as if he was still there. "Most of the time I just sign the cheques," he told them, "You handle the day-to-day." There were some objections to this, John was deeply involved in the companies, and had a wide knowledge of what was going on, though he managed everything with a light touch. John silenced any objections by pointing out to each and every one of them just how much they did, and he made sure that they all knew how pleased he was with them, pleased with what they had achieved and how much they had repaid his trust.

"Elizabeth and Jane will have the power of attorney, and will effectively be the heads of the group. They will speak with my voice. But!" he paused theatrically, "And this is where I need your assistance, and your commitment_"

Another theatrical pause, John realised that he was enjoying this, "For the next five years."

There were some gasps around the table.

"I know how big a commitment that is, especially in business these days. There are a lot of things that can happen, things can change but stick with me on this, I have a plan..."

By the end of the day John sat back and took a drink of coffee. There was a lot of talking going on, across the table, around the table, to him, past him, even out in the kitchen. Lunch and breaks had come and gone, ignored. Tea and coffee had been a liquid constant all day. Piles of sandwiches had been reduced to crumbs, eaten, half-eaten, waved about in exasperation and used as gestures of punctuation when making points. But rather than try and pick out the details John listened to the overall tone. That tone was positive, looking how best to deal with the challenges he had set them. There were objections, people could see problems, lots of problems, but each time a problem was raised, (and written on a post-it note and stuck on the white board on his left) someone else would come up with a suggestion on how to deal with it. Time and again action points were taken and written in notebooks.

Elizabeth sat down next to him. "What do you think?" John asked her, reaching out for and taking her hand. Elizabeth thought for a few moments, her hand squeezing his.

"I think you're enjoying this?" She said amused.

"Sort of." He told her, and it was true he was converting his own frustrations to other people's motivation. "The main thing is it's positive. I have to deal with it this way, anything else and I'm lost."

"I know." She told him, her eyes seeing the large number of little yellow notes on the board. "It could all go horribly, horribly wrong." But John could hear the excitement in her voice as well.

"I know. But if I can't see this through to the end, I'm sure you lot will," he told her, with a gentle kiss on the cheek, then he chuckled, "Part of me wishes I could be there when this all comes to fruition. I would love to see his face."

Ronnie Allitt unfolded himself from behind the desk. Allitt was a tall man and defined the word gangly, he extended his hand warmly.

"John! So good to see you..." John shook his hand and took a seat opposite his friend.

"Sorry to hear about the ... you know..." Ronnie wasn't sure how to phrase it.

"Oh! Shit happens you know." John waved the subject away. Allitt had expected him to say something like that, it was the nature of the man. But it made him genuinely sad that a man who did so much good in so many ways would be cut off in this way.

"Did they say how long?"

"No more than a year tops, probably a lot less, so I've got a few things to sort out. Which is why I'm here."

Ronnie's secretary brought them both tea, and left.

Since the diagnosis of his cancer John had thrown himself into the future of his group of businesses. He had made trips around the country to see various people and some had come to visit him at Thrallthorpe. Now with Ronnie Allitt he explained what was going to happen and who would be doing what. It would, he finished "almost be like I'm not even gone", which had become the catch-phrase for the whole process.

Ronnie looked at his friend, struggling to say something, "Well, John, part of me says you'll never be gone, but the other part of me says I worry we won't cope without you."

John laughed, heartily at first but then with a little cough. "That's bollocks Ron. You guys are the ones that make this all work, if you lot do your jobs the way you do and with Elizabeth and Jane running the show - they'll make the high level decisions. And the girls, well they're shaping up nicely, it'll be fine. The overall plan is 'carry on as normal', as if I'm still here."

"And you're cool with that John?" Ronnie's face and tone was serious as he asked the question.

John looked at him, "You really have to ask that?"

"No, I suppose I don't. But you do realise how difficult this conversation is, don't you?"

John nodded, then he reached into his attaché case and took out a couple of sheets. "And now I have a favour to ask."

Ronnie Allitt reached to take the document from John. "Mike Bailey?"

"Jane's lad."

"What sort of thing were you looking for?"

"Something to get him lots of experience, he's a good lad, still in university but I understand he's looking for something for the summer to start with. But it would be nice if it could be permanent if possible."

Ronnie read the curriculum vitae carefully, "Business studies? And he's in this area?"

John grunted in confirmation.

"I'm guessing," Ronnie asked, "You don't want your involvement in this to be widely known?"

John nodded and both men smiled. "I want him to learn how to work. He's been brought up as ordinary as we can, he needs to learn how to deal with people and get his hands dirty."

Ronnie handed the document back to John and picked up his extension. "Lucy? Can you see if there's a Mike or Michael Bailey on that Linked thing?" There was a short pause, "Yes, that's it, Linked In. Okay, download all three CVs and print them out for me please?

"We need someone to work in our planning department, he'll get to see the whole show from there, and if he does a good job he'll be filling a hole we have. I'll tell him I found him online and call him in for a chat and an interview."

"Excellent!" John sat back in his chair.

"I'm not making any promises John..."

"I wouldn't expect you to."

"If he turns out to be a wrong 'un..."

"Like I said Ron, he's a good lad. Works hard and he's got his mum's brains."

"Okay we'll give him a go and see how it all works out."

"That's all I can ask for Ronnie," and with that the two men shook hands and parted.

Epilogue

John had thought about this very carefully, it was agreed with Elizabeth and Jane and inscribed in his will. He looked at the camera.

"Hello Michael. Happy birthday." He began ordinarily enough. "I'd hoped we could do this face to face but it doesn't look like that is going to happen." The cancer had spread right through his body, the doctors had told him he had only weeks remaining, in fact they suggested he wasn't even well enough to do this. But, John had decided he was going to do it, and he was going to do it his way. Elizabeth and Jane had assisted him in getting dressed - even dabbing his face with a touch of make-up - and helped him to set up the camera. Then he had chased them out of his office, his grandson's office as he thought of it now.

John waved his hands to indicate his surroundings, "I'll bet you're wondering what the hell is happening.

"I kept all of this from you because I wanted to keep you down to earth. I didn't want you growing up as a rich kid. I've waited till your twenty-fifth birthday because I wanted you to get your knees brown, get some time in a job. Learn the value of money, how to do a hard day's work, understand how companies work, hopefully get some time in managing people." Which was true he had worked very hard to keep Mike from growing up a rich kid, insisting he worked for a living at a proper wage. So he had helped him get his job? That was not against the rules. But Mike had had no advantages because his grandfather owned the company.

"Well, now it's time for your inheritance. I'm passing everything I own, all of it, on to you, everything. Businesses, property, the lot. You've never seen this house before, but this is yours now...but there's a lot more than that...

"When I die," he told his grandson "You'll get a hundred thousand pounds.

"That will be just to show you I haven't forgotten you."

"If you look in the drawer under your right hand - you'll find a pad, you might want to take notes." John told him, confident that it would be done as he said.

Over the next forty-five minutes John Porter told his grandson about his business empire, smiling when he told Michael about Allitt's, "As you've probably figured out the company where you've been working for the best part of a year now is one of ours." John chuckled inwardly at the surprise he was springing on his daughter's son.

"Your mum and gran will have more up to date information and a detailed portfolio, they'll bring you up to speed later. Now if that isn't enough, when you're ready, I want you to open up the other video."

John finished the first film, pressing the key on the keyboard to end it.

Carefully he got ready for the second film. He loosened his tie and removed his jacket.

John pressed the key to start the film.

"So - this is probably going to blow your mind Mike..."

At the end of his second piece John paused for a moment.

"Now," he smiled as he imagined how his grandson might react, "Tell me you saw that one coming?"

If you want to read what John told Michael - read Inheritance Ch 1.

If you have read my stories and enjoyed them, or even if you haven't enjoyed them, please make a comment and let me know why. I love to get feedback, - I think most authors do - I don't know about other people but it's what I do it for.

I may come back to these characters or their future selves anyway, I do have some ideas sketched out, but that is the prequel done. Thanks for reading.