Satisfied With Love Ch. 17

He pauses and turns his head to look at Pam.

"Thank you for asking that question Pam," he said as he winks at her.

Pam smiles at him, winks and nods in return, still with tears in her eyes. Brad takes a brief break as he and his sisters collect themselves.

"Brad, would you answer another question please?" another young lady in the middle of the room asks.

"After that answer, I'm not sure I have any answers left. But, I guess I can if you lighten up the question," he said smiling.

Brief laughter erupts in the room.

"If you had only one short sentence, how would you describe your fiancee?"

"Ooooo. Putting me on the spot again are you...." he says smiling.

"I need some assistance to answer that question, so Kristi needs to get her pretty little person up here please," he said as he motions for her join him.

As she stands, she clears the tears from her eyes and his sisters make room for her as she comes to him, smiling. He turns to face her and takes her hands in his, smiles and looks her in the eyes.

"That is another tough question, but I will confirm that the future Mrs Kristi Weber is my perfect package."

'Oooos' came from the crowd and then applause when Brad gives Kristi a big, tight hug as more tears appear in her eyes. Then she breaks the hug and turns toward the group.

"When Brad proposed, I had no idea what my perfect package was. I never thought that far ahead because I was focused on my career. As I watched him do what he is so talented at doing with the team, with the corporation, and with me, I found my answer and I would like to confirm that Mr Bradley Weber is the definition of my perfect package."

The group smiles and applauds.

Brad orders, "Everyone close your eyes cuz you can't see this."

He wraps his arms around her and gives her a kiss to remember as she melts into him. His sisters puts their hands over their mouths with a look of surprise as Brad and Kristi returns to reality amid a round of applause and a standing ovation, then breaks the kiss and whispers to her he loves her.

Brad stares at his fiancee with loving eyes until he winks at her, then she smiles at him with her heartstrings pulled to the max.

As the applause begins to diminish, Kristi gives him a quick peck and returns to her seat. His sisters resume positions on either side of him when another question comes from the group.

"Being Danny Packard siblings, do you know which of you is the smartest?" was another question.

"I'm the smartest because I was born first."

His sisters violate his ribs him pretty hard. He takes the pain, bending over while laughing. Everyone laughs with him.

"That hurt.... God, I love my sisters so much.... I just winced in pain and laugh about it. What is wrong with me?" he asks as he stands up and hugs them as a group laughs.

"No, don't answer that. You will likely tell them the truth.... But to answer your question, none of us have any idea. It doesn't really matter to me so I will likely not put any effort into investigating it either.... But thanks for asking."

Another employee in the audience asks, "Have you made any progress regarding the other changes you announced before you left the last time you were here or is what we are experiencing now what you were speaking about then?"

"Well, it's not, but I'm glad that happened for you. I'm sorry to say we have done more and I believe Larry will be telling you about them at some point. We just told him an hour or so ago. Larry, do you want to do the honors?"

"Go for it Brad. You know them better than I do at this point," Larry said.

"Now you're putting me on the spot.... again!"

Laughter breaks out in the room.

"Okay. First, we gave Larry a handbook that looks like this," he said as he pulls the handbook out of his inside suit coat pocket. "Larry's job will be to turn this Packard Empire Handbook into a Packard Records Handbook specifically for this company. I believe he has plans to begin that process very soon."

"Monday!" Larry shouts.

"Also, notice it is not a rulebook anymore. I believe a rulebook doesn't treat people with respect, so we changed it. It's now a handbook. I never liked the company I worked for treating me like a teenager or child by giving me a bunch of rules to follow. Most are obvious and some were outright stupid. I wanted to be treated as an adult, with a brain, and be respected. I knew my place in the company and so did everybody I worked with."

"So, what the Packard team has done is to give you a series of topics you, as employees, must pay attention to while you are working on the job. These are generic topics, most of them having to do with legal stuff. Each topic also includes the reason why the topic is listed and gives you information about why it is important to you. That is the reason we changed it from a rulebook, to a handbook. It is more a tutorial about the company and your role in the company rather than a list of rules. We do not want to treat our employees like they are idiots. We know you're not. We also know you are adults, not children. The bad news is, obviously, your compliance is necessary to maintain employment."

Applause breaks out and they get several thank you's from the group.

"Don't thank me yet.... The first big change in the handbook is one you may not like because it is about your vacation time.... Understanding no-one likes taking vacations," everyone is giggling, "we decided it is in the employee's and company's best interest to allow vacations. As a result of that, all of you just got another forty hours of paid vacation added to your vacation time. Even Larry and Sandi, but they have yet to earn it," he said rolling his eyes as the room breaks out in applause and cheers hearing that.

Came a question from the group, "I don't mean to sound ungrateful or anything, but that will cost some serious money. So my question is, why did you do that for us Brad?"

"Good question, but if you are asking that question because you don't think you are worthy of it, you need to get that kind of thinking out of your head, all of you. The Packard Empire is making an investment in the future of this and all other companies in the Empire. We can't do that without the people that make it happen. I, sorry, we want you to work here and want you to be happy while you work here and so does Larry and his staff. It is a win-win for everyone. If you don't feel that is important to you, you know where the door is," Brad said as a smile breaks out on his face.

He pauses.

"I don't see anyone moving so the Packard Empire wishes to welcome all of you to the new Packard Records. I'm hoping you will enjoy your future here."

Applause and cheers breaks out.

"Don't forget, I also spent some time in the corporate world. As a result, I do not feel one week of vacation time is enough time off for new hires. They work as hard as everyone else does, including the stress. The whole Packard team agreed so we added a week to everybody's vacation time to be fair."

Applause breaks out again.

"The next thing we did is to allow you to use your vacation time as you see fit. No more is there a requirement to use your vacation one full week at a time. All we ask is to treat this privilege with the utmost respect and plan the vacation time off in advance through the normal chain of command."

"Also, if you fail to take your vacation time every year, it accumulates so you will not loose it. If you have earned vacation time, it should not be taken away from you. If you have no desire to use it, you can also take the vacation time in the form of a monetary payment."

More applause breaks out.

"I will pass off the rest of the changes to Larry. These changes take effect beginning on your next pay cycle, whenever that is, whether or not the new Packard Records handbook is ready. I don't think it will be since there is a lot of work Larry wants to do before that will happen."

More applause breaks out, again.

A question from the back of the room came, asking, "Thank you for those changes from the bottom of our hearts.... Last you were here, you asked us if there was something you could do to help us be better at our jobs and feel better about Packard Records. We did not answer that question because we had a new beginning and we wanted to give Larry the chance he deserved to get a handle an this company, then let him pass the information on to you. We believe he has done that and we are so proud of our leadership."

"What we would like to know now, is if there is something we can do to improve the Packard Empire, to make it bigger, better, maybe even the best place on the planet to work at. In my opinion, it already is all of those things, but I don't know what you know."

Brad looks over to Larry and he nods giving him the okay to answer the question.

"Damn. What a team you guys are.... Will you ever give me a break on the tough questions?" he asks, smiling.

"Brad, may I answer that question please?" Stacy asks.

"No."

She gives him a shot to the ribs.

He grimaces, smiles, and said, "Okay. The floor is yours. Do I need to get off it?" he asks holding off his laughter, but the rest of the group didn't.

Stacy bows her head and smiles, then looks at Brad.

"No. You're fine right where you are.... But sometimes I wish I could ignore you," she said, and smiles as the group giggles.

She looks back at the employees, shaking her head, and said, "We do want the Packard Empire to be the best place on the planet to work at. You're part is to make Packard Records the best company in the LA area to work at. Right now, that is your goal and you appear to be doing that very well so don't stop what you are doing.... You have not heard all the changes yet, but I will explain one more, hoping Larry will not kill me."

They laugh. So does Larry.

"The following is something Larry has already started and you will be made aware of it in more detail by him. We want every company in the Packard Empire to establish what we will call a 'stress relief' fund which will be funded by company profits."

"This fund allows the company to plan and pay for things like catered company lunches at the facility, or in general, time you can spend that will remove some of the stress from doing your job. For example, the Packard team has learned that getting together as a team and just talking about anything and everything during company time is a very good stress reliever. Some of the jokes the staff has revealed were so hilarious we ended up laughing more than talking. We have learned that laughter is one of the best stress relievers ever."

"I don't want to stomp all over Larry's plans, but he does have some and I will let him finish the answer to your question when he is ready."

The group applauds her response.

When she turns to Brad, he gives her one big hug, whispering, "I am so proud of you Stacy. You are such an awesome leader."

Tears return to Stacy's eyes as Brad gives her a kiss on her forehead and releases her. Stacy steps back and lets Brad return to the podium, removing the tears from her eyes with a tissue Kristi gives her.

"Last I was here, as someone just reiterated, I asked a question that you all refused to answer, and cheered about it if I remember correctly. You basically told me to mind my own business, brushed me off and Larry will give me the answer," he said with a smile on his face as the Packard Team laughs.

The group is well aware of the question like he asked it yesterday, and laughs.

"Well, Larry has not told me the answer, most likely because we covered so many things this morning and forgot to bring it up, so I thought I should ask the question again. So here it is. What can we, as owners, do to help you do your job better, be happier to work here, be proud of your performance and be proud of your leaders?" Brad asks.

The same guy, Jim, stands to answer the question again.

"You have already done it Mr Weber. You have already done it."

Applause breaks out in spite of the seriousness of the question.

"I will accept that answer from you guys, for now."

"I have another story I would like to tell to you all. It also happened last we visited when just Kristi and Jeni were here with me," Brad said.

"I had just told Chuckie he was fired and Larry followed me by firing him also. Helen jumped out of her seat in pure jubilation, shouted 'YES', gave a couple of fist pumps as she walked to the office door and waited. Ted and Kevin had already put a pair of handcuffs on Chuckie to prevent him from doing anything else equally as stupid."

"I went to Kevin and Ted and asked them to do the most unpleasant job they will love to perform. The instructions included escorting Chuckie to pack his personal stuff from his office and take him to HR to be processed out of the company."

"Ted asked Chuckie to take a walk with them and Chuckie told them to call him Mr Little. Ted responded, 'I don't think so Chuckie' as they escorted him toward the office door. Then Kevin responded, saying, 'We're pee-ons in this company, Chuckie. You, on the other hand, just got fired, twice no less, so you don't work here anymore. That makes you the one we pee on.'"

The group breaks out in hysterical laughter again.

As the laughter fades, Brad said, "Now, I'm really going to turn the meeting back to Larry and take a seat."

"Before you go, would you tell us how many people you have thrown in the pool?"

Brad bursts out laughing saying, "Only one and I don't think that person is willing to admit it," he said.

"It was me!" Stacy said, jumping in.

The group laughs at the unexpected admission and Brad is surprised as hell she did. Brad and Peggy exchange glances as they laugh with the rest of the group. Then Stacy explains.

"In a team meeting, I was ragging on him about being a boss and he suddenly jumped up and grabbed me before I could get away. Eventually, he threw me in the pool and jumped in himself. We were laughing our butts off as we got out. Nobody thought he would have the balls to throw his sister in the pool, myself included, but he did. After we took a seat by the pool, still laughing about it, he stood and asked 'who's next'. In a heartbeat, the team scattered, the chickens. Anyway, it was a good stress reliever as they all joined the laughter. It was one of many fun times we've had on the island."

The three owners try too control their laughter as they make their way to their seat and Larry makes his way to the podium.

As Brad sits down next to Kristi, he said, "I thought you were suppose to stop me from making a fool of myself."

"Excuse me? You're blaming me for this?"

"Yes. It's your job, isn't it?"

"Really?"

"Well, it can't be my fault."

"And why not?"

"Because I'm the boss, and everyone knows the boss is never wrong. Right?" he said as he smiles.

Kristi reaches for him, hugs him and pecks his lips. He hugs her tight.

"I thought you were serious," Kristi said with a hint of disgust in her voice.

"I'm always serious when it comes to you, unless...."

"Unless what?"

"Unless I throw you in the pool."

Laughter bellows out of everyone in the room.

Larry asks, "Jeni, is he always like this?"

"Yes, Larry. I told you he has a great sense of humor and he is wound up today. So is Kristi and his sisters. I guess they ate to much Wheaties for breakfast this morning. The bad news is, so did I."

The group laughs again, recalling Brad's previous comment from his last visit.

"How do you get anything done?"

"I can't answer that Larry. If I did tell you, I'd have to do something really bad to you," Jeni said, smiling.

More laughs, especially from Brad and Kristi.

"Good one Jeni," Larry said, giving her a hi-five.

Brad and Kristi do the same.

"Another question please, for Kristi."

"Okay," Larry said.

Kristi stands, turns and faces the group.

"Kristi, do you find it difficult to work for your leader and love him to pieces at the same time?"

She looks at Brad and pulls him up to her. He gets behind her, wraps his arms around her waist and picks her up off the floor.

"No! You can't answer that question because you will get me in trouble.... Again, or still," he said, laughing.

They laugh as he returns her to the floor, puts his arm on her shoulders and she wraps her arm around his waist.

"I have to answer that because I want to get you in trouble," she said smiling.

He gives her a one arm hug and a peck on her cheek.

"Kristi, your cheek...."

"You always screw up my makeup on purpose, don't you?"

"Oh, just be happy I don't wear lipstick," he replies smiling at his inside joke.

Laughter erupts and Kristi is the first to recover.

"Funny. Wow.... No, not at all. I do love him to pieces and I do work for him and with him."

She moves her hand from his waist and tries to pinch his butt again and he moves away from her to avoid it. Unfortunately, he wasn't fast enough.

"Yeouch!" he said smiling. "That's twice. I knew you were going to do that too. I won't let you do that again without a severe penalty...."

"My butt still seems to be popular," he said laughing. "Fancy that."

The group laughs as he holds her tight and gives her another kiss, then they get back on subject as the group shares their fun time.

Kristi continues saying, "I spend many hours on the phone or managing him and doing things for him to keep him organized so one would think he would appreciate what I do for him...."

"And he does, believe it or not! He appreciates everything I do for him and he tells me so. Most of the time he shows me with a hug, sometimes a big hug. Other times, with a bigger hug. But for the most part, I get the same hi-fives and hugs as the rest of the team. Well, maybe a few more, but it also makes it easier for me to keep him under control," Kristi said as she rolled her eyes and everyone laughs.

"It is one thing to be infatuated with someone, and another to be in love. I appreciate the fact that we are in love. It is something you know deep down inside when it happens. Past events have taught me not to be complacent and cherish every waking minute we share together," she said.

She embraces him and squeezes him oh so hard. She even tried to pinch his butt again, but he successfully stops her.

The Packard team understood why she said those words, but nobody else did.

"Kristi, would you allow me to breathe please?" Brad asks.

Laughter comes in but it was short lived.

"Would you share one of those past events with us Kristi?"

She looks at Brad and he said, "Your choice."

Pausing, "Okay.... This happened two days before Larry, Sandi and Helen came to visit us, about two months ago...."

She pauses and collects her thoughts.

"After Brad returned from his morning workout all sweaty, stinky and weak, his heart stopped with no warning at all."

The room goes totally silent. You can hear a pin drop.

"I immediately called for help, then panicked. His heart was restarted and he was rushed to the hospital on a stretcher. He is conscious, but to weak to walk. Eventually, the doctors found a tick had burrowed into his body. They removed the little bugger, but he was still very weak. He could not walk on his own. He was released from the hospital and we took him back to the island, again, on a stretcher. We stayed with him for the next 24 hours, not letting him out of our sight. He slept many hours that night."

"For a time at the beginning, I was so scared I was going to loose him that I was emotionally drained. I finally found the love of my life, and suddenly, I may loose him. The whole team was feeling it. We toughed it out and he woke up the next morning so hungry he could eat a horse. We had him back, but he was still very weak. We even discussed postponing Larry's arrival until he was 100%, but he said he was well enough to continue with the schedule as is. Over the next two days, he slowly got his strength back as the toxins left his body."