The Brass Statuettes Ch. 22

"I have to tell you," Trudy said and held back a sob, "I've never been so scared in all my life."

"I would've been, too. It scares me that I went along with it as long as I did. It scares me that I've let myself do so many things."

Brenda felt tears welling in her own eyes. She grabbed a paper napkin from a holder nearby to dry them as the tea kettle began to whistle. Trudy poured the steaming water into two mugs and joined Brenda.

"Everyone's done things they aren't very proud of," Trudy said. "You've just got to try to do better and move on."

"You can. You haven't done anything really bad.," Brenda said. "For me it's different. I've let too much happen. It's too late to go back."

"That's not true. You must never believe that," Trudy replied. "It's never too late. Look at everything you've got."

"That's just it," Brenda said. "I don't really have it—not like you. I don't have Blake like you have Frank. I just have everything he can give me. He knows; I know it."

"Change it!" Trudy exclaimed. "You can, if you want to. Tell him that's what you want to do. See what he says. What have you got to lose?"

Brenda took a sip of her tea. It burned her lips a little; that was okay. It had the effect of waking her up. If she'd been at Gloria's house, she'd be reaching for the vodka. Tea in the afternoon had a nice feel to it.

"I know what he'll say," Brenda said. "He'll say 'yes'. He isn't hard like me; he's really a softy at heart. He'd go along, alright—it would be so unfair to him."

"Aw, just do it and to hell with worrying about all that. Don't confess anything, don't apologize. Just give him whatever you've got to give and he'll be happy. And, that's what life is all about—being happy—with Blake and yourself. Why don't you just go for it?"

Brenda stared into her teacup for a minute. A time or two she thought she saw truth rising up with the steam. Trudy had given her something to think about.

"I know I've hurt you," Brenda said to Trudy. "Could we be friends, just the same?"

Trudy didn't answer right away. Brenda wouldn't have blamed her if she turned the offer down. It would have been justice for the taking, if that's what Trudy wanted.

"Yes," Trudy answered in a whisper.

"I'll keep your secret about what happened at Gloria's house, if that's what you want," Brenda offered. "You can tell me about it, if you don't want Frank to know. You've got to tell someone. It would be better for you."

"I think I just did," Trudy said and gushed a smile at her.

"I'll tell you about Blake and me. It's the same thing. And no one else will have to know."

"We sound like a couple of school girls—like my daughters," Trudy laughed. Brenda laughed too.

"If you've got time, why don't we go over to Gloria's house? Juana will feel better if she can see you're okay."

*****************

Several weeks later Frank was in his office. He'd just told Aaron that he was being transferred to the Adhesives Division to be Division Controller. "You'll get a nice raise," Frank told him. "It will be the best move for your career. Figure on eighteen months to two years."

He had an interview lined up with a candidate for the Corporate Controller position later that morning. He buzzed Jeannette. "Can you make a reservation upstairs for lunch for me and the candidate? We have to fatten up the sheep before we lead him to the slaughter."

Jeannette laughed. "Yes, Frank." It was good to hear Jeannette laughing again. Things were starting to get back to normal. "I was waiting until your meeting with Aaron broke up. "Mr. Warner asked if you could join him in his office with Mr. Sweeney."

Frank put on his jacket and went to Alvin's office right away. He and Sweeney were having coffee, waiting for him.

"What's up?" Frank asked.

"Jim and I have something to tell you," Alvin said. "Considering everything, we thought you should get the news first."

"Considering what?" Frank asked.

"That I was getting ready to fire you, for one thing," Alvin confessed. "Al Crossman had me convinced. I should have seen through it."

"Water over the damn," Frank said. "Crossman's got his hands full now."

It was true. Western fired Crossman and his firm when it was found out that he was fronting for Mueller. Nadine Persky's moves against Western and Frank were at Crossman's behest as a way to promote Mueller's interests.

That was only the tip of the iceberg. Agent Henderson and the FBI had found out the principles of Trans-Atlantic Partners. It turned out that Simon Lambert had started it as a partnership of two corporations that he formed. Somehow, Crossman found out and he and Nadine Persky forced him to let them in.

They were all indicted and were in the process of turning on each other. Persky was on Administrative Leave from the SEC. Crossman was defending his law license in front of the Texas Bar. Lambert was dismissed from the Board.

Mueller was never involved in the 'Short Sale' scandal, but resigned from the Board.

"If it hadn't been for you, this company would have come apart." Sweeney said. "You kept the shareholders calmed down and came through with the financing for the R&D program when everyone was against you."

"And I happen to know you kept Tyler and Blake from turning against me, even when things were the worst for you," Alvin added.

"I wouldn't go that far," Frank said. "Anyway, it's too bad Jason won't be here to see his funding."

"He's better off being Dean at that university in New York," Alvin said. "But that's not why we called you down here. I want to let you know that I'm retiring. When I found out what Crossman nearly led me into, I realized that I wasn't on my best game anymore. You might say I'm firing myself. I'll stay on the Board as Chairman Emeritus."

"C'mon Alvin. That's not necessary. We'll pick things up from here."

"Thanks, but my mind's made up. Besides, Gloria will need me when she comes home. Jim, here, is stepping in as interim Chairman and CEO. You and Blake are moving up, like I said while we were flying to Chicago. I said it as a decoy back then, but now it's for real."

************

Frank made it a point to get home early that evening. He told Trudy about what happened. She was happy about the promotion, of course.

Frank and Trudy were in the living room. Margaret was in her room studying for a Chemistry test. Frank was flipping through the TV channels trying to find something to watch.

"The more channels we get the less there is worth watching anymore," Frank complained. Trudy didn't answer, but Frank knew she agreed with him. "They should make a soap opera about Western Chemical and everything that's gone on." He gave up searching and clicked off the television.

"It's a good idea for Alvin to be there for Gloria," Trudy said. "From what I've heard, she fell pretty hard."

"Alvin's leaving will be a big loss,' Frank said. "He went through a tough patch, but he put in some pretty solid years in the top spot. That job's not easy."

"In that case, I would say he deserves to go out the way he wants to," Trudy said. "The Company will survive."

"I suppose so," Frank conceded. "By the way, I haven't forgotten that I owe you a big vacation."

"Any vacation at all sounds fine right now," Trudy said.

"I had an idea," Frank said and leaned closer to her. "Remember when we were talking making a driving trip around the whole state of Texas? I've been thinking about that. I've been looking into it, too. We could make it a camping trip. You know—sleeping under the stars?" He leaned closer and nuzzled her neck. She made a little purring noise. "Doing other things under the stars, too."

"You mean get naked while we share sleeping bags with a bunch of rattlesnakes? You have a troubled mind, Frank."

The set-back slowed Frank down. He was quiet for a minute as he tried to figure out how to regain his lost momentum. Trudy saved it for him.

"What other ideas do you have," she asked as she casually draped her hand on his thigh.

"How about Europe?" he asked. "I was reading about these nude beaches they have in France and Spain."

"And who would be nude?" Trudy retorted. "You're not thinking about me, I hope."

"Sure, why not? No one would know us. You could try topless first and then work your way into it. It would be real adventure—a thrill. You'd look great."

"You're crazy, Frank."

"Crazy about you," he said and cupped a breast in his hand.

Trudy laughed that deep laugh that Frank was hoping to hear. "What would you give if we had our own little nude adventure right now, upstairs in our very own bedroom?" she asked.

Frank squeezed her breast a little more firmly and rubbed his thumb over the nipple through the fabric of her blouse and bra. "A vacation wherever you want to go,' he answered."

She purred a little more. "Which is?"

"A trip up the Mississippi on a paddlewheel steamer," Frank answered. "But we'd have to wait until nice weather."

She slid her hand up Frank's thigh where he was hard. She held it like he always liked her to. One of those smiles that always excited Frank spread across her face.

"That, as you business guys like to say, closes the deal." She jumped up from the sofa where they were sitting. "Lock up the house. I'll see you up there."

***************

Juana busied herself cleaning the windows on the French doors that led to the veranda. The sun warmed the patio stones. It was finally nice enough to sit outside after a break in winter's dreary days.

Señora Warner had been away for a long time. It seemed as soon as she finally came home Señor Alvin whisked her away to Europe, but he said that Señora Gloria's friends were welcome to use the house for their meetings even when they were gone. She looked out and saw three women sitting at one of the tables, eating sandwiches and drinking tea.

One of the women was Señora Brenda, whom she had gotten to know better in recent months, and she was doing most of the speaking.

"Now that we have the funding for the second Morningside School in place, we have to find the right location."

"Tyler knows someone in City Hall who can work with us," one of the women said. "I can get things started on that." It was the woman who called herself 'Ashley', another of Señora Gloria's friends.

"I have the draft proposals ready if we want to review them." It was Señora Trudy who spoke. Juana was most glad that Trudy was so happy, for it was she who received the worst hurt from Señora Gloria during her bad times—unless it was Gloria who hurt herself most grievously.

"Has anyone heard from Darlene?" Señora Brenda asked the group.

"I heard she moved in with Ed Cassidy—you know, from First National Bank—after her husband moved to New York to take that job," Ashley reported.

"I've called her a number of times," Brenda said. "It's up to her if she wants to work with us, but she'll have to decide soon or resign from the Board. She can't just be part of it in name only; she'll have to do the work, too."

"What will we do when Gloria comes back?" Ashley asked.

"I guess that would be up to Trudy, considering everything that ..."

"No, it's not up to me," Trudy insisted. "I would never want it to be up to me. Really, it's up to Gloria."

Brenda nodded. "Alright, we'll leave it at that."

Juana spotted José working in the garden at the edge of the grounds. He was uncovering the flower beds that had been resting under the winter mulch. Even from the great distance she was from the garden, Juana could see the green shoots of the hyacinths and the red ones of the peonies poking up from their bed of soil. Tiny pink buds were appearing on the stems of the roses. José had shown them to her that morning. It was a wonder of nature that Juana never tired of witnessing.

Soon all in the gardens would be as they should—maybe even in time for Señor Alvin and Señora Gloria when they returned from their long voyage. Juana hoped for better times.

José took such good care of the flowers. Sometimes, despite all of his troubles, a plant or two would become diseased. They ceased to be the beautiful beings they were intended to be. They would become brown and ugly, and by doing so ruin the garden for all the rest and spread the disease to the other plants, too. The decay would start from within; the crowning blossoms were the last part of the plant to show the sickness.

José never gave up on any sick flower if he didn't have to. He would move it so that he could give it special care, new soil, extra water and the right amount of sunshine. So long as there was still life in the plant, there was hope for it to get better. Not all did, of course, but José was able to pull many through.

Sometimes an ailing plant would recover to be the biggest and brightest of all the flowers. It would rejoin the other healthy plants and soon no one would remember that it had once been so decayed. José knew that the magic was not his. He had only enabled it—it was for the flower to heal itself. But he was, nonetheless, happy when it happened.

Juana cast a glance at the table and the women seated around it. She watched them as they chatted and laughed with one another. It was good for the house to have happy people there. It reminded her of the flower beds in José's gardens. She finally came to understand what José often said: "In a good garden the flowers are always growing."

THE END

Dear Readers,

Thank you for reading "The Brass Statuettes". I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it for you. Thank you, also, for your comments throughout the story that were posted in the Public Section and or through the private e-mail facility.

Good reading and best regards,

Autumn Writer