The Fall and Rise of David Beckman Ch. 04

It was several minutes before Erica could get the smile off her face. At that moment, I knew for sure that we were going to be okay.

*****

Now that I was an official partner in Henning, Spears and Beckman, it was time to get busy growing our business. It was agreed that Jeff and Don would continue supporting our current customers and I would go after new customers. I began by contacting all of my BDS customers. I set up the study in my house as my office and went to work. In three days, I had set up meetings with fifteen of my former clients and five of them indicated that they would be very willing to do business with Henning, Spears and Beckman.

If I had any idea how much fun it would be to start my own business, I would have left BDS years ago. It helped that I had partners that I liked and could trust.

When I had first told Erica about Henning, Spears and Beckman, I could tell it worried her a little. She was supportive although I guess she was worried that our venture might fail but when we won the Clinton Products contract and she saw how excited I was as I went after new customers, she got excited too. She even began helping me by keeping my filing straight and keeping track of my business expenses for tax purposes.

*****

At ten o'clock on Monday morning, a week after closing the Clinton Products deal, I got a call from Mike Boswell.

"What the fuck kind of stunt are you trying to pull?" Mike shouted over the phone as soon as I answered it.

"What are you talking about Mike?"

"You know God damn well what I am taking about. You stole my fuckin' customer."

It almost sounded like Mike was foaming at the mouth. "What customer would that be, Mike?" I asked as calmly as I could.

"Clinton Products. You stole Clinton Products, you ungrateful fuck," he shouted.

"I am not the ungrateful one here and, if you persist with your shouting and abusive language, I'll hang up on you."

"Clinton Products was a BDS customer and you stole them away from me," Mike said with the volume much lower.

"Mike, Clinton Products was never your customer," I said. "I brought them in and they bought your products and services through me. When you fired me, they wanted to continue doing business with me. Besides, Clinton Products was too big of a financial risk for you. Isn't that why you fired me?"

"I fired you because you didn't investigate them carefully enough. You should have known about that WSJ article. If you had, we could have saved the contract and I would not have had to fire you."

"You know what, Mike, you're full of shit. There was never anything wrong with that contract but you had your head so far up your ass that you didn't even know what was going on in your own company."

"Just what the fuck do you mean by that?"

"If you would have gotten your head out of your Car and Driver magazine and done a little homework of your own, you would have seen what was going on," I said. "You hired a guy you knew nothing about to be your sales manager when you had two very qualified candidates already working for you."

"That was a business decision. I needed you and Jeff in the field selling and I couldn't pass up the chance to get someone with the experience that Bill had with IBM."

"Well, let's see how that worked out for you. Jeff left as soon as you named Bill Nelson as the new sales manager and now I am gone and you are starting to lose business because of it. And for your information, you didn't hire Bill away from IBM ... IBM fired him."

"That's bullshit. You are making that up."

"I don't really care if you believe me or not, Mike. But I am going to give you something to think about. Go take a look at these two web pages," I said and gave him the two WSJ article URLs. "I think these will open your eyes."

Mike made me repeat the addresses a couple of times to make sure he wrote them down correctly. Frankly, I was surprised that he wrote them down at all. I expected him to ignore what I was saying.

"David, I might have been a little hasty in firing you. I'd like you to come back to BDS. We had a good working relationship and I should have given you a chance to fix your problem. So why don't you come back?"

"Wow, that must have been difficult for you," I said. "So you think we had a good working relationship? You and I never had a relationship; it was more of an understanding. I did my job and you left me alone. You had a chance to get me back. I came in to explain what happen at Clinton Products and you threatened to have me arrested. There is no way I will never work for you again.

"Mike, let me give you some good advice. Sell BDS and retire. Your company is worth more right now than it ever will be again. I plan on taking all of my old clients away from you, which won't be all that difficult. They know me and trust me but they have no idea who you are. In ten years, BDS will be worthless so get out now."

"You son-of-a bitch. How dare you threaten me," Mike shouted. "My grandfather started this business over fifty years ago. Back then it was Boswell Electronics. BDS is not about to be put out of business by a snotty little shit like you."

"If your grandfather could see what you have done to his company, he'd probably come back and kick your ass," I said. "What I said is not a threat; it is just reality. I don't think we have anything more to discuss."

It wasn't until I put the phone down that I realized how tense I had been during that call. It took all of my self-control to not scream and shout the way Mike did. I knew that there would be a confrontation but I didn't expect it so soon. I was glad to have it out of the way.

I called Jeff and told him about the conversation I had with Mike.

"You really told him he should sell BDS and retire?" Jeff asked.

"Yes and now we had better be successful because I could never face him if he beats us in this business."

Jeff laughed. "You do have balls," he said. "Don't worry, we will beat him. If he doesn't take your advice, he may end up having to sell out to us at a greatly reduced price in a couple of years."

That evening, when I told Erica about my call with Mike, she didn't think it was as funny as Jeff did.

"Do you think he can cause us any trouble?" Erica asked.

"What kind of trouble?"

"Legal problems. Could he make a claim that you stole his clients?"

"No. The contracts that Clinton Products had with BDS were about to expire. It would only break the law if we had gone in after Clinton Products had signed a contract with BDS and then got Clinton to cancel the contract. I am being careful to not interfere with any existing BDS contracts. Mike may try to make a claim but he won't have a leg to stand on."

"If you tell me not to worry, I won't," Erica said.

"Don't worry."

*****

It had been two weeks since Mike had called and everything was progressing nicely. It was Friday afternoon and Erica was home. She had taken a half-day of vacation because we were going away for an extended weekend with Jeff and Nancy. I was in my office putting together a proposal for a new customer and Erica was packing for our trip to Hilton Head.

I had just finished printing the final version of the proposal and was putting it in an envelope when the doorbell rang. Erica called out, "I'll get it."

From my office door, I could see into the foyer but I could not see the front door. I stood at the door waiting to see who our visitor was.

"Bill, what are you doing here?" I heard Erica say in a surprised voice.

Bill pushed past Erica into the foyer and said, "I have to talk to you."

"This isn't a good time, Bill. I think you better leave."

"No. You have to hear me out. Do you have any idea what that crazy husband of yours has been up to?"

I was ready to charge out of my office and deck the bastard but Erica put her hand up as if to touch her hair but I could see that she was signaling me to stay in my office.

"What do you think David is up to?" Erica asked.

"He sabotaged the contract with Clinton Products and then got Mike to believe it was my fault we didn't get that contract," Bill said. "Well, you know how Mike is. He fired me and said that he was going to give my job to David."

"Why would David do that to you?" Erica asked as she managed to flash a brief smile in my direction when Bill wasn't looking at her.

"He is trying to get revenge on me for the affair he imagined we were having. Did you know that he called Diane and told her you and I were in LA together?"

"He did?"

"Yes, and now Diane has left me and wants a divorce," Bill said.

"Why are you here, Bill?"

"I came to get you. Now that David has had his revenge on me, I'm afraid that he will do something to hurt you," Bill said.

"Hurt me? Why would David hurt me?"

"Aren't you listening? He thinks we had an affair. He told Diane that he was going to get even with me and then he would deal with you," Bill said. "You need to get away from him before he hurts you."

"I think David has already had his revenge on me," Erica said.

I could see Bill's whole body stiffen. "He did? What did he do?"

"It's not just what he did, it is what he is still doing," she said. "Almost every night after dinner, he drags me up to bed and makes love to me. You know, it would really be annoying if I didn't enjoy it so much."

Bill was stunned into silence for a moment. I don't think he quite knew how to take what Erica had said. She managed to say it all with a straight face. It appeared that Bill decided Erica was serious. I don't know how he could have come to that conclusion. I guess he was so intent on pressing his own agenda that he didn't hear the irony in what she had told him.

"David is just trying to make you think everything is all right and then he will get his revenge on you. You need to get away from him before it's too late."

"Bill, there are a few problems with what you have told me. I do believe that David had reason to want to get revenge on you but it wasn't because he thought we were having an affair. David didn't have to do anything to you because you did it all to yourself. You tried to ruin him and you tired to ruin my marriage but it didn't work so don't expect any sympathy from me."

"You bitch. I did this all for you. In a couple of years I would have owned BDS and if you would have just dumped that asshole husband of yours we could have been happy."

"How dare you come into my house and talk to me that way. I never gave you any reason to believe that I wanted to be with you and I can't believe that you could possibly have thought I would ever leave David for you. I want you out of my house ... now."

I could see trouble beginning so I started moving toward the foyer approaching Bill from behind. I was almost there when Bill grabbed Erica by the arm and began to yell at her. "I am not leaving until I am get what I came here for."

Bill started to pull Erica out of the foyer and farther into the house.

"What are you doing? Let go of me immediately," Erica scolded.

"Who is going to make me?" Bill asked.

Erica said, "David will," as she looked at me over Bill's shoulder.

When Bill saw that Erica was looking behind him, he turned to see what she was looking at. The only thing he saw was my fist just before it connected with his jaw. Bill spun sideways and fell to the floor. He sprung quickly back up to his feet but stepped away from me.

"It's time for you to leave, Bill," I said.

Bill stepped back another pace and then he looked at Erica as if to ask her why she didn't tell him that I was home. I guess that Erica picked up on that look also.

"Oh, by the way, David's home," Erica said.

"Bill, you are leaving now. You can walk out or be carried out, your choice, but you are leaving," I said.

Bill stared at me for a moment without moving but as soon as I took a step toward him he bolted for the door and was gone.

"Are you all right?" I asked Erica.

"I'm okay, just shocked at what he did."

Erica went to the phone and called the police and an hour later we were repeating our story to the third different police officer.

Bill Nelson was arrested about an hour later and charged with assault and attempted sexual assault.

*****

That all happened four years ago. This morning Henning, Spear and Beckman bought a controlling share of BDS. As part of the deal, Mike Boswell was allowed to stay on as a figurehead president with his agreement to retire in two years. Mike would have no authority or responsibilities. Henning, Spears and Beckman was now the biggest independent computer services company in Georgia and we were ready to start branching into our neighboring states with a goal to be the biggest in the southeast.

I went home early that day with plans to take Erica out to dinner to celebrate but the house was empty when I got there. It was four o'clock and Erica should have been there. I couldn't remember her telling me she had any appointments so it worried me that she wasn't home. I looked around the house to see if she left a note but I didn't find one. I tried her cell phone but got no answer. I poured myself a drink and sat down to wait.

It was six o'clock when I heard the garage door opening. The relief I felt surprised me. I hadn't realized how tense I had been over the previous two hours. When Erica walked into the room, I could tell by the look on her face that something was up.

"I've been a nervous wreck here waiting for you," I said. "I tried to call you but you didn't answer your cell phone. What were you doing, visiting your boyfriend again?"

"Yes."

"I didn't know you were going to see him today."

"I told you last week."

"You did? Oh, shit. You did. What did he say?"

"Everything's good."

"Why didn't you answer your phone?" I asked.

"They made me turn my phone off before they did ultrasound."

"So, did you look?"

"What do you think?"

"I think you looked."

"It's a boy," Erica said with a huge smile on her face.

I wrapped my arms around Erica and kissed her. "That is great. Did you tell Ellie that she is going to have a little brother yet?"

"No. She's next door at Janet's. I thought you might want to make love to me while we have a few minutes to ourselves."

"Yes, let's do that. You know I love to ride the hump."

Erica punched me in the arm and said, "Don't be so crude." Then she turned toward the stairs and started taking her top off as she walked away from me. "Are you coming?"

The End