The Spirit of Ecstasy

"Well, chin-chin," declared Pam and we all raised our glasses in the air and swigged what was for me a burning mouthful. Then Pam tucked her free arm into my free arm, saying, "Let's walk around the room and have a private talk, my dear boy, while Gina and Freddie talk about today's boring everyday business in their respective offices."

"Certainly," I concurred and we set off around the room at a funereal pace, with Pam occasionally stopping for a moment here and there.

"What do you know of our Eric Tremblett, Harry?"

"That he is on life support with little hope of recovery, has only half his manhood left to boast of and, when he was more intact in that area, he earned a reputation of waving it about a bit, and now the sharks in the shape of his cousins are circling the hospital bed."

"Ha!" She laughed, "Good boy, I had the impression you were just as sharp as your suit. Now, what do you think about my daughter Gina?" At this point Pam stopped to look closely at me. I stooped to move my lips nearer and spoke with a whisper.

"Your daughter is ... lovely, but what she is asking for from me seems ... well, desperate, far too desperate for such a beautiful woman. Why does she need an escort, for one thing, and why me for another?"

Pam smiled and, with a little tug, set us off walking again. I resumed my upright position and simply went with the flow.

"My daughter is, as you say, lovely, not just with skin deep beauty but is a lovely person through and through. She finds herself in an invidious position, in fact we all are. Freddie was due to retire in the next few years, leaving Gina to run King's for the next five years or so to prove to herself and others of her managerial qualities before stepping up to the main board and become vice-chairman of the group under her husband. Eric is quite a bit older than her and had been expected to run the Tremblett Group for another five to eight years at most before allowing Gina to chair the group until she was say, fifty to fifty-five. By then their only son Giles would be experienced enough in the workings of the Group and ready to take over the family business, so the Trembletts Group would continue running with a Trembletts at its head. It is Eric's wealth that holds the group together but it's Eric's accident that has put the kibosh on the timing of those plans."

"Is there no one else to run with the ball for a while, say the current MD of one of the group companies?"

"They're all Eric's first and second cousins, that Eric hand picked because he knew he could manipulate them. They're universally corrupt with the morals of mountain goats and almost completely useless as businessmen. They could never work together as they are too suspicious of each other. Eric was a ruthless bugger who felt he had to control everything, including allowing them some salacious material that they thought they had on him, but knew they could only use once, but were never allowed to be in a position to maximise the effect of what they had to benefit them. Eric's control on internal politics meant the group was Eric's powerhouse and was never allowed to achieve its full potential. Gina and then Giles, both being Trembletts, were going to be the saviours of the group."

I wondered why Pam was the one telling me this and not the two business people standing by the fireplace. Now we were at the other end of the room and turning so that we could now see the pair and, every time I looked up, it appeared Gina was watching us closely.

"If the Trembletts are in all the key positions, why isn't one of them doing Fred's temporary job?"

"Ah," Pam smiled, "Because none of them will allow any one of the others to take over even temporarily. Eric has individually manipulated them for so long that there is no leader and most of are so insecure at full board level that they prefer the safety of their own domains. This was why he planned to step down in favour of Gina, while still expecting to be in the background, maintaining control through Gina until Giles was up to speed. Freddie had been Deputy Chairman of the group for many years. Gina will be promoted to the main board this week, to temporarily fill Eric's vacancy, but she will need support at work and after work. We are still at a point where very few women are successful in boardrooms, Harry, there are too few of them, so they are isolated and easy to gang up on and outvote so they often feel become victimised and some experience becoming victims. This is where you come in."

"So, this is why they are collectively delaying switching off poor Eric's life-support, I suppose it delay the inevitable of Gina stepping up to the board and eventually becoming chair. The sharks smell blood in the water and see a chance to take Eric's place?"

Pam stopped again and pulled my arm down again to kiss me on the cheek. "I think you are sharp enough that you are going to enjoy these next few months, if you want to come on board."

"I already have a job," I said quietly.

"And of course you have and you must keep it and maintain your high performance in your job. This is only a temporary part-time situation, but for the right person the possibilities are tremendous. You are completely independent of King's and the Tremblett Group and known to be incorruptible. Freddie knows a lot of people, he has stepped down from being on many boards and trade association bodies in recent years, readying himself for retirement, so you will find your additional new sales adding up with very little extra effort on your part, so leaving you free so you can physically and socially support Gina as she establishes control and builds up her confidence dealing with the directors of Trembletts. Maybe, down the line when Gina and Giles are in control of the board, you may find yourself appointed to the main board at some non-executive level. You have a great opportunity for professional advancement if you prove yourself worthy, as we are certain you will."

By this time we had worked our way around near to the start, and Gina glided over to take my arm from her mother.

"My turn to walk you round," Gina laughed and we started to circulate along the same path. "I thought you looked so handsome on my Mum's arm and, when you bent down to speak in hushed tones, I couldn't help but be a little jealous of my mother."

"Gina. Any room that you are in, you need never be jealous of anyone, even your mother. In that dress, with your smouldering beauty and your present air of self confidence, you outshine us all."

"I have only really felt this confident today, Harry," her dark eyes burning into me, "because I think you could make all the difference, for a number of reasons."

"What reasons? Because I am completely out of my depth here, Gina, I'm nothing but a simple screw maker from Brum."

"No, my dear Harry, you are so much more than that. You have the common touch, people of all classes like you, trust you, and believe in the value of what you say. You are confident with being brash and you drive a Rolls-Royce like you deserve to, Harry. No one can knock you, because they assume you are a success by association with that lovely car, purchasing officers are flattered that their business is important enough for your company to send their best man to see them. Then when they meet you, they find you're honest and friendly, you don't need to do the hard sell, because you exude that confidence that you've already made it. Your customers believe you are getting them the best deal ever because they know you don't need to bust a gut to achieve sales figures in order to keep your job. They understand that you are the top man and they truly believe that what you are offering them is the best they'll get anywhere."

"But they do, they are getting the best deal, my company really have got the process right," I insisted, trying to appear hurt by her analysis.

"And you are right, your company do get it right. We do too, so we can recognise and appreciate someone else that does it right. Dealing with you Harry, everyone gets it without having to think about it too much. Bert thinks you get him and that you appreciate his stock control system on his rolls of wallpaper and you're the only person in 15 years that has recognised and praised his record keeping, the rest of us, we who work with him, employ him, simply took his efforts for granted. I met Bert on the way out, timing my walk to the time clocks for the end of his shift, in order to have a quick but casual word with him; he thinks you walk on water, Harry. Two of my friends joined me in the loo at the Coach & Horses and told me they would cheerfully carry your babies full term and pass them off as their husbands' offspring and just hope the babies look like the mothers."

"Poppycock!"

"No. True. Our young waitress wanted to introduce you to her Mum and even she said she'd take you home for herself if her Mum didn't want you! Did you notice when you were in the typing pool and faxing those five long pages to your office, that no keys on their typewriters were being struck until a few moments after I walked into the room?"

"No," I confessed, "I didn't. I was concentrating on putting the pages in the right way up."

"And now, Harry, Dear man, walking round this room with me on your arm, you've looked at my eyes almost the whole time and not once stared down at my cleavage."

"Well," I laughed, "I saw every inch of you when you collected me from the room and I have a very good memory for what I like."

"See? Harry, you are a funny, charming man and excellent company—"

"—for an escort?" I smiled and this time I first deliberately established eye contact with Gina before focusing my complete attention on her magnificent cleavage, relaxing my jaw and letting my tongue hang out loosely.

"Harry Crabtree," Gina giggled, "If I didn't have a drink in my hand I would slap you silly!"

I looked up at her and took in both her eyes again as I moved closer. "No you wouldn't, Gina, you'd be kissing me instead."

I leaned in as I slowed down the pace of our walk and pressed my lips lightly against hers. She shivered and then returned my kiss and our tongues touched for just a moment before I broke off the kiss and smiled at her.

"I want to come on board, Gina, just tell me the what, when and where of whatever you want me to do. I'm your man, I'm your escort."

xxxXxxx

The meal was hot and excellent, I thought, and efficiently served by both Tom senior and Linda. The conversation was light and relaxed between the four diners. Gina's father admitted to me that he wanted to retire soon but had no son willing to take over his stewardship of King's and certainly not that of The Trembletts Group. King's joined The Tremblett's Group in Eric's father's days and, while it could survive on its own, it would initially suffer outside the Group and might be forced to merge with a rival. Fred explained the company had always been King & Son rather than 'Sons' because the founder, Fred's grandfather, had only one son, Fred's father, and the next two generations did nothing to change the name. Fred and Pam's eldest son was 40 and a lieutenant-colonel in the Army based in Germany, hoping to be a general by the time he was 50; while the youngest at 32 was a racing sailor based in Australia who never wanted a desk job or indeed ever wish to return to the UK.

So the middle child of the brood, Gina was, as a qualified chartered accountant, being groomed to take over first the company and then the group board. As her group chairman husband was now in a coma, her Dad as deputy chairman was the most experienced group board member and was standing in as temporary chairman. The plan was to invite Gina onto the group board to fill the vacancy left by Eric's incapacity and give her two or three years to learn how all the different businesses operate before taking over the main board from her father. There will have to be a major shake up of all the company management teams to flush out the Tremblett makeweights and bring in or promote fresh talent. Giles Tremblett was only just in his teens and, because Eric took little interest in him, he had largely been brought up by Gina and the King family and was turning out to be a bright and well-balanced young man, who would one day be expected to run The Tremblett Group.

"So, where exactly do I fit into this scheme of things?" I asked.

"Ordinarily," spoke Pam, sitting opposite me, "in the circumstances of Eric's crash, and the subsequent Coroners verdict of 'death by misadventure' of Mrs Alice Couples, a 28-year-old legal advisor to The Tremblett board, and the public knowledge that, although she suffered internal injuries that might inevitably have led to her death, the actual cause of death was asphyxiation due to a substantial part of Eric Tremblett's anatomy completely blocking her airways, Gina would be quite within her rights to divorce the cad."

"Unfortunately," Fred King, sitting diagonally opposite me, continued, "her husband is still in intensive care four months after the accident. The knowledge of his infidelity only became public knowledge at the Coroner's Inquest just over a week ago. Therefore, it would be in very bad form personally and for confidence in the business to first pull the plug from the marriage with a messy petition for divorce and then, secondly, to physically pull the plug on his life support before the ink was even dry on the petition. Even if she filed now, Gina would still technically be Eric's wife when the life support was switched off, as the average length of time to obtain a degree nisi is nine or ten months. Much of Eric's medical difficulties came about because of the blood loss from that severed member plus a multiple fracture of a leg, which ruptured an artery, and internal bleeding. This resulted in less blood reaching the brain before the emergency services got onto the scene, to staunch the blood loss and get him onto a drip and restore blood pressure. Although there were hopes in the initial stages that he would wake up and begin to recover normally, or with perhaps some limited impairment, the latest medical opinion is that he's essentially brain dead. This leaves us with a problem. The rest of the Tremblett family need Eric alive to maintain the fine balance between the group companies, so they don't want that lifeline plug pulled or at least would like the prospect stalled for as long as possible."

"Gina has been visiting her husband once or twice a week now for the past three months or so," Pam continued, "after spending the first two weeks virtually at his side, which is two weeks longer than that cheating bastard deserved. The doctors are saying there is no hope of recovery, and been saying for over a month now that he will die as soon as the life support is turned off as there is simply no sign of brain activity. This means that, although Gina can't suddenly cohabit with a new partner, there is no reason why she can't begin to enjoy a social life again and start seeing someone reliable and respectable for dinner dates, at social functions, the theatre, go to business meetings with, etcetera, and have someone to support her at board meetings and accompany her on the factory site visits which she will need to do once she's voted onto the board." Pam beamed at me. "And this is where we hope you will come in, Harry."

"Why me?" again I asked, "I don't move at all in polite society. Basically, I'm a homeless travelling salesman, literally living out of a suitcase. While I am not averse to a little culture now and then, I don't go to the ballet, the theatre or Ascot Week, I'm a season ticket holder at Aston Villa FC for goodness sake!"

"Did you know," Fred smiled, "that The Tremblett Group has an executive box at Highbury, Harry? Has Villa played The Arsenal yet this season?"

"Yes, we beat them 2-0 at Villa Park only last Saturday. I think we're due to play down at Highbury in early January, the second weekend, the tenth I think."

"I'll sort out a couple of executive box passes for you," smiled Fred, "I might even get some for Pam and I."

"The reason 'Why you' is because you are a sweet and charming man, Harry," Gina spoke up, turning in her chair and looking me directly in the eye. "And that's not just me saying it, we've done our research and everybody you work with likes and trusts you." She started counting off on her fingers, "You're relaxed in company, you look as though you are enjoying meeting my parents here in this house, when most people would be somewhat cowered by it, but you're not. You are confident without being cocky, charming but not smarmy, amusing but inoffensive, honest and we clearly know from customers we've spoken to that you have a high integrity rating for someone in sales. I don't know why your wife Mavis gave up on you, unless she is a fool, but you are what any woman would call 'a catch'."

"I was mystified too, hen she asked for a divorce it was the worst moment of my life."

"You are now single after a long marriage, but it was your wife that strayed and deserted you, not the other way around, which is far more common," Gina said. "You do not possess that obviously predatory eye that so many divorced men develop, which makes you a sweetheart in every woman's eye. You also drive a beautiful Rolls-Royce as your everyday car, which shows impeccable good taste. So, at first glance, you would not look like you're seeing me simply as a means of getting hold of my family's money. You are not on the board of any of the group companies, or our competitive rivals, and therefore you're no threat to the Trembletts family and their allies. You may be selling yourself short here by admitting to be a simple salesman, living out of a suitcase, but we know that you have worked for a very respectable company ever since you left school, other than the two years when you proudly served your country, which makes you reliable and dependable. Honestly, Harry, you are the most perfect escort I could wish for."

"And you would not be out of pocket, Harry." Fred assured me. "You can live here freely, use this house as your base for the northern half of your territory, and King's will happily pay your boarding costs when you have to work too far away from here in Devon and Cornwall, which is the distant part of your area; we'll just set up a dummy company for you and pay your accommodation bills through our books as consultation fees. Hopefully we may only tie you up in this arrangement for between three to six months."

"And I will even gladly wave you off to Aston Villa on Saturday afternoons," Gina smiled, "so long as you're back to me in time for any parties or events we might be invited to as a platonic couple with no overt public displays of affection, at least until after poor Eric fades away."

"It does sound like you don't love your husband any more," I observed.

"Eric had been guilty of adultery throughout our marriage. I soon suspected him of it but never had any concrete proof. He was on his own a lot of the time, stayed away overnight two or three times a week, pretending that he had meetings, and we had stand-up rows about those unsubstantiated rumours I continually heard about his reputation with mostly young vulnerable women. He would never admit to affairs and I never had any real proof. But over the years it was quite obvious that I was no longer as attractive to him as I was before we had Giles, and I in turn gradually lost my attraction to him and any respect for him evaporated away. Although we slept together in the same bed four or five times a week and Eric initiated sex some of those times, it wasn't what I would regard as lovemaking. He was the type of man who took want he wanted and resistance was futile. I didn't resist him, I just let him get off so it was over soonest. Sorry, Mum, Dad, too much information, I know, but at least he never beat me up or anything. He was just a disappointment to me and there was no love there between us any more. I wasn't free to simply up and leave him because of Giles and the power Eric had of parental access."