A Place at the Table
7
To Earn a Living
Liam
I LEFT A HURRIED NOTE on Meredith’s office door and ran to catch Father as he got in the car. Dennis, my father’s driver, pulled away from Buxton House. I was going to work. Father had sprung this on me Sunday over brunch. I’d worked at the clothing factory some last summer and apparently Father thought it would build character if I put in a month this summer as well. Of course, only half days, but I definitely wasn’t used to hard manual labor.
“Liam, we’re going to Lincoln Arms this morning, not to the clothing factory. We’ve been managing the company for three years now and I want you to use your skills when you enter the company. Your grandmother is often bragging about your accomplishments at school. I’d like to see them in action.”
“What do you mean, Father?”
“I’m not assigning you a specific job on an assembly line or in an office. Your mother and I have had a feeling that something just isn’t right in the company since your grandfather passed away. I can’t put my finger on it. Even when I practice the same skills you learned in your time at Elenchus, I’m afraid my position inhibits real interactions. Lincoln Arms came into our possession three years ago at the passing of your grandfather. Neither your mother nor I are fully comfortable with it. I’d like you to not use more than your first name so the Cyning name doesn’t influence your conversations,” he said.
I was puzzled. This was a much different approach to learning the business than what he’d taken last summer. I was being cut loose to find out… something. And in the arms company, not the clothing factory.
I knew my father had reservations regarding the Lincoln Arms and Munitions factory. He had other businesses as well—two years ago I’d worked in a food processing plant. But the arms factory had come into the family as part of my mother’s inheritance. It had taken father off his other pursuits. And still, he and Mother split the operation of the factory. He rose early and was at the office by eight o’clock. No hardship for me. But at one o’clock, Mother arrived at the office and Father went to check up on his other businesses. Usually, both got home around six.
“Have you any idea what is making you uncomfortable?” I asked.
“It could be nothing,” he responded. “I just get a feeling people are not being forthright about some things. I don’t know if it is in materials, craftsmanship, design, or even shipping. It could be something happening in the office. Your mother has also mentioned it and agreed to have you investigate. You can have free access to all parts of the office and factory.”
“Hmm. Perhaps I should have a cover. Why not make it what it really is? I’m William Thomas, a student working on a thesis project on the various aspects of how a business is run. That should allow me anywhere and people will know to answer questions.”
“Excellently done, son. We’ll take you to the HR office and get you a badge as a student intern.”
I had carte blanche access to every part of the company. I spent my first morning doing a survey of where each department was located and what it was responsible for. A very high overview was all I had time for. The operation was large and involved everything from sales and marketing to design to fabricating to testing to shipping. There were so many steps I could scarcely draft out a general organization structure. It was going to take the first week just to figure out what the chain of command was in the company. HR’s simplified org chart was only vaguely helpful, especially since it still had my grandfather’s name as the CEO. I wasn’t even certain how Mother and Father split their duties.
I had barely jumped in the car before Dennis pulled away from the factory and headed for Buxton House. Erich and I would have had a pleasant conversation in that time, but Dennis was quiet. At Buxton House, I stepped out of the car, gave Mother a kiss on the cheek as I handed her into the car, and watched them drive away. I sincerely hoped Meredith could help me organize some of this data.
I skipped up the stairs and paused at what I was told was her office door. I knocked. In a moment, she opened the door.
“Liam. I’m glad you’re back. Your note was not forthcoming,” she said. I sensed a slight rebuke and realized I should have been more detailed when I wrote it but I wasn’t yet sure what I was going to be doing.
“Yes, ah… Meredith…” It still seemed just a bit casual to refer to her by her first name, but we’d been school mates before employer/employee. I hoped one day we would be friends. “I have a job.”
“A what?”
“A job. As in, I need to go to work each morning. It’s only for half a day, but it will be Monday through Friday. In fact, I’ve just returned and before we get busy, I’d really like to shower and change. Can you join me for lunch in thirty minutes?”
“Of course, Liam.” She wrinkled her nose. “You are carrying an interesting odor with you. Like machine oil.” I blushed and excused myself.
In the kitchen, I pulled sandwich makings out of the refrigerator. Cook was always careful to mark anything I was explicitly not to touch but otherwise left my noon meal to my own devising unless I requested something specific. I seldom did, but a hamburger sandwich was occasionally provided. Meredith poured iced tea and we sat at the table to make our own sandwiches.
“This is pretty casual,” I said. “I trust you’ve made your meal requests known.”
“I had a lovely chat with Cook. I’m not a picky eater and we had some common ground to discuss food on. In general, I eat whatever the staff is eating.”
“I just don’t want you to feel neglected. I’m beginning to see what an important part you will play in my life.”
“Like arranging your dates?”
“Meredith, please. I had no idea you were roommates with Hana. I never intended you to feel uncomfortable.” I blushed. I didn’t want to specifically state the reason she might be uncomfortable. I’d seen her in her nightclothes.
“I had no intention of being home when you brought Hana to the door. I had a rather unsuccessful date, myself,” she said. I was gobsmacked.
“You had a date?”
“Don’t sound so completely surprised, Liam. I have a life outside my employment.”
“Yes, of course. I didn’t mean to imply… I’m sorry. First, I find out that my date is your roommate and then that you were also on a date. And I’m sorry you had an unsuccessful date. Truly.”
“You are so sweet at times, Liam. How about your date? Did you have a good time?” she asked.
“Yes, yes. I did. Quite a good time. A little surprising. Quite fun. Quite.”
“Liam? What?”
“You know, it’s not that I want a steady girlfriend, but I would like to know a girl is interested enough in me to see me a second time.”
“I know.” She reached across the table and laid a hand on mine. Then quickly withdrew it. “Believe it or not, it has not been that long since my first date. I was certain no boy would want to date the redhead with the flaring temper.”
“You’ve not impressed me with a flaring temper since that time eight years ago,” I chuckled. She had flattened my nose with that right hook. I deserved it.
“I hope I’ve learned a bit about self-control since then. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to punch you sometimes,” she laughed. I adored the sound of her laughter. I began to relax.
“Well, perhaps you can give me some dating tips. I still feel like such a rube whenever I speak to a single woman. I stutter all over myself. I was so surprised… Did you know that at the festival, Hana actually suggested that I should ask her out? I would never have… I just said okay.”
“We’re doing a pretty good job having conversations. And from what I could tell, once the ice was broken, you did fine with Hana. She seems to have enjoyed herself.” We ate our sandwiches quietly for a few minutes.
“It wasn’t… I didn’t… I am so embarrassed.”
“Why, Liam. It was me sitting in my pajamas that you saw.”
“I’m terribly sorry about that. I didn’t mean to. Honestly.”
“I know that. Don’t think about it again. What has you embarrassed?”
“I never expected my first kiss to be quite like that,” I said. My face felt hot and I squeezed my eyes shut. “It took me by surprise.” Meredith sat there looking at me with her mouth slightly open, as if she were about to take a bite of her sandwich.
“I had no idea. Liam… There are many kinds of kisses. It surprises me that was your first, but even so, it should be something you remember fondly. Don’t be embarrassed about it. My first kiss was certainly something less exciting than Hana Ito!”
“Meredith!” I laughed. Still, she’d broken my momentary embarrassment and we were able to go to the library and discuss my project at Lincoln Arms and brainstorm some ideas on how to approach the process. Working with Meredith and a chalkboard, we were able to map out a series of questions, a path through the company, and a basic outline of how I could approach the whole project. I was amazed at how much clarity Meredith added to my own thinking. I was very glad to have her as an assistant.
“Meredith, do you ride?” I asked over dinner. We’d simply gone to the kitchen when Erich told us Cook was ready for us. I hadn’t even thought to ask whether we could eat in the kitchen. Cook had a casual meal set out for us.
“Horses? I’ve had lessons and have proper attire.”
“I was wondering if we might take a ride tomorrow afternoon. We could recap my day’s investigation as we enjoy the out-of-doors. I feel like I’ve been neglecting my horse this summer and it’s such glorious weather,” I said. I barely had time for a three-mile run in the morning now that Father and I were leaving for work at seven-thirty.
“That sounds lovely. I’ll run home in the morning to pick up my things. Oh. I don’t have my own horse.”
“We have several in the stables. I’ll call out to Ray after dinner and ask him to prepare a suitable ride. Yes! I definitely need a ride to clear my head after a morning at the shop.”
“I’ll be delighted, Liam.”
“May I assist you?” I offered my cupped hands for Meredith’s knee and gave her a boost into the saddle. Then I began adjusting her irons. She looked like an accomplished horsewoman in her riding clothes. “Ray says this mare is gentle but lively enough to keep up with Sim. Her name is Skydancer. We just call her Sky.”
“Is that the same horse you got on your birthday so long ago?”
“Yes, Persimmon,” I said. “I considered changing his name to Nosebleed, but thought better of it.”
“Well, he is rather red, isn’t he?” We laughed and headed for the woodland trail, my faithful dog Leonard padding along with us. “I love Dancer’s white socks. She’s so elegant.” I noticed Meredith had already changed the mare’s name to suit herself. I hoped we’d ride often.
“Sometimes I just need to drift in the wilderness for a while,” I sighed. “Not that this is really wilderness. I like to run and get a few miles in each morning early, but running is not really peaceful. Not that I don’t think a lot while I’m running, but there is so much to do to keep pace, watch the path, and keep arms and legs moving. When I’m on Sim, I don’t even need to guide him if I’m really absorbed. He knows the trails and will carry me while I’m lost in thought.”
“I think that’s lovely. I hope you are getting time in to ride often enough.”
“I admit it has been a little touch and go. You know, having a personal assistant is a great deal of work,” I laughed.
“Oh? And how am I so difficult?”
“It’s not really anything about you. It’s that I’m a teen and I was saddled with an assistant I had no idea what to do with. I felt like I needed to think up things for you to do or spend my time discussing them all the time. Otherwise you would become bored and it would be my fault.”
“I’m able to stay busy, even when you are ‘at work.’ Did you know that Erich brought me all your school papers yesterday for me to sort and organize into files?”
“Oh, God! He didn’t! There’s no need for you to read my school papers. How utterly boring!”
“I’m not reading all of them. All I need to do is get them cross-referenced and organized in folders so you can find them. Occasionally, though, one will pop out and I need to take time to read it,” she said.
“Like?”
“Your essay on Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, for example, was unusual. What inspired you?”
“Ah. Peoples… He’s one of my instructors and my academic counselor. You know none of my classes have names. Our schooling at Elenchus is quite freeform. I can’t tell you what he is an instructor of. He makes me think—sometimes one-on-one and sometimes with a group of guys interested in the same thing. Peoples said if I am to be a man of peace, I must know the art of war. Meredith, there is nothing I desire more than to be a man of peace. Do you see?”
“That explains much of your theme in the paper. The question regarding whether wars are to be fought for stability or for victory.” We rode on, pointing out a bed of violets in the shade of a tree. “Oh, that reminds, me,” she said. “Not the violets, but your mention of Mr. Peoples. I assumed we would discuss that when we were back in the library. He called this morning, saying it was not necessary to return the call unless you have specific questions. However, he would like you to put together a paper and presentation on what you discover at Lincoln Arms. He referred to it as an audit of their corporate health.”
“I’ll bet my father had something to do with that. When I took on the task, I adopted the identity of William Thomas, a student doing a thesis on the running of a business. I’m sure Father called Peoples and suggested the project would be a good one for me. I think he still hopes I’ll turn out a Promoter or a Commander. He’s not comfortable with the Leader class, despite his parents. He says they make decisions without having authority to carry them out.”
“Yet, he called you in to use your skills to discover what is wrong.” I waved Meredith over to a fallen log and dismounted. I helped her down from her saddle and very much appreciated the softness of the woman in my arms. I tried not to linger and took a pack from my horse. We sat on the log to share a few cookies and the canteens of water I’d brought along.
“What do you do when you want to clear your head, Meredith?” I asked.
“Me? I like riding, but since I do not have a horse, that is scarcely a regular option.”
“Anytime you wish to ride here, just call Ray and give him the word. He’ll happily bring Sky… or Dancer, if you will… out of the barn and saddle her for you. I hope we’ll be able to have more rides together. What else do you like to do?”
“Well, I walk. There is a lovely walk along the river not far from Green Hill. When I am considering weighty matters or need to refresh myself after studying, I often walk there. Or… I’m embarrassed to say…”
“Please tell me.”
“I like to bake cookies.”
“Ah. Please feel free to clear your mind anytime you are at Buxton House.” She laughed at me and we walked a while, leading the horses.
“How was work today?” she asked.
“Puzzling. I’m still too new there to draw any conclusions. I’ve just been wandering around and observing. Haven’t really even started asking questions yet,” I said. “I feel it, though. What Father feels. An unsettling undercurrent. I think I need to start listing places where something could go wrong. Where could someone benefit by sowing discontent? Or how could someone subvert something to harm the business? And why?”
“A threat analysis?” she asked. I nodded enthusiastically.
“That’s it, exactly. There are obvious places, like embezzlement. I somehow feel the disquiet more in the manufacturing facility than the office, though. How about when we get back to the house, we park ourselves in the library and work on listing possible threats. It would help me focus. Would that be okay?”
“I am your assistant. It is what we should do.”
I was so enthused that I leaned over and kissed her. Not a huge kiss. Just a peck on the cheek. She was startled and turned toward me so quickly that our lips brushed against each other.
“I’m so sorry! I was just excited and you said something so perfect that I wanted to kiss you. I shouldn’t have done that!”
“Please do not apologize. It wasn’t unpleasant—just surprising. I… Liam, you should not attempt to develop a relationship of that sort with me. There are ramifications.” We’d stopped short after my faux pas and looked at each other.
“Of course. You wouldn’t be interested in such a thing. I’m not… Well, you probably have a line of suitors.”
“No. But my role is as an assistant—a mentor and advisor. As an advisor, it is my responsibility to tell you what you ‘should’ do—not what you ‘can’ do. Think about it carefully.”
I boosted her to her saddle and we continued our ride, returning to the stables and brushing down the horses in silence. In addition to riding, I had long ago discovered that the simple act of grooming my horse also served to clear my mind. As I considered her words, I found it difficult to lose myself in the simple act of currying my horse.
Charting out the potential threats to the business, Meredith and I resumed a pleasant and uncomplicated working relationship. I found her comments and questions helped me clarify my own observations and we continued through the week. I gleaned information during my mornings at the plant and, together in the afternoon, we listed my findings on the chalkboard, which Meredith transcribed the following morning. I could see this was not going to be a job to go to for a week and be able to resolve the uneasy feelings my parents had.
On Friday, we met briefly and Meredith took the remainder of the weekend to attend to her personal business. She said she had some studies of her own to complete and that she needed to register for fall classes at the University. She was putting in many more hours than I thought I would ever need from a personal assistant. When we met in the afternoons, we often talked through dinner. And she was working in the mornings organizing our notes and typing them up.
The ironic part was that I wanted to spend more time with her. I had considered asking her to a movie Saturday afternoon, but I hadn’t yet reconciled the meaning of her statement in the woodland. I ‘shouldn’t’ attempt to develop a more personal relationship with her. But underlying her refusal to say otherwise, was an indication that I ‘could.’ I had no time to worry the subject. Mother and Father had asked for my attendance at their dinner table Friday night.
“What have you discovered in your first week prowling around the factory?” Mother asked. I had very little overlap with her during the day as I left the factory in time for her to return with Dennis. I chatted briefly with Father on the way to work in the mornings.
“I have discovered that you two seem to be respected, but mostly because of Grandfather. No one knows quite what to make of you, just that you ‘aren’t the old man,’ as I’ve heard your father kindly spoken of. It’s way too early for me to have uncovered any discontent or nefarious behavior. But I feel the same things you seem to,” I said. I’d prepared my notes to bring with me to dinner. We would not do more than touch the surface of the subject while eating, but I assumed my parents would want an outline of my strategy after the meal.
“My father was a Defender,” Mother said. “He never looked at the company as an end in itself. He owned a company to enable him to focus on providing a secure future.”
“Was he a military man?” I asked. I couldn’t remember there being any mention of service while the old man was alive. He’d died before my fifteenth birthday and my parents had already started taking over the operations of the company by then.
“No. Nor should you consider the class of Defender to necessarily be military or police. Defenders are very much about order and security. In my father, those characteristics showed up in maintaining a clear production path and orderly sales path, and in creating security for his family and employees with a successful business. He would probably have been as comfortable with any kind of sustainable business. Manufacturing arms and munitions was opportune, but secondary to having a clear set of objectives that could be reached with a specific plan. Some of those plans, we are still executing today,” Mother said.
Cook had prepared three courses for the evening meal, including a cold soup, veal saltimbocca with piselli alla romana, and a fruit and cheese tray. As always, the meal was exquisitely prepared and paired with a nice pinot noir. Since my eighteenth birthday, I’d been allowed a glass of wine when I took meals with my parents or Grandmother. We moved to my father’s study for the cheese and coffee.
“Let me see your notes, please,” Father said. “I talked to Peoples at Elenchus and he expects you to have a solid survey of the business written and prepared when you return to school. I thought you might take the task more seriously if it was to fulfill a class requirement.” He started looking through the notes and nodding his head.
“I do take the task seriously Father. I would not give you less than my best.”
“Yes, I know, but this gets you credit for it as well as your modest wage. This is good. Has Meredith been typing up your notes?” he asked.
“When I return in the afternoon, Meredith and I go over what I’ve found, what my questions are, and how I should structure my next day’s investigation. While I’m at the factory, she organizes and types the notes,” I said.
“I had my doubts about choosing Meredith for the role of personal assistant. I was afraid you would get… distracted,” Mother said. “In my opinion, it was too early to start you with a personal assistant. I’m glad to see she is functioning in such a useful way.”
“In fact, I think we need to consider you full time rather than part time. You are putting in much more work than I anticipated and I had high expectations,” Father said looking up from my notes. “It looks to me like she is putting in a lot of time on this as well.”
“Thank you, Father.”
“Try not to let this take up all your time this summer, though,” Mother said. She poured herself and Father another glass of wine, their coffee untouched. “We did not intend to make it so you don’t have any fun on your vacation days.”
“Thank you, Mother. Meredith and I did Tuesday’s work on horseback so we could get out in the fresh air for a while. I’ll make sure to take some time off,” I laughed.
“Speaking of which, are you seeing that young woman again… Hana Ito? I looked into her a bit and she seems very nice, if a bit old for you.”
“Mother! You had my date investigated? I’ll never be able to face her again. Which is likely anyway. Hana is an Aspirant. She is devoted to becoming, not just a doctor, but a healer. She doesn’t really have time for a regular relationship. I’m afraid I’m seeing no one this weekend.”
“Take Meredith out,” Father said.
“Um… Meredith suggested that I should not try to form a close personal relationship with her.”
“I’m your father. I told you what you can do, not what you should do.”
“I see.”
“Why don’t you have a party so you can meet more people. A little summer barbecue,” Mother suggested.
“Grandmother suggested that, but who would I invite? My schoolmates are all male.”
“Put Meredith to work on it. Have a little mixer. Meet some new people. She went to a girls’ school. Certainly, she must know some girls.”
“I suppose. I’ll talk to her.”
I also decided I’d talk to Grandmother. Somehow, I trusted her guidance more than my parents’.
Comments
Please feel free to send comments to the author at nathan@nathaneverett.com.
