Millennium - 70. Chapter 70

March 17, 2000

 

I remembered how when I’d first met Jordan and his team, I’d thought that everyone just looked so ‘east coast’. It made sense that Triton’s board room would look the same way, but it was so different from what I was used to. Our offices in Los Altos were modern and chic, as was the décor at our home and at Anders-Hayes. Walking into this room, with its polished mahogany table and burgundy leather chairs, was like walking back in time. It felt stuffy and hidebound. It amazed me that people could come up with creative ideas in an environment like this.

There were twelve board members, but there were really only four people there that mattered: Elliot, Jordan, Stef and I. The others were most likely to follow Jordan’s lead, because they knew and trusted him, or Stefan’s, if they wanted to keep their positions on this board. I wasn’t worried about the results of any board vote. The only thing I was worried about was legal trickery and games, something we’d already had to grapple with yesterday.

Elliot had sent a letter notifying Jordan that he intended to bring his personal legal counsel with him. Jordan had promptly explained to him that outside attorneys were not welcome at the meeting without the approval of the whole board. He’d informed Elliot that he’d done an informal poll of the board and found that their approval was unlikely. Score one for our team. We arrived and took our seats. My seat was near the head of the table where Elliot sat, with one other board member in between us. Stefan sat on the other side of me, while Jordan was down at the other end, at the other head of the table.

Elliot came in last and went directly to his seat. The tension in the room soared. He glared at all of us, but especially at me and Jordan, then called the meeting to order. I’d been in plenty of board meetings, and they all followed a standard order, starting with the approval of the minutes of the prior meeting. We went through those motions, and then Elliot passed out agendas to all of us. I noticed that all of the information he had demanded was now put in the form of agenda topics.

“I have been very frustrated with the unwillingness of the management of this company to provide me, the chairman of this board, with an accurate picture of the financial health of the corporation. I have called this meeting to redress those inadequacies.”

“The information you requested has not been forthcoming because you have not stated your purpose in requesting it,” Jordan stated formally.

“I’m a goddamn board member, the chairman of this board! I don’t have to give you a reason to get simple financial statements,” he yelled.

“Your tone and demeanor are totally unacceptable,” Stef said, intervening. “If you cannot conduct yourself in a professional manner, we will end this meeting now.”

“You can leave any time you want to,” Elliot snapped.

“If I leave, the others will leave as well. We will not put up with your rude and brash behavior. In that case, you will no longer have a quorum, and the meeting will end,” Stef said, in his fearsome business tone that seemed to even give Elliot some reason to pause.

“Very well,” he said. “In the interest of not offending the delicate sensibilities of some members of this board, I will try to be as polite as if I were at a tea party.”

“Your cooperation is appreciated,” Stef said, in a way that everyone understood made it the equivalent of him saying “fuck you”.

“Let us get back to the topic at hand,” Elliot said. “Can you give us a report on the financial state of this company?”

“Can you respond to the questions the management of this company has posed to you?” I asked him. “Why are you demanding all of this information?”

“As I explained before,” he said snidely, “it is my right as a board member. I do not have to give you a reason.”

“What involvement do you have with Omega Electronics?” I asked bluntly.

He acted surprised, as if I were an idiot and couldn’t put two and two together. “I have several contacts there, most of them derived from years of experience as a leader in this industry.”

“Have you met with any members of Omega’s executive team within the past 30 days?” I asked.

“I am not going to sit here and be interrogated,” he said, remembering at the last minute not to yell.

“You may leave whenever you like,” I told him. I had planned this, knew that I had to take the lead in dealing with him. Jordan had been subordinate to him for so many years, that opposing his father seemed like something he just couldn’t stomach. Stef needed to stay aloof in the background so he could forcefully intervene, as he had done in the beginning. We hadn’t formalized our roles, but it seemed that we all knew what they were.

“If I leave, I’ll just call another board meeting, and we’ll do this all over again,” he said with a smarmy look on his face.

“When you leave here today, you will no longer be Triton’s chairman of the board. As soon as we brush aside these demands you have made, we will get to new business, introduce a motion to elect a new chairman, and you will then no longer have the power to arbitrarily summon us.” He looked at me and was so pissed off he could almost have been Alexandra.

“That’s a great way to thank a man that built this company into the successful corporation that it is today,” he snapped.

“Actually, your scattershot strategy and your insistence that Triton pursue many things instead of doing a few things well have stymied this company’s potential. Your claims of success are an outrageous insult to the management team that has delivered victory after victory despite your erratic leadership.” I’d said this to him calmly, and it was funny to watch how it had the same effect on him that it did on JP.

“You weren’t here. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“I can read, and the minutes and financial reports clearly validate my assertions. Unless those were falsified?”

“I don’t need your smart-ass allegations,” he snapped. He was losing it, starting to get really angry, so mad he couldn’t control himself.

“Allegations? I’m merely noting that the minutes and reports show that you were an erratic leader. If you weren’t, they’re wrong. If they aren’t wrong, you were.” I said. “But you’re just dodging the issue. Why don’t you answer my question about your involvement with Alexandra Carmichael and Omega?”

“My personal life is none of your business.”

“You have a personal relationship with Alexandra Carmichael?” I asked. I couldn’t keep the surprise out of my voice, but I wasn’t as stunned as the other ten board members.

“What about my personal life being none of your business don’t you understand?”

“Well, normally I wouldn’t probe into your personal business, but in this situation, it is relevant. You are asking for information which Triton’s board considers to be privileged, while at the same time you are involved with both Alexandra Carmichael and Omega. That is industrial espionage.”

“So now you’re calling me a spy?” he asked loudly. Stefan cleared his throat to calm him down.

“I’m asking you questions which you refuse to answer.” I turned to the board. “I move that until Mr. Elliot Pfinster discloses all information relating to his involvement with Alexandra Carmichael and/or Omega Electronics, so this board may review and evaluate the extent of that involvement, that Elliot Pfinster not be given any information that management feels may be damaging if leaked to the public, or to our competitors.”

“I second that motion,” Jordan said. It was possible to see the shock on the faces of the normally stoic board members of having Jordan so openly defy his father. “All in favor?” All of the board members except Elliot voted “aye”.

“Your resolution is illegal. You cannot deprive me of information required for me to perform my fiduciary duty,” Elliot said, obviously parroting the words of his attorney.

“Then we will have to argue that measure in court,” I told him.

“Well you may be able to pass this resolution and delay for a little bit, but it won’t hold up in court. You may even be able to vote me out as chairman, but that won’t get me off the board. To do that, you need a shareholder’s meeting, and that takes at least 30 days. I’ll bet you’ll be lucky to get it done in 45 days. And in that time, I’ll have a court order requiring you to divulge that information.”

“I’d like you to review this document, and then reconsider your position. I’m asking for your immediate resignation from this board, and from any other positions you may have at Triton.” I looked at him, telling him with my eyes that I wasn’t backing down on this one. He’d underestimated me. I hoped Alexandra was just as careless.

“I am not resigning,” he said firmly, as if it were a vow.

I passed the note to him that Elizabeth Danfield had given me during our visit. “And as I said, I think you should review this document first.” He opened the paper and stared at the word, and the signature. He was a pasty-faced white guy to begin with, but his face got whiter and his mouth dropped open as he looked at it.

“You would let them do this?” he asked of Jordan.

“I haven’t seen that paper, so I don’t know what’s on it,” Jordan said. He held out his hand, asking to see it, but Elliot folded it up instead and put it in his pocket.

He stood up and cleared his throat. “I hereby resign from Triton’s board of directors and from my position as chairman. In addition, I hereby resign from any and all other positions I currently hold at Triton.”

“Motion to accept Elliot Pfinster’s resignations,” I said.

“Second,” another member said. The motion passed unanimously.

“The board thanks you for your service, but notes that as you are now no longer a member, it is appropriate for you to leave the company premises,” I said, throwing him out.

“Oh I’m leaving alright, but I’ll be back. Tomorrow’s headlines will trumpet the new alliance between Elliot Pfinster and Omega Electronics, and will disclose that I have purchased a substantial interest in that company. With my expertise and money, that company will bury you.”

“How interesting,” Stef said disdainfully. “I think that we should have security help you out, just in case there are some boxes or other personal effects you need to carry with you.” Jordan picked up the phone and mumbled into it. In less than ten seconds, three men from Triton’s security contingent walked in and flanked Elliot Pfinster. They walked him through the company offices and out the door, reclaiming his visitor badge as they did. The board had recessed while that spectacle took place. As soon as it was finished, the board reconvened.

I looked at my watch and noted that it was already 2:00pm. The thing with Elliot had taken an hour. I was desperate to get to the airport and get back to Los Angeles, but the meeting wasn’t over yet. “We need to elect a new chairman,” Jordan said.

“I nominate Jordan Pfinster,” one of the board members said.

Before that motion could be seconded, Jordan intervened. “In the interest of good corporate governance, I must respectfully decline. It is inappropriate for the CEO to also be chairman of the board.” That was so typical of the difference between Elliot and Jordan. Elliot had never exhibited any concerns about corporate governance. The only governance he’d been interested in was imposing his own will.

“I think that is a noble act,” Stef said, “putting the company first.”

“Thank you,” he said. “I would like to nominate Bradley Schluter to serve as our new chairman of the board.”

“I’ll second,” another board member said. I just stared at Jordan, totally surprised by this move. While I was sitting there like an idiot, the other members all unanimously elected me as the chair. I finally pulled myself out of my fog.

“Thank you,” I told the board members, looking at each of them to thank them for their support. “It will be an honor and a privilege to serve as chairman of this board.” I looked at my watch. “If there is no further business, I move that we adjourn.” Stef seconded the motion before anyone could really add anything, and then we bid our hasty farewells. We weren’t at the airport and on the plane until almost 3:00.

“We’ll most likely miss the reception,” I said to Stef as the plane took off. “We’ll be lucky even to get to the screening.”

“We are doing our best. Why do you not call Robbie and give him a progress report and tell him about your new job,” he said calmly.

“Good idea.” I grabbed the phone and dialed his number, waiting impatiently for the multiple clicks. I ended up at Evelyn’s desk, but she put me through to him right away. “Hey there. We just took off.”

“You’re already in the air? You’re making really good time,” he said. Stef watched me smile. I didn’t know if Robbie meant what he said, or he was just trying to calm me down, but either way, I was just happy he wasn’t pissed off at me.

“Thanks. I’m doing my best. We’ll get there as fast as we can.”

“I know you will.”

“So I got a new gig.”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“Elizabeth Danfield’s note convinced Elliot that he should resign,” I said, and couldn’t help chuckling as I did.

“I’ll bet,” he said, chuckling with me.

“Guess who the new chairman of Triton is?”

“Stef?”

“He thinks it’s you,” I said to Stef. “He doesn’t think I can do the job.”

“You’re the new chairman?” he asked. “That’s the smartest thing those guys ever did.”

“You’re biased.”

“Damn right,” he said. “I have to go get ready for tonight. Just get there when you can. I’ll be waiting.”

“I will. I love you.”

“I love you too,” he said.

“So you are not in hot water?” Stef asked me with his smarmy look.

“Not yet anyway.” I called the pilots and asked them for our ETA. They told me we’d be wheels down around 6:30pm. “We’ll miss the opening reception, but if we can get through the Friday night traffic, we’ll make the movie.”

“And the after-parties,” Stef said with a grin. “Those are better anyway.”

“We’ll have to change on the plane,” I reminded him.

“There is plenty of time for that.” Stef’s expression changed, along with the topic, as he got us back to business. “You handled yourself very well in that meeting.”

“Thanks,” I said. Praise from Stef, even though it wasn’t uncommon, was like manna. “You didn’t do too bad yourself.”

“I am unwilling to let an idiot like Elliot browbeat me. You and your warriors were right about him allying himself with Omega. I wonder how Jordan will react to that.”

“I don’t know.” I thought about that. “I think there has been so much tension and disagreement between Jordan and Elliot over Triton, it may be a relief.”

“Do you think you can trust him?”

“Yes,” I told him honestly. “My instincts tell me that he is loyal to the company. He’s an honorable man, and he’s made a commitment to Triton. He’ll live up to it, or resign.”

Stef smiled. “I agree with you. I have noticed something about you since you and Robbie have worked things out.”

“Go on,” I said cautiously.

“You have always had good instincts. Your intuition is usually spot on. Now you seem secure enough to rely on it, to factor it into your decisions. That is a good thing.”

“He makes me strong. He is my rock,” I said simply. I remembered how well my ‘warriors’ had done, evaluating the risks Elliot presented. “I need to check in and tell my team what happened.”

“I think they will be glad you postponed things,” Stef said.

I called and talked to Grace, and let her spread the news about Elliot and his new plan. After I hung up, we flew on in silence, until Stef spoke up again. “Are you coming up next week with the boys?”

“You mean for Spring Break? For part of it anyway. JJ has his skating competition next Saturday, so we’ll need to be back by then. I don’t know how long Robbie can be away either.”

“And that is the competition I should attend?” Stef asked. I nodded. “We will see if JJ’s skills justify his diva persona.” We both laughed at that. The rest of the flight went smoothly, and we actually landed early. I drove the limo driver crazy by nagging him, compelling him to go faster and run yellow lights. We finally pulled up to Mann’s at 7:20pm. “This is perfect timing,” Stef said. “I know these things. Remember, I am the expert on socializing in Hollywood.”

“Right,” I said sarcastically, even though it was probably true. We breezed along the red carpet and into the reception. Stef was mobbed immediately, but I ignored everyone as I scanned the crowd, looking for Robbie. I finally found him in a large group, talking with Julia Roberts. I made my way over to him, being polite but brusque as I greeted people, until I was standing right behind him. I playfully put my hands over his eyes. “Guess who.”

He turned around and gave me that huge smile of his, the one that is so sincere, the one that makes me so happy because when I see it, I know he’s happy. “Hey!” He gave me a big hug and a big kiss. “You made it. Thanks.”

“Like I would miss this,” I said, as if I had a choice. I turned to Julia. “And look at you! You look beautiful.”

“Buh-rad,” she said, doing that coquettishly flirting thing that she did so well. “I’m nervous.”

“I’ve seen the rough cut. You’re amazing. You have to win an Oscar for this one,” I told her.

“If only you were a member of the Academy,” she joked.

“If I were, I wouldn’t be nearly as much fun to talk to,” I told her, making her laugh. Of course Benjamin Bratt was with her, so I turned my attention to him. “You’re so suave and debonair.”

“You hitting on me again?” he asked with a smile.

“Always,” I said, getting a chuckle from both him and Julia. We bantered for a bit and then Robbie and I moved off, taking that opportunity to talk to just each other.

“You made amazing time. I know you worked hard to make it. It means a lot that you did that, and now that you’re here, I feel like I can relax and enjoy myself.”

It seemed that I was his rock too. I didn’t have to kiss him, or hug him, or tell him that I loved him to make sure he knew that I did, all I had to do was look at him. Our eyes met, and we talked that way, just merging in a way that was almost psychic. I suddenly remembered where we were and broke our link. “I’m much more exalted than I was yesterday.”

“Oh yeah?”

“I told you I’m the new chairman of Triton’s board. That’s pretty exalted, don’t you think?”

“So does this mean you’ll have to be in Connecticut more often?” he asked me. It almost came out nasty, but I know he didn’t mean it. He just missed me.

“Do you think that I’m going to be away from you for a minute longer than I have to?” I asked him boldly.

He grinned at me. “No, I don’t think you will.” It was so awesome to see his confidence in our relationship, and in my feelings for him. “I hope my evening is as good as your morning.”

“Stef’s here. He’s always lucky. He’ll carry you through.” We looked over at the crowd where Stef was, and saw him all but holding court.

“That was really nice of him to come down here.” We broke off our conversation to go talk to other people, working the crowd like we were supposed to do. It was finally time for the movie, so we all went in and watched it. I had Robbie on one side and Stef on the other. I held Robbie’s hand and he was so nervous it was sweaty. When Greg had gone to one of these things, he’d been nervous too, but he’d shown that by being cranky and sometimes even mean. Robbie internalized it; he wasn’t the kind of guy to shove his negative feelings off on to other people. After the screening, the applause was loud and enthusiastic. It didn’t take long to realize that this movie was good, really good. Whether it was a financial success remained to be seen, but it was definitely an artistic one.

We hit the after-parties, knowing that since the film was so good, they’d be long ones. We probably should have hosted one ourselves, but it would have been too much to pull together with things as crazed as they’d been lately. I was just hanging around chattering away and drinking when I felt a hard body press against me from behind. “Guess who?”

“Cody!” I said, and turned around to give him a big hug. “I was wondering where you were.”

“I’m sorry I missed the screening,” he told me. “I just finished groveling to Robbie.”

“I’m sure he forgave you. You’re too gorgeous to be pissed at.”

He laughed. “You ever been to this house before?”

“No. Why?”

“There’s an interesting room here. I was thinking maybe we could make Aaron’s night special, if you and Robbie are up for it.”

I smiled and put up my shields so he couldn’t see into my soul, otherwise he’d see that the idea had absolutely no appeal to me at all. I’d spent years being happily monogamous, and then I got interrupted over the past few months with our problem. Now that we were back together, and tighter than ever, I didn’t want to be with anyone else. If I were to be really honest, not even the thought of being with Cody had much appeal to me. So how did I handle it? I was a coward, and tossed the ball into Robbie’s court. “Let’s go see if Robbie wants to do something nice for his star.”

About an hour later, the three of us ended up in a room that looked an awful lot like our dungeon. In the middle of the room were manacles that hung from the ceiling, and fixed manacles on the floor. Locked into them was a naked Aaron Eckhart. He was really a handsome guy, but I didn’t want to be here, and I didn’t want to be with him. Cody directed us to a small room, a dressing room, where we could undress. He just started pulling his clothes off right there, so Aaron could see him.

“You OK with this?” Robbie asked me as soon as we were alone.

“I’m OK with it; I just don’t really want to do it. Do you?”

“It could be fun,” he said, not to justify it, but to try and get me in the mood. “I’d rather be home in bed with you, but you know, we’re doing this together, so that means we can have fun with it.”

We took of our clothes, and the sight of his naked body fueled my libido. I kissed him passionately as I wrapped myself around him, and got us both so worked up we walked out of the dressing room with raging hard-ons. I assumed Cody and Aaron saw us and thought it was because of them.

Cody must have been working Aaron over verbally, but as soon as we walked in the room, he picked up a leather whip and smacked him hard on the ass. Aaron yelled at him, but Cody kept on, and the whole thing was kind of freaking me out. I looked over at Robbie, and was glad to see he was having the same reaction. We just stayed in the background while Cody worked him, whipping him, and throwing nasty comments at him. “You’re gonna pull a train, bitch,” he said, and gave him a final smack, leaving Aaron whimpering as he hung from the chains.

He pulled us aside. “This is part of the deal. This is how domination and submission works. He needs to give up control first. To do that, I have to break him down and make him realize he has no choice but to put up with whatever we do to him.” He walked up back up to Aaron and slathered his ass with lube, put on a condom, and slammed into him. He fucked him for a while, then pulled out and smacked his ass some more, then fucked him again. The whole time, he told Aaron what a disgusting slut he was, taunting him for enjoying having a dick in his ass. I thought about how much that would piss me off, what with my pride and all, and looked over at Robbie, who grinned with me as he read my mind.

Cody just went on and on, so long I was impressed with his stamina, but Aaron didn’t blow. I thought that was pretty impressive until I watched Cody’s moves, and noticed that he was being real careful to give Aaron just enough stimulation to bring him to the edge, but not enough to let him get off. Still, that kind of stimulation, fucking someone for that long, would have tested my staying power, and it finally pushed Cody to the breaking point. I watched those familiar signs, since I knew him so well, signs that said he was about to blow. His body tensed, his ass cheeks squeezed tightly together, and he slammed into Aaron with a mission now. He let out a loud roar, and pulled out of Aaron long enough to rip the condom off and shoot his load all over Aaron’s ass.

“Now let’s see if you can take two dicks in your ass at once,” Cody said.

“NO!” Aaron screamed, but he was hard as a rock. This must be part of his denial thing, protesting profusely while desperately wanting to get fucked. So much for ‘no means no’. Cody nodded to me, and I walked around in front of him, stroking my dick, getting it harder.

“You think you can handle me?” I asked, remembering to sneer. This was evidently part of the game, and since I said I’d do it, I was going to do it right. He shook his head. “Yes you can. You want to.” I heard a smack as Cody whipped him. “You ready?” I asked. He shook his head again, and got smacked again. That went on for about five more times until he finally nodded. Cody put different shackles on his legs, and took off the old ones. Then he pulled on the chains and completely re-oriented Aaron. Now he was hanging from the chains, his back above the floor, his legs pulled up, exposing his ass.

Cody told me to lie down underneath him and then lowered Aaron on top of me. I felt Cody put a condom on me and lube me up, then guide my dick into Aaron’s ass. I reached up and pinched his nipples hard, making him squeal, while I started to drive into him. “Take it you pig,” I growled into his ear. I was surprised by how loose he was, but I guess if you’re a size queen, you get stretched out. He loved it; he was really getting into it.

“Now for the second one,” Cody ordered. I looked up and saw Robbie standing over Aaron. I smiled at him, and he winked at me. He put a condom on his dick and knelt between Aaron’s legs. I felt his hand stroke my balls as he lined his cock up; I jammed my dick as far into Aaron as I could and stopped. Robbie pushed his up to Aaron’s hole, his cock pressing hard against mine as he pushed it in. Aaron screamed as Robbie’s big dick forced his hole open wider, but we ignored him. I felt Robbie’s hard cock slide across mine, the bottom of his dick against mine, as he started to fuck Aaron. I only moved slightly, just to help him keep his rhythm. Now it was like Aaron wasn’t there at all. Now it was just the two of us, fucking each other, with Aaron’s ass as merely a receptacle. Aaron obviously didn’t see it that way. He must have sensed how much we were into it, and took that to mean we were into him. He moaned and moaned like an old whore, tossing his head back so it landed on my shoulder.

I sensed his change in mood, that he was into the sensation and not into the submissive part of it, and went with it, nuzzling his neck as Robbie pounded on. It felt so good, feeling Robbie sliding against me, feeling his balls touch mine as he thrust in, that I lost myself in it as much as Aaron did. I was so into my own pleasure I was pretty surprised when I felt Aaron tense up. He let out a massive roar and then blew what seemed like gallons of cum all over himself. I was kind of disappointed it was over, but there’s no way he could handle that kind of penetration after he’d already blown. Robbie gently pulled out, and then massaged the outside of his hole as I pulled out even more slowly. I almost laughed at Aaron’s hypocrisy. Now that he’d blown, that he’d gotten off, he kept his eyes closed, unwilling to even look at us. Cody just rolled his eyes, as if to acknowledge the weird-ass people we had to put up with in Hollywood.

We pulled off the condoms and headed to the dressing room. I paused to grab the lube and grin at Cody. We got to the dressing room and I pulled Robbie to me, smashing our dicks together. I pulled away from him and poured a bunch of lube on our cocks, then gripped them both together with my hands. I began stroking up and down, masturbating us together, but he wasn’t passive. He gently grabbed my head with both hands and pulled me to him, kissing me not aggressively, not passionately, but lovingly and gently. It was surreal, to feel the total love and emotion our mouths conveyed contrasted to the frantic and intense stimulation my hands were providing. I felt my balls rise, felt myself reach that point of no return, and then I broke off our kiss and planted my mouth on his neck. I moaned and screamed as I came, my cum flowing back onto our cocks and just acting as additional lubricant. I felt his cock harden even more, although that seemed impossible, and then he blew too, letting out a roar not quite as loud as Aaron’s, but close.

“I made a mess,” I said to him, grinning.

“I like getting messy with you,” he said. Fortunately there were towels in the room, so we cleaned up and went back to the party, back to let Robbie enjoy this victory which should more than offset his last few defeats.