Millennium - 41. Chapter 41

December 21, 1999

 

“Do you want to ride to the office together?” I asked Stef as we sat in the kitchen, eating breakfast.

“I need to have my car with me.” He was still really pissed off.

“That works great. I’ll drive you in your car, and then Robbie can pick me up later.”

JP came into the kitchen. There were bags under his eyes; he obviously hadn’t slept all night. “You are leaving?”

“After work we’re flying back,” I said.

“Yes we are,” Stef said, glaring at JP.

“You’re going to LA?” JP asked him. “For how long?”

“I am not sure.”

“Will you be back for Christmas Eve?” JP asked, his voice as calm as ever, but the trepidation was there.

Stef looked at him coldly. “I think we will celebrate in LA this year. If you get lonely, though, you can probably go to Connecticut and celebrate with Brian. I am sure the Carmichaels have a lot of room.” He picked up his coffee cup, looked at JP, and then dropped it, letting it crash to the floor. Coffee and porcelain from the shattered cup spread all over the floor. Then he turned and walked out. I shrugged and followed him.

“You still seem a little upset,” I said to him, smiling. He looked at me, wanting to be pissed off, but he was generally a happy person, and it was easy to cajole him out of his bad moods, at least externally.

“You made Robbie grovel and beg, did you not? Perhaps he can teach JP how to do that.”

“You think diamond cufflinks will do the trick?” I teased.

“That would not be a bad start,” he sniffed.

We got to the office and I jumped into my busy day. I sat down with Grace and went over the team members, then asked her to set up a meeting at 9:00am. I spent the first hour talking to the people I hadn’t picked, trying to salvage their egos.

At 9:00 I walked into the boardroom and found my team there, all of them looking at me anxiously. I could see the enthusiasm in their eyes. “I picked this team for two major reasons,” I started. “The first is that you are all really bright, the best of the best. The second is that I know I can trust you. Trust is going to be key to this thing. I need your solemn pledge that if you’re going to be on this project, what we talk about stays amongst us. You can’t talk to spouses, or significant others, parents, children, anyone about this. If we’re going to take these people down, we’re going to have to surprise them.” We went around the room and they all promised to keep their fucking mouths shut, as it were.

“I need to fill you in on the players here, and give you some personal background so you’ll know what we’re dealing with.” I’d thought about this, talked to Robbie and Stef about it, and come to the conclusion that if I wanted the best from them, I’d have to be painfully honest. “It’s going to sound more like a soap opera than a business problem.”

“You can trust us, Brad,” Nathan said. He was probably my prime pick. He was one of our lawyers. In our contract negotiations, he’d proven himself to be really creative in designing unique solutions.

I looked at my notes and jumped in. I told them about my parents, and about my biological father. I talked briefly about my childhood, and my mother’s suicide, then about Stef and his role in my life. I told them how I met Robbie, just for fun, and about Brian. Most of them had met Brian at functions before. None of them liked him, which was fortunate. I had labored over whether or not to tell them about how Brian outed Matt. It wasn’t pertinent to our issue, but I did it anyway, if only to inspire them to truly detest Brian. Then I moved into the more recent problems. I told them about Robbie and me and our relationship issues in November. Then I tied it all together, explaining to them what Carson had done, Brandon’s role with Carson and with Amphion, and then relating that back to Brian and the Carmichaels. I studied their faces as I laid it out for them, looking for the outrage that would tell me they were with me in this battle. I got more than that. In some of them, I could see the raw hatred I felt myself.

“So how do you plan to bring them down?” Randi asked. She was an analyst, great at evaluating companies and markets.

“They’re pretty big, as far as I can tell. I think we’ll need to create a perfect storm. They have to have competitors. We need to see if we can get involved with them and erode their market share. We need to drain their cash down, and Amphion is probably a good option for that. And then we’ll need something to really cause them problems. Maybe a big scandal or legal problem. Something that will erode their political support and hit them hard.” I paused and looked at them. “They have a lot of resources, so not only do we have to create this perfect storm, we have to make sure it hits in a pretty coordinated timeframe. We need them to reel from the punches, and not give them time to respond.”

“I think there’s another thing we might try to emphasize, if you’re up for it,” Rashid said. He was good with the political game. He’d helped us with one of our most profitable deals ever by correctly identifying the competing forces inside the target company.

“Go on.”

“There’s a strong personal aspect here. They hate you. That gives us an amazing tool. All we have to do is put you in front of them and it will be like a red flag to a bull.”

“I’ve only met one of the Carmichaels,” I said, smiling.

“So far,” Rashid said, grinning back at me.

“My plan is to divide and conquer. To split up these jobs between those of us here. I think the key is to make sure that we communicate, so we all know what’s going on. There will probably be some overlap.” They went through and picked areas they wanted to focus on. I was pleased to see that the areas they picked corresponded perfectly to the areas I would have assigned to them if I’d have taken a more autocratic approach.

“So what kind of deadline do you have for us?” Cal asked. He was another analyst, one who was good at probing out information, and even better at analyzing financials.

“We’re right at the holiday season. I don’t really expect us to make a whole bunch of progress before the New Year, assuming the world hasn’t ended,” I teased, joking about the Y2K paranoia. “I want to give you some time to think about it, and some time to work on things. If you guys want to meet without me, that’s fine. Grace can be my link, or you can e-mail me or call me directly. Just make sure you use the encryption software for your e-mails.”

“We’ll get on it, Brad,” Randi said.

“I’ll probably be in LA for most of the rest of the year. After that, we can meet again and see where we are. I’m not sure what you all have planned, but if you’d like to come to LA for the New Year, you’re welcome to attend our New Year’s party. That’s assuming you can stand the Hollywood types that will be there.” They chuckled. I shook hands with all of them, and watched them file out, seemingly anxious to start on this project. I’d picked the very best we had. Omega would have a tough 2000.

I went up to Stef’s office and found him still pissed off and fuming. “My meeting went really well.”

“I am glad to hear that,” he said, with a tone that said he didn’t give a fuck, even though I knew he did.

“Are you really heading down to LA with us?”

“I am.”

“I’m ready to leave whenever you are,” I told him.

He looked around his office. “Then let us go.” We got to the car and hopped in. “I did not expect you to be ready to leave so soon.”

“Everyone jumped on the mission. If I stick around, I’ll just get in the way at this point.” I moved the gear shift into reverse, marveling at how smooth Porsche transmissions were. “Did you want to stay later?”

“No, this is fine,” he said petulantly.

“Stef, he promised he wouldn’t give Brian so much as a dime again.”

“Do I tell you how to handle your relationship?” he snapped. I just looked at him. He sighed. “He did not tell me he did this, gave Brian this money. He does not seem overly concerned with how this impacts me at all. It’s as if he figures that I have so much money, it matters not whether these people take some of it away.”

“So you’re going to go to Malibu to see if he misses you?”

“That is exactly what I am going to do. As it stands right now, it does not appear that he cares much about me at all.” He gave me a dirty look. “Do not try to make me feel like an idiot.”

“I’m not. I understand how you feel. But you aren’t Tonto’s grandson for nothing. You could just stay here and make his life miserable until he figures it out.”

He chuckled. “It is difficult to be in a bad mood with you around, as long as you are not mooning over Robbie.” Mooning over Robbie? I just rolled my eyes. We drove up to the gates and they opened as always. “At least my remote control still works.”

“Like he’d change that. Besides, Mother would just tell him that the gates were part of her half of Escorial,” I joked. We parked the car in back and ended up walking into the house, laughing.

JP was waiting for us. “You’re in a good mood.” Stef grabbed a vase off a shelf in the Great Hall and dropped it on the stone floor, shattering it. “You’re planning to break everything in the house?” JP snapped.

“I figure if you have money to piss away on Brian, some porcelain or ceramics will not matter,” Stef said, glaring at him.

“What do you want me to do? I gave him the money. I thought it would get him out of our lives. I promised not to do it again.”

“How interesting,” Stef said airily. “I listened to your words carefully, and I did not hear ‘sorry’ amongst them.” He stormed off, leaving me standing there with JP.

“Thank you for stirring up my home life.”

I stared at him. “You have only yourself to blame. You know how we all feel about Brian, yet you still don’t get it. Now it’s official. He’s nothing to us. And you have lost a great deal of respect in the eyes of all the members of your family. Was it worth it? Was he worth the rest of us?”

“That is not what this is about.”

“Oh? What is it about?” I asked. When he was pissed like this, it made me calmer. I decided that was so because it pissed him off even more.

“I can’t let a member of my family starve on the streets. It’s inhumane.”

“And what he did was humane? What he did to Stef and Robbie and me was humane? You had the respect of your family because you usually make good decisions for all of us. You lost it because you made bad decisions that were only good for Brian. Meanwhile, your partner has been attacked by the man you helped out. You as good as did it yourself. Yet you still don’t have the ability to see that it was your fuck-up that did it. You still haven’t asked, much less begged Stefan to forgive you.”

“I suppose that’s what you expect too,” he said petulantly.

“In the past, you would have done it without thinking. Now, I don’t know what to expect from you. All I know is that you were once a rock of my foundation, and now I can’t trust you.” I watched those words impact him, and I went off to find Robbie. I’d been through enough shit these past few months. Let Stefan fight this battle. I heard something else break as I walked down the hall.

I found Robbie in our room, going through some notes. “Hey baby,” he said. I couldn’t help smiling at him.

“Hey. You ready to go?”

“Yeah. I heard things breaking, so I figured you and Stef were home.” I laughed. “Will’s at Claire’s.”

“I need to go say goodbye to Ace.”

“He and Cass took Courtney to Santa Cruz,” Robbie said. “Your mother and my dad went out to do some shopping, and then they’re going to meet them there.” So everyone had deserted JP.

We headed back up to the Great Hall. Stef was standing there with his bag, about to break an umbrella stand. “Let that one live Stef. I always liked it.” He smiled slightly. “We’ll have to take two cars. You mind riding with Robbie? I have to go pick up Will at Claire’s.”

“You would trust me alone with him?” Stef said, flirting with him.

“I would even trust him to be alone with Jack,” I teased, and gave Robbie a kiss. “I’ll see you guys at the airport.” I took the new Ferrari and went down to Claire’s home. Their house was really nice. I loved its contemporary style, and the way it managed to complement the land around it.

I was lucky to find her at home. “How is Daddy?”

“Lonely. Everyone’s gone. Stef’s going back to Malibu with us for a bit.”

“That’s too bad,” she said.

“Not really. He broke about five vases and a coffee cup before he left. I barely saved that umbrella stand in the foyer.”

“It’s hideous,” she said. “You should have let him break it. Maybe I’ll go up and do it and blame it on him.”

“You still coming down to LA for Christmas day?”

“We are. You’re not coming up for Christmas Eve?” She seemed so disappointed.

“Probably not. I really don’t want to drag everyone up here just to walk into all this tension. You and Jack and the kids are welcome to come down for Christmas Eve. Ace and Cass too. Let them know, OK?”

“We’ll think about it,” she said reluctantly. She called for Will, and gave me a big hug. “He needs to get this Brad. We can’t have one of us supporting that idiot.”

“I know. I think he’s getting there. I really thought he was agonizing over this because he felt guilty. Now he seems to think he did the right thing. I don’t get it.”

“I think the results of his mistake are almost too overwhelming for him to deal with. He will work it through in the end.” Will came bounding up and we said goodbye, then headed to the plane for the brief flight home.

 

December 23, 1999

 

“I can’t believe Stef called a Board meeting today. It’s fucking Christmas,” Robbie groused. “He wouldn’t fire me at Christmas, would he?”

“He’s not going to fire you. You’ve been doing really well. He sees that,” I told him reassuringly. “You’re being paranoid. He just wants to finish up the business of this year. You know, before the world ends in a week.” The Y2K pessimists were really reaching their crescendo now, when the event was almost upon us.

“It’s just a pain in the ass,” he groused. “I better get going. I need to get in early and make sure everything’s ready.”

“I think that’s a really bad idea,” I said, rolling over on top of him and pinning him down in the bed. His morning hard-on rubbed against mine as I ground my hips into him. “You have a chance to make one of your board members very happy. I think you should take advantage of that.” I grabbed some Vaseline and slicked up both of our cocks, then while I lay on top of him, kissing him, I held our dicks together and stroked them steadily. The feel of my hand sliding up and down on my dick, while his was pressed firmly against the bottom of my cock, throbbing against it, was hot enough to bring me close to the edge quickly. He grabbed my face with both of his hands and pulled me into a kiss, refusing to let go even as we panted and moaned into each other’s mouths. Even when I groaned as I reached the point of no return, he wouldn’t let go. I shrieked into his mouth as I came, and felt him do the same, felt his dick throb and spasm as he shot his own load. Our semen splashed between our writhing bodies, which smashed and mixed it up as we came.

“Every time we make love, it gets better,” he said lovingly.

“That’s because every day, I love you a little bit more,” I said. “Maybe Stef’s up and you can stack the board.”

He snaughed. “No, because that would piss off the board member I just made really happy.” We laughed together.

“After this party is over and we start the New Year, I want to go away somewhere with you and just stay in bed all day long,” I told him lovingly.

“I’d like that too. You want to take a shower with me?” I smiled and joined him in the bathroom. We showered and got ready, and then he left while I went down to get my papers together. I left a note for Stef and then headed out to do some Christmas shopping, and to pick up Robbie’s present, then arrived at Anders-Hayes for our 11am board meeting.

The Board consisted of Stef, Robbie, Marcel and me, plus the legal counsel and Chief Financial Officer of the firm. The Chief Financial Officer was a pretty nice guy. The firm’s legal counsel, Jacob Goldfarb, was a good lawyer but a pain in the ass. Everyone was there, assembled in the Board room, all except Marcel. Robbie opened the meeting and gave us an update of the corporation. He gamely addressed his fuck-ups, but focused on future projects. His optimism was infectious. I had never been prouder of him.

When we got to new business, I spoke up. “I would like to inform this board of a change in ownership of some of the shares of Anders-Hayes.”

Robbie stared at me, stunned, while Stef hid a grin. Jacob spoke up: “You understand that any changes in ownership require the approval of this board.”

“I am confident that approval will be forthcoming,” I stated firmly. “I have reached an agreement with Mr. Marcel Plaquet to acquire all of his shares of stock in Anders-Hayes.” I handed them signed and guaranteed papers that delineated our agreement. “I am requesting that the board approve this transaction.”

“I will second that motion,” Stef said.

“There is a motion on the table,” Robbie said. He gave me a strange look. “Discussion?”

“I would like time to review these materials. I request that we delay approval until I have had a chance to go over them,” Jacob said.

“Nonsense,” Stef said. He hated lawyers anyway, and he particularly disliked Jacob. “You are not a good enough attorney to be able to read them here, now? It is a simple sale agreement.”

“I’m just doing my job to safeguard the interests of this corporation. Without a chance to review these documents, I will not be able to vote in favor of accepting this agreement,” Jacob said.

“You may vote however you want,” Stef said. He could have said ‘fuck you’, the tone was the same.

“All in favor of accepting this agreement and allowing the sale of Mr. Plaquet’s shares to Mr. Brad Schluter?” Robbie asked, calling for a vote. Everyone voted aye except for Jacob, who got a glare from Stefan. “Congratulations Brad. You own 30% of Anders-Hayes.”

“Thanks,” I said, smiling at him. He looked at me dubiously.

“Any other new business?” Robbie asked.

“I would like to propose that we amend the corporate bylaws, removing the dividend payout requirement,” Stef said. Now Robbie got it. Now he figured out what I was up to. A huge grin was plastered across his face.

“Is that a motion?” Robbie asked.

“It is,” Stef said.

“I will second it,” I spoke up.

“We should evaluate the language needed to amend that provision,” Jacob said. This time he got a glare from Robbie, and that meant something to him.

“We’ve been talking about doing this for some time,” Robbie snapped. “Greg set this provision up before he died to ensure that those who he left the shares to would be able to derive an income from them. You’ve worked on the language. You know how to phrase it.”

“This company is forced to pay out three-fourths of its earnings,” I said. “That’s debilitating. In good times, the company can’t retain enough profits to invest in new projects. And it can’t build up reserves for bad times.” We all glared at Jacob, including the CFO, who was no doubt contemplating all the new projects they’d be able to do.

“Very well,” Jacob said.

“All those in favor?” Robbie asked. The ‘aye’ votes were unanimous. We’d given up a bunch of income, but we’d given Robbie the freedom and the money to expand his business. The board meeting adjourned and everyone except Stef, Robbie, and me filed out.

“Merry Christmas,” I said.

Robbie ignored me and got up and gave Stef a big hug and a nice kiss. “Thank you for having confidence in me.” Stef was pretty floored by that. I saw tears in his eyes, and he just nodded. It had been an emotional few days for him, as he’d tried to act like his life was normal without JP in it. He’d found some comfort with Cody and Kevin, I thought with a smile, but there was a sadness underneath his exuberant exterior that ripped me up. It was so nice to see him respond to a happy emotion.

“And you,” Robbie said, pulling me into a big hug and a really passionate kiss. “I have been such an ass over the past few months. Thanks for sticking with me. Thanks for loving me.”

“Dumb ass,” I said, to hide my emotions.

“I’m going to take you two out to lunch, and then I’m going to meet with the employees and tell them the great news. What a way to start the new millennium!”

“The offer to do joint projects is still there,” Stef reminded him. Robbie told Evelyn that he wanted to have a meeting with the employees that afternoon, and then took us out for a really nice lunch.

Stef and I did some shopping after lunch, while Robbie went in to meet with his people. He was on cloud nine. It was so great to see him so keyed up. “Thanks for helping me do that, Stef.”

“It was a smart business decision,” he said, smiling. “You spent a lot of money on that stock. I hope it pays off.”

“I was going to buy a jet for Robbie and me, so we wouldn’t have to borrow yours all the time, but I want to keep my cash levels high for this battle with Omega.”

“You must not do that all on your own. I am expecting to back your efforts fully,” he said. “Have you found out anything yet?”

“Cal told me why our previous investigations didn’t yield anything. Evidently, Alexandra uses her maiden name for business. Not only that, she truncates it. So when you see Alex Osbourne on a corporate register, it rings no bells.”

“Very clever,” Stef said. “What I do not understand is how they can fly underneath the radar so well. I would have thought with Defense work, they would have to disclose more.”

“Cal figured that out too. They formed a subsidiary to do all of their DoD contracting, and that’s the entity that gets scrutiny. It also lets them keep much of the information about what they do confidential.”

“You are indeed up against a clever foe.”

“Yes, but I have brilliant people working with me, thanks to you.” He grinned at me.

“You are helping to make this holiday tolerable.”

“Stef, you know Dad will figure things out. I think he’s just working his mind around things. It’s probably good that you’re not there, and that everyone is avoiding him. It will give him time to think things through.”

I had just stripped out of my business attire when Robbie came in with a smile across his face. “You should have seen the employees when I told them about the changes. They were actually cheering,” he said. “I am so stoked.”

“I’m glad.”

“That was an amazing Christmas present.”

“You were nervous at first,” I teased. “Wondering what kind of schemes I was plotting?”

“I was just freaked out because you didn’t talk to me about it.”

“You mean pissed off.”

“A little,” he said sheepishly. “But I get it, and it was an awesome surprise.” He kissed me passionately. I pushed him onto his back and pulled his pants down. I started sucking his dick, then slicked up my finger and probed his prostate while I blew him. That kind of double stimulation usually triggered his fuse pretty fast, so I had to work carefully to make sure he didn’t blow too soon. I’d like to think I worked him long enough and got him off at just the perfect time; at least I hoped I did. “And the presents get better and better,” he said afterward.

I snuggled up and clung on to him. “I already got my present. I got you back, and I love you more than I ever have.”