Catering with Benefits (2) - Second Course - 5. Out Sourcing

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At dinner Jared was very quiet and Thomas had to carry the conversation. But, Jared seemed disinterested in Thomas’s conversation and was pre-occupied. Finally Thomas asked “Is there something bothering you or have you just lost interest in me?”

“How could I lose interest in you my love? You’re what keeps me going these days.”

“Then tell me what’s bothering you. If it’s not me what is it that has you so distracted?”

“It’s work issues.”

“And you can’t talk about it because it’s secret army business?”

“No, it’s nothing like that. As you know I work in the training unit, designing courses and occasionally running courses to evaluate their effectiveness.”

“So, are they not happy with your work?”

“My work is fine and they do like what I do, but the top brass has been pressured by our ‘sell it or out-source it’ Liberal government to out-source the training design unit.”

“That sounds crazy; the army is supposed to protect our country and therefore should be wholly run by army personnel as well as being owned by the people.”

“That’s how I see it too, but they have succumbed to the Liberal’s pressure.”

“So what happens to you, will you lose your job?”

“It’s not that bad, they’ve given me options. How I work at present, I’m almost a civilian employee, basically working nine to five. If I want to stay on I will have to go back to being a regular army officer, and that means signing on for a fixed time. I don’t really want that, I like the current arrangements. There are also two other options; one is retrenchment the other is to either find a job with the company that wins the tender or set up my own company and tender for the contract. So I guess I have four options.”

“Which do you prefer?”

“I definitely don’t want to go back to the regular army, so I’m tossing up between taking retrenchment or setting up my own company.”

“Either of those seems reasonable. If you took retrenchment would you get a good payout?”

“Yes, it could be lucrative. Given my years of service, the unit that I served in and my rank I would likely get about a year’s salary, and that’s plenty of time to find alternative work.”

“What about setting up your own company, have you given that much thought?”

“A bit, while I can do the basic job, standing on my head, I’m not sure how to prepare a tender, estimate expenses or run a business.”

“I can help you with some of that. I have a degree in business management, although I don’t get to use much of that training in my job.”

“Maybe you are a bit over-qualified to be a secretary and a pimp.”

“Hey! Hang on there.”

“Sorry, I guess you are more than a secretary.”

“It’s not that, but you said pimp!”

“By your own admission that is effectively what you do for Mrs Price, isn’t it?”

“I suppose so, but let’s get back to your problem. If you were to set up your own company and tender for the job, would you need much capital?”

“Initially, I don’t think so; I would just be a one-man band.”

“It’s not that simple. Even if, as you say, you’re a one man band, you still need legal advice, contracts drawn up, insurance, some sort of office set-up, taxation and other accounting advice as well as bookkeeping, auditing, business registration, phones, computers and training aids, manuals to be printed and so on, depending on the terms of the tender.”

“Fuck! I would need all that, just to do what I do now?”

“Yes, running a small business can mean just as much paperwork and accountability as a larger business. But I can help you if you want to go down that path.”

“I thought it would be easier than that. I thought I would just do what I do now plus provide some training materials but get paid more to do it. I think you just talked me out of it.”

“That wasn’t my intention, but I don’t want to see you get into something you don’t fully understand and find out when it’s too late.”

“Thanks for that, and I mean it. I could’ve charged into that project and been an epic fail, without your advice.”

“Why don’t you think about it a bit longer and don’t automatically discount your other options either. When will this happen?”

“They will call for tenders in three months and hope to sign contracts in a further three months.”

“So that gives you six months to make a plan. Would you have to stay the six months to get your retrenchment package, or could you leave sooner and still get the payout?”

“I don’t know, I thought I could just leave anytime.”

“Probably not, these packages often come with conditions and the army could take advantage of you if you indicate you want to leave. They could insist you stay will the end or lose the retrenchment offer.”

“The bastards!” yelled Jared.

“Yep.”

“How about we change the subject for now, I’m getting a bit low.”

“OK, let’s talk about fucking. No, better still, let’s do it.”

“You’re on.”

“I’ll take the wine and the glasses to the bedroom and can you find some candles. I feel like some gentle romance tonight. I just love to see your body in the soft glow of candlelight.”

“I can show you some tricks with melting candle wax, if you want.”

“Not tonight, maybe another time” concluded Thomas.

***

Over breakfast the next morning Jared remembered, “With all the talk about my future in the job, I forgot to tell you last night that I have to go away for a week. Remember I said I might occasionally have to go on a training course to evaluate the procedures?”

“Yes, but you have not done that since we met.”

“Yeah, well now is that time.”

“When are you going and where.”

“I will be going in two weeks time and will be away for a week, but I can’t tell you where, that is confidential. And further, you won’t be able to contact me directly; we are not allowed to take our phones.”.

“What if there’s an emergency?”

“If it’s a genuine emergency, not just you are missing me, then you contact the command office where I work and if they determine it’s a genuine emergency, they will contact me. I will leave the number for you.”

“Well, I’ll miss you. What a bummer. Firstly you get news that you might lose your job and now you are going away”.

***

About a week later Jared and Thomas were having a quiet evening at home when Thomas said to Jared. “Hey, remember a few months ago when I was telling you about Mrs P’s French lover and you asked me to let you know how I go about finding a replacement?”

“Yes” said Jared excitedly.

“That time has come. Marcel’s work visa is expiring soon, so Mrs P has asked me to find a replacement.”

“So where do we start?”

“What’s this ‘we’ business?”

“Oh, I thought I could help.”

“How?”

“Just tell me what to do. Will we place an ad on the internet, or put up notices in some swanky bars. Maybe call for tenders; that seems to be the way things are done these days.”

“What a good idea, I can just see it now Wanted, hot stud to service rich frustrated woman. Good remuneration. All applications considered.”

“Are you rubbishing my suggestions?”

“What do you think?”

“All right, Mr expert pimp, what do we...no make that...what do you do?”

“I have a few contacts in the sex worker community. I will talk to them first; they have helped me in the past.”

“You’re going to get her a rent boy?”

“No, these people work in the high class end of the business, where they are called ‘escorts’. Some of them do only that, escort ladies to dinners and parties etc. Not all, but some of the escorts provide additional services, these are the guys I want to talk to. They are not guys who rent by the hour. They work at a contract rate, agreed to before the service starts.”

“So these people who run the high end escort business will just hand over their top men to you?”

“No, of course not; if I choose one of their boys then I pay them a finder’s fee, just like an employment agency.”

“What if you don’t find a guy there, where else do you try?”

“In some ways I prefer the professional boys, as they don’t need any training. They just get on with the job immediately. But, if I can’t find one that way then word of mouth often works. That way I usually get an amateur, who has to learn on the job, but that’s not all bad as their innocence can be an attractive advantage. Mrs P likes variety, so I try to mix it up a bit. Marcel was an amateur but the guy before that was from an agency.”

“You say ‘word of mouth’ who do you ask?”

“My close friends, business associates and Prices staff. They all know what goes on in the household. Trying to keep the Prices’ activities secret within the company and household is not a good way to manage the situation. If you try to do that, it eventually leaks out and you get gossip that takes on a life of its own. This way everybody knows but they of course keep it in-house. No secrets, no problems.”

“Do the Prices know their private lives are the worse kept secret in town?”

“It was Mr P’s idea some years back, as he got tired of hearing the staff gossip about things that he had not actually done. This way it’s out in the open but not gossiped about.”

“And that works well?”

“So far it has.”

“Well, I’ll be fucked both ways.”

“Wishful thinking?”

“Just saying.”

“I’ll make a few calls from the office tomorrow and get the word out. Should not be long before I get some guys to interview.”