Doc's Place

© 2008, Michel Grover. All rights reserved.
Chapter 17 | Part 1
Monday, October 15, 1984

As Soji escorts Alvin out, I sit down, logout and login. The system prompts me to change my password. Then I logout and login again.

Open and delete an email message from Margaret asking if I can read this. Compose a reply asking her to route any calls from Alice Hawkins to Tony George. Open a message from Mei with details about the threat her parents received on Saturday and forward it to Tony. Tell Le that Tony George accepts the security chief position at eighty thousand. He starts tomorrow afternoon and reports directly to the CEO, which is Ume, for now. Tell Alvin to delete the two session items from my menu since I will use the keys.

The phone rings. Margaret says Tony George and his wife Suli are calling. Ask her to stay on the line.

"Jill, I discussed your offer with Suli. She wants to talk with you. Go ahead, Hon."

"Hi Jill. First, I want to thank you. I'm glad Tony's out of federal service and into the private sector. It's much safer."

Translation: the pay is better. "Hi Suli," I tell her. "I'm glad too."

"I just received my broker's license and a job offer from Merrill-Lynch here in Salt Lake," continues Suli. "I don't want to stand in the way of Tony's career but I don't want to dump my career for his. You know what I'm sayin'?"

"Sure, Suli. Margaret, pull Le into this call, please. Suli, Le is president of Pere, Inc."

"Le."

"Le, Tony George has accepted the security chief job at Pere. Suli, his wife, is on the line and wants to talk to you about a broker position."

"Give this call to me, Margaret," says Le.

"Thank you, Jill," say Tony and Suli in unison.

Disconnect and the phone rings.

Margaret says, "Tony George has formally accepted and will arrive tomorrow afternoon at three, Jill."

"Good. Lease him a Cadillac and park it in Baron Ranch guest parking. Did you find them a furnished apartment?"

"Yes," says Margaret.

"I asked Alvin, the IS tech, to put together a packet of reading for me, Margaret. Would you ask Lloyd to bring it home, please?"

"Sure. Hold on, Jill. Le wants you."

"Ume and I are putting the S&A and banking groups in office suites on the Chief Financials side," says Le.

"So?"

"Well, we're putting the brokerage group downtown Reno in leased office space under a different company and an exclusive contract to provide brokerage services for Pere."

"Why?"

"We want to put them on a hundred percent commission and let them shop their own benefits so we can sell the whole damn contract any time we want. That brokerage business is just too damned volatile and the players are just too slick. Bunch of lying, thieving sons of bitches, every one of them."

"Hey," I say, allowing my voice to reveal my shock at her bad language, "I thought you were a good little girl."

"Working with Ume," murmurs Le.

Still troubled by something that Mei told me earlier, I say, "Change of subject, Le. If this banking deal and the other revenue come out as we expect, you and Mei will get rich."

"Oh yes, we'll each make a quarter million this year. Taxes will be a bitch for a windfall like that. We're looking at socking the money away off shore to reduce our personal tax liability."

Now I remember what was troubling me a while ago. Mei and Le seem to be quite close. Are they lovers? "I'm still wondering why Mei didn't break off and start her own company, Le. Mei said she couldn't raise the capital to float this loan for the bank. That's reasonable but I suspect there's more to it than that. Do you know the real reason why Mei is staying at Pere and not breaking out on her own?"

"Yes. Mei and I are together now, Jill."

Goddamn it to hell! Why didn't they tell me, and why didn't Ume tell me? I tell myself to discuss this calmly. Taking a deep breath, I release it slowly as I relax, tightening only the hara, the area just below my navel. "Are both of you happy about it?"

"Ecstatic. We're in love."

Instant rage again'breathe deeply, relax. "Did you think I'd be upset if I knew?"

"No, Mei just doesn't want her parents to know. They are staunchly traditional and expect her to follow their orders."

"What about you?"

"I haven't quite gotten used to the idea myself yet, but I can't begin to tell you how happy we are, Jill."

"Perhaps you and Mei will come over for lunch today. Do you agree I have a right to ask?"

"Of course."

"Sure, I'll confirm it with Mei." She pauses. "Jill, if we did anything wrong, I'm sorry."

"For. . . ."

"Not telling you and Ume sooner."

So, Ume doesn't know either'officially. "When was the earliest you could have told me?"

"About a month ago. The weekend before you drove over from Utah for your interview at Doc's."

Five weeks they've kept this from Ume and me. "The two of you be here at twelve thirty. Alright?"

"Alright. Jill?"

"It's okay, Le. Wait until lunch."

I'm pissed but the situation's not that bad if I act quickly. Disconnect, remove the headset, stand up slowly and walk carefully into the bathroom. When I come out, I'm feeling better. Find Soji in the garage, smoothing a bowed strip of wood. Looks like maple.

"Le and Mei are coming over for lunch at twelve thirty, Soji."

"Carter's?"

"Yes, please. Ask them to fix up something light but really nice, okay?"

"Okay. Bad news?"

Guy reads me like an open book. "I hope not, Soji."

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Doc's Place Chat
© 2008, Michel Grover.
Chapter 17 | Part 1
Summer 2009

Lucia :
Mic has posted in the left frame paragraphs from Doc's Place, one of his copyrighted stories. I'm moderating chat here in the right frame. I post every day, but I don't post everything. I have formed a secondary group from which I may also post comments.

Annie :
Ah, so now we know why you and Mei had lunch at Jill's house, Le. You went over there to get chewed out by the boss.

Le :
Unfortunately, you're right, Annie. However, it wasn't much of a chewing out. Besides, everything turned out for the best, as you will see when the story continues.

Annie :
Are you and Mei still together?

Le :
23yrs and counting. My daughter was 7 at the time, so she went from Auntie Mei to Mama Mei. We're grandmothers twice over now that my daughter has had her second child.

Annie :
How did Mei's parents take the news?

Le :

Not well, I'm afraid. We waited until Jill had cleared the air with the gangs out of Oakland to tell them, but they still wouldn't talk to either of us as long as Mei's mother was alive—4yrs. When Mei called her father and asked permission to attend the funeral, he welcomed us. We visited him every weekend until he died 13yrs ago. Turned out Mei's mother was the traditionalist.

Amalie :
Just a few questions about this story part, Le, if you don't mind. Could you tell Jill was angry when you told her the news?

Le :
Not right away, as you can tell from our interaction. As our conversation continued, I could tell she had decided to take action.

Amalie :
So Jill seemed calm to you from the time you told her throughout your luncheon?

Le :
Yes, and please continue if you have other questions, Amalie.

Amalie :
Before you told Jill about your relationship with Mei, had you and Mei discussed your fiduciary responsibility to Jill?

Le :

Yes. Upon retrospect, both Mei and I admitted to one another that we should have told Ume the moment we became intimate. However, our intimacy grew over several weeks' time. During the process, we were not seeing things objectively, so we found it difficult to pinpoint the moment when we should have told Ume. By the time Jill noticed and mentioned it, the moment had passed.

In addition, the growing affection within our relationship had made us more keenly aware of our responsibilities to Jill than either of us had ever felt before we had become intimate with one another. We convinced ourselves in our growing confidence that we were doing the right thing by waiting until a propitious moment to tell Mei's parents and Ume.

It sounds foolish now, I know, but at the time, we thought we were being wise and patient. It is a strange feeling to experience growing intimacy within the framework of consuming love, especially with someone I already loved, admired and respected. We were so careful during the five weeks between our first intimacy and telling Jill. In fact, we exercised more diligence in our fiduciary responsibilities to Jill than we had ever done before, simply because we were trying to be so careful.

Being in love is like living in another dimension and the rules governing behavior just don't seem to apply. We would walk in each morning after some of the most beautiful and enriching experiences either of us had ever had and try to act normal when, in fact, we could barely remember what normal was. I hope this helps, Amalie.

Amalie :
Oh Le, when I began asking you about the experience, I wondered how the two of you could be so foolish. Now, all I care about is how deliriously happy the two of you became during this time. Give us details on how Jill handled the luncheon, if you please.

Le :

If I hadn't known any better, I would have thought that Jill had been in love recently herself. It was as if she had decided to take our side utterly and completely. When we arrived, Jill hugged and kissed us both. At first, as Mei and I discussed later, we thought it was one of those perfunctory hugs before business, but when Jill hugged and kissed us, she held us close and whispered words that I will never, never forget. "You hold my beating heart in your hands, my sisters. To both of you, in the name of the love that binds you, I give you power over my kingdom and its welfare. Do not fail me." Both Mei and I began crying as Jill told us how proud she was that we had the courage to express our love to one another.

In that moment, Jill did something that is wise beyond description. Not only did she tell us that our blossoming love and intimacy was wonderful, but that she trusted us now more than ever. It was as if she understood our heated emotion and passion when she embraced us, even praised us, for that love and passion.

Looking back now, I realize that Jill's eyes were dry and that she was manipulating us as is her way, but at that moment, Mei and I committed our lives, our energy and our future to Jill Price. We would have given our lives for her in that moment; instead, she asked us to live for her. Let me tell you something, Amalie. From that moment on, we have and we always will live for Jill Price as much as we live for one another.

Benny :

My god, Le, Jill manipulated you and Mei just as she did Lloyd and with the same result. Look at the two experiences: the physical contact, the lowered voice, the eye contact, the acknowledgement of emotion and love, the extension of trust and finally, the coup de grace—the injunction, the command, really. What perfect execution and timing. We are finally beginning to understand the glue that binds Jill's empire.

Avani :
Les and I have discussed this as well, Benny. Jill's executives have mastered both the experience and the coup de grace. Donna Esteban did much the same with Les and Lizzie with me. The experience, the injunction, the perfect execution and timing are all similar. Are you absorbing this, Amalie? Do you understand?

Amalie :
Certainement, Avani. And Le, your story has filled me with joie de vivre. I am beside myself with happiness for Mei and you.

Benny :

We can examine each of the steps that comprise the loyalty formula. First, the Pere executive sees and recognizes the opportunity approaching and growing, developing, if you will. Once she sees it, she must decide how to leverage the opportunity. Next, create or leverage a crisis and then wait for the hopeful, the aspirant, to approach.

With Le and Mei, Ume had to know, had to see it coming, so she thought it over and decided to leave it in the hands of the master who had originated the formula—Jill. All Jill needed to hear was that Ume had taken the first vacation in her life and Jill knew a crisis was brewing and about to explode. To Jill Price, every crisis is an opportunity.

Earlier, Jill set up Lloyd with Soji's revelation that Jill established Aliversal and with the Pere educational benefit. Lloyd already felt a huge obligation to Jill for her Aliversal and educational opportunities. With Lloyd, Jill set her up further by saying that she would be returning to Doc's Place next week, implying that she would no longer need Lloyd. Lloyd responds, as Jill knows she will, with a yearning, a passion to serve. The rest of that tale is history.

Now, we see the same pattern repeated with Le and Mei's relationship. It wouldn't surprise any of us to learn that Jill probably manipulated Ume in just this way 35yrs ago.

Lizzie :
All true, Benny, but surely you realize that one person's manipulation is another person's life-changing moment. At your age, everything is an interesting problem or puzzle you must solve. However, one day you will face that un-solvable problem, call it a crisis if you will, that breaks you down and unmans you. You must know that your day is coming, do you not?

Benny :
I suppose I do, Lizzie, in some distantly conceptual way.

Lizzie :
Then I advise caution, young man. Remember what your Greek Chorus often tells you: but for hazard, this could be you.

Benny :
How do you know about my Greek Chorus? I've never mentioned them.

Amalie :
Silly question, Benny. Have you forgotten with whom you are chatting?

Benny :
Lizzie told us that Pere executives cannot read minds.

Amalie :
True, but she did not say that they could not read you like an open book, did she? For example, your Greek Chorus is not Greek at all. Rather, your chorus is a black gospel choir comprised entirely of women and they do not go easy on you, do they, Benny?

Jules :
Cue up the choir now, Benny:
Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
By the way, Charlotte Elliott wrote the words to that hymn back in 1835, in case anyone wants to look it up.