37
Janella has no idea what the plans are. Everyone in the house knows but, no one is saying.
I am in the office as is Dian. It is a normal day for us. We are busy with lease documents sent in from Janella's compatriots in Cebu. There is an email string with MICP port operations regarding ferries, another one with the Cebu Port Authority, and yet another with the Philippine Ports Authority.
Good morning, Janella!
Good morning, Sir. And to Dian, Good morning, Friend. Dian smiles.
Janella is no poor woman these days. She is well dressed, well shod, and stands with a bearing that simply announces she is stable in her world. She is also every bit the beauty queen she was before. The fact that she is here because she misses me would be humorous if I wasn't so damned happy to see her myself. Come sit by me. I'm glad you are here.
Glancing at Dian as she sits, she looks at me and asks, Really? You not just trying to make me happy?
Dian, would you please hand Janella the org chart for GLS.
Yes, Sir. I have it here. And she hands it to her compatriot before sitting down again.
I am waiting for some response. Dian is waiting. Janella holds the chart in her hands and just looks at it. Not a sound, not a smile, not a grimace. For the longest time, not a sound. Sir, this office is where, Cebu, Davao, Manila?
Here.
Here? Here in town?
Here in the house.
Sir, Gordon, you are not teasing me? This is real? Dian, is he teasing?
We just smile.
Me? You make me a corporate officer? Me? Sir?
Janella, do you love me?
Oh, Sir, with all I am, yes.
Will you do your best in your new position?
Of course, yes!
Have you been rated by all, as the best at whatever job we give you?
Yes, all have been kind to me.
Nonsense. No one is being kind when they say you are the best we have. They mean it. Janella, I love you, and I am happy you are here but, I would not put you as COO unless I believed that you are the best person for the position. Maybe I would have found another way to keep you close to me. I don't know because I didn't need to deal with that. You have this position because of how well you have performed. You got hired based on your beauty and intelligence. You will be in my bed regularly because I love you. I am not telling you anything I have not already admitted to all in this house.
Janella once again turns to Dian. Friend, this is true? All know I love him and he love me?
She gets raised eyebrows and a smile. At which point, Janella launches into my lap and grabs on to me, kissing me every place a fully clothed woman sitting on a fully clothed man can find.
After she settles down, I tell her that until we reorganize things here a bit she will be sharing an office with Eve. Eve has the office downstairs, Joo and Giselle do come in and out of it but, I put Janella in it too.
I tell Janella that she will be with me tonight. She blushes and tells me that she is having her period. I smile and ask her to make sure Dian and Maria knows her schedule.
§ § §
I am skipping over a lot! The pavilions are up and all have moved. We get Janella set up, and she is taking over running GLS. It is like she was made for this. The other girls all seem to like working with her and she is getting a lot out of them. Cebu is all up and running. The two week free cartage offer was a huge success. The Sunday deliveries are very popular. We are only three months in and have captured so much business that we have to revamp a bit and set up a new large sorting center.
We have a lead gal on the ground there. She is one of those who were part of the initial top five. Her name is Aniezar and Janella tells me that they are best friends. Aniezar has made friends with some of the operators at the sea port. That has been a good deal, because I am seriously over my head; not just a little. Unless I get some help, we can't launch the ferry fleet.
Because of her, I gather I will have a meeting with some of these folks this afternoon. I am not sure how this will work. But I am up for having the meeting.
The launching of FUCME has been based on the truly combined efforts of all three of us, CEOs, along with meetings with members of Zelle's family. We got Alona's and Wenelyn's buyers involved with this too. We scouted out locations for stock. Here we are using the Makar location as the main site and then trucking smaller amounts of the items to the remote city sites based on general inventory level requirements and heuristics. It appears to be working and we have shaved some costs, much to Zelle's family's happiness. We are priced a little below our competition in all the towns where we operate. Because of that we are incrementally picking up more and more of the business. FUCME is profitable. It is also creating a mini scandal because of the name. We never use the acronym outside the home office. We call it CME to the staff in the field. Still I am told folks in other towns are saying, that if you don't buy from us, you are, because you are saying FUCME anyway!
Our girls, who are setting up these places, (seven of the gals I brought back from Cebu,) are creating a real crush to “meet the manager.” The girls will be gone in short order, as we send them back to Cebu to set up FUCME's there.
We are getting intelligence from our trucking in Cebu and so growing FUCME and Bayan Na can proceed. The Home Place needs to grow here first. I use Eve, Giselle, Joo, Taciana and Jiecel to assist Wenelyn as we start a major build-out of The Home Place. Eve says they need more staff. We contact Jake for a new group to be trained for The Home Place. Once again we have a housing problem and we are out of room. It's not just that we need to build, it is that we are out of lot space.
Dian has an idea. She asks if I will give her forty-eight hours before she tells me what's up. She has no idea if her screwball, my term not hers, idea will work. I take a long drink of water, and a long breath before agreeing.
While I have Jake on the phone asking him for the list of girls for The Home Place, I ask him if he can do text searches on his lists, on values that might indicate general knowledge of shipping, containerized freight, and cargo ferries. He says he will see what they can do. He also suggests that we get together for dinner. I ask, You and me?
Well, how about, Joy, Rose, Abbey, Mitch, Anabel, Jana, Rosamarie, Cherise and Jun from my side and then your group. I don't know all of those.
How young is the youngest in your group?
Other than my own children, sixteen. Bring your younger ones. My kids will be a good match!
OK, I will have Maria contact Joy.
Really? Maria and not Jana.
Yeh. Go figure.
Jana still there?
Yes and she will come if we do this.
But Maria is your Joy?
Yeh.
OK, later.
There is a knock on the door. Five men are standing there. Each of them has a skull cap. I get up and welcome them in, while at the same time asking Dian to get Eve and some extra chairs quickly.
I welcome them into the office and put them around the big table. Dian scrambling to get two more chairs from Eve's office which is now the one next to mine. We are only short one for them but, Eve is coming. By the time I have the guys seated, Eve enters, seeing what's what, ducks back out, grabs a scarf, puts it over her hair and comes back in. The guys notice this, and I see smiles.
We exchange greetings. Eve answers them in Maguindanao, though she can't be positive it is their native language. Evidently it is and these guys are ecstatic. Eve tells me later, they ask her if she is Muslim. She explains she is not but wishes to be respectful. That is all they need to compliment her and tell her she is a true child of Bangsamoro. She thanks them for the sincere and meaningful complement.
At this moment. Pia and Anja, come in with head scarves carrying drinks, bread rolls and fruits. The girls place it all on the table before retreating.
Turning to English, one guy says, I see you respect our ways. But, Sir, it is true that you are not a true believer?
I smile and tell them that while I do not follow their faith, I wish to be friends in the development of this great land. I honor their values and recognize their ancient history here. I ask them if they are here regarding ocean shipping.
Partially, Sir, you have many women and I am told children from them. I am told you respect them as we are taught to do. You take care of the children of your workers and educate them here on your land. You are in our eyes a righteous man who would find a welcome home in our faith. And you could take, as one of your wives, a daughter of one of us. We are all in the shipping business and would be honored to work with you.
Ah, I see. Gentlemen, you honor me in many ways. If I could tell you truthfully, that I can believe in a God, any God, be it Allah or any, we might talk with some honesty about my faith beliefs. But I am afraid that in the deepest part of my heart, I do not believe this can be true. It is a limitation of my own, I am sure. But it is a limitation that is real. For me to profess anything would be a lie. All here will tell you. I never lie. I refuse to lie. … If we can find a way to do some business, I will be happy. I have found that the followers of Mohammad, praise be unto him, are my very best drivers of my trucks. I have no doubt the same will be in the ships.
You honor us in your praise and your honesty. How is it that a man who comes from a place that hates us so much, shows such hospitality, and respect?
Sir, when one paints with a broad brush, one covers over many things. Very few things in this world are simple. Many in my country respect your religion. I do not deny that there are those who do not and they have very loud voices.
This is fairly said. We will not speak of it again. It is good that we are welcome and respected here.
You are, and when you are my guest, you are my responsibility. You shall always be welcome and safe here.
Should you visit us, the same will be true for you. There is general agreement to this.
Gentlemen, my mistress and mother of a child of mine, Eve, will take down all your details. Not just names and cell numbers but, what you do in the matter of shipping, the best way to reach you, the things you are interested in doing with us. I do this, not out of courtesy but, out of real need.
Eve has a tablet out and is putting the information down as I discuss the organization of the house with the guys who aren't talking to Eve at the moment.
Eventually it is all done and they take their leave. Eve walks them out, before returning to me. She flops down in a chair and groans. Gordon this is not going to work. Each of these guys has his own fleet and wants you to contract with him. Each of these guys wants you to convert in the worst way. You stopped them today because no one had ever spoken to them in the way you did but, I am afraid that if you contract with any one of them, it will not stop. You did a good job with 'you are safe under my roof' piece. There will be no blow back because of that but, these guys will not work. Are you sure we need to have a basically Muslim run ferry fleet?
Yes. We need to find a way. They are sober, they believe in honor, their rules against stealing make ours look silly.
OK, well I don't know how you will do it.
Neither do I. Neither do I. Thanks for all the help.
Gordon are you really an atheist?
Eve, there may be a God but, you don't need God to explain the universe. I live in the universe.
That's not an answer.
But it's the only one you will get. What I was telling those guys and am telling you, is that I do not believe in a God that has anything to do with me or the world in which I live.
Eve is getting up, flattening out the wrinkles in her dress and preparing to walk out, as she says, I'll have to think about that.
The door closed behind her and Dian guffaws. Gordon, what do you think will happen if they ever figure out that all this religion crap is pure faerie tale?
It will be a very scary day, Dian, a very scary day and a very dangerous one. As much as I think it is all bunk, the concept that the rest of the population will figure that out, scares me to no end. Every time you see the smiling face of some poor soul who has nothing, remember that he is smiling because he knows in his bones that he is going to heaven. What happens when that is taken away from him?
Oh shit!
Yes, oh shit.
And why didn't you ask me to speak with those guys? I speak the tongue.
Dian, I love you without limit but, I know some of your limitations. You are not my most diplomatic mistress.
OK, it is true.
I got a text message while the guys were here. I look at it now. It is from Jake. Joy is coming over with two folders related to shipping, plus two hundred for The Home Place. He also says that she is in contact with Maria about dinner. I text back a thanks.
I get up, walk down the stairs, out across the campus to a pavilion in the second office cluster. I find Janella engaged reading activity reports. How is my COO today?
GLS is fine, however your COO is having her period again. Gordon, I want a baby! I smile, Have patience!
She's Zelle's.
Have faith, it will happen.
Grrrr, she's Eve's!
There is always hope!
There's no Hope. Cynthia takes that for hers! Now clear your calendar for my days. I want them all!
§ § §
Once again there is a large set of boxes. But they are in Wenelyn's pavilion office and not mine. Here on my desk are two folders. The mothers are lovely, the girls are as well. In each case, based on notes in the folder, the mother fell over the age range but not the girl and there was only one child. These two folders are two years old. Evidently Jake checked and they remain 'available.' So the daughters are now fourteen and the mothers thirty-two and thirty-three. This is not a problem for me.
Both mothers grew up in families deeply engaged in sea cargo business. Both are within 60KM of the house. I ask Anja to reach out to them and find out what assistance they need, cash and/or transport to get here. Anja is to make it happen without further intercession by me.
Dian and I will interview them. With the girls I am less worried about diplomacy as I am with catching the nuances. Dian is the best we have at that.
Gordon, are the girls Muslim?
Good question. Jake does not list religion in his folders.
If they are in shipping, there is a good chance they are.
Interesting.
I text Jake and ask him about religion.
He cheerfully answers that he had found the Muslims have always self-selected themselves out of the application process.
I respond with an
OK.
I'm surprised. You have a twelve year-old and two thirteen-year-olds on Maria's list. Joy has been telling me I have a soulmate. Maybe I do. See you soon.
Maria must have added Sha and Shamcey to the group. Who else?
§ § §
Dinner is boisterous. News about the dinner with Jake is out. I get to hear the list from this side. It is just about everyone! Glanna, Brenna, and Princess are included as are Sha, Shamcey, Taciana, Jiecel, Joo, Giselle, Pia, Renelyn, Raya, Amzkie, Mhae, Janella, and her two compatriots Cri2x and Jassel. Of course Jana, Zelle, Wenelyn, Eve, Dian, Alona, Anja and Maria are also on the list! This is beyond embarrassing. I ask Zelle and Wenelyn if it is OK that they be seen together like this. They are OK with it.
Maria says when Joy sees the list she decides they need Lawrence's group too. Including me we are twenty-six. There are only seventeen in Jake's group. That makes forty-three. Joy tells Maria that Lawrence's group is far larger, close to our number. My God there may be seventy of us. Where do we meet?
Joy says we can do this at Lawrence's. I ask about the little ones in front of Lawrence's group. Joy has assured Maria that it is not a problem. I ask Maria if she made it clear to Joy that Princess is not a bedmate. Joy knows but Maria said, it would be cruel to exclude her from the party, besides, Jake is bring his own kids. This is beyond weird.
I text Lawrence. I am not sure he remembers me so the text is a little stilted but, I ask if he is aware of some party that is being planned. He is and he knows it is at his place.
Cri2x and Jassel are the newest here. Cri2x asks, Sir, this means I am a real mistress to you?
You work in this house?
Yes.
You live in this compound?
Yes.
I make love to you in my bed?
Yes.
Am I trying to get you pregnant?
Yes, I hope so!
What else needs to happen for you to know you are a mistress?
Oh! Duh. OK, gaga ako!1
Yes you are. How is a girl so smart and so beautiful, so foolish? Ah I know. Because when she looks in the mirror she also thinks she pangit.
Oh! How you know this? Who tell you?
The mumo2.
Laughter fills the room.
§ § §
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