After getting ready, I did one final inspection in the mirror and then drove the twenty minutes to our offices. Cyrus and I had a small office that we leased, in a building right next to the airfield where our two planes were hangared. In the office we had a few employees that worked for us, during the week. There was Tammy, our office manager, Jenny, our shipping and receiving clerk, and of course Shawn. Shawn was our main flight mechanic, who worked on both planes and kept them up to regulations. We really were fairly small time, for the amount of business that we did.
When I opened the door to the office, I noted right away that Cyrus was already here, sitting in the conference room between his office and mine. I could see through the glass walls, there were three other people in the room with him. One was a stiff looking suit, very snobbish in his posture, as if being in that room was beneath him. Sitting next to the stiff, were two gorgeous looking ladies, a blonde and a brunette. Blondie was a good six inches taller than the suit and looked almost like an amazon goddess. The brunette was about the same height as the stiff, but had some very healthy looking breasts hiding under a loose fitting blouse.
I waved to Cyrus, who had looked up to see me coming in the door. I pointed to the coffee pot and he got the message. I could vaguely hear their voices as I poured myself a cup of coffee. Thankfully someone had thought ahead to brew some.
“… This should go smoothly…” I could hear Cyrus speaking.
“… You’d better hope so…” sounded like the stiff talking.
“… So after…” I thought I heard one of the females speaking.
“… We will…” Cyrus agreed with something, apparently.
At this point I was done with the cream and sugar, and walked into the room, stirring my coffee on the way to a chair near Cyrus. “Gentlemen, Ladies,” I said as I nodded at everyone. Cyrus spoke up as I sat down.
“Well let’s get started eh? James, I would like to introduce you to Christopher Hood. He has recently taken over the contracts section over at FEMA, and has a few questions for us regarding current contracts. Mr. Hood, why don’t you tell us the items you need answers to. After that, we can discuss the matter of the Mississippi flooding going on, and what that means for flying more supplies and aid into that region.”
The suit cleared his throat, “I am here to get a few things straight, and to try to pick up where my predecessor left off. From the information that I have reviewed, it looks like some of the contracts that were put into effect between FEMA and your company may not be complete. What I mean is the documentation is incomplete. There were several forms missing, which haven’t come as a huge surprise to anyone, due to the previous leadership.”
I had to say something, this sessions was already starting to sound like a waste of time. “Mr. Hood, I can assure you that if there are any missing forms or paperwork, we will be glad to work with your office to get them filed. Of course, we will have to get our lawyer involved, just to make sure that all the t’s are crossed in the right places. May I ask you a question?”
He nodded, so I went on. “What happened to your predecessor, and why are we meeting on a Saturday instead of a weekday? I understand that these things are important, but am not sure I understand the urgency here.”
“Well Mr. Holmes, to be blunt, my predecessor was fired for embezzling from the government. He is currently awaiting trial for stealing nearly two million dollars of FEMA money, for his own personal use. As for the urgency, I understand that you are going on a vacation soon, and we needed both these items wrapped up before you return. I apologize for the weekend meeting, but I assure you that it will be worth it. This brings me to the second reason that we are here, the flooding.
“As you may have seen on T. V. already, there has been significant flooding along the Mississippi river, in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The governors of all three states have requested federal aid, and the President has declared a state of emergency for them, to allow for emergency aid like FEMA to help. This is pretty straight forward in these types of natural disasters. What you don’t know is that they are predicting heavier rain in the region, over the next week or so. We DON’T need another Katrina level disaster on our hands. So, we need to get on this as soon as possible.”
“OK, fair enough,” I said. “I can understand how that would require some urgency. We can help with the smaller areas that are tougher for your big planes to get into. That is generally what we do, as a supplement to your main logistics fleet.” I turned to my partner, “Cyrus, are we all set to take this on? I can help with the deliveries once I get back, but the first few days of flying are going to be all on you buddy.”
“Yeah, I am good for it. Honestly I have been getting a bit bored just sitting around the office anyhow. So, Mr. Hood, if you send over a contract outlining the terms, and fee structure, we will get our lawyer to look at it right away. Unless there is any glaring errors or terms in it, there is no reason we shouldn’t have it signed and returned on the same day.”
“Excellent!” exclaimed Hood. He turned to Cyrus, “So, you guys want to celebrate with me over a drink before I head back to Washington?”
Shit. I only wanted to get back to my wife, and get ready for the trip tomorrow, but also knew that sometimes this was a requirement to keep our business dealings as smooth as they are. Oh well, what’s one drink going to hurt?
“Sure, I can go for one drink. I will have to take off after, though, so I can get some sleep. I have an early flight tomorrow.”
“No problem, so do I,” said Hood. “I have to fly out to the Gulf in the morning to approve some logistics planning for the major city areas, that we have scouts looking into already.”
It was settled then. Everyone left the office, agreeing to meet up at the Portside Bar and Grill, a little joint down by the waterfront, that had an honest to god paddle-boat, tied up to the dock. I think they even cruised the boat every now and then for events. Hmmm, maybe that’s an idea for a future company event?
Regardless, everyone piled into their own cars, and after I locked the office up, I too drove over to Portside. I pulled in, parked and got out of my car. The place was a bit busy with the dinner rush starting, but the bar had plenty of room. I looked around, and spotted Mr. Hood and his ladies, but Cyrus was nowhere to be found. I joined the others at a table in the bar, and when the waitress came over, I ordered myself a pint of Sam Adams.
“So, Mr. Holmes, what do you like to do for fun?” asked the suit. I kept thinking of him as ‘the suit’, but he had taken off his sport coat at some point after out meeting. I also noticed that the ladies he came with had opened up their blouses a bit, showing off some VERY nice cleavage. I may be married to a beautiful woman, but I’m not dead either.
“Well, I love to fly. When I am up there, with my hands on those controls, it’s the second best thing I have in my life. The first, well… that has to be Caitlin.” I couldn’t contain my smile, thinking of her. “Other than those two things, I guess I like watching movies, and traveling. Seeing and spending time in new places is always fun for me.”
“Hmm, that’s interesting. You should look me up if you ever come to D. C. again. I am sure my wife would like to meet you and yours.”
“What about you three, what do you guys do for fun?” I decided maybe it was time to include the ladies in the conversation.
“Well, I can’t speak for Lara, but I like dancing.” She must have been Missy then. I wish I could remember names better. Ah well.
“Dancing is fun, but I really like going sailing, actually. I have an older ’78 Pearson P-40 C. B. docked back in Maryland. That’s basically a forty-foot sailboat,” replied Lara.