by KG MacGregor
“You’ll never guess who called this morning.” He handed her the file. “Maria Esperanza.”
Lily knew Maria all too well. In her seven years at the clinic, she had handled two divorces of Maria’s from husband Miguel, four criminal complaints involving domestic violence, and no fewer than seven custody hearings for the couple’s two children, Roberto and Sofia. “It never ends for those two. What is it this time?”
“First she wants a restraining order. Then she wants Miguel’s visitation revoked permanently. She claims he threatened her with a gun…said he was going to make her sorry one of these days.”
Miguel already had two assault convictions for battering his wife on his record, and had done eight months in the county jail for the second offense. “If he has a gun, that’s a violation of his probation. I can have him picked up and thrown in jail by dinnertime.”
“Assuming she’s even telling the truth. You know how she is, Lily. She’ll say anything to get the judge mad at Miguel.”
Not only that, she also had a history of hiding the kids when her ex-husband showed up for visitation, an act that had provoked his violent side. But a threat with a gun definitely raised the stakes. “I’ve never worried before that he’d hurt his kids, but sometimes I think he gets so angry at Maria that I wouldn’t put it past him. Are the police involved?”
“No, not yet.”
“Why don’t I start with Pete Simpkins? He was still Miguel’s attorney last I heard. Maybe I can get him to call the probation officer to go over and search for a gun.”
“Works for me.” He handed her the file and pushed his hands in his pockets, clearly troubled.
“Something else, Tony?”
He looked down at his feet for a few seconds before finally meeting her eye. “The Cryder Foundation didn’t renew us for next year.”
The Cryder grant was specifically set aside for children and family legal services, and it covered most of Lily’s salary. She had written the application herself last summer touting the number of people that had benefitted from the foundation’s previous support. “Did they say why?”
He shrugged. “Like everyone else, their portfolios crashed. They hardly funded anyone this cycle, but they invited us to apply again next spring.”
She had worked at the law clinic long enough to know her job was secure, though it likely meant she would be handed more criminal cases, since their contract with the public defender’s office was one of their main sources of funding. “You’re sending me back to jail, aren’t you?”
“I’m afraid so. I know how much you hate it, so I promise I’ll at least try to get you all the juvie cases.”
She definitely preferred juvenile justice to adult crime. The last thing she wanted was to find herself defending the likes of Miguel Esperanza.
Anna touched her cheeks with blush before the mirror on the back of her office door. For a six whole weeks she had done her best to keep her expression calm and serious in front of her staff, but in the privacy of her office it was all she could do not to whistle with joy. Their second blood test had confirmed the embryo’s growth, which made them breathe easier. They could hardly wait for the first sonogram, only two weeks away.
In the meantime, she had her hands full with Premier Motors. The sooner she got the dealerships back on track, the more time she would have for Lily and their family. Today’s meeting was the critical first step toward turning her business around.
The whispers had started already, from the office and sales staff all the way out to the service department. It wasn’t every day she gathered the executives and managers from all four dealerships in one place. She needed their support for this transition as much as they needed her decisive leadership. She rolled up the sleeves of her white cotton shirt, hoping to convey her readiness to work just as hard as she was asking them to do.
In the conference room she took her place at the head of the table, flanked on one side by Hal, her chief financial officer, and on the other by her father, who was vice president of operations at the Beverly Hills Volkswagen dealership. Next to him sat Brad Stanley, who held the same position at the BMW dealership. Their Palm Springs counterparts were next, along with the company’s vice president for human resources, Nancy Gravitt, who had helped iron out the final details of their plan. Sales, service and office managers from all four lots were seated around the perimeter of the room.
“Perfect attendance. I like that.” Anna pasted on a confident smile and tried to make eye contact with everyone present. “I know you’re all expecting bad news today, but I hope when you come away from this meeting you’ll feel I’ve given you just the opposite.”
There was no discernible change in their worried expressions. People were anxious and rightly so.
“You all know our bean counter, Hal Phillips. He and I have been working with Nancy on a reorganization plan we think will pull Premier Motors back into the black. We were lucky to have also the advice of my father, George Kaklis, who has successfully steered this company through forty years of ups and downs.” Invoking her father’s role in developing the strategy for their turnaround would help win support among some of the old-timers in the room, people who had come up through the ranks in the car business back when he headed the company. “That said, I want you to know these are my decisions, and mine alone. If you have grievances, bring them to me.”
The last thing she wanted was sniping about favoritism among her executive staff. She had done her utmost to assure each dealership of its importance to the Premier Motors brand.
“I don’t have to tell you that the auto industry is suffering right now. The good news is that our German brands have hit bottom already and started making a comeback, unlike our competitors in Detroit. And let’s face it—BMWs will always sell in Southern California. The sad fact, though, is we’re down almost thirty percent in sales of new and used cars, and people are putting off bringing their cars in for parts and service. Quite a few of our salespeople have already left us in search of greener pastures, but they were all on commission so that didn’t save us any outlay. The real problem is that we haven’t kept pace in our office and service departments. We currently have one hundred-eighty full-timers excluding sales staff, and we need to get that down to one-thirty. The math is easy—that’s fifty jobs, and the losses have to be spread across our entire workforce.”
She paused to catch her breath and realized they were catching theirs too. No doubt all were mentally calculating what such cuts might mean to their respective departments.
“Those of you who know me understand what a difficult decision it is for me personally to part with people I care about, people I’ve worked with every day for years. That’s why the main objective of this plan is to avoid forced layoffs. Instead we’ll be offering early retirement to all employees fifty-five and older with at least ten years service, and severance packages to everyone else based on salary and length of service. Nancy has all the specifics, and now I’m going to turn the meeting over to her.”
As Nancy spelled out the details, Anna studied the attentive faces of her executive and managerial staff, not surprised they seemed relieved her initial plan wouldn’t include involuntary terminations. Morale was low enough with the decline in sales. It was an attractive package, but one she hoped no one in the room would accept. It had taken a couple of years after the acquisitions to get all the right top-level people into place. Without them she was sure to find herself working long hours again.
With the baby coming she had more reasons than ever to want a competent management team. When the recession started she began working more frequently on the weekends, and that cut into her family time. At least Andy enjoyed coming to the dealership with her on Saturdays. She wondered if this new child would share their appreciation for cars.
Hal cleared his throat and gave her a peculiar look.
Anna straightened abruptly in her chair and wiped the errant smile from her face, realizing with horror that everyone in t
he room seemed to be awaiting her word. “Excuse me, could you repeat that?”
It was Roger Goforth, the service manager at the Palm Springs VW dealership. “I asked what happens if you don’t get fifty volunteers. It’s a tough time to expect people to give up their jobs.”
“I appreciate that, Roger. That’s why we’ve tried to make this a generous offer.” Indeed, she had pushed the package ten percent higher than Hal’s recommendation so she wouldn’t have to feel guilty about forced terminations. “But we don’t have a choice about these numbers. If we can’t hit our quotas throughout the company we’ll have to resort to layoffs, and those people won’t be eligible for severance because they’ll be entitled to unemployment.”
It sounded threatening when she put it that way, and by the fear on her managers’ faces they thought so too.
“Look, I know people are scared. But we have to present this as an opportunity for folks to take that step they’ve been thinking about, like going back to school or starting a small business of their own.” She was glad to see several heads nodding in approval. “Some people might want to feel like they have control over what happens to them, that they aren’t just sitting back waiting for whatever life hands them.”
After Nancy finished her remarks, Anna took a handful of questions. Then she adjourned the meeting and waited until all but her brother-in-law had left the room.
“What was that about?” Hal asked. “You looked like you were off in dreamland.”
“Guilty as charged.” It was no use playing dumb since he had caught her in a full-on smile, but she couldn’t tell their secret. “I was thinking how nice it would be once we get things back to normal here so we can get home to our families on the weekend.”
He looked at her sheepishly. “I have a confession to make. I’ve been sneaking out of here after lunch on Saturdays for the past month.”
“You straighten your desk and turn out the lights in your office, Hal. You call that sneaking?” Since joining her business four years ago he had become her right hand, the person she depended on most. That didn’t mean she expected him to work the same long hours she did. “My sister would kill me if you didn’t show up at home once in a while.”
“I’m surprised Lily doesn’t come down here and drag you home.”
“I’m a little surprised too.” Anna smiled again, thinking once their baby arrived, someone might have to drag her to work.
Lily cinched the backpack around her waist as Anna gathered the remnants of their picnic lunch. Andy had already started down the trail. With luck he would make it all the way back to the car on foot, sparing them the chore of carrying him piggy-back, along with his child-sized backpack. These mountain hikes were few and far between, but still one of Lily’s favorite ways to spend time together as a family. Even Anna, born and raised in Beverly Hills, had come to appreciate what nature had to offer.
Having Anna along on a Saturday hike was a rare treat these days. She had been spending more weekends at work, but seemed to be breathing easier now that some of her employees were coming forward to claim severance and retirement benefits.
She smiled to recall their first hike together, a short jaunt to the falls at Temescal Gateway Park. Anna had joked that no one should have to walk up a mountain when there were perfectly good four-wheel-drive vehicles to get you there. Now she was an old hand at hiking, decked out in sturdy trail shoes, knee-length nylon pants with zippered pouches on the side, a long-sleeved T-shirt with built-in sunblock, and her dark ponytail tucked through the opening of her favorite Dodgers cap.
“What are you thinking about?” Anna asked, falling into step beside her.
“The first time you came hiking with me.”
“I remember that. You made me sleep in a tent, and then you laughed at me when I fell out of the canoe.”
“Oh, the weekend at Kidz Kamp. Actually, I was thinking about the time it was just you and me and we went to Temescal.”
“When you dragged me twenty miles to that waterfall? I thought I was having a heart attack.”
“It was only three miles and I didn’t drag you…although I do remember you asking me to fetch the car for you. It’s hard to believe you’re the same person.”
“Ha! And when I met you, you were driving a hundred-year-old Toyota. Which reminds me, we put a brand-new X6 in the showroom the other day, white with tan interior. Had your name all over it.”
“My name? You’re the one who needs a new car.”
“No way. My Z8’s a classic.”
“A classic that holds only two people.” She almost laughed at the look of panic on Anna’s face. After her family, Anna loved that car better than anything else on earth. “You can’t put Andy and a baby in a two-seater convertible.”
“I don’t have to. We have your car for that.”
“But think of all the times you have to pick up Andy when I get hung up at work. What would you do if I called and said I was stuck in court? There’s no way you could put both Andy and the baby in your car.”
“But it so happens I own four car dealerships. In an emergency, I’m sure I could find something to drive.”
She had to admit Anna had a point, but having four dealerships wouldn’t help if she was stranded at home with two children and a Z8. It would take some time to bring Anna around to getting something more practical, a nudge here and there instead of a push all at once.
Andy had gone well in front but stopped to wait while they caught up. Four miles round trip was a long way for a five-year-old.
“Let me carry your backpack, pal,” Anna said, looping one of its straps over her shoulder.
Andy gladly relinquished his pack, which carried only a small canteen, a compass and the less popular remnants of his Halloween candy. Lily estimated it would buy them another half mile before he gave out and asked to be carried. At least by then they would be close to the car.
“Andy, are you having a good time?” she asked.
“Uh-huh. I like it when I get to pee outside.”
Anna looked at her and they rolled their eyes in unison.
“Don’t get used to it,” Lily said sternly. “You aren’t supposed to do that unless you’re with us and you ask permission.”
“Not even with Uncle Hal?”
“I guess you can do it if Uncle Hal gives you permission but no one else.”
“What about Grandpa?”
Lily could see they had opened a can of worms and there was no good way to explain to a five-year-old why some situations were okay and others were not. Besides, George never said no to any of his grandchildren. “No one else. Just your mom and me, and Uncle Hal.”
He made a face before skipping ahead again. If there was one thing about Andy they could count on, it was that he generally accepted the rules they imposed on him about his behavior. That was a blessing, especially considering his background in foster care. Unlike other children his age, he had never really tested the limits of his independence, so they were reluctant to rein him in unless it was absolutely necessary.
Anna squeezed her hand and bumped their shoulders together affectionately. “Maybe we’ll have a little girl.”
Lily chuckled. “And what makes you think she’ll be any different? I bet she’ll want to pee in the woods too. And besides, in a few months I’ll probably be running behind a bush with Andy.”
“I wonder how many more times you’ll feel like doing this,” Anna mused.
“Beth said I could keep up my normal activities. Who knows? Maybe I’ll even have the baby up here on this mountain.”
“Don’t even think such a thing.” Anna laced their fingers together as they slowed to a stroll behind Andy. “You have to go into labor in the middle of the night just like everyone else.”
“Lucky it’s me that’s pregnant, because you’d probably give birth in the service department.”
“At least she’d be covered under warranty.”
“We’d have to give her a German name, like Heid
i.”
Anna gave her a sidelong look. “You really think it’s a girl?”
“No idea, but I read they could probably tell us if we go for a second-trimester sonogram.” They had gone back and forth over whether or not to learn the sex of their child, with each changing her mind a half dozen times.
“I’m still not sure I want to know,” Anna said. “I kind of like the idea of being surprised, but then sometimes I think if I knew what sex it was, it wouldn’t be so abstract. People always say ‘the baby this’ or ‘the baby that’ like it’s a thing instead of a person. I hate that.”
Lily nodded along. “And I think it would be easier for Andy if he knew whether he was getting a brother or a sister. And speaking of Andy…”
He had tired of walking and was sitting on a rock to wait until they caught up. “These old bones won’t go another step,” he said dramatically, mimicking one of his grandpa’s favorite expressions.
Without a word of protest or cajoling Anna hoisted him onto her back and began to gallop down the trail. Lily adored how the two of them seemed to worship each other, and she couldn’t wait to see them interacting with the—she caught herself doing exactly what Anna said she hated—with his brother or sister. She fished her camera from her side pocket and snapped a photo, envisioning it in the rotation of the screensaver on her office computer.
By the time she caught up, Andy was already in the car and Anna was leaning against the front fender, arms folded. “What took you so long?”
“I’m a mere mortal, show-off.” She poked Anna in the stomach playfully. “I appreciate you hauling him all the way down here. I don’t think I could have done it.”