Impressions of the Board

The board was very happy the criminal cases were solved within Foreman Scandinavia Import and wanted now to meet the new Chief Security Officer.

Carnita Graziano, Wes Clinton, Roman Bush and Laura Meegan made up the board, while Stanford Powell was the CEO.

He had described Coldham Fintan Noose III as young, but capable and driven.

Neither Stanford Powell nor the others saw it necessary to inform Mr. Noose.

They were in for a surprise. When they arrived at the security they were shocked to hear a baby crying with earsplitting volume. Children weren’t normally allowed on the premises. What was a kid doing there?

To Stanford’s dismay Mr. Noose had brought his 21 months old daughter Casey to work, because his wife had suddenly become ill and couldn’t take care of the daughter. Stanford didn’t believe his ears, when Mr. Noose claimed he had given him permission to bring the kid to work. He was fuming. Mr. Noose hadn’t told the CEO anything about his intentions. Of course Stanford had to play along.

Thank goodness the rest of the meeting went fine and the impression the board of Mr. Noose was overall good. They thought he was a specialist in his field and competent.

Of course the toddler had to cause an embarrassing incident. She called Carnita granny, who wasn’t delighted at all since she was only thirty eight. Mr. Noose apologized and explained what he thought was going on in Casey’s mind. The board didn’t believe it, though. It was unlikely that Casey would ask after her real grandmother, when Carnita didn’t know the family at all.

When they were back in Stanford’s office he was confronted by Wes about the child. “How could you let Mr. Noose bring the kid to work? Even if it was only an exception if others hear about it you will soon have a crèche and a kindergarten. This place isn’t made for kids and we aren’t insured to have them around. Did you think about what kind of liabilities we could face should something happen to Casey?” “Yes, I thought about it, but what is better? Mr. Noose is here and taking care of the business or he’s staying at home, because that’s what he was threatening to do, since he was unable to get a babysitter at such short notice?” Stanford was furious with Mr. Noose, who forced him essentially to lie and take the blame for him bringing the child unauthorized to work. “Now, don’t worry, Wes. It seems Mr. Noose has the toddler under control and it’s not in his own interest something is going to happen to her. From tomorrow there’s a babysitter in place and everything’s back to normal.” Roman soothed. “I agree with Wes,” Carnita put in, “it was irresponsible of you and hope this is a once off.” “Naturally it is.” Stanford struggled to keep calm. Laura touched Stanford’s arm and said: “It’s not a big issue for me and maybe we should really consider to offer a day care option for our employees…” “No, that goes too far!” Carnita interjected. “We aren’t a welfare state. The workers must look out for themselves.” The others agreed, so the idea was buried. The meeting came to a close.

As soon as they were gone Stanford went looking for Mr. Noose, who had conveniently left for the day.

Sleeping over it the CEO was much calmer when he confronted his CSO the next day. Originally he had asked Mr. Noose to come immediately to his office. Being own minded Mr. Noose didn’t obey. He first released his nightshift team. Stanford thought a serious talk was necessary. "When I ask you to come immediately to my office I mean it, is that clear?" "Of course. If I follow the order is another thing." "I think you have a real problem with authority, haven't you?" "I do." Mr. Noose admitted it freely. "Does it make sense to reprimand you for bringing your daughter to work, which isn't allowed?" "Probably not." Stanford sighed and nodded defeated: "I thought so. I still demand that it won't happen again, or I will cut your pay. Is that clear?" "Very." "Good. Go back to work." "Yes, sir." When Mr. Noose had closed the door behind him, Stanford shook his head. Mr. Noose and he had very different personalities and it caused them to clash on a regular basis. The CSO was going to leave in five months’ time to pursue his own career somewhere else. Originally the position had been offered temporary to Mr. Noose, but he had proven to be capable of doing the job, so Stanford had offered Mr. Noose he could stay on as the head of the security department, which he had refused. Stanford wasn’t clear what he felt about it. There were going to be less arguments. That was for sure. On the other side it was refreshing to have somebody, who wasn’t a yes sayer. It added a bit more flair and drama to the day to day business. No matter how Stanford looked at it he was going to miss Mr. Noose.

 ©2015 

Promotion

Philip Maxwell felt utterly relaxed. He had been away for two weeks. His peace of mind was shattered within seconds.

The new Chief Security Officer Coldham Fintan Noose III had been attacked while Philip had been on vacation. He had been knocked unconscious and beaten up while on duty, stopping a burglary in its tracks. Fin, as the CSO wanted to be called, had asked Philip to come and visit him at his home, when he was finally able to reach him. Philip wondered what Fin wanted from him.

Philip felt a bit awkward, when he arrived with his beat up Honda CR-V at Fin's very posh neighborhood. He found the house easy and was welcomed by Frieda, Fin's wife. She was a surprise. Fin was light ash blonde and of European descent. He preferred to wear only black designer clothing. Philip thought it was an Italian brand. Frieda was Latina and wore a simple jeans and a colorful t-shirt. She looked very young. Philip liked Frieda immediately. She was warm, seemed down to earth and less stern than Fin. Frieda explained Fin was asleep. They heard screams. "Uhm, it seems Fin has a nightmare. I'll better wake him up." Before rushing off Frieda offered Philip to take a seat at the kitchen table. Philip hadn't been comfortable for long before he jumped up in fright. Something had touched him. Overcoming his shock Philip checked under the table and found a toddler, grinning broadly at him. The little girl looked very much like Frieda, so Philip assumed she was Frieda's daughter. Philip burst out laughing, amused he had been frightened by a small kid. Frieda returned at that moment and said smiling: "I see you have met Casey already." "How old is your daughter?" Philip asked. "17 months." "Casey is really cute." "Yes, and a lot of work too." Frieda replied with a smile. "By the way Fin is ready for you." Fin had come down to the living room, where Frieda brought Philip to. Fin was looking rough around the edges and not as well groomed as he usually did. Philip had a hard time not to stare at the cast on Fin's left leg or the fading bruise on Fin's cheek. He couldn't see any further injuries, but he noticed Fin was in pain. Fin didn't pause for small talk. He came straight to the point. "Where have you been on the night between 01.00 am and 02.00 am of the 19th of August?" Philip understood immediately what this was all about. He bristled and in his anger jumped up from the sofa. "Come on, you can't be serious!" Fin just looked calmly at Philip. Cooling down somewhat Philip replied: "I was in Portland. At first at a Dinosaur Jr. concert and then hanging out with some friends at a bar. I think we were there until two or so." "Alright." "That's it?!" "Yes, it was just pro forma. I know you're not the one, who broke into the company and attacked me." Philip was outraged. "Why are you asking then?" "Mr. Powell wanted an alibi." Philip blew through his nose. His uncle and CEO of the company he worked for, suspected naturally him being behind the break ins and fraud, since Philip's father was a criminal. Philip had enough and wanted to quit. He said as much to Fin. He also said resigned: "I guess you are going to investigate behind my back again if it's true what I'm saying." Fin had done some back ground checks when he heard from a "source" Philip’s father was a robber and serving a long prison sentence. Philip thought the source had been his uncle Stanford Powell. "No, but if you could provide me with the invoice of the hotel you have stayed at..." "Like hell I will!" "Look, if you do what I ask you for, I might can do you a favor too." "Really?" Philip asked sarcastic. "Really." Fin replied with a grin. "And what would that favor be?" "I'll have to get Mr. Powell first around to support my idea... If I'm successful it would definitely proof to everyone that you aren't guilty." Philip looked up startled. Someone had spread the rumour he was behind the crime and a few co-workers ostracized him. He suspected the situation was worse now thanks to the new burglary attempt. Philip wondered how Fin knew about it. The offer was tempting. "I'd like to see how you get my uncle around." Now it was Fin's turn to be surprised. "He's what?" "My uncle. My mother and he are siblings. He is seven years younger than Mom." "Okay." If Fin had come to his own conclusions why Stanford had been so adamant Philip was the thief and so totally unwilling to promote his nephew within the company he didn't show it. Philip promised to drop his evidence by.
Frieda knocked and told them dinner was ready. Philip didn't expect the invitation was extended to him and another reason he wanted to leave was his dislike for burritos and chili con carne. He believed Frieda was Mexican, where the majority of Hispanic immigrants to the US came from. Philip's experience with Latinos was limited, because they only made up around six per cent of Seattle's population. Since Frieda and Fin didn't take no for an answer, Philip agreed to have dinner with the couple. He offered to help Fin up, who told him it was okay. It seemed Fin had experience with crutches and didn't need support. The dinner was a pleasant surprise. The setting was simple, but elegant. Casey was already sitting in her high chair and couldn't wait for the meal to begin. She made urgent noises and stretched her arms out, when Frieda served Philip first. Fin told Casey soothing: "Guests come first, darling. Don't worry, it's your turn next." Casey quietened down as soon as she received her portion of the Khmer beef salad. It was delicious Philip admitted and not what he had expected. When he asked where the recipe came from, Frieda told him they had picked it up during their honey moon trip two years earlier. Turning to Fin Philip asked about the nightmare. Fin said short: "I don't want to talk about it." Frieda gave Fin a concerned look, but he ignored it. Philip cleared his throat and instead talked about the first part of his vacation he had spent at Salmon River, just a little over an hour outside Portland, with his grandfather. They both loved fishing. Fin admitted freely he was an urbanite and didn't care very much about fishing. He and Frieda liked water sports, especially scuba diving. After dinner Philip went home, wondering why he had agreed to hand over evidence he had been really in Oregon and how Fin was going to proof to the public Philip wasn't the bad guy and convince Uncle Stanford of it too.


Philip dropped off the invoice he had received for his stay in Portland the next day.

Three days later Stanford Powell's Personal Assistant arranged an appointment with Philip. Stanford was pretending to be busy, when Philip entered. "Take a seat." Stanford said, not looking up from his papers. He let his nephew stew for a few minutes before he paid any attention to him. "You are lucky you have such a staunch supporter in Mr. Noose. He's 100% sure you are innocent and since he is the authority in his field I trust him." Philip gave his uncle a baleful glare. Their relationship was difficult. Philip had found out by coincidence that Stanford had only given him a fulltime job in return of Philip's mother cleaning Stanford's house for free for years. It had made Philip resentful, because Stanford could have easily afforded a cleaning lady if he had wanted to. Philip’s mother Deana had a hard enough life in the first place and Philip thought they all were family, so Stanford should have supported him and Deana without making demands. Returning to the present he didn't reply. Stanford sighed. "Mr. Noose suggested the company should look for an additional security guard. For the moment it's only when one of the other team members is sick or on holiday. You will of course receive full training if you agree to take on the position and it includes night shifts. The position might turns into something more permanent, if it proves to make sense. Would you be interested in being our reserve security guard?" Philip wanted to refuse out of rebellion, but decided to take on the job. First it would rankle Stanford, Philip had finally managed to escape the warehouse - if only partly; second it was a challenge and third it definitely proved Philip had nothing to do with the break ins. The Chief Security Officer wouldn't invite the suspected perpetrator to join his team. So much was for sure.

Fin had been right. People, who had eyed Philip before with suspicion, were suddenly back to treating Philip as usual.

For Philip it meant spending a lot of time with Fin, Aurelio and Adrain from the security team.
Philip found out soon why Fin had been selected to replace Michael Kuraite, the former CSO. He was younger than all team members, but seemed to have quite a lot of experience in security matters. He was better than the others and saw things they overlooked. Philip realized Fin could get easily into the mind-set of a criminal and wasn't surprised when Fin solved who was really responsible for the theft and fraud. It was a bigger shock that nearly all the management had to be replaced and Fin's announcement he was going to leave the company. He chose his successor, which caused a few tongue wagging. It had always been assumed the new CSO would be Ty Hansen, Michael Kuraite's and later Fin's deputy. Instead Fin selected Sammy Metz, another security guard. It meant Philip was offered a permanent position on the security team, which he accepted. Sammy proved to be a worthy successor - it was no wonder having been handpicked and intensely trained by Fin before he left. Philip liked his new job. It was sometimes boring, but could be also demanding and exciting. Philip had never thought he had a talent for it and surprised himself and his uncle. They never were very close, but they started to trust and respect each other. When Sammy retired he suggested to Stanford to promote Philip. He had groomed the CEO's nephew any way and was glad when the CEO agreed to make Philip Chief Security Officer. At first Philip was worried if he would be able to fulfil the demands of the job. Slowly he grew into the position and if he needed help he knew he could always contact Sammy or Fin, with whom he had stayed in contact over all those years.




©2014 

Favors

Stanford Powell was giving his sister Deanna Maxwell a penetrating stare. She was good looking, honey blond and blue eyed. She was also the black sheep of the family. And now she was here to ask for a favor. Stanford was younger and the whole opposite of Deanna. She was attracted to bad boys and had married one. Stanford thought about the scandal this had caused and shuddered. Deanna's husband was serving a twenty year prison sentence for numerous robberies. To the Powell family's dismay Deanna stood behind Donald and refused to divorce him. Stanford considered to reject Deanna's request. Weighing up the consequences he gave her a disgusted look and said: "I'll take him, but if Philip makes one misstep, he's fired." Deanna squealed in delight, ran around the big mahogany writing desk and gave her brother a big hug and kiss. Stanford sighed. What had he done? Invited a future criminal into his company? Stanford feared his nephew Philip was going the same way as Donald.

It had been a hard time for Philip. Everyone treated him and his mother like personas non grata. Before his father's trial Philip had been very much involved at his school's theatre group and other after school activities. Since Philip's classmates, most of his friends and relatives believed Philip was worthless, he began to withdraw and hang out with the wrong crowd. It was a knee jerk reaction. Philip appreciated his mother and his paternal grandfather Bobby were concerned about him.

Bobby woke Philip's interest in fishing. They went off together every other weekend and sometimes during summer vacation.
Philip enjoyed the peace and quiet and being in close contact with nature. It always released his stress levels.

Philip was encouraged by his mother to work for his Uncle Stanford during vacations. Philip was wary, because the Powell's looked down at Deanna and him.
Of course Stanford treated Philip with disdain, but to Philip's surprise he realized he was good at his job and he liked it too. The rest of his co-workers were nice. It seemed Stanford had only told management about Philip's father's conviction and the others didn't know. Bobby's and Deanna's positive influence and his warehouse job kept Philip out of trouble.

When Philip held his high school degree in hand he was disappointed. His mother told him there wasn't any money to go to college. Philip had expected as much, but it still made him sad. He had hoped he could go to an acting school. Deanna promised Philip a job though, and he could guess where and what it was going to be.

Deanna went again to Stanford for help. This time around he wanted something in return and asked Deanna to clean his home for free the next three years twice a week. Another condition was Philip's good behavior. Deanna vouched for Philip and reminded her brother about how well Philip had done during his stints at Foreman Scandinavia Import. Stanford could only grumble and asked surly: "So, do you agree to the terms?" Deanna sometimes disliked Stanford very much. She already worked four part time jobs, including cleaning houses, babysitting and tutoring. Her family wasn't supportive, even so there would have been enough capital to help her, but she was being punished for marrying the wrong guy.
Deanna's father had told her in clear terms she had made her bed and now had to lie in it.
Bobby tried very hard to help: Be it spending time with his daughter in law and grandson, money, if he could spare it, dealing with house repairs, supporting Deanna and Philip morally or parting with his wisdom.
When Deanna didn't reply immediately Stanford said gruff: "You know beggars aren't choosers, so what is your answer?" Deanna hated begging and had a hot reply on her tongue, but swallowed it. She could rant about her stupid brother later, but Philip's future depended on her, so she replied meekly: "Of course I'll do it." "Great!" Stanford gave Deanna a smile. It didn't reach his eyes. "Anything else?" He asked. Deanna shook her head and answered: "No." "Off you go then. We can talk about when you start at my home later. Send Philip on Monday to the HR department, where he can sign his contract." Deanna bit hard on her tongue. She hated it how Stanford treated her.

Over the years Stanford kept an eagle eye on his nephew. He was torn between feeling proud and dismay, because Philip was excelling as warehouse worker and should have been promoted, but somehow Stanford couldn't bring himself to admit Philip wasn't like Donald. His official excuse when he was approached by Philip's superior about Philip and making him deputy of the warehouse Stanford replied he didn't want to be accused of cronyism and Philip was way too young to hold such a position.

When someone started stealing in the company and also a hole in the book keeping was found, Stanford suspected Philip. When the police couldn't solve the mystery Stanford thought outside the box and engaged a cat burglar Coldham Fintan Noose III, the best in fact, to get to the bottom of the problems. Stanford was more than surprised when his new head of security didn't confirm his suspicion. Mr. Noose told him he had come to other conclusions but needed more evidence to support them. Stanford was impressed on the one side what Mr. Noose had achieved within a three months period, but was getting impatient, because he wanted to know who had betrayed him. Forcing himself to not press for answers he waited for the results. When they came Stanford was very disappointed in the persons involved, since they were not only employed by him, but he had counted them as his friends too.

 ©2014

Enemies

Everything was planned meticulous and then this!

Normally Aurelio Stansfield would have had the night shift. He was sick and didn't work.

Carmine de Anda - not his real name - had chosen the night specifically, because he knew Aurelio Stansfield pretty well and thought when all the electricity, CCTV and telephone lines were cut, Aurelio would call the police by cell phone, but stay put in the security office, giving him and a friend enough time to plunder the warehouse.

Carmine was about to join his accomplice, when he noticed a shadowy figure heading towards the storage units of the warehouse. It was Carmine's arch enemy Coldham Fintan Noose III, the new head of security.

Carmine had to stop Coldham at all costs. Coldham had proofed to be a worthy enemy and crossed some of Carmine's schemes. Besides Coldham would be able to identify his accomplice and Carmine couldn't afford that. It would be only a question of time before his friend was talking and Carmine's own identity would be known.

Carmine held an iron bar already in his hands. He was originally planning to use it to help lift a few items they wanted to steal. It was the perfect weapon. Carmine edged silently closer to Coldham. He went unnoticed and managed to crash the bar over Coldham's head, who crumpled immediately to the floor like a felled tree. Carmine thought that wasn't enough. He wanted to do as much damage as possible, fuelled by his thirst for revenge and to keep Coldham as long as possible away from his job. Carmine smashed the iron bar down on Coldham's left leg. It made a crunching sound. A kick to the Chief Security Officer was even more satisfying. Carmine heard police car sirens, so he stopped, otherwise he would have had a bit more fun. He stepped over Coldham's prone body and helped Leander Miller, the Sourcing Manager of the company, grab a few designer pieces. The two retreated in the nick of time through the back, while the police force entered the building through the main entrance.

Carmine de Anda visited Coldham in hospital. It would have been odd, if he hadn't done so in his capacity at the company. Of course he pretended to be concerned about a valuable employee of Foreman Scandinavia Import and outraged what had happened to Mr. Noose. Inwardly he was gloating, but not for long. Coldham might had a concussion, a broken leg and ribs, but his spirit was undiminished. The attack seemed to have no negative psychological impact. Even though the CSO was kept in hospital for a week and the broken bones kept him at home for a month, he wasn't deterred to work and manage his security team, who rallied around him, from his sick bed. Carmine had hoped with Coldham incaptivated he could break in and steal the more valuable furniture they couldn't take during the failed attempt. Unfortunately security had been beefed up and Carmine didn't dare to repeat the feat.
He was glad Coldham didn't suspect him and trailed another innocent guy, whom Carmine's lover and he had set up.
Carmine decided to wait another few months before he was leaving the company and start his new life with his lover in the Caribbean.

©2014

Blabbing

"It has come to my attention that some of you are talking to persons outside the department to discuss our day to day security operations..." The words of their boss were still ringing through Ty Hansen's and Adrain Stanford's minds. If Sammy Metz hadn't blabbed it left only Aurelio Stansfield.

There wasn't much discussion needed between Ty and Adrain. They cornered Aurelio and menacingly played with their hulking muscles. "Hey, stop that!" Sammy pushed between Adrain and Ty. "He hasn't talked..." "No, who was it then?" Adrain asked. "I can show you."

Sammy showed them CCTV images from the previous night. At 23.40 hours Rory Rosales, the head of the HR department arrived, parking his car near the entrance. He was followed seventeen minutes later by Ty, who had agreed to meet Rory at the CFO's office.  At midnight the CSO Coldham Fintan Noose III, their boss arrived.
He talked briefly to one of the janitors and headed straight to the CFO Trace Unger's office. Ty blushed furiously, when he realized Mr. Noose had heard everything Rory and he discussed. He was embarrassed.  The CCTV footage showed more. Mr. Noose hid in the office opposite, but kept the door a bit open to see when the other two were leaving, but didn't re-emerge for another twelve minutes. He went into Trace Unger's office for a few minutes. He did the same
 in Rory's and the meeting rooms. Mr. Noose's team was puzzled, because they couldn't make sense of it. What had their boss been up to? He didn't take anything. Sammy had been able to think longer about head of security's behaviour and came to the conclusion he had been looking for something. What would a security guy check out? Sammy believed Mr. Noose had been searching for listening in devices and had wondered why he hadn't been at the security department or the CEO's office. He wrote down what he thought Mr. Noose had found out and confirmed. Aurelio frowned, Ty scowled and Adrain looked still puzzled. They scribbled their agreement to search for bugs in their office, the CEO's and the current auditor's. It confirmed what Sammy thought had happened and they were disgruntled somebody listened in to their conversations.
When Mr. Noose had left for the day they also checked out his office and found one listening in device. They were very unhappy and decided on the spot to support their boss in the future.


©2014