Tell You Twice

"Which is exactly why he's no longer employed here!" quickly pointed out Remington. "Ferguson Buffers doesn't need or want underperforming employees."

"Mr. Remington, Tim Larson was exactly the type of employee this company needs and wants. He was dependable and extremely capable. My husband often told me that Tim could accomplish more in an eight hour shift than any other man he had ever employed.

"It was a serious error in judgment to underestimate the value of Tim Larson to this company. It's possible he was the most valuable employee we had."

Mandy couldn't help but be surprised and impressed with the extremely high esteem in which Agnes Ferguson held Tim. Apparently Bill Ferguson had been fonder of Tim than Mandy had ever imagined. Had Tim somehow pulled the wool over the eyes of her parents, the Fergusons, Heather and most of work force at Ferguson Buffers? The only other possible explanation indicated Mandy was a very foolish woman.

"Would you please ask Tim to call me, Mandy?" gently asked Agnes Ferguson. "He must have changed his number. I can't reach him."

"Certainly, Mrs. Ferguson," replied a surprised Mandy. "He has a new phone, but my daughter has his number. I'll have her ask him to call you."

"Thank you, My Dear," responded Agnes Ferguson kindly before glancing at Edgar Remington. "I'm sorry about your marital woes. I fear our company may have contributed to the situation."

"Not at all, Mrs. Ferguson. Our problems are all on Tim and me," assured Mandy as she considered what Agnes Ferguson was implying.

Tim was surprised when Heather told him that Mrs. Ferguson wanted him to call her, but he immediately dialed her number. He had great respect for Agnes and her late husband, Bill.

"Thanks for calling, Tim. I hope you're enjoying your new job. Remington tried to throw a monkey wrench in your retirement paperwork, but it was all completed, signed and filed away by Human Resources before your confrontation at our picnic," revealed Agnes.

"That was good thinking on your part. I would have stepped in if needed, but your planning ahead made that unnecessary. I hate to ask, but I need a favor from you."

"If I can do it, I will," promised Tim. "You and Bill were always very good to me and my family."

"Can I hire you to consult for our company? We're having problems with a few machines and I'm given to understand you're the best candidate to repair them."

"You can't hire me, but I'll come in for a couple hours tomorrow and see what I can do to help you out," replied Tim graciously.

"Thank you so much, Tim! For insurance and other regulations, we need to have a signed agreement before you can work on the floor. Are you sure there's nothing I can do to repay you? How about a gift certificate or something?"

Tim considered Agnes' offer. He had been separated from Mandy for several weeks. He was keen to find out how she was doing. Heather had kept him as informed as well as she was able, but Tim knew there would be many things he would pick up from Mandy's body language and word inflections that Heather would miss.

"Now that you mention it, I do have a request," admitted Tim with a chuckle. "Would you have Mandy ask me to come in? Don't tell her I already agreed. Just explain that you thought about it and felt the request would be better received if she were the one to ask."

"Tim, I refuse to be part of some sort of revenge or payback scheme. I'm sorry about your situation, but I won't set Mandy up for you to abuse," declared Agnes Ferguson.

"That's exactly why I respect you so much," responded Tim. "The truth is pretty pathetic. I really miss her. I haven't spoken more than a few words to her since your company picnic."

"Now I understand completely," stated Agnes sympathetically. "I'll ask her to give you a call as soon as we hang up. Please don't upset her. I think she's beginning to better see how things are."

Two minutes later, Tim's phone rang. He allowed it to chime several times before answering.

"Tim? This is Mandy. How have you been?"

"Mandy, what a surprise! I was just thinking about you. I'm doing well. Is Heather okay? Is there a problem?"

"Heather is fine. There is a small problem, but why were you thinking about me?" asked Mandy with some trepidation.

"I was sitting here eating a burger and some beans and thinking about what great meals you always used to make for us. You're one of the best cooks I know," boasted Tim.

"So you miss my cooking?" asked a disappointed Mandy. "I guess it wasn't good enough to keep us together."

"I miss a few other things, if the truth be known," continued Tim, before adding. "How have you been?"

"With no one around to push, prod and cajole into making more money? I'm doing about as well as can be expected after being served divorce papers in front of all my work colleagues. I'm trying to cope," revealed Mandy.

"I realize that may have been extreme and I apologize for that stunt. I was angry and wanted to hurt you back. It wasn't my finest moment and I truly feel bad about that. You deserved much better," concluded Tim.

"I would be much happier if you had done it at home, if you had to do it at all. I never realized we were in such a bad place. Was I so unbearable you felt divorce was the only option?" asked Mandy. "Couldn't you have discussed it with me?"

"Did you ask my opinion about buying a new house, or how I felt about paying half the mortgage? Did you listen to my concerns about how many hours you were working and how much time you were spending with Remington?" asked Tim. "I don't remember you wanting to hear anything I had to say."

"I certainly listened, Tim. I just felt you were avoiding the responsibility of taking care of your family. You have tremendous potential but you were content being a maintenance man," explained Mandy.

"You just summed up the reason we're getting divorced," stated Tim. "I told you how my father missed all of my school activities because he was always working. Then he had a massive heart attack and died at thirty-nine. He missed everything, and it was for nothing. I promised myself I'd never do what he did. I explained it all to you before we were married."

"You did, Tim. I thought I understood, but I guess I didn't. I'm trying to appreciate your feelings on this, but being served with divorce papers and seeing you with those two beautiful women didn't exactly improve my outlook," replied Mandy.

"Welcome to my world," replied Tim a bit sarcastically. "You talked about nothing other than how amazing Edgar Remington is ever since he came to the company. Then you announced we'd be getting a larger home and my wages would be paying half the new mortgage. You never even asked for my opinion about something as important as buying a house and moving, yet you apparently asked for Remington's. I won't accept that kind of treatment from my wife, and certainly not from that asshole, Remington.

"I worked for Ferguson, but they didn't own me. That prick certainly didn't have any reason to think he could issue orders to me away from work. I never tried to tell you the money I earned while you were going to school was all mine. For some reason you have the belief that the money you earn is yours, the money I earn is ours, and I wasn't earning enough for us.

"That's a very fundamental difference in our viewpoints. I'm proud of your success. I've always been proud of you, but I never felt we were competing. I always thought our income was ours, belonging to both of us. You enjoy working and that's fine. I enjoy my leisure time, especially the time I spend with Heather. I used to love the time I spent with you, but that pretty much dried up."

"I admit Edgar was out of line at the party," agreed Mandy reluctantly. "I'm beginning to realize I made a huge mistake about how I approached buying a new house. You always went along with what I wanted, so I assumed you would this time."

"Buying a house isn't the same as deciding what color to paint the kitchen, Mandy. I always went along with you on things that didn't matter much to me, but you kept pushing the envelope. I stopped asking you to leave work and come to Heather's games. I stopped asking you to go fishing, golfing or camping.

"It became apparent you were consumed with your career. I decided if that made you happy and was so important to you, I shouldn't stand in your way.

"You didn't grant me the same courtesy. You began harping and complaining about my job and my income. I wanted you to be more like me, but I realized it wasn't what you wanted, so I let it go. You demanded I be like you, and more like my father, by working longer and harder. We made a very good living as it was. Working more isn't what I want. I'm not going to give up what I feel is important in life to try to please you, especially when it's unlikely you'll ever be pleased," added Tim.

"Wow, Tim. I didn't realize you saw me as such a shrew. I honestly believed it was the best thing for our family. I never felt any personal attraction to Edgar, other than admiration of his leadership skills. You had no reason to think I'd ever be unfaithful to you."

"Really? Then I misread the signs pretty badly because it sure seemed like you were interested in him. Some of the others at Ferguson asked me how I could even be in the same building with Remington when the pussy hound was sniffing around my wife. I laughed it off and told everyone I had faith in my wife, but somewhere along the way, my faith began to weaken," admitted Tim.

"I'll tell you something else," added Tim. "Remington is seriously hurting Ferguson. He isn't planning ahead. He's running equipment into the ground for short term results. He probably plans on leaving for a better job in a few months after building up his resume. The results look great right now, but in a year or less, there'll be all kinds of hell to pay. Ferguson will have trouble filling orders and keeping customers. Quality is slipping and morale is pretty low. Your hero is fucking the pooch, and he'd like to take you for a spin before he leaves for greener pastures!"

"You've insulted both Edgar and me with that crude statement!"replied Mandy angrily. "He's a fine man and he's doing a great job. Our production numbers have been up every month since he arrived."

"Keep telling yourself he's not trying to get into your panties, at least until he succeeds. I just hope my pension doesn't go tits up when he finishes fucking the company, and you," stated Tim with some heat of his own.

"Tim, this is getting us nowhere. I called because Agnes Ferguson asked me to contact you. She'd appreciate it if you could stop in and look at one of the production machines. It seems maintenance can't get it to work right. Arguing before asking for a favor is counterproductive, to say the least. Will you do it for Agnes?"

"I'll do it, but not for Agnes. It'll be for you," replied Tim. "I know the company's success means a lot to you. I'll be in tomorrow morning. I'm going to play tennis with Heather tomorrow afternoon so I'll be leaving by three. Who would have thought I'd like tennis?"

"If it's a sport, or some type of game, you'll enjoy it," responded Mandy, smiling as she envisioned Tim playing tennis. "You really looked fit and tanned when I dropped Heather off the other day. It seems to be working for you."

"You looked pretty hot, yourself," conceded Tim. "Did you get a boob job? They looked bigger than usual."

"So you were looking? I'm surprised you even noticed my breasts after being with those two buxom blondes. To answer your question, I've lost weight, mostly in my stomach area, so my boobs look bigger. I haven't had much of an appetite lately," admitted Mandy.

"Don't lose anymore," cautioned Tim. "You really look good the way you are now."

"Thanks, Tim. I appreciate that you noticed and you were thoughtful enough to mention it. "I'll see you on the floor tomorrow. Thanks for helping out. Agnes will very happy to hear about this."

"Okay, see you then. Be sure she knows I'm doing this as a favor to you," insisted Tim before terminating the call.

The next morning found Tim back in his old haunt on the floor at Fergusons Buffers. He was explaining to Agnes that he had corrected the problems with 27.

"You're telling me these men have been with you when you tuned up this machine before, yet they still don't know how to get it running right?" asked Agnes Ferguson as she and Tim watched 27 run like a new machine. "Listen to it purr. This is amazing!"

"In their defense, it isn't something I can explain or teach," responded Tim. "I listen and watch the machine as I make adjustments until it sounds and looks right. They need to learn to listen to what the machine is telling them. That seems to be the stumbling block for most maintenance men."

"You managed to correct the problem in less than two hours. We've had men screwing around with it for days with no results," stated Agnes. "We really miss you around here."

"Ferguson was always a great place to work. You and Bill have always been good to me. I know how refusing overtime pissed Bill off a few times, but I have to live with myself and my actions. Watching my father work his life away was a lesson I'll never forget."

"I admire you for being able to establish priorities and stick to them," replied Agnes. "You always worked hard when you were here and never took advantage of Bill's friendship. If we could have had any sons, I'd have wanted them to be like you."

A short time later, Agnes decided to visit Mandy in her office. She managed to conceal her annoyance when she saw Remington perched on the corner of Mandy's desk.

"Tim made some adjustments on 27 and it's running better than ever," praised Agnes. "It took him less than 2 hours to bring it back online, even after the other men had screwed it up worse, rather than fixing it. He told me he only came in because you asked him."

"Too bad he quit and left Mandy high and dry when she asked him to carry his share at home," sneered Remington.

Tim had asked Agnes to tell Mandy he came in only because she asked him, even though Tim had already promised Agnes he'd stop in. Agnes went along with him because she was convinced he still loved his wife. If she could help smooth over their rift, she would.

She found Remington's comment petty and demeaning. She had been watching the man more closely since Tim had stated his opinion at the company picnic. As usual, Tim's assessment was looking quite accurate.

"Your interest in the Larson's personal life is unprofessional. It borders on harassment. It's unbecoming and personally, I find it distasteful. Why Mandy puts up with your derogatory comments about her husband is beyond me. Don't make the mistake of saying anything like that in front of me again," declared Agnes before leaving the room.

"It looks like I struck a nerve," observed Remington. "She likes that loser and she's the boss. I'd better get back to work."

Once Edgar left her office, Mandy thought about how Agnes Ferguson had stood up for Tim, while she had remained silent. Why was it that the owner of the company was so quick to defend Tim while his own wife meekly allowed the disrespect to go unchallenged? There was a day when she would have attacked anyone who demeaned Tim. Remington was constantly putting Tim down and she had not only been accepting it, but agreeing! The possibility that Tim had reason to be upset entered her mind, and not for the first time.

Things began to heat up at the managers' meeting the following Wednesday. Steve, the head of maintenance reported 27 was back online and running very well. There were an increasing number of minor problems with other production machines, but his men had been able to keep down time to a minimum.

Then Edgar Remington spoke. "There's a conference in Chicago this weekend. Mandy and I will be flying out and attending it. I think it'll prove valuable in trimming costs and expanding our sales."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Remington. I thought I explained to you that I wouldn't be attending that conference," interrupted Mandy. "It must have slipped my mind. I've made plans for the weekend."

"Really?" asked Remington in surprise. "This is a great opportunity. It may not come your way again."

"I can assure you I have no interest in the "opportunity" you described to me in such glowing terms," retorted Mandy.

"Fine!" snorted Remington. "I would think our company's Marketing Director would have more interest in improving our bottom line, but I'll handle this on my own."

"As a matter of fact, I'm quite concerned about our bottom line. I'd like to ask Steve a few questions, if I may?" asked Mandy, directing her question to Agnes Ferguson.

At her nod, Mandy turned her attention to the head of maintenance. "Have our machines been receiving routine maintenance over the past few months? Are you closely following the established schedule for the machinery on the floor?"

"Well, not completely," answered Steve nervously."We skipped a few since everything was running so well and not having problems. By not shutting a unit down for a shift every month, we increased our production. That's what we're shooting for, isn't it?"

"Why was the maintenance schedule created if it wasn't important?" asked Agnes as she picked up immediately on Mandy's concerns.

"It was something Tim Larson got your husband to agree to do a few years back and we've always followed it," answered Steve.

"What happened to cause you to change that procedure?" asked Mandy.

"Mr. Remington told me to skip every other scheduled maintenance shutdown to improve production," responded Steve.

"It's worked, too!" interjected Remington. "Look at our numbers. They don't lie."

"Steve, didn't number 14 go down yesterday afternoon? What was wrong and how long will it be down?" Mandy persisted.

"The bearings went on the big roller. By the time the operator noticed it, the roller was ruined. We ordered a new one. It should be here in a week or less. We can install it and put the machine back together in one shift," predicted Steve.

Agnes Ferguson raised her eyebrows at this information and nodded her appreciation to Mandy. "Steve, you will return to the maintenance schedule my husband and Tim devised and strictly adhere to it. Do you understand?"

A short time after the meeting was over, Edgar Remington burst into Mandy's office and slammed the door shut. "What the fuck was that stunt today? You never told me you weren't going to Chicago this weekend! That bullshit about the maintenance schedule made me look like a fucking idiot!"

"No, Mr. Remington. I was the fucking idiot, but I'm getting smarter. I just hope it isn't too late. Now get your ass the hell out of my office!" demanded Mandy.

"You dumb cunt!" cursed Remington. "I'm the goddamn boss. Clean out your desk and get the fuck out. You're fired!"

Remington was surprised to see Mandy smile at him before resuming her seat and speaking into her intercom, which appeared to be already turned on. "Please have security come to my office, Becky."

Mandy no sooner got the words out before her office door swung open. Agnes Ferguson entered with two men following closely.

"Mr. Remington, your services are no longer required here. Please pack any personal items you may have at your desk and report to HR. They're expecting you. These gentlemen will ensure you follow my instructions."

"You're firing me? I increased production! This place is making more profit than ever!" exclaimed a disbelieving Remington.

"In the short term, you may be right. However, you're hurting company morale as well as sacrificing future production for quick returns. That isn't sound business practice. There's also the fact that you're really not very likable. Please leave now."