Playing her way 2 - Chapter 4

© D.L.

The silver Ford Focus edged its way through the late afternoon traffic. Arnold steered the car into the side street towards his place of employment. His wife sat at his side. Anna and Jason sat in the rear.

Emily, as promised, was using her male persona. She had opted for a pair of black trousers, and an overly large red sweater with a reindeer knitted onto the front. Her hair was hidden under a Santa hat.

Anna, in support of her friend, was dressed in a similar style. However, her black trousers were much more feminine in appearance, and her sweater was blue with white snowflakes.

Pulling into the parking space, the teens got out and went to the boot to retrieve their instruments. Arnold led them through to where three other musicians were setting up.

Norman, a portly chap in his late forties, was tightening the final screws on his drum kit in one of the corners.

Angella, a girl in her late teens, was fiddling with the amplifier, hooking up her electric guitar.

Marc, a tall man in his early twenties, was setting up a large electric keyboard.

"Jason, good to see you mate," Marc stated, shaking hands, "and this must be Anna, nice to meet you."

"There are three more inputs on this amp," Angella stated, "I see you've brought multiple instruments".

"I have my acoustic as a backup," Emily stated holding up one of her two guitars, "in case we have a problem with the electrics, or there weren't enough jacks."

"I only brought my Electric Violin," Anna stated, "It's a lot lighter than my traditional one, less prone to damage, and won't cost a bomb to replace should anything happen."

"Nice kit," Angella admired the instrument as she helped Anna hook it up.

"I assume we're doing the same as last year," Emily enquired, "All of us playing the standards, then taking it in turns to do solo's or duets."

"Pretty much," Marc stated, "Although I don't know how well that will work, considering we've never practised with Anna, and the last time we practised with you was last Christmas."

"Anna and I have been practising based on the recordings we made before last year's do," Emily replied. "I think we can fit it all together, as long as we keep a steady tempo and know how many verses we are going to do of each tune."

By the time they had finished setting up, the room had filled up with people. An older man approached them, with a slightly younger man with greying hair in tow.

"Hi Mr Farcombe," Norman greeted Frank, the retiring business owner. "We are all ready to go. How do you want to proceed?"

"Can you play a couple of classics while everyone filters in? I'll then make some announcements, then we can really get this party started."

"Okay, boss. Let's start with Jingle bells to warm up, followed by Deck the Halls."

While the band played sleigh ride, Frank Farcombe came over and stood to the side of where they were playing. On finishing the song, Angella, who had been singing, handed him the microphone she had been using.

"Good afternoon, everybody," Frank stated. "I'm glad you could all be here today. It is with mixed emotion that I stand before you. This will be my last Christmas party here. As some of you already know, I'm retiring as of the new year. This has caused some speculation as to who exactly is taking over, and what the future may bring. It is no secret that we have been struggling. The interest for our electric motor production has been shrinking as we compete with the Asian markets. I would like to introduce you to my replacement, not only as the chief executive but also as a representative of the new owners, Hans Hertz."

The man who had been following the owner for the past hour stepped forward and took the mic. "Thank you, Frank. As stated, my name is Hans Hertz, and effective immediately, I'm taking over responsibility for this company. Don't panic, I'm not planning on any sweeping changes immediately. I also want to state that anybody who still wants to work here will have a job. I bring with me a contract that will keep everybody more than busy for the next three years."

A small cheer could be heard from the back of the crowd. Some of the managers were trying to get the crowds excited but were not having a lot of success.

"This plant won't be changing its name, but it is now owned by a company none of you will have ever heard of, Kabunsuri Industries. It's an investment company, and as such it doesn't actually do anything, other than own other companies. One of which happens to be one of our suppliers and another is our third biggest customer. It, therefore, made sense for it to buy out the company in the middle."

Hans continued to talk about the companies in question and what the expected turnover would be. He then gave a brief overview of his history. Having gotten a business degree in his native Germany, he had held a series of management positions across Europe, gradually making his way up the corporate ladder. His previous post being the second in command of one of the companies customers. The same company already owned by Kabunsuri for the previous six months.

Finally, after ten minutes, Hans handed over to Frank's personal secretary for her to make a short speech, and present him with a retirement present.

Marc signalled the resumption of the music with his best Noddy Holder impression, bellowing "It's Christmas!"

After three more songs, The band started to take turns at songs. Anna took the opportunity to approach Mr Hertz.

Frank had been circulating the room. Noticing the conversation happening between Anna and Hans, he made his way over to a couple standing quietly in the corner, trying not to attract attention. Arnold and Marilyn were keeping out of the way of other management, given the incident the previous day.

"Marilyn, nice to see you again," Frank greeted, "Arnold, exactly who is that charming girl you have brought with you, other than obviously being a close friend of Jason."

"Her name is Anna Kwon," Arnold stated. "She goes to the same boarding school as Jason. She couldn't travel home to Korea for Christmas, so Jason asked if she could stay with us for the holiday."

"She isn't German then?" Frank asked.

"No, but her father is Russian, hence her mixed looks. Why did you think she was German?"

"She has spent the last ten minutes speaking to Hans in what I assume is fluent German. After she introduced herself, they started to discuss something before disappearing into a side office. I think Andy is getting a bit worried, he was trying to earwig what was being said, although he doesn't speak the language as far as I know. How much does she know about what happened yesterday?"

"Yes, that is a very good question," Andy stated having come over, "You were told to keep your mouth shut, that doesn't mean getting someone else to do your dirty work."

A shrill note interrupted the proceedings. "Sorry," Jason called out, having hit the wrong note in his solo.

~o~O~o~

"I'm impressed. You have found out more in the last twenty-four hours than I've learned in the last week," Hans stated in German. "You are certain Mr Bridges is a reliable source."

"While he may be borderline incompetent at paperwork and bookkeeping, he does seem to know how to keep this place running," Anna replied. "We spent several hours last night, and several more this morning talking about this place. He hasn't put two and two together yet. He knows I'm wealthy, and that I have an interest in business, which is why he was happy to answer my questions about his industry, thinking my interest is only for my own education. I think he is telling the truth about the factory and what happened yesterday."

The high pitched shrill note penetrated the office. "Something is going on, that was the warning signal from Emily," Anna stated.

Hans led the way out of the office, immediately noting Andy and Arnold facing off against each other.

Anna slipped out behind him and headed back to the other musicians. Angella had taken over the lead, allowing Emily to step down and take a drink.

"Is that your father's boss?" Anna whispered.

"Yep, I spotted the smug arsehole immediately. Never have liked him," Emily replied. "Just what have you been up to?"

"Making sure that we can both afford to stay at school," Anna cryptically replied.

~o~O~o~

"We told you what to say, so you better make sure you get the facts straight," Andy was forcefully stating to Arnold, "and anything you have told that young slut over there, better get corrected."

Arnold was boiling with anger, but keeping the outward appearance of calm. He watched as Hans quietly snuck up behind Andy, listening to the ranting.

"Mr Harris," the heavily accented, and therefore unmistakable voice, caused Andy to spin round to face his new employer. "I will be operating a zero tolerance to bullying. Let this be your one and only warning. I would also strongly suggest you kerb your language towards Miss Kwon, she has both the resources and contacts to wipe the floor with you for slander."

"And exactly why might I need to do that," Anna stated, as she and Emily joined the small group of people.

"My apologies," Andy stated. If he left it at that, then the matter may have been over. However, he couldn't resist one last jibe. "I was under the impression you were staying with the Bridges."

"I do not see how that is relevant," Hans declared.

"Mr Bridges lives in a two bedroom house," Anna replied. "He is inferring that I am participating in an underage sexual relationship with my friend here."

"Sorry Dad," Emily stated, "I knew we would have neighbours and family jumping to conclusions. I overlooked your probably soon to be former boss making the connection."

Hans smiled, "do I take it that you wish to invoke article 17. I take your use of the past tense to indicate that you expect Mr Harris will not be employed here much longer."

Emily looked at Anna, "What have you been up to? Exactly what is article 17, and how come I can invoke it? Have you forgotten I know that your mother lives in Bunsu-ri? Kabunsuri being your initials, ordered the traditional Korean way of family name first, and the place your mother is from, is too big a coincidence."

Anna blushed, "Remember a few weeks back I didn't have any change to buy a bottle of coke, so you paid for both of us then refused to let me pay you back."

"It was hardly worth bothering with 50p"

"Well, after I bought the company and wrote off the debts, I sold 49 pence worth of shares to you at cost price. John signed the documents on your behalf and they are now held as part of your trust fund."

Frank was now laughing, "Andy, I take it you didn't read the memo with the new articles of association for the business. The shareholders of the company have always had the power to issue a vote of no confidence in any of the directors. As long as the majority of shareholders agree, then they have the power to fire any of the board of directors. When I was the sole shareholder, it didn't matter because I was also CEO and had the power to hire and fire anyway. I set up that clause knowing I would some day retire, but I wanted a way to keep a controlling interest, even if I stepped down as chief exec."

Turning more sombre, he continued, "I was at the hospital when Stanley's wife arrived. Three minutes, thirty-two seconds. That's how long it took before she was on the phone to a compensation lawyer. The only reason it took that long was because she had to walk outside to use her mobile phone. Luckily our insurance company is likely to foot the bill. They will no doubt settle out of court. We might not be so lucky with the HSE. They could decide that we were negligent."

"That is why we need to keep our facts straight," Andy countered, "Arnold raised a safety concern. We mitigated that concern."

"Putting up some cheap chain-link fence, secured on scaffold poles held up by brackets held on the ground by a couple of six-inch screws can hardly be expected to stop the movement of a half-ton of robotic arm," Arnold countered.

"I agree," Hans stated. "Which is why I'm appointing Mr Bridges as director of Health and Safety. He seems to be the only one around here with an adequate grasp of what is required. I can't stop the shareholders firing you, but I did make a promise just now that anybody who wanted to continue to work here could. Therefore, I am willing to employ you as a junior machine operator. I never said that it would be the same job at the same pay. Until everybody, and by that I mean not only management but everyone who works around the equipment, is satisfied with the operational safety, I am not authorising the unattended use of the arms."

Turning to Arnold, Hans asked, "If we disconnected the current control units, and instead operated the arms manually by remote control, do you think we could do so safely?"

"If we can cap the movement speed and fit extra dead man switches, then we might be able to use them. I would prefer if we could erect a stronger protective cage."

"Okay, first thing in the new year find out what we need to physically restrain these things. I can give you the details of the company who installed our equipment when I was at Bristol. I think their software is compatible with our hardware," Hans stated.

Turning back to Andy, he continued, "You can leave right now. Your presence isn't required at this party, it's souring the mood. I don't want to see you here until the new year. If you decide to return, you will be operating one of the arms. Probably not the one that injured Stanley, as that one is too close to the main walkway through the factory. I suspect we will have to do some remodelling before we can use that one again. But the others are in less problematic positions."

Not trusting himself to say something he might regret, Andy stormed out of the room, towards his car. As he left a cheer could be heard from some of the workers.

The confrontation in the corner had not gone unnoticed, and looking round the room, Hans could see interest was piqued. Marc had come to an end of a song a minute before and hadn't started another. He quickly said something in German to Anna, who nodded and whispered into Emily's ear.

The two teens returned to the makeshift stage. Taking the microphone from Marc, Anna addressed the audience. "As it is probably going to be around the grapevine by the end of the night, I might as well make it official and prevent any Chinese whispers. Kabunsuri Industries was set up as a trust fund to earn me money. If you think it's just some toy for a spoilt little rich kid to play with on a whim, then you're wrong. I'm not allowed to make any decisions on my own. If I want to buy something, then it has to be approved by a committee of experienced financial advisors.

"It's no secret that this company is in trouble. It will be years before I get a return on my investment, but I'm not here to make a quick buck. If I didn't think it could be turned around, I wouldn't be investing.

"I will, however, admit that I'm going to be a bit more lenient in what profit levels I'll accept since I found out one of by best friends had family working here. To stop me screwing up, I've given Jason some of my shares. He's also no slouch when it comes to business. My money comes from family, his is self-earned. He's paying his way through boarding school. I know how much our school fees are, and I've also seen the wage bill, so I know what everyone here is earning, including Mr Bridges. It isn't enough to pay the school fees and eat."

"You can threaten to fire me as much as you want, I'm not letting you get a tattoo," Arnold called out from the crowd, causing a few roars of laughter.

"Be nice," Emily replied, "Remember, I get to choose your nursing home when you get older."

"Did we forget to mention shareholders only get to vote once a year at the annual general meeting?" Hans asked, getting in on the act.

"Does that mean I can't decorate the canteen with pink unicorns?" Anna pouted.

"Only if you want all the men to go on strike," Hans replied.

"Okay, we'll let you run the company, Jason and I will simply provide the entertainment, after all, we have school to go to," Anna stated before switching to a singing voice, "I really can't stay."

Emily, immediately recognising the duet they had practised as a finale took Anna's queue to sing, "Baby, it's cold outside."

As they were singing, Angella took the opportunity to grab some fake mistletoe and had it ready to hold above their heads. Both of them had spotted what was going on. Anna nodded to Emily, so after the last line she took the signal and pulled her friend in close and planted a delicate kiss on her lips.

~o~O~o~

"So how much of the company do I actually own?" Emily asked as they drove home after the party.

"49%, the same as me. I bought the company for £1. Obviously, it cost me a lot more than that, as they had over 200k of debts which I've had to wipe out. I'm not passing any debt onto you," Anna replied. "While on paper, I'm a millionaire, most of that is tied up in investments. I've basically used all my available funds that I'm allowed to access in this deal. My father won't allow me to dip into my personal savings for business deals. He wants to make sure I have enough left for school, university, and a deposit on a house. If I want to spend any more, I'll have to liquidate some of the other stock I own."

"Why give me 49%?"

"Hans has the final 2%, that way any voting can't be deadlocked if we disagree."

"No, that's not what I mean, although I can see how that is a good idea," Emily clarified, "why give me any percentage at all."

"Several reasons. One: you have personal involvement with the company, as you have family employed there. I don't want to screw this up and destroy our friendship because I've done something which causes your father to lose his job."

"Don't worry about me," Arnold interjected from the front passenger seat. "I'm perfectly capable of getting myself fired by myself."

"Two," Anna continued, ignoring the quip, "you need to start diversifying your portfolio, and beginning with something you are familiar with and have an interest in is a good starting point. You may have a successful games company at the moment, but realistically how long is it going to last? Take Mojang for example. They have one big game with Minecraft, but their other games, like Scrolls, are minuscule in comparison."

"Hey, if Microsoft wants to offer me a couple of billion to buy me out, I'll follow Notch's example," Emily countered."
"Don't get your hopes up," Anna stated. "How many games companies collapse after their second or third titles? If they even make it that far? Also, given how fast the internet evolves, how long will it be until Youtube becomes the next GeoCities?

"Three: every business venture you've been involved in so far has turned out to be profitable. I'm hoping some of that luck rubs off on me."

"I hope you're right and haven't just jinxed it," Emily countered.

"You seem confident that you can pull the business around," Arnold stated, "what makes you so sure?"

"A lot of business isn't about what you know, it's about who you know," Anna declared. "That's why freemasonry has been so successful. I have some very good people in place, and I have contacts across various industries that I can call on when I need expertise.

"Also, I now own the end to end production from raw material to shop, and as such, I don't care if individual parts of the process only break even or even run at a loss, as long as the whole gives me a profit at the end of the day.

"The business isn't in as bad a position as it looks. A large chunk of money was being spent on paying interest on debts. I've wiped that out. Frank was originally on a very high salary, although admittedly he's drastically reduced the money he takes home in recent years to help the business. Hans is actually a couple of grand a year cheaper than Frank. Also, sounds like Andy will get a pay cut. If we can manage it, some of the other high paid staff might get reductions. If any decide to walk, they will be replaced with cheaper alternatives.

"Mr Bridges, you are likely to get a pay increase for being made Health and Safety director, but you won't be going up to what Mr Harris was earning. It's not that your work isn't valued, it's that we are paying the other directors too much. I leave that sort of decision to Hans. I suggest general policy, Hans deals with the details. My preference is to focus pay increases on the lowest paid in the workforce, as that seems to have a greater impact overall on morale."

"I can understand that," Arnold replied. "There is very much a 'them and us' attitude in the workforce. I'm in a fairly unique position in that although I'm technically management, I didn't start off that way. I have far more contact with people than some of the other managers, so I'm still regarded by quite a few as being in the 'us' category. There is a joke at work that I've been promoted into a position where I can't do any damage, and there is probably some truth in that."

"Morale is the other thing that needs improving," Anna declared. "We need to stop haemorrhaging good workers. We need everybody to take more pride in their work, to improve quality and increase productivity. Hans was alarmed when he read how many faulty units don't pass QA, or worse, get returned from the customers.

"Hopefully simply being under new ownership might help. While the factory is shut down over Christmas, we've booked some additional maintenance. We are concentrating on areas that affect the most number of people. So instead of painting the executive offices, we will be painting the staff canteen. I was only half joking earlier about the pink unicorns. We actually have some pieces of artwork to put up to brighten the area up a bit, one of which is a print of a painting of a unicorn. We've got some new couches and chairs to replace the threadbare ones.

"The ladies toilets will end up in pink. I think the gents is going to be pale lavender. The worn and battered stall doors and walls are being replaced, and new taps fitted.

"The car park is going to get a fresh coat of tarmac. All those weed-filled cracks and potholes will be gone. Ideally, we want some nice surprises when the bulk of the staff returns to work in the new year. Although with only a few working days between Christmas and new year, there is a limit to what can be achieved. Some things, such as the car park, might not happen until January."

Arnold chuckled, "If you can fix the plumbing you will be very popular. You turn on the tap and half the time you get no water, then ten seconds later you get drenched. Seriously, though, I know a few people will scoff at you wasting money, but I know a lot more will appreciate the gesture."

"Hold on," Emily stated, "isn't one of the products you manufacture an electric water pump? If you are having trouble with water pressure, surely you can fix it?"

"Don't be ridiculous. That's way too logical for our maintenance staff," Arnold replied. "Besides, I think they tried that, and it didn't work as planned. There is only a finite amount of water coming down the pipes. If you try to pump if through faster it seems to only suck it out of other taps in the building. The real answer is thicker pipes. Most of the building only has half inch piping when it probably needs to be three-quarter. When they built the office suite, it was done on the cheap. One of the directors did the plans rather than employing an architect. They extended the plumbing from the factory, so there is now double the number of sinks and toilets, plus a whole load of radiators, all running off the original water supply."

"Part of the due diligence I did before buying the company was having all the buildings and assets assessed. The surveyors picked up on the plumbing problems, which is one of the things on the to-do list. One of the suggestions was to capture rainwater off the roof and use it to flush the toilets. Not only is is environmentally friendly, it will reduce the demand on the plumbing and the water bill.

"One thing that was overlooked was health and safety issues. Depending on what you find is required, some of the funding may have to be diverted. For example, the car park, although some of those pot holes need doing as they are a trip hazard."

Marilyn pulled the car into the driveway. She had offered to drive so that Arnold could have a few drinks, especially as a few of his colleagues wanted to celebrate his promotion. Management provided a few kegs of beer for the staff from a local brewery, but usually, this was supplemented by other wines and spirits brought in by the staff themselves.

The following day was Saturday the 24th, Christmas eve. Anna sent an email to Hans in the morning noting some of the things learnt in the car on the way home regarding things needing to be done. Following breakfast, she accompanied Marilyn to the shops for some last minute grocery shopping.

Emily had convinced her father to spend some of his free time indulging in playing a computer game. It took some persuasion, but Arnold reluctantly agreed to the session being recorded, on the condition he could veto the release if he felt it was too embarrassing.

Over the space of five and a half hours, the pair recorded a ten episode series to be released twice weekly during January entitled "Octodad: Dadliest Catch - with my Dad". The game features as the main character an octopus pretending to be human. The challenge of the game is controlling the creature's limbs. This is made extra hard in multiplayer where one player controls the left arm and left leg, while the other controls the right arm and right leg.

Unlike a lot of her series, Emily didn't include a facecam as her father was participating. She also used her pitch manipulation software to disguise Arnold's voice so the was little chance of the pair of them being recognised by friends or family not in the know.

A text from Hans to Anna suggested they watch the local news. The sale of Farcombe Engineering had made the bulletin. The accident, which had been briefly mentioned on a previous evening, was again referenced as the reporter explained that the company had been bought.

The report included a short clip of Hans stating how happy he was to be taking on the challenge of turning the factory around, and how he hoped the injection of capital and new contracts would have a positive effect.

"What makes this sale unusual, is who owns the parent company," the reporter stated. "We have found out from sources in the company that the two principal owners are a pair of fourteen-year-old girls. Both of which are rumoured to be self-made millionaires.

"They have asked not to be named, as they are both still at school and don't want to be singled out. We understand one of the girls was forced to change schools recently through bullying.

"One of the girls is multi-lingual and started to earn her fortune through providing tuition and translation for footballers at one of the premier league clubs after she stepped in to help one of her family members who worked there.

"The other girl has a regular following on YouTube, and has recently branched out into the music industry with her first single already in the top forty."

Marilyn looked at her daughter in surprise, "I didn't know you had released a single."

"I haven't, exactly," Emily replied, "at least not on my own. I'm lead guitarist on Alicia Morgan's new single. I told you about it a couple of months ago. At least they didn't mention Raging Squirrels. Although, if there are any of my viewers working at the factory, they may put two and two together if they realise the gender switch isn't an accident."

"I'm guessing Hans knows who you are?" Arnold asked.

Emily looked to Anna for an answer, who replied, "Yes, he was involved in the stock transfer to your holding company, so knows who you are. He would have been both the official and unofficial sources for the reports. As well as some posters on bullying in the workplace, there will also be some posters on diversity dotted around the factory. If anybody fails to take the hints, then they can either agree to some extra training, or they will be asked to leave."

"That is a relief," Arnold stated, "I was worried what might happen if your secret got out. I can think of several people who might not like the revelation, and I don't think either Frank or Andy would necessarily have my back."

"You are thinking of letting people know we have a daughter now?" Marilyn asked.

"I think we are kidding ourselves if we think we can keep a lid on this forever," Arnold replied. "I won't be shouting it from the rooftops, but I'm not necessarily going to outright deny it if anybody asks."

"Does that mean I can wear a dress tomorrow?" Emily asked.

"I don't think that would be a good idea," Marilyn stated. "Unless you have already let slip to Bill and Liz?"

"I promise neither Anna or myself have said anything about my transition to my aunt or uncle," Emily replied.

"Why do I get the impression that's a suspiciously specific denial?" her mother asked.

"I have no idea what might have been said between your sisters," Emily countered, "Aunt Molly is fully aware of my status."