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“Well,” he says and it’s obvious that there’s nothing else he can add to it that wouldn’t make him sound like an ass and he shuts his mouth as we walk to the doors with the other couple.
Inside the factory, it’s evident that there have been both rumors of takeovers, closures and cutbacks, several employees did double takes when they saw me standing beside the tall man who Charles introduced as the new owner, and there were plenty of sighs of relief that accompanied those double takes.
Four hours later the tour was finished, the check delivered to Diamonds’ office in New York courtesy of Stan, and his rage could be heard clearly when he approached us inside the main office.
“What the hell are you doing at my factory?” he demanded.
“Actually Diamonds,” Charles says with a bright smile, “it’s his factory now.”
“We sold our shares to him at eleven this morning,” Gloria adds. “The paperwork is already signed.”
“I’ll take you to court before giving you this place,” Diamonds sneers at Rafe.
“Actually Mr. Diamonds, according to the contract that you and the Farris’ signed there are no legal remedies you can take to keep the company,” his attorney said taking a step back when the man turned on him.
“You’re supposed to find the loophole Wallace, not tighten their case.”
“I’m sorry Mr. Diamonds but whoever put the contract together made sure it was airtight. Any judge would uphold it despite the age of it,” Wallace stated growing a backbone, apparently he’s confident in his skills as an attorney and isn’t a meek stooge with a degree.
“Thank you,” Brice Veltrop, the Farris’ attorney who’d drawn up the contract, says. “The only thing that a lawsuit would accomplish would be to empty your pockets further.”
“Don’t think this is the end of it Gordon,” Diamonds stated turning on his heel and walking out the door.
“Well, that was fun,” Gloria said joyfully. “I never did like that man.”
“I am mighty glad you two came along when you did,” Charles states patting Rafe on the back.
“I just hope he’s not too big of a pain for you though,” Gloria adds.
“Don’t worry about Diamonds,” Rafe says giving me a conspiratorial wink. We’ve already set the wheel in motion to bring Diamonds down fully, Rafe heeding my advice to expand his holdings while it was…easily manageable.
“Well, well, well,” Joshua, the business manager who worked for Lemans and not Diamonds management team, said. “If I’d known you were a regular blood-thirsty I would have tried harder to keep you here.”
“I think Amelia made a wise decision to move to New York,” Rafe admitted and another tiny wave of pleasure shoots through me. “If she hadn’t, I wouldn’t have managed to find her and convince her to help us liberate Lemans.”
“What do you mean?” one of the workers, Chuck or Chase I think, asked him.
“I’m sure all of you can see the differences in the company in the past six months,” I answer, “I know I can. Diamonds is currently struggling more than they wish to express and many of their holdings have had to cut staff…Granter’s included, which is how I came to work for Harper Inc.”
“And Harper owning us will make a difference?” Gilly, the girl who worked as the secretary in the finance department, asked.
“It will because as I’ve explained to both Gloria and Charles and you all will soon see implemented the factory will be divided. Wewillcontinue to produce products as we do now, but we will also be adding a new division that will use the products to create and advance the technology of Harper’s other holdings,” Rafe explains. “I will be bringing out some of my best managers from other companies to help us get everything worked out and anyone who wants to apply for positions within the new division will be able to put their names in for consideration.”
“You’re going into product development?” Lance, the nerdy engineer who knew the machines backwards and forwards, asks.
“We are,” Rafe states, “and it will increase the workforce for the company as we will also be expanding the factory space. Over the next few months you will see Amelia and I around and we plan to have meetings with everyone on staff, as well as those who have been laid off recently due to Diamonds downturn.”
“You’re going to rehire Smitty?” Gilly asked.
“Who’s Smitty?” Rafe asks turning to me.
“Smitty was the janitor slash handyman,” I explain. “He’s been with the company for twenty years. He has a learning disability, but he can fix just about anything you need him to fix.”
“I see no reason not to if he’d like to come back,” Rafe ensures them.
“Really?” Gilly says with a worshipful smile in Rafe’s direction. “He hasn’t found anything, and our door handle has been broken for five months.”
“If you want, I can give him a call,” I tell Rafe who nods and Gilly beams further. “I’d watch out for Gilly. She’s a bit dense when it comes to hints so you’ll need to be direct with her,” I add in a hushed whisper that only he can hear.
