Handling Things (working title) by CE Dalton

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Chapter 20

Beth stepped back into the center with her lawyer behind her, nodding at the head of the security team. "We're going to the director's office," she told them. "Because he's no longer in his job." They stared. The lawyer presented the paperwork that showed she was in charge now. The judge had been horrified about her grandfather's problems with reality and machinations against her. Her grandfather was also in jail. He probably wouldn't get to come out at his age. She and the lawyer got escorted up there. She nodded at the secretary. "Hey, Penelope."

"Beth," she said quietly. "He's in a huge temper."

"Because he got caught," she said dryly. "Helping embezzle funds and acting to plot against his own people. Otherwise I wouldn't have had to act." She opened the door. The director stared at her. "So."

He sipped his drink. "I was indebted to him, Beth."

"I realize that. I also realize you tried to stop the embezzlement and failed. I also realize that you probably couldn't have done a huge amount to stop him having me kidnaped, twice." The director winced. "You could have stopped him from shooting at me. That would've been nice." She stared at him. "I used to respect you, Director. I really did. I think it sucks that you broke that. And I know I can't trust you to run this center the way it should be."

"Who am I turning it over to?"

"Sandra."

"She'll hate it."

"Probably but she's got the experience and the business classes." She shifted her stance slightly. "I'm sorry it came down to this, Director Bell. I hope you have a great life and your children don't have to visit you in the cell next to my grandfather." She looked back at her lawyer, and the agents that had followed behind them. Then she looked at him again. He sighed but gathered his personal things, letting the agents take him for questioning. She looked out the door. "Penelope, get Sandra up here please? She's taking over. We need to set up ideas for what needs to be changed so this center's the best it can be for everyone." She nodded, calling that handler's office. Beth took off her gloves and looked at the desk. "Can someone check it? Just in case?" An agent came forward to do that, confiscating files. She looked back at the woman in the doorway. "Sandra."

"Beth." She looked confused. "What's going on? Rumors are really bad about you right now."

"Yeah, well, it's probably slightly justified since I had to handle the threats against me from my grandfather. He didn't want me to inherit the center so all that stuff with that family? Him. All the threats? Him. Shooting me in the shoulder? Him." Sandra winced. "And the judge agreed he was a horrible person so now the center's mine. And yours, Madam Director Shopihiro."

Sandra stared, mouth open. "What?" she demanded. Beth pulled her in to go over the ruling with her so the lawyer could interpret things. The agents informed her of the investigation that had been going on for a while. Apparently the first kidnaping had set off an alarm bell and someone had started to investigate then. Sandra nodded at the end that she'd accept it and called a staff meeting that night. By then, she and Beth had worked out what was a priority to keep the Center working right and what needed to be done long term.

When the meeting came, Sandra walked downstairs with Beth behind her. She walked into the meeting room. "People," she said, getting their attention. "Thanks to someone shooting Beth at a family in the Middle East, the FBI decided to investigate the center." She stared, hands behind her back gripped tightly together because she was nervous. "What they found made some corporate crimes agents *very* happy." Beth came in but leaned against the wall. "Since we know the problems, and someone told Beth why, she decided to fight for all of us. And won." A few sighed in pleasure.

"The center's hers now," one of the trainers said. Beth nodded.

"So now what?" another trainer asked.

"Sandra's our new gentle overlord," Beth quipped. "We've spent all day going over the necessities to keep the Center together and growing. I think Sandra will do a great job as our new director."

Sandra shot her a tense smile then looked at them. "Shocked me nearly into a heart attack." A few smiled at her. "So we'll be going over a few things tonight that are going to change. Including that the old board had been embezzling. The FBI was *super* happy to talk to them and Beth's grandfather about all the harm he caused. I've already put out a notice that we are not closing. Though her grandfather had tried with his spot on the old board. Which the judge dissolved earlier. We have to pick six people to work on that."

"We have about ten stock holders thanks to a stock offering about thirteen years ago," Major Bill said, staring at his adopted daughter. "So now what, Beth?"

"Now, we have a few things to go over. One of them being the graduation requirements. The ones for high school have been kept," she announced.

Sandra nodded. "We all agreed that those were necessary, but the college credits, you are allowed to get credit for working here. I know before the college wasn't allowed to do that. I think that's a crappy thing to do to you guys. I have decided to open hiring to six other programs in the US and one in Canada. One in the UK is on the acceptable list but I don't think we'll get anyone from there at this point. For those in college, good progress toward your degree is now six hours a semester." A few of the junior trainers smiled at her.

"I've also taken note of the things that need to be upgraded. We have a list. I'll get with the groups tomorrow to go over their specific needs." She looked around. "For staff people that aren't trainers, there's a few extra programs we'll accept from as well." The head trainer smiled at that. He had been pushing for that for years. "Our infirmary will be one of the things upgraded. We need at least another nurse and I've been trying to get the old director to hire an osteopath for years. That's on my to-do list for this week as well."

She looked around. "The petty bullshit is going to stop. I won't put up with the slackers. You guys know how I run things and what used to annoy me with the other handlers. That's going to be fixed immediately." She looked at the junior trainers. "Second big things. The pain in the ass in the office that was nagging us to be feminine but not flirty, she's fired. I did that earlier when the agents dragged her out kicking and screaming. Literally. I will accept professional level attire. I don't want you flirty but there's not a lot you can do wearing a skirt, ladies." That got a few smiles.

"We will be opening up hiring to another three handlers. We've needed them for years and we'll now have to replace my spot too. We will not be merging with another center at this time. Especially not the one that's known for their walking STD problem. We are strong enough to stand on our own. We always have been, even when they were stealing from us. As of this moment, things are different and I expect you guys to agree to things. Beth, the last memo you sent out? Made most of us laugh."

"Not like I wanted to walk in on them," she said with a slight shrug. "We all know that most of the rooms in this center have been...christened at least once."

"True. And we don't like it but we're aware it happens. The lock the door policy will stand because I don't want to walk in on it either." Sandra grimaced. "There's been six other rule changes. Mostly of the professional conduct ones. The amount of petty bullshit is now cut down by at least half. All handlers are to have at least four athletes on their desks. There will be no slacking for senior handlers. The bimbo patrol made me work way too many hours doing their work too." She grinned. "Those in the junior corps, you'll be getting extra help if you need it. We'll be evaluating your skills there and we may arrange some athletes for you to have more similar ones. Beth, yours?"

"I'm good with mine. We're on good terms."

"Yes, but I should say something about interpersonal relationships," she said, giving her a pointed look. Beth blushed but ducked her head. "Not that we didn't all take bets and push for it." She looked at them. "We still don't allow interpersonal relationships between us and our athletes. Though if they throw up a fit and want their wives or fiancees I can let that one slide. There's been a number of happy marriages from our people and our trainees." She smiled at Beth, who shook her head quickly. Then she smiled at the others. "I'll have the handbook printed this week with the changes. For right now, act like professionals and like we all should." She grimaced at the junior handlers. "You guys, act like Beth used to as a handler."

"Is Beth going to be a handler?" Major Bill asked her.

"Yes," Beth said with a nod. "The same as I always was. Though I'm moving to an apartment off campus by about a block. I haven't changed anything about myself, Bill. I just had to act because I wasn't going to be used as a disposable pawn. The man, my grandfather," she said, moving forward. "Not only had my mother killed. He had my father killed. He killed my grandmother during a meeting and shot at the other board members."

Sandra patted her on the back. "We all know this has been stressful on you, Beth. You've fought off a number of attacks and had to protect yourself. Or else we all would've been out of a job. For now, the center will hold up. We'll carry on. I'll be putting out announcements of the new changes for the athletes we all work with the day after tomorrow. But know that we are not shutting down for more than repairs in the bigger gyms and putting in some insulation."

"The competition rules?" Bill asked. "Since I know that's a problem that Beth had a lot of fights about."

"It looks good on us and as long as our training doesn't get in the way of our work, I'm not going to say a thing about it," Sandra told him. "Why wouldn't athletes want to train with medal winners?" Bill nodded, relaxing again. "As long as you can do both at the same time I don't have a problem. If you have to drop to part time for competition season I might say something. I won't let you handle anyone in your sports of choice so you don't have a conflict of interest." That got a few nods. "Otherwise, we'd all be doing different things if we weren't super interested in sports." She looked at the other one that could have that problem. "You have a schedule you can arrange for meets." The young one grinned and nodded. "For those on your college teams for scholarships? We'll figure it out." A few more nodded. "Otherwise, go home and relax, people. The hard things are out of the way."

"I hope we can all create the sort of family the center has always been to some of us," Beth said. "And if things need to be worked on, let Sandra know. That's why I made her the director. I just sit on the board."

"Are you coming back to work?" Bill asked.

"I'm going to try but not for another week. I have finals this week." That got a few smiles. "I will say that we may be upgrading the apartments sometime this year. Not sure yet." She looked at Sandra.

"They're tiny," she said. "Not sure about that yet. That's a later step." She looked at the security team. "Needless to say, we're redoing all the passes." They nodded. "We're going over security matters in the morning at nine." The head nodded and smiled. "And we can drive off the reporters again. Because they annoy me." She looked at the others, smiling. "My office is open and I'll be reassigning my athletes this week after talking to them. I called one earlier and got cried on so give me a few days for that. At least I didn't have an overloaded schedule like Maisey does." Maisey grinned at her. "Beth, want to keep your teams?"

"Please. If they want."

"Okay." She looked at them. "Things go back to the right way as of this moment and we'll handle things as they come up. Let me know, people. Go home." She clapped her hands and walked off. Beth followed her so she could go to her new apartment.

Sandra waited to talk to a few people, stopping Bill before he could leave. "You destroyed Beth," she said quietly. "By accusing her of being a gold digging bitch. I would hope your new charge doesn't get that treatment." She stared at him. "The rest of us realized that Beth wasn't in it for gain when we realized what was going on. It's sad her adopted father didn't. And I will expect professional conduct between you two." She walked off.

Bill walked off to go up to his apartment. His current charge was worried but he got her calmed down and handling her homework while he thought about it.

***

Beth walked into her empty new apartment, looking around. All her stuff was able to fit in the smaller bedroom. She desperately needed a couch and a few other things but right now she had to wonder why she had lit candles. She frowned, walking over to look at it. The pillar candle was safely lit. She spotted another one in her bedroom, going that way. Then one in the bathroom with Al reading on the floor in there. She smiled. "Is the electric off?" she teased.

"Nah. Thought you needed less stress." He put the book aside, getting up to help her by pulling down her hair. He kissed her. "You need some stress free times. So a bath?"

"I like baths." She took another kiss. "Help me out of this suit?" He got her out of the business suit then into the water that was running. He added in some scented crystals, sitting beside her to help her relax.

Everything else, they could work out later. When Celia got there.

The End.

The End.

CE Dalton is the author of 15 other stories.

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Handling Things (working title) by CE Dalton [Reviews - 0] Chapter or Story Table of Contents - Text Size + Chapter 20 Beth stepped back into the center with her lawyer behind her, nodding at the head of the security team. "We're going to the director's office," she told them. "Because he's no longer in his job." They stared. The lawyer presented the paperwork that showed she was in charge now. The judge had been horrified about her grandfather's problems with reality and machinations against her. Her grandfather was also in jail. He probably wouldn't get to come out at his age. She and the lawyer got escorted up there. She nodded at the secretary. "Hey, Penelope." "Beth," she said quietly. "He's in a huge temper." "Because he got caught," she said dryly. "Helping embezzle funds and acting to plot against his own people. Otherwise I wouldn't have had to act." She opened the door. The director stared at her. "So." He sipped his drink. "I was indebted to him, Beth." "I realize that. I also realize you tried to stop the embezzlement and failed. I also realize that you probably couldn't have done a huge amount to stop him having me kidnaped, twice." The director winced. "You could have stopped him from shooting at me. That would've been nice." She stared at him. "I used to respect you, Director. I really did. I think it sucks that you broke that. And I know I can't trust you to run this center the way it should be." "Who am I turning it over to?" "Sandra." "She'll hate it." "Probably but she's got the experience and the business classes." She shifted her stance slightly. "I'm sorry it came down to this, Director Bell. I hope you have a great life and your children don't have to visit you in the cell next to my grandfather." She looked back at her lawyer, and the agents that had followed behind them. Then she looked at him again. He sighed but gathered his personal things, letting the agents take him for questioning. She looked out the door. "Penelope, get Sandra up here please? She's taking over. We need to set up ideas for what needs to be changed so this center's the best it can be for everyone." She nodded, calling that handler's office. Beth took off her gloves and looked at the desk. "Can someone check it? Just in case?" An agent came forward to do that, confiscating files. She looked back at the woman in the doorway. "Sandra." "Beth." She looked confused. "What's going on? Rumors are really bad about you right now." "Yeah, well, it's probably slightly justified since I had to handle the threats against me from my grandfather. He didn't want me to inherit the center so all that stuff with that family? Him. All the threats? Him. Shooting me in the shoulder? Him." Sandra winced. "And the judge agreed he was a horrible person so now the center's mine. And yours, Madam Director Shopihiro." Sandra stared, mouth open. "What?" she demanded. Beth pulled her in to go over the ruling with her so the lawyer could interpret things. The agents informed her of the investigation that had been going on for a while. Apparently the first kidnaping had set off an alarm bell and someone had started to investigate then. Sandra nodded at the end that she'd accept it and called a staff meeting that night. By then, she and Beth had worked out what was a priority to keep the Center working right and what needed to be done long term. When the meeting came, Sandra walked downstairs with Beth behind her. She walked into the meeting room. "People," she said, getting their attention. "Thanks to someone shooting Beth at a family in the Middle East, the FBI decided to investigate the center." She stared, hands behind her back gripped tightly together because she was nervous. "What they found made some corporate crimes agents very happy." Beth came in but leaned against the wall. "Since we know the problems, and someone told Beth why, she decided to fight for all of us. And won." A few sighed in pleasure. "The center's hers now," one of the trainers said. Beth nodded. "So now what?" another trainer asked. "Sandra's our new gentle overlord," Beth quipped. "We've spent all day going over the necessities to keep the Center together and growing. I think Sandra will do a great job as our new director." Sandra shot her a tense smile then looked at them. "Shocked me nearly into a heart attack." A few smiled at her. "So we'll be going over a few things tonight that are going to change. Including that the old board had been embezzling. The FBI was super happy to talk to them and Beth's grandfather about all the harm he caused. I've already put out a notice that we are not closing. Though her grandfather had tried with his spot on the old board. Which the judge dissolved earlier. We have to pick six people to work on that." "We have about ten stock holders thanks to a stock offering about thirteen years ago," Major Bill said, staring at his adopted daughter. "So now what, Beth?" "Now, we have a few things to go over. One of them being the graduation requirements. The ones for high school have been kept," she announced. Sandra nodded. "We all agreed that those were necessary, but the college credits, you are allowed to get credit for working here. I know before the college wasn't allowed to do that. I think that's a crappy thing to do to you guys. I have decided to open hiring to six other programs in the US and one in Canada. One in the UK is on the acceptable list but I don't think we'll get anyone from there at this point. For those in college, good progress toward your degree is now six hours a semester." A few of the junior trainers smiled at her. "I've also taken note of the things that need to be upgraded. We have a list. I'll get with the groups tomorrow to go over their specific needs." She looked around. "For staff people that aren't trainers, there's a few extra programs we'll accept from as well." The head trainer smiled at that. He had been pushing for that for years. "Our infirmary will be one of the things upgraded. We need at least another nurse and I've been trying to get the old director to hire an osteopath for years. That's on my to-do list for this week as well." She looked around. "The petty bullshit is going to stop. I won't put up with the slackers. You guys know how I run things and what used to annoy me with the other handlers. That's going to be fixed immediately." She looked at the junior trainers. "Second big things. The pain in the ass in the office that was nagging us to be feminine but not flirty, she's fired. I did that earlier when the agents dragged her out kicking and screaming. Literally. I will accept professional level attire. I don't want you flirty but there's not a lot you can do wearing a skirt, ladies." That got a few smiles. "We will be opening up hiring to another three handlers. We've needed them for years and we'll now have to replace my spot too. We will not be merging with another center at this time. Especially not the one that's known for their walking STD problem. We are strong enough to stand on our own. We always have been, even when they were stealing from us. As of this moment, things are different and I expect you guys to agree to things. Beth, the last memo you sent out? Made most of us laugh." "Not like I wanted to walk in on them," she said with a slight shrug. "We all know that most of the rooms in this center have been...christened at least once." "True. And we don't like it but we're aware it happens. The lock the door policy will stand because I don't want to walk in on it either." Sandra grimaced. "There's been six other rule changes. Mostly of the professional conduct ones. The amount of petty bullshit is now cut down by at least half. All handlers are to have at least four athletes on their desks. There will be no slacking for senior handlers. The bimbo patrol made me work way too many hours doing their work too." She grinned. "Those in the junior corps, you'll be getting extra help if you need it. We'll be evaluating your skills there and we may arrange some athletes for you to have more similar ones. Beth, yours?" "I'm good with mine. We're on good terms." "Yes, but I should say something about interpersonal relationships," she said, giving her a pointed look. Beth blushed but ducked her head. "Not that we didn't all take bets and push for it." She looked at them. "We still don't allow interpersonal relationships between us and our athletes. Though if they throw up a fit and want their wives or fiancees I can let that one slide. There's been a number of happy marriages from our people and our trainees." She smiled at Beth, who shook her head quickly. Then she smiled at the others. "I'll have the handbook printed this week with the changes. For right now, act like professionals and like we all should." She grimaced at the junior handlers. "You guys, act like Beth used to as a handler." "Is Beth going to be a handler?" Major Bill asked her. "Yes," Beth said with a nod. "The same as I always was. Though I'm moving to an apartment off campus by about a block. I haven't changed anything about myself, Bill. I just had to act because I wasn't going to be used as a disposable pawn. The man, my grandfather," she said, moving forward. "Not only had my mother killed. He had my father killed. He killed my grandmother during a meeting and shot at the other board members." Sandra patted her on the back. "We all know this has been stressful on you, Beth. You've fought off a number of attacks and had to protect yourself. Or else we all would've been out of a job. For now, the center will hold up. We'll carry on. I'll be putting out announcements of the new changes for the athletes we all work with the day after tomorrow. But know that we are not shutting down for more than repairs in the bigger gyms and putting in some insulation." "The competition rules?" Bill asked. "Since I know that's a problem that Beth had a lot of fights about." "It looks good on us and as long as our training doesn't get in the way of our work, I'm not going to say a thing about it," Sandra told him. "Why wouldn't athletes want to train with medal winners?" Bill nodded, relaxing again. "As long as you can do both at the same time I don't have a problem. If you have to drop to part time for competition season I might say something. I won't let you handle anyone in your sports of choice so you don't have a conflict of interest." That got a few nods. "Otherwise, we'd all be doing different things if we weren't super interested in sports." She looked at the other one that could have that problem. "You have a schedule you can arrange for meets." The young one grinned and nodded. "For those on your college teams for scholarships? We'll figure it out." A few more nodded. "Otherwise, go home and relax, people. The hard things are out of the way." "I hope we can all create the sort of family the center has always been to some of us," Beth said. "And if things need to be worked on, let Sandra know. That's why I made her the director. I just sit on the board." "Are you coming back to work?" Bill asked. "I'm going to try but not for another week. I have finals this week." That got a few smiles. "I will say that we may be upgrading the apartments sometime this year. Not sure yet." She looked at Sandra. "They're tiny," she said. "Not sure about that yet. That's a later step." She looked at the security team. "Needless to say, we're redoing all the passes." They nodded. "We're going over security matters in the morning at nine." The head nodded and smiled. "And we can drive off the reporters again. Because they annoy me." She looked at the others, smiling. "My office is open and I'll be reassigning my athletes this week after talking to them. I called one earlier and got cried on so give me a few days for that. At least I didn't have an overloaded schedule like Maisey does." Maisey grinned at her. "Beth, want to keep your teams?" "Please. If they want." "Okay." She looked at them. "Things go back to the right way as of this moment and we'll handle things as they come up. Let me know, people. Go home." She clapped her hands and walked off. Beth followed her so she could go to her new apartment. Sandra waited to talk to a few people, stopping Bill before he could leave. "You destroyed Beth," she said quietly. "By accusing her of being a gold digging bitch. I would hope your new charge doesn't get that treatment." She stared at him. "The rest of us realized that Beth wasn't in it for gain when we realized what was going on. It's sad her adopted father didn't. And I will expect professional conduct between you two." She walked off. Bill walked off to go up to his apartment. His current charge was worried but he got her calmed down and handling her homework while he thought about it. *** Beth walked into her empty new apartment, looking around. All her stuff was able to fit in the smaller bedroom. She desperately needed a couch and a few other things but right now she had to wonder why she had lit candles. She frowned, walking over to look at it. The pillar candle was safely lit. She spotted another one in her bedroom, going that way. Then one in the bathroom with Al reading on the floor in there. She smiled. "Is the electric off?" she teased. "Nah. Thought you needed less stress." He put the book aside, getting up to help her by pulling down her hair. He kissed her. "You need some stress free times. So a bath?" "I like baths." She took another kiss. "Help me out of this suit?" He got her out of the business suit then into the water that was running. He added in some scented crystals, sitting beside her to help her relax. Everything else, they could work out later. When Celia got there. The End. Previous The End. CE Dalton is the author of 15 other stories. You must login (register) to review.

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