A Walk In The Garden

Copenhagen was sweltering in an unfamiliar heatwave as Carlo Spoto walked out the side door to the hotel gardens. As he expected, his boss was sitting on the closest bench. In their years together, he knew Hurst Dansk would not keep him waiting. Even with the unusually hot weather, the Danish company’s patriarch was always dressed in a heavy, woolen, dark business suit. Behind him, similarly dressed and mere yards away, the old man’s guard stood quietly attentive. In 20 years as head of American operations, Carlo had never seen one man without another.

The older man rose and started walking away from the building. Carlo caught up quickly, noting the bodyguard’s presence a few feet behind.

“Thank you for joining me,” Hurst said by greeting.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” Carlo replied.

“No I enjoyed breathing in the fresh air. Let us walk these grounds and continue to enjoy the air.”

“With pleasure, I don’t get out that much.”

“Neither do I. Events always interfere.”

“My wife says I need to do more away from work.”

“My wife wants me to retire.”

“Retire? You? What would you do? What would I do?”

“Die a slow, boring death.”

“You and I were meant to work.”

“True, but my time as head of the company will end soon.”

“No, it cannot be.”

“It is and my retirement is why I wanted to talk with you.”

“My father used to say it is better to listen then talk.”

“I wise man. I enjoyed working with him as I enjoy working with you.”

“And I with you, but who will replace you?”

“Two of my sons are impatient to replace me.”

“Young people are always impatient.”

“And anxious to change things.”

“That too. But when will this happen.”

“Next month.”

“So soon?”

“Yes, their mother agrees, she says it is time for me to let them run the family businesses.”

“You will be missed.”

“Only for a short time, then they will have their way and change things.”

The men walked on a bit, each in their own thoughts; Carlo was afraid to ask about the American company but also sure he was about to be told.

“Which brings us to your company. For the past five years, I have manipulated the books so it has been making a small profit,” Hurst said finally.

“Haven’t we?”

“No, it has been in the, what Americans say, in the red.”

“The numbers I saw were always good.”

“You know, I met Rosamond, my wife, when I applied to come here to work at our American company?”

“No, I didn’t know that.”

“She had read my vitae and knew how strong I was in math. I was told to see her.”

“What happen?”

“Although I didn’t know it at the time she had decided to marry me. She offered me a job at headquarters instead of going to America, I went to work here in Copenhagen.”

“Did you like it?”

“I hated it. But I liked her, she made sure of that. But a year later I told her I still wanted to go to America.”

“And?

“She laughed and said I should marry her instead. Her brother was a wastrel, and she knew the company wasn’t ready for a woman leader. I was the best solution. But to marry her and take control, she made me change my name to her family name. 

“Women decide for us men.”

“In my case yes, when I finally knew of her plans, it was too late for me to go to America.”

“They tell me you are a legend in managing company figures.”

“I rather make furniture like you.”

“It is a dying art.”

“True, but perhaps you can carry it on a bit longer.”

“How so?”

“Let me go back, first. Two years ago Frank approached me about a project someone in South Carolina had brought him.”

“Let me guess, Knox Alexander.”

“Do not sell the man short, Carlo, he is a ruthless business man but he loves his home town.”

“You could not prove it by me.”

“Listen, like your father said. Alexander asked Frank to find a way out of a predicament of his own greed.”

“You’re talking about the property next to ours?”

“Years ago Alexander needed money and sold an easement through the land for a company laying fiber optic cable for data transmission. Before he knew it, the company had crisscrossed the land and he could not build on it or sell it.”

“When that dilemma became known, we all laughed about that.”

“Frank was never the one to laugh at a project without first examining it from different angles.”

“We all knew that, Mr. New York City.”

“He has, or should we say had, a tremendous reputation there and in Europe.”

“Then why did he come back to be chairman of our small company?”

“To conceal his bigger plan and to get my approval.”

“Approval for what?”

“Carlo, if Frank had lived, next week we would have announced a major construction project involving Alexander’s land, our factory, two other pieces of land to the north of our company and south of the transmission lines. A major European investment fund is putting up half the capital.”

“What happens to my company?”

“It dies.”

“Why?”

“Because there are two things the company has that is needed for this project: the land it sits on and the water it uses to bend the woods.”

“What do you need the water for?”

“To cool the service centers that be built on the computer park we are about to build.”

“So our company dies.”

“I am afraid so. Frank has been trying to sell the company and move or replace the machinery. Did you know almost every company who built the machinery is gone?”

“Yes, we can’t get new parts, so we fabricate replacements ourselves.”

“All people Frank approach would buy are the designs and trademark.”

“So they can make cheaper versions.”

“I won’t allow it.”

“And you’re telling me now?”

“Because I want you to run a company that repairs our furniture and keeps our craft alive.”

“I take the young workers and keep the craft going?”

“No, you take the old workers who can’t adjust while the young people are taught new skills.”

“Younger people don’t like sweating in hot production factories.:

“Why should they? Other opportunities abound.”

“My son, Anthony, a foreman, wants to open a pizzeria and restaurant.”

“You already see that.”

“Did you think of this?”

“No, it was Frank at our first meeting. He had a plan for everything before I thought of it.”

“I’ll be damned. He never told me.”

“That’s how he operated.”

“And you’re going along with it.”

“My sons want it and they would close the furniture company the day after I retire.  It is the best I can do.”

“Can it be done without Frank?”

“I think so. Who knew at his age he would have a heart attack and die.”

“Our company dies to be replaced by soulless machines?”

“Yes, and I am sorry.”

“We all die, some more quickly than others.”

“True, but you’re still young enough to change.”

“I am 62, I will need to change, but what will you do in retirement?”

“Slowly die of boredom.”

“Frank was 52, he never faced retirement.”

“He never thought of death either. He is gone and we must make his last plan a success.”

“Do you still wish you had come to America years ago?”

“Yes, every day I go to work.”

“So I guess I’m lucky, my father loved the company and I do as well. We both loved coming to work every day.”

“Consider yourself lucky and try to preserve its legacy.”

“You know, now there is no way to apologize to Frank for all the things I thought about him.”

“He knew you would be angry.”

“I could have killed him.”

“God did it for you.”

“The question is why?”