The Contract

[Maid of Marvels]

For the good of the corporation.

Madeline Henderson sat back in her chair, considering the proposition her father and the Board of the Directors had set before her. The arrangement made sense on every level, she couldn't fault them there.

Phoenix Corporation had started small, like all businesses do. A single store in a small backwater town, within seven years they had been incorporated. Distribution centers, more stores, acquisitions. Within seventeen years they'd made their first billion and the stock had gone from forty seven dollars to ninety five and still climbing.

Simple, yes? Not quite.

Competition, even at this level, was becoming cutthroat, making it harder and harder to maintain Phoenix's original purpose -- to offer good products for less. With Landau Corporation hot on their heels, a showdown was becoming inevitable. It was neither sound, nor profitable for both to continue to cut prices and the contstant jabbing back and forth in the media wasn't helping those sales either. In the end, one or both of them would fail and it wasn't a risk her father and the Board were willing to take.

"Technically," her father had explained, "Phoenix and Landau can't merge. Officially, that is. There are laws against monopolies. But," he had continued, "If they are owned jointly... You see my point."

Madeline nodded. "And what does he say to all of this, father?" He being John Beckenfield, the heir to Landau, in the same way as she was to Phoenix.

"We can't have a lock without the key, Madeline," had been his reply. "I'm sure that he will see things in the same light as you do." He glanced at his watch. "He is being offered the same arrangement as we speak."

"Assuming that he agrees... " Madeline paused, knowing that her father would have considered all contingencies, she still needed to hear them spoken. In people talk, not in legalese. "You must know where I am heading, father. Divorce."

Her father nodded. "Of course there will be a prenuptual agreement that reverts all properties owned before the marriage to its original proprietor. Holdings at the time of divorce will be divided to mutual satisfaction. Of course," his demeanor suddenly even more intent, "We are hoping that this will not come to pass."

Madeline nodded again. "Very well, father. Gentlemen. I agree." She paused and leaned forward. "Inherently, of course, on his decision. An arranged marriage is acceptable. A forced marriage is not."

The men seated around the table, poker-faced statues up til now, stood, each in turn congratulating her on making the wisest choice as they filed from the room leaving Madeline and her father, James Henderson, behind.

"Thank you," he said, placing his arms around her. "Thank you."

She sighed and shook her head. "It's not over yet, dad. You have to consider what a twenty-five year old man would want with a thirty-five year old woman. Ten years is a big gap."

Her father nodded. "You never know, kitten. You never know."

Read along with musicanKane and myself as we enter into... "The Contract".
As always, comments and critiques are welcome by PM. Enjoy the ride...
~Maid and musicankane~
​

 

[musicankane]

John Beckenford sat in his father's chair at the head of the huge boardroom oak table. Kyle Beckenford moved slowly around the table putting his palm on the shoulder of each board member as he past. John glared at his father with angry eyes. How dare his father ask this of him. To marry for the good of the company, what a wash of bullshit.

"Can't you see the good in this for all of us John?" His father asked moving slowly past the far end of the table.

John scoffed. "For all of us? You mean for you!" The marrage would mean the union of the two companies and insure John's great grandkids would never have to work a day in their lives. Yet John couldn't see that. All he saw was his father trying to force him into something that would make himself look better.

"Son, please. Why is this such a taboo offense for you. You used to go out with women everyday of the week. But over the past three months you've become an ice cube." He paused and looked deeply into his son's eyes. "Are you gay?" He asked in a whisper.

Silence fell onto the board room as John launched himself to his feet. "Are you out of your mind, old man?" He cried.

Kyle waved his hands. "I'm sorry I didn't mean it. But why are you suddenly so reserved? You hardly leave your room anymore."

John's eyes narrowed. "Maybe I choose to."

"I'm offering you a marrage to a very beautiful woman. If that doesn't intrigue you think of the money, the power that will be gained through this union. You'll be more powerful than Bill Gates!" Kyle pleaded.

John sat back down and sighed. Would this be such a bad thing? Probably not, hell a hot and sexy wife was what he wanted anyway. A house, kids, a dog. Why not sooner rather than later. And without all that horrible dating.

John waved his hand, brushing soon hair out of his face. "Do I at least get a picture, or get to meet her before hand?"

A long slow smile spread across Kyle's face and the entire board seemed to let out a long sigh of relief.

 

[Maid of Marvels]

"It's a little early in the day isn't it, dad?" Madeline asked, watching her father add Drambuie to his coffee.

"Just a splash."

"And if I wasn't here?"

James Henderson glared at his daughter over the rim of his cup, suddenly looking all of his sixty eight years and more. "This arrangement is... "

"Don't you think I realize that?" she retorted, walking over to him. "If I didn't, I'd have never agreed and you know that. Do me a favor?"

"A favor? Madeline, if you can pull this off... "

"No, dad. This is for now. Lay off til I get back, okay?" She stared pointedly toward the wetbar. "I'm willing but the deal is in John Beckenford's lap. I won't discourage him, but I won't play games, either. And you... " Madeline hugged him and kissed the top of his head. "You will need to have your wits about you when I get back." She glanced at her watch. "Time for me to go."

******​

Forty minutes later she was at the yacht club and walking down the pier toward the Cool Change's slip. She'd chosen her outfit carefully, not wanting him to see her in a "matronly" light. To her dress, a floral print that hugged her curves on top and flowed freely from waist to nylon free mid-calf, she'd added leather espadrilles that matched her bag. Here goes nothing, she thought... and everything.

"Permission to board," Madeline called out, waving to John who was just coming down from the bridge as she crossed the gangway. "It's good to see you," she said, smiling, genuinely meaning it. By the time he reached her, Madeline had taken in his appearance and was already looking into his eyes to gauge his own thoughts at seeing her.

She'd forgotten how handsome he was -- or maybe she'd just never looked at him "that way" before. Irregardless, he was easy on the eye. Taller than she was, Madeline figured he was just over six foot to her five foot six, and his features were open though she did sense a bit of wariness behind those eyes of his.

"And you," he replied, shaking her extended hand. "It's been a while."

"It has. I haven't been aboard Cool Change in ages and you couldn't have picked better weather. Sun deck?"

John nodded. "Sure. We'll be leaving... " The sound of the engines firing up finished his sentence for him and they both grinned.

Madeline knew it was her place to make him feel comfortable even though he was technically the host. The arrangement couldn't possibly be an easy decision for him to make, and with her being ten years older... Thank god for Jack LaLanne, she thought as she climbed the steps in front of him.

"Truth," she said, turning toward him as they stepped into the open air room, "I'm glad you agreed to meet with me. Just one thing... "

Madeline saw John stiffen almost negligibly, and placed her hand on his arm, grinning. "Call me Maddie, will you?"

She grinned self-consciously and placed her bag next to the futon-style couch as she sat. This was going to be even harder than she'd expected.

 

[musicankane]

John was unsure of her. He didn't know what it was exactly, her age, his reluctance, any number of things. When she sat back on the long lounge chair, or futon chair he felt some kind of air about her. HE knew she was trying to make him feel comfortable around her and he liked her just that much more because of that.

Arnold the butler came out into the sun room with a tray and two glasses of red wine. John took his and Arnold bent over to give Maddie her glass. She took it graciously and thanked him politely.

"It's French." John said lightly.

To his suprise Maddie swirled the wine glass and smiled. "Smells great." Then she sipped lightly.

John moved close to the couch. "It feels weird, you know? This arrangement it feels so premeditated. Let me ask you something. Did your father put you put to this before we even met?"

Maddie looked at him, seemingly hidding her thoughts. Yet she smiled weakly and nodded. "He did."

John sat on the arm rest at the far end away from her, gazing out the side window. HE seemed lost in thought, the truth was he always felt like he should be married to a younger girl. But this arrangment had him with a woman a ful decade older than he was. The big thing for him was the fact that neither of them had any real say about the marrage. The age part was only a small thing that added up to this was wrong.

He spoke without looking toward her. "I love the ocean, whenever I feel overwhelmed I come out here and somehow it all peels away like an onion." He turned to her. "Not this though, I have so many worries runnign through my head. Like how can we be expected to marry a person we only just met? Can such a marrage really work? I mean, what about a family? I always believed in a wife that loved me and would take care of the kids, the white-picket fence house and a dog or two." His voice trailed off and he downed the wine in his glass. Right away a maid came out and refilled it, but he went back to staring out at the water as they moved along.

 

[Maid of Marvels]

Anything Madeline said right now would probably seem contrived to John, but she wasn't one to mince words and right now she felt an overwhelming need to defend herself. "Look," she said in a firmer tone than she had intended. "I know I'm older and I know I'm not beautiful, but I'm not exactly ready for Shady Rest, either. You're young and handsome. You have dreams and ideals." She stood and walked over to him. "Well, maybe so do I."

"I married once for... " She shrugged, not able to put exact words to her reason for eloping as a teenager with the local tennis pro. "Adventure? To get out from under my parents' thumbs? Lust?" Maddie shrugged.

"I won't say I've been an angel since, but I've been discreet and I've avoided any entanglements that would embarrass both myself and my family. I never," she emphasized the last, looking at him straight in the eye. "Never thought I wouldn't find someone that was meant just for me. Nor did I stop hoping that I would find a love match and marry for love, John. A man that I loved and who loved me -- NOT my money."

"Yeah, I thought I'd have kids, too. That cosy house in the country." Madeline sighed again, angry with herself for even going in this direction with the conversation. "So don't think this is only about you. It isn't." She drank the rest of her wine in one swallow.

"No one is forcing either of us and I see that you are adamantly opposed. Tell you what... " She turned her eyes out to the ocean, reaching for the comfort she, too, always seemed to find from water. "I'll decline. That takes the heat off you and puts it on me. No one would be surprised by that. I have a reputation for being... muleheaded. The Boards can find a different way of working things out."

Catching Arnold's eye, she held up her glass. This time he returned with a bottle snugly ensconced in an ice bucket. "Thank you," she said, allowing him to pour her another before he disappeared belowdecks. John had still not spoken.

 

[musicankane]

It wasn't fair for her to put it all on her. He was responsable too, he had agreed however reluctantly to marry this woman. It wasn't bad, in that sense; she was smart, funny, beautiful beyond belief. Why did it bother him so?

He shook his head. "You're wrong you know."

She turned her attention from the wine glass and looked at him. Curiousity lit her face.

John managed a weak smile. "You're absolutely beautiful." He sigh and held the glass out to Arnold who promtly filled it. "Look, I'm sorry I've been acting...repent. It just doesn't feel right. I know why we're doing this and why we should. I just always felt like a wife, a real loving wife, is arranged for you." He paused and sipped the wine turning back out toward the sea. "Who knows, maybe this is our fate."

He smiled again and set his glass on a small end table then he came up to her. "I think we owe ourselves and our parents enough to at least give it a try." He took her free hand and brought it up to his lips, kissing it softly. "What do you say?"

 

[Maid of Marvels]

Madeline studied John as he raised her hand to his lips; he'd done a complete three-sixty in less time than it took her to blink. While she had to admit she admired his quasi-chivalrous maneuver to take the pressure off of her, it left her pondering whether he realized just what was in store for him.

"You know we're going to make the gossip columns big time when this story breaks, though I'd prefer that it didn't hit the news at eleven before the marriage is a fact. I'd like," she continued, "us to get to know each other a little bit in the meantime."

He hadn't released her hand, nor had she pulled it free. There was an unspoken intimacy or at least a growing together in it that she hoped John would appreciate.

Her eyes scanned the rapidly diminishing shoreline and she almost frowned. They'd be out a couple of hours -- not long enough to find out if John Beckenford hung the toilet paper the wrong way or squeezed the toothpaste from the middle -- but long enough for the two of them to get a sense of each other and their likes and dislikes. The more personal details of this arrangement would come later... like who slept where.

Still holding his hand, Madeline led him back to the couch, this time pulling him down to sit beside her as she slid off her shoes and slipped one leg up under herself. "Tell me," she said, "what you like to do. Not things you are expected to like, mind. Things you truly enjoy." Arranged or not, they were going to have to cohabitate and it would help if they had at least a couple of things in common.

 

[musicankane]

John smiled as her tabloid comment. It was sweet and he became vaguely aware that he had not so much as heard a rumor about this women in the weekly shit papers. It occured to him that she truely sidestepped her way out of the public eye, he assumed because she felt that her father's busniess shouldn't compromise her privacy.

"Well it probably wont be as bad as the time they got pictures of me with my dick in a toster." He said sticking his tongue out to show he was kidding.

HE waved his hand. "Sorry perhaps that was a bit too crude for just meeting you. But you want to know more about me, I should warn you...I can be a smartass sometimes." HE took a breath. "Things I like...hmm."

What should he tell her? He found himself wanting to sound cool and hip and well, whatever. But looking at her he felt that maybe she wouldn't like that. She was older then him so she wouldn't be impressed by something like skateboarding or lighting farts on fire.

"Would you believe me if I said moonlit walks and romantic dinners by candlelight?" He asked.

She looked at him with a flat stare.

"Ok, honestly. I like Japanese cartoons, porn, heavy metal music, and something no one knows about...well I am really scared of commitment." He frowned and felt his gaze move out toward the water. Was he really scared? No that was a lie. But he felt beaten by his father into this thing. He had to do it, that whole world was waiting for it. But if he showed her he was nervous too, maybe it would help them both relax.

 

[Maid of Marvels]

"Commitment. That's understandable," she repeated the "C" word, biting back the bit about being young and having his whole life ahead of himself. There had been an angry tone in his voice when he'd said that. The prices we pay for the sins of our fathers.

"The cartoons I know of, though I've never watched. Heavy metal, too. But what is this 'porn' stuff?"

The teasing glint in her eyes made John smile, but when he opened his mouth as if to explain, Maddie held her hand up. "Not now. Not today," she said. "I'm overdressed."

His laugh was deep and genuine and the iceberg between them seemed to be melting -- or at least threatening to. At least until Madeline started to tick off some things from a mental list. "I read a lot," she said, knowing that this was probably the only truth she was going to utter at the moment. "Classical music is where it's at for me and I can't get enough news at five, six, seven and eleven. On rainy or wintry days, I sit in a rocker and knit scarves, sometimes socks, but I can never get them the same size. Oh, and bingo. I love bingo."

John's eyes narrowed suspiciously, but her poker face didn't give him a clue. Madeline couldn't help wondering if he'd call her out on it or just jump overboard.

 

[musicankane]

Her words about the porn puzzled him. OVerdressed? That was a good joke, she knew him for only a couple of hours and she knew where his funny bone was already. That was good right, your wife should be your best friend right? Then she began to rattle off a list of her favorite things and John felt a heaviness hit him in the pit of his stomach. Her words sounded like a night out in Atlantic City with Grandma.

She certainly didn't look like a seventy-five year old biddy with false teeth. Yet her face gave anyway no hint of a joke.

He raised an eyebrow and sipped his wine. "It's funny, you don't look sixty. Just how much older are you!?" He said, almost casually but his voice held a hint of worry. If she was serious, this relationship would end before it even began.

She didn't reply, and held her tongue as the butler came out with yet more wine and a tray of crackers and cheese. "Dinner shall be along within the hour." He informed them politely.

John nodded and the man walked away after leaving the tray on the glass table in the center of the room and refilling both glasses. John climbed off the arm of the sofa and went for a pair of crackers. He selected the best two and brought them to her on a fancy red paper napkin.

"Cracker?" He offered.

 

[Maid of Marvels]

Madeline smiled, holding out her free hand. "You asked me a question," she began, balancing the napkin on her knee. "I'm not as old as sixty," she winked. "On the other hand, I am nearly ten years older than you, John. That's one decade, half a score, one tenth of a century, one hundredth of... "

He hadn't spoken, but she could see in her eyes that the chronological gap between them could quite easily widen into an impassable chasm -- not to mention the look on his face when she'd mentioned those made-up pastimes. Chagrined, Madeline had the decency to blush as she met John's eyes.

"I'm sorry. I was trying to provoke you into saying what's really on your mind, I guess. Facts is facts, as the big boys say," she continued, "and they ain't easily ignored or done away with. Frankly, I'm surprised Landau didn't put together a dossier for you."

"Maybe they were afraid I'd cut and run if I found out you couldn't knit socks of equal size." John tried to smile, but she winced when she heard the brittleness in his tone of voice. "Did Phoenix write me up for you??"

Madeline nodded. "They did."

"What did it say? Wakes at nine, watches cartoons, porn and beats off while listening to heavy metal and all before eating lunch at twelve sharp... "

"I tossed it," she interjected quickly. "I wanted to... "

"To... what??" He was standing quite still but his indignation was obvious.

"Well, to get to know you on my own. I didn't want to depend on misinformation provided by a bunch of old, dried up holier-than-thou prudes." Madeline stood up and walked over to John. "Besides," she said quietly, smiling. "They couldn't tell me how you kiss. It's one of my favorite indoor sports."

Without waiting for a response and hoping not to be rebuffed, Madeline slid her hands up and over John's shoulders and offered her lips. "Truce?"

 

[musicankane]

Did she really throw any whatever garage she had received about him. It certainly seemed to be true. The paper tended to write loads of garbage and stuff that totally wasn't true, all to make him look like a spoiled rich brat. He was twenty-five fucking years old, how the hell would he be a rich brat? He didn't wake up looking like Paris Hilton on a daily basis.

Madeline came up to him and put her arms around him. She had sensed an arguement and meant to cut it off at the past, which was a good thing seeing as how most women enjoy a good fight.

She smelled good too, but he didn't feel comfortable with her enough to kiss her. Not yet, at least. If he had tried to pick her up at a bar then things would be different, he still felt like the contact was forced. They were expected to be together this way, but it was too soon. For him, too soon.

To gently break the pressure of the kiss he put a finger to her lips as if quieting an intimate lover.

"Please," he whispered. "not yet." He shyed out of her arms and turned to look out the window as the sea rolled on by. "I'm sorry." He said, not looking back at her. "I can't yet."

Then he laughed. "You know if this were a bar somewhere, I'd be hitting on you and probably eager to suck lips with you. But it seems too pressured, too soon." He shook his head. "God, I feel like an asshole." He turned to her. "I'm sorry."