After Dad Left Chapter 7, part 1 of 2

After Dad Left
Chapter 7, part 1 of 2

At the end of the following week, we had put together a proposal to present to Richard Butler, Carlos Reyes, and Jeremy Land. During that entire week, there was no way you could tell Belinda and I had slept together. She gave me the occasional wink when we were alone, but nothing was said for the first week.

I met with the three partners that Friday afternoon and presented my findings. After researching corporations of this size for five years, I noted several things. Most attorneys in the firm billed their customers less than four hours a day. The average lawyer would bill his customer five to six hours daily. The average billing rate is between four hundred and nine hundred per hour. Leaving one to two hours unaccounted for per day was a loss of eight hundred to eighteen hundred a day per attorney.

The second issue was that the firm should have spent more on office supplies. After a quick check of the storeroom, it was noted that we were overbuying. Technically, each floor could buy anything they wanted, which was another huge problem.

The next thing addressed was the credit card bills, which seemed unusually high. The other problem that I encountered was the receipts. In many cases, there needed to be a receipt to match the monthly bill. Then, if there was a receipt, for it to be a deduction on our taxes, the reason for the bill had to be listed along with the client's name. Only some bills were filled out correctly.

I then noted the high turnover of cell phones on the bill. I think that all phones with problems should be taken to our in-house IT guy for evaluation. Let him decide whether a new phone is warranted. Some employees traded in phones once a year, which was excessive.

Our profit has been between twenty-four and twenty-seven percent for the past five years. That profit pays the employee bonuses. Hence, the larger the profit, the bigger the bonus we receive.

They seemed pleased with the results and told me they would take some time to discuss the findings. They would then meet with me, and we could implement new procedures to correct a few of these issues.

During the first week of December, I was asked to meet with the three partners again about the financial review I had performed. We met on a Tuesday morning in the conference room. Richard Butler informed me of several things that were about to take place. First and foremost, all attorneys' meetings will be held this coming Thursday. Richard was implementing a new system with a formal timecard in each attorney's customer file. While working for that client, you logged your time on the card. At the end of the month, all cards will be pulled, and time billed accordingly. Richard then reviewed each month's timecards and determined what each attorney was billing.

The credit cards were addressed next, and a new policy was to be put in place. All charges on the credit card would be paid if a documented receipt was attached. The receipt had to show the date, time, and client for which the card was used. Suppose it was a company expense that had to be documented as well. Someone would be hired on my floor to track all credit card expenses and match them to the appropriate bill. The office supplies would also be housed on my floor, and the person who handled the credit card receipts would get the supplies to the proper floor via the courier.

As mentioned before, the IT department would allow or disallow all requests for new cell phones from company employees. All expenses would be routed through my office, and each month, beginning in January of the coming month, we would do a monthly financial report.

Since we were taking on this much work, Richard wanted me to have more help. Since we were alleviating Nora Davis' floor of all the financial work we had taken over, he suggested I take two or three employees from her and transfer them to my floor.

Richard Butler scheduled a meeting with all the department heads for this Friday at nine o'clock in the morning. Anyone who was anyone at Butler, Land, and Reyes would be there. There was a buzz around the office all week with people trying to find out what the meeting was about, but it was kept quiet.

When Richard Butler, Carlos Reyes, and Jeremy Land walked into the conference room Friday morning, there was only a standing room. They sat down in their appropriate seats while everyone remained silent. Richard took a drink of water from the glass before him, set it down, and looked around the room.

"Thank you to everyone for being on time, and I'm sure you are dying to know what we are here. Well, this is it in a nutshell. The three of us knew we needed to streamline things for this firm, and we needed the right person to do it. I sought out Tim Williams a few years ago and hired him from the University of Texas. Now, what many of you know or maybe don't know, here is the story," he started.

"Tim skipped grades in high school and started college a year early, if I'm correct. He earned his accounting and master's degrees in just over four years. He passed the CPA exam in seven months and has completed six law classes at SMU. He is not twenty-five years of age yet. Whether you like him or not, I don't care," he started.

"The four of us just spent the last month evaluating how this firm handles its money, and the conclusion was not what I hoped for. We are sloppy, unorganized, and lazy when it comes to documentation. This will change as of today. Carlos, Jeremy, and I started this several years ago, and it has brought us here," he continued.

"Therefore, we will meet with each department head and go over the changes that will be made on your respective floor. I will also meet with all the litigators together and explain what changes you will make. I will start with the attorneys, and Carla will call your department heads individually. Department heads are excused for the time being," Richard announced.

Everyone filed out except for the attorneys who had assembled in the room. We had seventeen full-time litigators on staff, and all were present. Richard broke it down all in the first sentence. He told them they needed to bill more recordable hours on their cases. He had the new file folders with the inner pocket and the new timecards, which would be in each folder. He explained that he wanted five to six hours billed each day by each attorney. No one objected, and they filed out fifteen minutes later.

We met with the department heads individually, with Richard leaving Nora Davis for last. Nora, who had been with Richard a long time, would be the most challenging sell on the new system. Finally, Nora Davis arrived in the room and sat down.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, Nora; it's been a long day. As you are unaware, all financial matters go through Tim's office. You will no longer be responsible for credit cards, statements, expense accounts, or material ordering. You will now head up the clerical division and be responsible for closed files on all our customers," he started.

"So, you're taking away most of my work?" Nora asked, not very happy.

"Nora, I hired an in-house certified public accountant for a reason. He is now going to do that job. In addition, he will need a few of your people to move into his division. Ask around and see if anyone wants to relocate to his department. If not, I will figure something out," he replied.

"So now I have to take orders from Boy Wonder here?" Nora snapped, pointing at me.

"Nora, I may be mistaken here, but I have never seen Tim speak disrespectfully to anyone since he joined this firm. Much the opposite, he has gotten nothing but praise from coworkers and clients. I'm unsure what you have against him, but I assure you I will end it if it continues. Am I clear?" he asked sternly.

"Yes, you're clear, Richard," she replied.

The following week or so was extremely hectic. I got Terri Clark from Robin's floor to come and take the job as my secretary. Bella Tomas would continue to be my assistant, and Belinda would remain my receptionist. Nora called Terri and told her she was sending two bean counters for an interview. They had asked Nora for the transfer, or she wanted to eliminate them.

Several minutes later, Stacy Locassio walked into my office and sat down. Stacy was thirty years old and married with one child. She had been with Butler, Land, and Reyes for nearly seven years on Nora's floor the entire time. She seemed very nervous and kept wringing her hands together.

"Stacy, is everything okay? If you don't wish to transfer to this floor, you don't have to," I said reassuringly.

"No sir, it's not that," she started.

"Stacy, tell me what's on your mind," I said softly.

"Well, I used to keep track of all the expense accounts, the credit card bills, and petty cash for the firm. Nora often would come into my office and change a receipt or have me pay something without a receipt. I tried to explain that I felt uncomfortable doing some of these tasks, but she paid me no mind," Stacy admitted.

"I'm glad to hear most of that story. After reviewing the records, I have reservations about several people at this firm. However, I want you to do much of the same for me. I want you to handle exactly what you did for Nora Davis. Please develop your tracking system and print me a report once a month. However, in no way can anyone now change anything or ask you to do something you're not comfortable with. Every transaction must have a legitimate receipt with all the correct information. If not, put it in an envelope and send it back to where it came from with a rejected stamp. I promise I will never ask you to do anything you feel uncomfortable with," I replied.

"Great, when can I start?" she laughed.

"Right now, go clean out your desk and come down here and find an office you like," I replied, softly shaking her hand.

Stacy left the office and immediately went upstairs to gather her things. Terri Clark ushered a second woman in, a file clerk for Nora Davis. Jennifer Thomas sat down and looked quite nervous at first. She told me she handled Nora Davis's files, including delivering and retrieving files from the entire building. She mentioned that she liked working here but admitted that she and Stacy were not in Nora's inner circle.

I made the same offer to Jennifer that I made to Stacy, which she also jumped at. Several minutes later, she was on the elevator to retrieve her belongings. I now had Belinda as a receptionist, Terri as my secretary, Bella as my assistant, Stacy keeping records, and Jennifer filing for us. There were now six on this floor, but I would have to hire someone else to help Stacy with the record-keeping.

The building buzzed with rumors, mostly involving Nora Davis and her victim role. After so many years of faithful service, she was stripped of some of her duties given to a snot-nosed kid. The floor was running well several weeks later, and we were about two weeks away from Christmas.

As was a tradition here at Butler, Land, and Reyes, the company would shut down from Christmas Eve until the first Monday after New Year's Eve.

Our Christmas party was always held on December 23 unless it fell on the weekend, and it would move back to the previous Friday, as it was this year. Since our first month would only be accessed once we returned after the first of the year, we got the files and spreadsheets ready for then.

I had some free time after lunch one day, so I sat down and made a simple financial plan for myself. Even though I had not been with Butler, Land, and Reyes for quite a year, I had managed to save a reasonable sum of money. Since my payroll check had doubled, I was putting away two hundred dollars a week in my 401K program. The company matched that with a fifty percent contribution of one hundred dollars. So, every month, twelve hundred dollars went in for fourteen thousand four hundred a year.

I had already paid over $4,000 for my initial clothing allowance on the credit card. I was still using the company apartment, although I had thought of possibly looking for my own home. I wanted to research that right after Christmas.

At this point, I had one hundred and sixteen thousand dollars in my savings accounts and a little over eight thousand dollars in my checking account. I had a few bills, including groceries, office lunches, and car insurance. If I could keep this pace up for a few years, I would be financially stable by the time I hit thirty years of age.

Everybody was excited about the company Christmas party because the annual bonuses were given. From what I heard, the women in the firm went all out for the party, wearing cocktail dresses and such. All men were required to wear a suit and tie, with no exceptions.

I had slowed down at the gym because my shirts and jackets were tight. I could not afford to get larger and redo my wardrobe again. After backing down, everything fit comfortably, and I had only dropped seven pounds.

Everyone from my office went upstairs for the party at about eleven thirty. I remained in my office, finishing up some emails and calls I needed to make. I arrived on the top floor minutes after twelve to see the party in full swing. I moved across the vast room to the table with the catered food, made myself a small plate, grabbed a soda, and then sat at the end of one of the tables. As I ate, I looked around the room, and the rumor was correct; the ladies went all out. Carla Davenport was wearing a three-piece business suit and looked lovely. Terri Clark wore a tight white dress that showed off her body more than usual.

About that time, Robin Woods walked across the room in my direction. Robin was always dressed to the nines but had outdone herself this time.

She was wearing a thin-strapped satin dress that went right above the knee but had a slit running up the left side to mid-thigh or perhaps higher.

She walked up to me and sat in the chair beside me. Robin and I had not talked much since I confronted her about the gossip she had put out.

"Hey Tim, how are you?" she asked.

"I'm fine, Robin, and you?" I replied

"I'm Doing well, thank you. I hear you guys are knocking it dead on your floor," she said.

"Yes, we're ready to roll. Everything will change around here once we return next year." I offered.

"There will be many pissed-off people," she laughed.

"Not my problem," I answer quickly.

"Oh, you're right. Too many people have been skating for too long. It will not affect me; I never use a company credit card. But many people do, and they have never been held accountable, including your new best friend, Nora Davis." Robin laughed.

"I'll deal with Nora Davis," I answered.

Robin warned, "Just be careful, Tim. She can be vicious. She will lie, cheat, or steal to get her way."

"Thanks for the advice," I replied, smiling.

"Tim, I know we started a bit rocky, and I'm so sorry. I never meant any harm that day. Someone approached me and asked me about you, and I went on and on about what a nice, sweet guy you were. One thing led to another, and I blurted out something I should not have," Robin said with a sigh.

I said, "It's okay, Robin. It's all in the past. Forget it."

"Look, my parents have this huge Christmas Eve party yearly. It has grown to quite an event. Anyway, I was wondering if perhaps you would be my date?" she asked softly.

"Oh, I uh don't think," I began.

"Tim, you told me you have no one here, no family at all. Come with me to the party, no strings attached, just as friends. I would love for you to meet my parents," Robin said.

"I guess I can do that. Let me know when and where to pick you up tomorrow," I answered.

Robin softly squeezed my hand, got up, and walked off. Watching her ass walk away from me was every man's dream. Robin was beautiful, and most men would die to be with her. Richard Butler's voice brought me from my trance while watching Robin walk away.

"Thank you to everyone in this room for another successful year at Butler, Land, and Reyes. As usual, Carla has your paycheck and annual bonus. As you know, Tim Williams has the financial floor up and running.

Starting this year, everything here will be tracked and accounted for. I know we will all see numbers better next year than ever, reflected in your bonuses next year. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all," Richard said, lifting his wine glass.

Everyone applauded in the room, with a few giving me a look and telling me they were not looking forward to the changes. Carla Davenport made her way around the room, handing out checks from the massive stack. She made her way over to me and handed me three checks, then winked at me.



To be continued