Whoohoooo ... 511 reviews. Babes, you rock! This is the 6th story I write, the 4th multiple chapter story and NEVER have I gotten 500+ reviews before. Wow. This feels incredible (beam brightly) thanks so much!
This is a connecting chapter - not much action, but a big decision that comes with several conditions. Thank you so very much to WizardsWoman for her untiring help! Ya da best.
Disclaimer is the same as always: What you know from the books belongs to Janet Evanovich.
The second chance
Chapter 21
"Bobby, Les," Steph greeted the two men standing in front of her with a smile on her face. "If you are here to keep me from comforting myself with three pieces of wonderful rich and decadent cake, then you are unfortunately too late."
"Three pieces?" Bobby winced as Lester let out a loud laugh.
"No wonder you are so sweet, Beautiful, with all the sugar floating your system. Don't let the bossman know about that."
"He has no say in what I eat, Les, and he knows it. Okay, he would Babe me if he knew, but oh well. I could still pretend not to know what he meant by that." Steph grinned up at him.
"Seriously, are you okay, honey?" Bobby looked at her, all concerned friend. "You've been gone for quite a while so Les and I thought we should look for you to see whether you need a hug or two while you come to your decision."
"Thanks for worrying, guys, but I'm fine. I was just working up the nerve to come upstairs and talk to you."
"No guts needed, Beautiful. We all love you, you know that. Whatever you decide won't change anything about that."
"I know Les, but that doesn't mean that I'm not nervous and a little scared how my decision will be perceived."
"And what is your decision?" Bobby pulled her out of her chair, hugged her and pressed a loving kiss to her forehead.
"I will tell you when we are in Ranger's room, okay? He's the one who asked, he needs to be the one I tell first."
A few minutes later, they walked down the hall of the third floor toward Ranger's room. Steph wanted to wait for a moment before entering to take a few deep breaths and collect herself, but Les simply hugged her from behind, pressed a big, smacking kiss on her neck, then opened the door and pushed her insight before he and Bobby followed her.
Stumbling into the room, Steph caught herself before she could fall on Ranger's bed and hurt him in the process.
"Dammit Lester." She turned around and glared at him without heat, but the man behind her just shrugged with a mischievous grin on his face.
"Didn't want you to worry too much."
"You worry, Babe?" Ranger asked from the bed, the head section raised so he was in a sitting position.
"A bit." Steph pulled her lower lip between her teeth and chewed on it.
"But there's no reason. Nothing will change between us no matter what."
"Theoretically I know that, but practically I worry that I will disappoint you."
"Babe, you can't disappoint me. Never. The fact alone that you decided to think about my proposal and didn't reject it the moment it left my mouth makes me incredibly proud of you." Ranger watched Steph who had her eyes trained on the floor and her bottom lip between her teeth. "Cake?"
Steph's head flew up and she looked at him with wide eyes. Of course he would know. "Three pieces."
"Babe." And there it was, Ranger's almost smile that meant so much to her.
Steph couldn't help but smile in return. "I don't know what that's supposed to mean."
Ranger threw his head in his neck and let go of a full belly laugh.
"Did the cake help?" He asked with a two hundred watt smile lighting up his face.
"I didn't really taste anything." Steph shrugged her shoulders. "But I already had made up my mind while I visited Mark and Leroy before going down to the cafeteria."
"Lay it on the line, Babe. I promise nothing will change between us no matter what your answer is."
"Okay." Steph took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. "I will take the job…"
Whoops of joy echoed from the walls of the room and she was squished with hugs before she could continue.
"… wait, wait, you haven't let me finish."
"What is it, Babe?"
"I will take the job under the following conditions." She pulled out the napkin with her scribble.
Immediately, the hubbub ebbed away and the guys looked at her expectantly.
"I realize that when I take over the job as acting CEO I need to be a role model for the guys. I will never excel at that to the point you do, Ranger, but I want to give my best. Therefore I accept that I need to have training. The first condition is that my fitness training will take place outside of Rangeman. I will get myself a personal trainer who will of course be Rangeman approved and train with him several times per week. Having all the guys around me while I struggle with the simplest tasks will make me uncomfortable and dread the training that will be hard enough on me. If I want to do this, it needs to be outside of Rangeman and on my terms."
Ranger looked at her and nodded after a moment. "Condition approved; go on."
"The job specific training like shooting, defensive driving, self-defense and take-down techniques will take place at Rangeman with a Merry Men of my choice."
"Babe, Tank, Bobby and Les will love to take over your training or chose one of the guys for you. Not every one of them has the same strengths. The core team knows best which ones are the most capable."
"Ranger, these conditions are non-negotiable. I am not asking for them, I expect them to be accepted if you want me to take on the job. All this training will be an immense change for me, one that I will struggle with. To stick to this regimen I need to feel as comfortable as possible and that means I will decide which guy will train me. Once it becomes second nature to me, if that will ever happen, I will be open for a change in training partners."
"Okay, Babe. I'm not happy about it, but your argument is reasonable. Condition approved. What next?"
"I agree to move into a safer apartment, but not at Rangeman."
"But Beautiful, we would love to have you with us. Imagine all the fun we could have."
"Les, I know you mean well, but I expect to have twelve to fourteen hours days. I need to get out of the building after a long day of work. Otherwise I would feel imprisoned. I really need a change of scenery."
"Will you discuss your new apartment with Tank and listen to his objections and wishes?" Ranger asked.
"Yes, I promise I will take his advice into account, but the final decision will be up to me. This is about my life and I need to feel comfortable and in control."
Ranger looked down at his hands in his lap and contemplated her words. He wanted her to live on seven, but he knew her too well to expect her to accept that offer. It would probably make her run screaming for the hills. So far she was more than reasonable. He had to trust her that she would make the right decision about her living place. And let's face it, everything would be better than the crappy apartment she had now.
"Okay, Babe. I'm happy that you agree to move into a safer apartment and as long as you will discuss your options with Tank and take his arguments seriously I'm fine."
"Thank you." Steph let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding.
"What comes next, Babe? That napkin has an awful lot of notes scribbled on it." Ranger smiled at her and she could feel how her body relaxed in response.
"No diet! All this responsibility and changes will take a toll on me and I need to eat my comfort food."
"Okay, Babe. Accepted."
"What?" Steph looked at him with confusion written all over her face.
"I said accepted. No diet for you, you can eat whatever you want."
Steph stared at him speechless for a moment. "Wow. I thought this would be the hardest point and that we would fight over this."
"I would never fight over a minor matter as your diet. Yes, I want you to be healthy because I want you by my side for as long as possible, but I accept that your eating habits differ from mine and that is okay."
"I have to admit that baffles me." Steph shifted from one foot to the other, but then remembered her list. "Okay, since that is sorted out my next condition concerns my partner. As CEO of the leading security company on the east coast I will be at a greater risk than I've been so far. I accept to take a partner with me at all times, but I will decide who that will be. For the time being I haven't made a decision whether I will choose a permanent partner or whether I will take whoever is free, but this or that way it will be my choice."
"Beautiful, I thought we would partner up."
"I appreciate you wanting to have my back Les, but no, you are part of the management. In my opinion it's important that the core team doesn't partner together but act independent from each other so the work load can be distributed on as many shoulders as possible. I hope that makes sense to all of you."
"What about Bobby and me?"
"Same rules. That doesn't mean there won't be exceptions, but in general I think we should partner up with the other guys. For one to avoid that two managers are held up at the same time for the same reason and for two because it will improve the relationship with the guys if we partner up with them regularly."
"Approved, Babe. You can decide which one of the men you want as partner. Regarding splitting up tweedledee and tweedledum – good luck with that one. I won't interfere in that discussion. What else do you have on your list?"
"If I take on the job as acting CEO I want free hand in making changes. Otherwise I would just be a puppet and nobody would take me seriously."
"What changes are you talking about, Babe?"
"First off there will be no more mat time as punishment."
"But that system has proved itself as working over the years."
"It's like Bobby said earlier," Steph looked straight into Ranger's eyes. "He, Lester, Tank and you rule by instilling fear. That's not me. If one of the guys slips I need to be able to punish him myself. Sending him off so somebody else can do that for me would damage any respect the guys might feel toward me. Aside from that this whole procedure is a law-suit waiting to happen. A superior beating the shit out of his employees? Please! I didn't like it the first day I realized what happened when you call one of the men to the mats, but the more I think about it the less acceptable it is. You can't beat your subordinates. That's beyond the pale. As far as I know nobody ever beat you in the military for a task not well performed; running extra laps, doing push-ups, yes, but no beating. I'm sure there is a law against it and your men deserve more respect."
"Little girl, it's how we work. We…" Ranger lifting his hand silenced Tank.
"Babe. I agree that you need to be able to deal out punishments when necessary and that you calling any of the guys to the mats doesn't make sense. I see where you are going with this and I admit that our procedure might be questionable, even though it works. The moment you take over Rangeman it's your decision to change this, but keep in mind how these men work. They are constantly going to their limits, their bodies pumping with adrenaline. In these situations tempers are automatically rising and their thinking becomes limited. They function more on their intuition and automated reactions than on controlled thought processes. Mistakes happen in this condition and have got to be punished. Otherwise, there is a chance that the men spiral out of control. The same goes for smaller misdeeds. You have to punish them. A stitch in time saves nine and it will help the guys to fully respect you and take your commands serious. Whatever you decide to do with them, you will need to keep them on a tight leash. Are you aware of that?"
"Yes, Ranger, I am and I promise I will keep a tight control, but things need to change or otherwise I can't excel at this job."
The man on the bed nodded that he understood and turned his eyes to his men in the room. "You will support her in this in any way she needs it."
"Got it, bossman," the three men answered in unison.
"What else, Babe?"
"I want to appoint a few guys to client relations and give them social competency training. I have seen the difference between proposals and signed contracts. Rangeman needs guys that are trained to deal with new and existing clients, who can exude a trusting atmosphere and make them feel comfortable. If that works out there will be no stopping to Rangeman's growth."
"Good point, Babe. I support that completely."
"Furthermore I would like to appoint a leader in take-down teams. He will be responsible for the take-down and be the spokesperson of the team and deal with the police and any other bystanders. Aside from that he will also be the one to fill out the capture report. By giving him more responsibility the lead appointed man will hopefully strive for a better result. Plus, having just one person write a report will help Tank to keep a better overview over the take-down situation."
"Will you develop a new report system as you suggested the other day, Babe?"
"That's my plan. A complete new program with templates that will be electronically sent to Tank who can process them easily and create any abstract and spreadsheet from the information he needs."
"What do you say, Tank?" Ranger turned his head to his second in command.
"I say a new era is about to begin for Rangeman."
"Do you support her suggestions?"
"Yes, as long as she confers with us before changing anything."
"I will always do that, Tank," Steph pledged and everybody could see that she meant it. "I know I'm just a representative for Ranger and you, Bobby and Lester are equal partners. If I think something should be changed or added to the existing procedure, then I will discuss it with you and ask for your opinion and together we will come to a decision."
"Bobby? Lester?" Ranger turned to his other two partners.
They exchanged a quick look and then Bobby nodded. "We are in. If nothing else the future with Bomber in lead will be interesting."
"What about your car, Babe? As the CEO you can't drive around in a POS."
"I already have a corporate car; I accepted it at Christmas. Honestly I forgot about it but it should be delivered by now." Steph turned to Tank and looked at him questioningly.
"It's waiting for you in the spot right next to the elevator in our garage, Little Girl. A brilliant blue Buick Encore with all the works," Tank added when he saw Ranger's raised eyebrow.
"A Buick, Babe?" Ranger chuckled.
"What? It's cute and it has no similarities with Big Blue."
"You let her get away with Brilliant Blue?" Ranger turned his eyes to Tank.
"You wouldn't?"
"You got me there." Ranger smiled when Tank raised a single eyebrow at him. "Okay, Babe. Is there anything else on that napkin? Any other condition?"
"Not a condition, but a suggestion. I have seen the way Leroy interacts with Mark, he does remarkable with him and is devoted to his recovery. I asked him what he wants to do once his contract is over and he said that depended on how Mark is doing. He wants to be close to him and support him. You and I already discussed how we want to keep Mark close to us and make him a part of Rangeman. I would like to consider adding Leroy on staff after his service is up to help with the care of Mark. If he passes all background checks and physical requirements then we could use him on staff at Rangeman."
Ranger shared a long look with Tank where they apparently came to an understanding.
"We can't offer him a job without knowing his qualifications. When his contract comes to an end and he decides not to renew, then he should send a written application to the Trenton office and Tank will invite him for a job interview and some tests. After that it's a decision for the core team."
Steph nodded that she understood. "Thank you."
"You are welcome, Babe."
"I think this calls for some celebration." Lester smiled broadly and bounced on the balls of his feet. "How about this Beautiful: You, Bobby and I drive to the next town where there are some beautiful restaurants. We organize some delicious food, Champaign and Cider for the bossman and in the meantime Tank can add your conditions to your contract. We all meet back here, you put your signature at the right places and we have an impromptu party."
That's it - the start of a new adventure. Steph is the acting CEO of Rangeman. I guess in the next chapter it is time for Ranger to fly back stateside and start his rehab. (thumbs up)