Allison's Inheritance

"Yes, you were shown the will but that's not a legal verification that I was dead. You made that assumption."

Allison let out a short bitter laugh. "Of course we made that assumption. We'd just attended your goddamn funeral!"

"I didn't say there weren't good reasons for the assumption," Arthur chuckled. "But you have no legal basis for a lawsuit against me, although you're welcome to try."

Allison sank back into her chair and began to massage her throbbing temples. Somehow she knew that everything her grandfather was telling her was true. She could talk to her lawyer about suing him but she knew she wouldn't win. She'd thought she was going to beat Arthur Compton at his sick, twisted game but he'd won. He always won. And if she took him to court he'd win again. She was screwed.

They both sat quietly for several minutes as the anger slowly seeped out of Allison and an air of resignation and defeat settled in. "So that's it then," she said finally. "You got your kicks for a year out of my public humiliation and all it cost you was a house and a car."

"A very nice house and a very nice car," Arthur responded. "You profited far more over the past year than a recent college graduate your age could reasonably expect."

"So I guess I should be grateful, huh?"

"You've read Rebecca's diary. You know what my fetish is, but I've never put a gun to a woman's head and forced her to expose herself in public against her will. It's always been her decision, just as it's been your decision over the past year."

"Yes, it was my decision," Allison sighed. "Even though I was totally lied to and misled it was my decision."

Arthur once again allowed her a minute of silence before speaking again. "Allison, you asked me what my plans were and I'm willing to discuss them with you now if you're willing to listen."

"Sure," she replied sarcastically. "Why the hell not?"

"I'm going to resume my role as Chairman of the Board and will control the overall direction of the company, but I no longer want to handle the day-to-day operations. I want to split my time between here and Costa Rica, so I'm going to be looking for a CEO I can trust to do that for me, and it sure as hell won't be Tony. You've shown me a lot over the past year." Arthur chuckled over his choice of words. "In more ways than one."

"You mean you think I'm more than just a naked bimbo?" she replied tartly.

"You've been naked, yes. A bimbo, no. Mariana has watched you closely over the past year and she says you're smart, tough, driven and competitive. You couldn't have made it through the past year if you weren't. You handled all the bullshit "assignments" that Tony threw at you and still managed to learn a lot about the business. She says you're a quick study and have come up with solid ideas for improving efficiency and profitability."

"So you're offering me the job?" she asked.

"No, I'm offering you the opportunity to convince me you're right for the job. And, if you can do that, the opportunity to negotiate the terms of your employment." Arthur leaned back in his chair and folded his arms. "Or I can call Mariana in to retrieve your clothes for you and you can go out and tell the reporters anything you want and have your lawyer sue me. It's your choice."

Allison sat quietly for several minutes and Arthur didn't interrupt her thoughts. She finally spoke again.

"Let's talk."

A Surreal Job Interview

"So tell me, Allison, why should I hire you as my CEO?" Arthur Compton asked.

"Well, you said it earlier…I'm smart, tough, driven, and competitive. And a quick study." The absurdity of the situation struck Allison as she responded. I'm doing a naked job interview with my previously deceased grandfather, she thought. How surreal is this?

"Yes, that's true," Arthur responded, "and those are all qualities I'm looking for in the person I hire. But, off the top of my head, I can think of at least a dozen other people I could hire with those same qualities who also have far more managerial experience and knowledge of the industry than you do."

Allison had no idea how to respond to that. "I guess I don't know then. Why the hell would you hire me?"

"How has the company been doing this past year?" Arthur asked.

"Good. Profits are up over the previous year. In fact it's been the most profitable year in a decade."

"Why is that? What do you think is the primary reason for it?"

"Well, it's been all the publicity," Allison responded. "Compton Enterprises used to be fairly well known within the region but not really nationally. Now it's got global name recognition."

"And what's been the source of all this additional publicity?"

"Well, me. And the whole naked inheritance thing," she said.

"Correct. And do you think that this publicity would continue if I hired you and you began wearing business suits like every other CEO in the country?" Compton asked.

"I'd still be well known and so would Compton Enterprises."

"For a little while, maybe. But you're well known because of the highly unusual - and scandalous, according the media - circumstances surrounding the inheritance. The minute you put your clothes back on the interest will begin to fade. In a couple of years you'll be a trivia question."

"I can see where this is going," Allison said. "You're only interested in giving me the job if I stay naked."

"That's right. That's the only thing you bring to the table right now that I couldn't get from a more experienced and qualified person. In a few years, as you gain knowledge and experience, that may change and you'll become invaluable to the company whether you're wearing clothes or not. But right now you're not."

"A few years! I'm not going to agree to stay naked for a few years!"

"Any agreement we reach, if we reach one, will be for only one year. After that we'll re-evaluate the situation and either renegotiate the deal or terminate it and you can move on. Next year you might be in a stronger bargaining position than you are today, but right now the only thing you really have to offer me is continuing publicity from your unique circumstances."

"What kind of salary are we talking about?" she asked.

"It'd be commensurate to what a first-year CEO would be making at a company this size. It wouldn't be instant wealth like the money from the inheritance but it'd be more than enough to start building on. In a few years, if you stayed on, you wouldn't need me to keel over in order to become a wealthy woman."

"What about the website? Naked Allison?"

"Is it profitable?" Arthur asked.

"Yes. Very. It has the highest profit margin of any project in the company."

"And if it continued would it help to promote your own fame and notoriety, which is currently your most valuable asset to the company?"

"Yes," she said.

"Then you tell me, Allison. As CEO of Compton Enterprises would you pull the plug on it?"

Allison sighed and shook her head. "No."

Allison's mind reeled from the prospect of spending another year in the nude. And maybe even beyond that! She couldn't believe she was even considering this, but she knew she was.

Why? She wasn't sure she knew the answer. It wasn't just the money, although she'd gotten a taste of what it meant to have wealth and was more attracted to it than she wanted to admit. Not long ago she was going to be an environmentalist and they made hardly anything. She wasn't sure she wanted that life anymore.

Was it the challenge of running a company? That was part of it. A year ago she wanted to get control of Compton Enterprises so she could rip it apart. But one of the things she'd learned was that a corporation wasn't just a soulless entity; it consisted of people just trying to make a good living and take care of their families. She'd gotten to know a lot the employees here and they were, for the most part, good people. She wanted to make sure they continued to have jobs and that meant turning a profit. There were things that the company could do to be better stewards of the environment, but dismantling it just for the sake of conservation wasn't the answer. There had to be a balance between profits and preservation of the environment and as CEO she could help guide the company toward finding that balance.

But it wasn't just that either. This past year had been the craziest, most exciting, thrilling, and nerve-wracking year of her life. Could she go back to a normal life after that? And did she even want to? She wasn't sure.

She looked up at her grandfather who had gone silent again to allow Allison her thoughts. He was a man who understood when to speak and when to shut up during negotiations. "Would I ever be able to wear clothes?" she asked finally.

"As CEO there might be times you'd need travel out of state or attend a conference or give a speech where it may not be possible or practical to keep you naked. In those situations I'll give permission for you to dress. But on a normal day-to-day basis, no. You'll continue on as you are now, both on the job and away from it."

Allison nodded. "I think I understand the terms under which you'd offer me the job," she said. "Are you offering it to me?"

"Under those terms, yes."

Allison glanced up at the clock on the wall. It was past the time she thought this would all be over. "I'll need a few minutes to think about it."

Arthur Compton began to rise from his chair to leave Allison alone but she interrupted him. "I have just a couple of more questions before you go," she said.

"Alright," Arthur replied and settled back into his chair.

"What about Tony? Does he stay on?"

Arthur sighed at the mention of his son's name. "Tony does have some knowledge of the business that would be valuable to you. But he has no clue how to deal with people and nobody likes him. He's as much a liability as an asset. I'd leave that up to you, if you decide to take the job."

"And what about my family? You were going to give them five million dollars in the will."

"How are your parents doing these days, Allison?"

"Much better. My father's construction business has picked up a lot recently so his financial problems have disappeared. And my mom and dad are getting along a lot better now."

"And why has his construction business picked up?" Compton asked.

"Well," Allison replied somewhat sheepishly, "I've used my position here to get him construction contracts on some of our projects."

"Yes," Arthur replied. "I know. And he's been doing good work so keep doing it." Arthur leaned forward in his chair. "Allison, your father is a proud man and he never wanted that inheritance. Your mother did, but he didn't. He doesn't want anything that he hasn't earned and if he'd gotten the money he would have resented it and he would have resented your mother for it. It would have wrecked their marriage."

Allison was startled by Arthur's insight into her father and knew he was right. He understood people far more than she ever could have imagined before.

"There was some local controversy about one of the construction projects that your father is currently working on, wasn't there?" Compton continued. "The one at Woodland Meadows?"

"Yes," Allison replied.

"Tell me about it."

"Some environmentalists tried to block the project," she said. "They claimed the area was wetlands and protected by law."

"And you assisted the company in overcoming that didn't you?" Arthur said. Allison nodded. "Why?" he asked. "Those were your buddies in the environmental movement, weren't they?"

"I helped because it was a totally frivolous claim," Allison said. "That land is no more a wetlands than my backyard. They were just trying to block a project that would have provided jobs and benefits for people in the area."

"I see," Compton said. "So the real world is somewhat more complex than your leftist college professors taught you?"

"Yes," Allison replied.

"Was there anything else?" he asked.

"Just one more thing. Did you love her?"

"Who?"

"Rebecca?"

Arthur sat their quietly for a minute before responding. "More than anything."

"But you forced her to do those things."

"I don't regret that. Not for a minute. I regret cheating on her, which is why she divorced me, but not for forcing her into public exhibitionism."

Arthur got up out of his chair and walked to the door of the adjacent office and opened it. He turned back to Allison and spoke again. "Did you know that Rebecca came back to me after our divorce and begged me to force her to get naked in public? She missed it. She missed the thrill of it and couldn't bring herself to do it on her own. Someday this will end and you'll miss it, too. You're more like her than you'll ever know."

He was silent for a moment and then spoke again. "I'll send Mariana in here in a few minutes and you can tell her your decision." Arthur Compton closed the door behind him and left Allison alone.

Thirty minutes later the door opened again and Mariana walked into the office. Without a word she unlocked the cabinet where she'd placed Allison's clothes the year before and placed them on the desk. "Will you be needing these?" she asked.

Allison got up from her chair and walked to the desk. "No," she said. "You can donate them to charity."

Mariana smiled at Allison. "Very well. I'll draw up the employment contract and have it on your desk tomorrow. You can have your lawyer look it over before you sign it, if you wish. Congratulations on your new position. I'll show you to your new office."

Mariana Perez was a lovely woman and, after all that had happened, Allison no longer had any doubts that she was her grandfather's mistress.

"You didn't exactly tell me the truth last year, did you?" Allison said.

"No, I didn't," Mariana replied. "I'm sorry about that but I was under orders from Arthur."

"And do you take orders from me now?"

"Yes, although if you tried to fire me or ordered me to do something that Arthur didn't approve of then I believe he'd overrule it."

"Then I want you to take your clothes off," Allison said.

Mariana blinked several times as if she wasn't quite sure what she'd just heard. "What?"

"When you lead me to my new office you'll be dressed exactly as I am now. And afterwards we're going to discuss your new dress code."

Mariana stared at Allison for a moment and then the edges of her mouth curled up into a slight smile. "Yes, Ms. Davis," she said and began unbuttoning her blouse.

THE END