Mia Mine Ch. 08

Mia was the first to speak. "I love you David, as I have never loved before. I love making love with and to you. I love being in your arms. I love how you walked into my life like you had always belonged here. I love how you love me for who I am, and who I want to grow to be. I love you David"

David was trying to hold back his tears as he looked at Mia's falling down her cheeks.

"Mia, I love you. I feel as if I have always been looking for you, and have only settled in the past. Now I have everything I had only dreamed what a loving relationship should be, and so much more that I had never even dreamed of. With you at my side, I feel I can do any and everything."

Eventually the lovers made it into the bedroom, and fell asleep in each other's arms.

>**< ** >**<

Mia's alarm went off at 5:00 AM, and they both stirred together. Mia reached up to kiss David softly. "Thank you so much for last night. I needed you so badly, and you gave yourself to me. That means a lot to me my love."

David propped himself up on one elbow so he could look into Mia's eyes, and also returned her soft kiss.

"I should thank you for last night, it was one of the most, if not THE most wonderful experiences of my life."

Mia popped out of bed and announced she was going to take a shower and get herself ready. David decided he had better make some coffee. So while she showered, he figured out the wild espresso gadget she had, and made a few cups of espresso, which he kept hot on the stove in a small copper kettle he found. He wasn't much of an espresso man, even though he resided in the specialty coffee capital of the world. He quit going to those stands (on every other corner) after the owner of said coffee company sold the local NBA franchise to a man who stole the team away from Seattle and took it to Oklahoma. David missed the Sonics and would never forgive the coffee mogul.

He chuckled at himself for letting his thoughts go to such a meaningless topic now, on the morning of what could be a very important catalyst into how his and Mia's lives would be changing.

He heard the water turn off in the shower, so he brought Mia a little cup of the brew he had made and gave it to her as she stood before her mirror. As he set the cup down by her, she let her bath towel fall to the floor. She smiled at his stare, for he was still in awe of her beauty. He reached over and gave her a kiss, long slow, eyes closed kiss.

"Good morning beautiful," he said, and handed her the cup of coffee he had brought.

"Thank you kind sir, for taking such wonderful care of your Lady," Mia teased.

David bowed and backed away, letting Mia get to her hair drying, and make up. He knew she wanted to present her very best for the awaiting wolves.

As she worked on getting ready, he took his shower, came out and dried himself off, brushed his teeth and shaved, all before Mia was finished.

"Not fair," she said smiling.

"What can I say? I'm fast."

"Well having no hair gives you quite a head start," Mia quipped.

"Hey, I have hair, it's just so short I can dry it with a towel and not worry about the style."

"Ok, Ok, you've made your point, but a girl has to look her best in this world, even when she owns the company. It is so different for a woman, you will never know. And then throw in me being transgendered, and well, I do what I can."

David noticed Mia was wearing one of the outfits she had purchased at the little store he had taken her to back home. She looked smashing in the tight grey skirt that showed off her wonderful hips and ass. She picked a beautiful, almost fluorescent pink satin top, with the top three buttons undone showing just a hint of her beautiful cleavage. This was topped off by a striking black jacket that although was "off the rack" look tailored to her. David couldn't take his eyes off her.

"You look beautiful Mia, with or without the hairstyle and makeup. With it though and with that gorgeous outfit, I have to say you are stunning, a real head turner. I have a feeling your 'wolves' will be at bay before you even begin to speak to them."

"We'll see wont we? I may just have a couple of surprises up my sleeve, for them and for you. I want to get to the office very early and set up in the conference room. I want to make sure I am the first one there. I want to look at each board member as they arrive. I want to see if they hold my gaze or look away. I want to see how they arrive, in unison or separately. All these things will help me make my decision as to which way I want to take the meeting. I am a very good reader of body language; a skill I have been forced to hone to protect myself and my company."

"Ok my dear, surprises even for me? I wonder what those might be. So, if you want to be there early we should probably get moving."

Mia walked out of the bedroom and down the hall to her mother's room. David followed behind her, loving the view. She knocked on the door, "Mom, are you ready?"

"Coming dear," was the response from behind the door.

Christine came out dressed in a tailored blue business suit, and looked wonderful. David had to tell her, much to her glee.

They all went out to the kitchen to have one last cup of coffee. There was going to be a breakfast spread in the conference room, Jessie was in charge of that so they didn't have to think about breakfast.

They went to the garage, but as David headed for the car, Mia said, "No, let's walk today. It'll only take about ten minutes and the fresh air will do me good."

David offered both mother and daughter an arm, "I feel like the luckiest man alive to have two such gorgeous ladies on my arms. I bet I'll be receiving quite a few jealous looks."

Once the trio arrived at Mia's office suite, she guided them into her office. Jessie had beat them there, she must have gotten there very early, for out in the foyer there was already a spread of food, and coffee made and in insulated pitchers. They all said their hellos.

Jessie helped Mia with her jacket, as David helped Christine. After everyone's coat was hung in the closet in Mia's spacious office she asked them all to take a seat in front of her desk. It was strange for Mia to sit in her office chair and see her lover and mother on the other side of her desk.

"I just wanted to warn you two, I sent my father an email late last night telling him there is no way in hell I am paying him a dime for any reason."

David fidgeted in his chair. "I thought you had given yourself to late this afternoon with him."

"Yes, but I wanted to see his reaction, and if he would follow through with his threat." Mia's attention now switched over to one of the huge flat screen monitors on her desk as she typed away.

"Well, I see he has sent another blanket email to all the board members, stating I am a fraud. I am really a man. It also looks like he has cc'd several news outlets here in San Francisco."

"So the meeting will be quite serious from the start," said David

Mia frowned, and put her reading glasses down on her desk. "I didn't want to wait, I wanted to get this show on the road, and see how my 'loyal board members' will handle themselves. I am going to go into the meeting room now, like I said, I want to watch them enter. Also, Marsha should be here soon, I want her at my side."

David was getting concerned now as to what role he was to take. He wondered how this would all transpire now that the proverbial cat was out of the bag. He thought he was going to be at Mia's side during the meeting, but that seemed to have changed. He remembered Mia's statement about having some surprises, and he wondered if he was going into the meeting room at all.

"I want you to stay in my office with my mother for a bit, if you don't mind David. I think the beginning of the meeting is going to get a bit rough, and I don't want to create any more tension by having non board members sitting in on the meeting."

David nodded, he did understand. He could tell she wanted him there, but could understand her point of having company people only in the meeting. Having others in the room might mean some of what her board members were thinking would not be put into words at the table.

He felt a little left out, sitting there in his suit, all dressed up and nowhere to go. As Mia got up from her desk, she walked over to him and gave him a big kiss on the mouth. "Wish me luck my dear."

"I will wish you luck, but you don't need luck, you need the strength of your convictions, and I've seen you in that mode before, and see it in your eyes now. I have all the confidence in the world in you, you are ready to kick ass and take names my love." David gave her a big hug after his little pre-game speech.

As Mia walked out, David looked over at Christine and smiled.

"It looks like it's you and me again Christine."

"Yes, I do understand her point though, we could be a distraction in there. And you've already forgot? It's mom to you, ok?"

"Ok, Mom, maybe we could use this time for you to finish your story about how the Mia we know and love came to be."

Christine smiled as she gave David a loving look. "You really want to know everything about her don't you?"

"Yes, I do, and I want to hear it from the source" smiled David.

<**> ~ <**>

As Mia turned to go into the meeting room, she saw Marsha getting off the elevator.

"Good timing Marsha, there is food over there in the foyer, and I am going to get myself set up in the meeting room."

"Thanks Mia, I think I'll just grab a cup of coffee and be right in, did your father respond to your email?"

"Yep, I'll fill you in when you get in here."

Marsha got her coffee, rearranged her briefcase and backpack, and went to sit next to Mia.

She let out a big sigh as she sat and dropped her load. "God, I feel like a bag lady carrying all this crap."

"All that 'crap' is my future there Marsha, perhaps a little more respect could be shown?"

"Ok Mia, get it, you're already in the fight zone, I will gear up here in a minute and catch up with you."

Mia laughed, Marsha always had a way about her that gave her a bit of the mad scientist approach to lawyering. She could seemingly be absent minded, but in fact was sharp as a tack, so anyone who thought they could easily get the better of her, had a rude awakening coming their way.

"So he sent another blanket email, calling me a fraud, and that I am really a man. He also cc'd a few news outlets here."

Marsh nodded and with a bit of a pained expression said, "Well we kind of expected that. Are you still sure of the 'No Comment' approach?"

"Yes, let's go as we planned and try to ride this thing out."

Marsha finished her coffee and began to sort out her paperwork into three piles. They had worked out three different plans. The one to be chosen would depend on many things, but mostly on the behavior of the board.

Mia saw a couple of the board members come out of the elevator and start towards the meeting room, only to turn abruptly when they saw her sitting there.

"Hmmmm, I bet they had were going to get here early and have their own meeting, hold on, I'm going to buzz Jessie in here."

Jessie came in immediately after Mia's intercom signal. "Jessie, does that morning front desk security guard still have the hots for you?"

Jessie turned beet red. "Yes, he is really nice about it, but very persistent."

"Can you text him?"

"Yes, I have his cell number."

"Text him and have him try to let you know as each board member arrives, and if any of them arrive together."

"Done Mia." Jessie held her phone up.

"Now, go out to the front, and text me what the guard texts you, and let me know where they go when they get up here."

"You got it Mia!"

So far Mia had only seen William "Billy" Burke, the US Marketing Manager and Seth Weisbaum, CFO. As Mia and Marsha finished getting all the paperwork in place, Jessie's texts began to arrive.

The texts began to come in quite quickly. Nathan Nokamura, Chief Creative Officer, had come in next, and by himself.

Jorgen Klempt, International Marketing Manager was next, soon followed by Alicia Murray, Chief Diversity Officer.

The next two board members came in together, Erik Jorgenson, Chief Technology Officer, and Barbara Smythe, Chief Information Officer.

Mia smiled when she got the next text announcing the hurried arrival of her Chief Operations Officer, Harmony Flemming. She was Mia's 'rabbit', always late, late for a very important date. Harmony was the only board member Mia could count on for support. She was a single mother of two beautiful children and always seemed to have at least five pots boiling on the stove at one time.

Harmony was the only board member to come right into the meeting room. She smiled when she saw Mia, and came up to give Mia a hug. "I am so sorry about all this crap. The rest of the board seems to be having conniptions. How are you holding up?"

"Thanks Harmony, I knew I could count on you for support, and I am doing fine thanks."

"You always have my support Mia. I shudder to think where I might be if you hadn't given me the chance you did. I know it was against all the other's advice, but you stood by me, and I want to stand by you."

Mia had Harmony sit next to her, and as she sat down noticed the rest of the board was starting to file in. Per her plan, she tried to smile and make eye contact with each one. It was pretty clear that Billy and Seth were the ring leaders. After an initial attempt to have their stares bore a hole through Mia, they both dropped their eyes, wore frowns, and sat without looking up.

Jorgen and Barbara followed next, they too couldn't or wouldn't hold Mia's gaze, and appeared to be not quite as comfortable in being in the attack mode as Billy and Seth.

Nathan, Erik, and Alicia all held Mia's gaze, and even returned her smile. They did look very uncomfortable but not as adversarial as the other four. As they found their chairs and sat Mia felt like it was very possible for her to have a majority in her favor.

Mia stood and addressed the Board. "I would like to thank you all for making time to be here today. I realize it is under strange conditions, but I want to assure all of you, I have spent a lot of time and thought on the matter at hand, and have come up with four possible solutions.

First, however, I want to stress my position, and the company's position against these unfounded claims. Our answer to any question concerning this is 'No Comment.' I see no reason to give these claims any more attention than they are worth. Anyone who wishes to deviate from this policy is welcome to, but afterwards I will expect to see your letter of resignation on my desk."

This created quite a stir, as Billy was the first to speak. "Mia we can't just sit back and not defend ourselves." The other three on his side nodded their approval of his statement.

"Yes we can Billy, and we will. We do not have to defend ourselves at all. Our company policy is quite clear, our people are hired because of their merit. Race, religion, and sexual preference do not come into play in our decisions."

Nathan, Erik, Alicia, and Harmony all smiled and nodded their heads to Mia's first rebuttal.

The meeting went on with Billy and Seth making most of the complaints. They were very concerned that an undefended accusation of this sort could do major damage to the company's stature both in the US and especially internationally. They went on and on about having to deal with phone calls from customers and the bank, not to mention lower tier managers from all over the globe. Mia was amazed how fast the news had traveled, but stood firm in her decision.

"As any of you are welcome, anyone in the company is welcome, and any customers are welcome to leave. I do not want anyone uncomfortable with me or the way I .decide to handle this problem to feel they have to stay at DuoNet Tech. As a matter of fact, we could probably put up a new page on our website, celebrating all those who have decided to leave. Since they are worried as to how the world will see this problem, let it be known, that they have decided to not be a part of this company any longer. That would be a relatively easy task to put on our site, right Erik?"

"Right Mia, it would just take a few minutes to set that up." Mia smiled at her IT manager, glad he was so quick to answer, and seemed to already be having fun with the idea.

That little quip was met with a lot of grunts and harrumphs. Mia smiled as she waited for the little exhibition to quiet back down.

"Ok, Ok, let's get down to the brass tacks here. Billy it looks like you are the lead man for my 'opposition', why don't you give us all your ideas, concerns, and solutions.

Mia sat down, and gave Billy the floor. He stood, straitened his tie, looked around the room and cleared his throat. Mia thought to herself, "at least he didn't cross his arms in his little battery of nonverbal pauses."

"Mia, we are all very concerned about the accusation being made that you are really a man. This is a very uncomfortable situation for all of us. I can understand, somewhat, your decision to try to keep it quiet with your 'No Comment' approach, but it is my opinion, and the opinion of several other board members, that in today's instant information society, the one not responding to accusations, is usually guilty of those accusations, at least in the public eye. The media does not respond well to 'No Comment' and usually has a field day with the situation."

Mia jumped to her feet, knocking her chair over.

"I'm going to stop you right there Billy. GUILTY of the accusation? GUILTY?!?!?!? So if I am transgendered, I would be thrown in jail? What fucking planet are you from Billy?"

Mia jerked her chair in place, sat back down and tried to compose herself after her outburst. Marsha patted her hand and whispered, "Easy there tiger."

Billy was visibly shaken by Mia's outburst, but tried his best to at least pretend to be calm.

"Of course not Mia, I shouldn't have used the word guilty, and of course it is not a crime. My point was by not defending yourself, the public will think the accusations are true."

Mia interrupted again. "Do you think they are true Billy? Have you not treated me as a woman the entire time you have worked for me? And by the way, I am interested to hear, what if the accusations are true. What major difference would it mean to you personally, all of you on this board personally, and as a company? Tell me, are we going to implode and just stop doing business?"

Billy cleared his throat again. "Of course not Mia, but we're pretty sure there will be major ramifications.

We will have to see how the customer base reacts. I really expect to lose a lot of business over this, so we may have to make cuts appropriate to the loss of revenue."

Mia was fuming, and biting her tongue to keep herself from telling Billy she would love for him to be the first 'appropriate' cut. Marsha could sense Mia's rage and held her arm, tightly to try to show her to keep it within her for now.

Actually it was Harmony who stood up to defend Mia. "I don't see where any of this amounts to a hill of beans. Like Mia said, DuoNet Tech has a no discrimination hiring policy, so that should go all the way to the top. Now I don't know anything about who is transgendered or not, and frankly I don't care. This company runs like clockwork thanks to the wonderful groundwork Mia put into place. I say she has her right to her privacy and dignity. The accusations are totally unwarranted and without merit. Besides, the accuser is trying to extort money from her for God's sake. What does that tell you about the moral fiber of the accuser? I don't think Mia knows for sure it really is her father. I stand with Mia, and totally agree with her approach."