Restoration Builders, Inc.
by
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Chet pounded the up button on the elevator in the lobby and stepped inside the car and pushed the 4th floor button. Soon he was looking at the very lovely young face of the HR receptionist, Dana Flowers.
“May I help you?” Dana softly spoke. She was very young and very pretty. Chet put on his coy charm and smiled robustly at her, tipping his hat as he did, while intently looking at her left hand for a ring.
“Yes, I believe Mr. Willhouse desires to speak to me. My name is Chet Mullins.”
Dana lifted herself from her desk and replied. “I’ll see if he is available. Please have a seat Mr. Mullins. I’ll be right back.”
Chet tipped his hat again and smiled once more, then fixed his gaze upon her backside as she went to Mr. Willhouse’s office. A few moments later Dana returned with Mr. Willhouse at her side.
“Chester, please come back with me would you please. And Dana. Please hold all my calls. It is Chester, right?”
“Legally yes. But I go by Chet if you don’t mind.” Glancing interestingly back at Dana as she returned to her desk. Mr. Willhouse noticed Chet’s interest in Dana.
The two entered a small but adequate office for the director of Human Resources, nicely appointed with comfortable furniture and a small refrigerator. “Have a seat, Chet. Listen, I have heard some very nice things about the quality of your work here at H&M Construction. Tell me, are you happy here?”
“I enjoy the work. It’s rewarding seeing neighborhoods spring up and become homes for families. Yes, I guess you could say I am happy here.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear that. But all that I have heard is not the kind of report I like to hear about any of our employees. Can I be blunt and ask if you have any personal problems that might be jeopardizing your employment here?”
“Are you going to fire me?”
“I don’t think that’s what I asked you. I’m interested in your life away from the job that might be affecting your productivity and or relations with other employees.”
“Has that happened yet? What have I done?”
“For right now your productivity is good and accuracy is impeccable. But you do have a history of tardiness or completely blowing off a whole day. Can you explain that history?”
“Well, I went through a divorce a ways back and that may have affected my arrival times at work, but that’s pretty much behind me now.”
“Chet, to be honest with you, your tardiness cannot continue and the site supervisor at your present assignment seems to think that you might be drinking excessively which could be a part of the reason you are tardy or late. Do you have anything to say about that?”
“I don’t know if I would use the word ‘excessively’ when describing my social drinking. I like the folks at Kelly’s Sports Bar, and I do spend a lot of my evenings there, but I wouldn’t say that was ‘excessively drinking’. Some people go home after work and watch tv until midnight. Others go down to their man cave and shoot pool until bedtime. I prefer to be with my friends at Kelly’s. But I don’t believe the way I spend my evenings is causing a few tardy arrival times. Sometimes it is the traffic or maybe a bit of a late start from home gets me to the job site a bit late. Sounds to me like someone might be making a mountain out of a molehill. Or maybe someone just doesn’t like me.”
“Okay. For now, that will do. But I have something to share with you that you might want to consider as an option for your future and certainly for your future here at H&M Construction. Are you familiar with the three divisions within H&M Construction?”
“No. I didn’t know there were three divisions. How does that affect me?”
“Yes, we have three divisions. You are presently in the Home Division. That’s the ‘H’ in H&M Construction. The other two divisions come under the ‘M’ portion of our name. That ‘M’ stands for ‘More’. It’s under that More Division that we offer something different than home and condominium construction. In the More Division, we build churches. Some fairly large churches with steel construction: girders and beams. These start at occupancy rates of 1,200 all the way up to 5,000 seat sanctuaries.
“But not all our church clients can afford or need big churches like that. They may need more modest facilities. Maybe a stick-built 500 seat sanctuary up to 1,000 seats. Still others may only need an addition to their existing church facilities. Maybe more office space or Sunday school classrooms or nurseries. And we also offer remodeling to get current facilities up to code and dressed up with more modern touches. Sometimes we’re hired to only do an upgrade of plumbing, electrical or fire suppression systems. We handle all these situations.
“So, within the More Division, we have two subdivisions. Mega church buildings and Modest church buildings or remodeling. I’ve told you all of this because we have a program where we take employees who have demonstrated significant expertise in the building trades; people we want to help succeed even more than just in their jobs. And help them get on the road to complete job satisfaction while helping them overcome some difficult areas of their personal lives. Are you with me so far?”
“I’m not certain I am. Please don’t sugar coat it…”
“…I believe your employment record here reflects difficulty in handling your alcohol consumption. In other words, you may have a drinking problem that could be most detrimental to your employment with H&M Construction—or any other company for that matter. We want to help you overcome that problem while keeping you gainfully employed with us…May I explain what I have in mind?”
“Please do. You have my attention.”
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About the Book
As teens, Chet Mullins and girlfriend, Candy Fortner, drink all the time. However, married life has not unfolded as she had envisioned. Differing marital goals and alcohol prove destructively incompatible. Escalating problems turn Chet into a troubled employee and Candy into an emotional wreck. Both are employees at a construction company with a unique program for their valued employees who struggle with drugs or alcohol addiction. H&M Construction is a compassionate company that introduces faltering employees to God's love, restorative grace, as well as deliverance from their troubling vices.
We observe the decline of Chet, an exterior framer with increasing work-related problems. You’ll feel the anguish and regrets Candy experiences while employed as an interior finish woodworker. She desires a more stable and less reckless life and to start a family—Chet wants none of it.
Tensions increase and divorce inevitably follows. Job loss and financial ruin are certainties on Chet’s horizon. Reluctantly, he joins the company’s rehabilitation program. We follow his addiction, admission, angst and recovery as well as a surprising consequence--SALVATION. Candy suffers through additional loss but finds the impetus to endure from her mother’s Christian perspective and guiding wisdom.
H&M Construction Company (AKA: Restoration Builders, Inc.) puts the restoration of lives in the front pocket of the company’s portfolio.
About the Author
DENNIS A. BEAUDRY served in the U.S. Air Force for just over twenty-six years and followed that up with sixteen years with The Ohio State University. Originally from Monroe, Michigan, he now resides in Columbus, Ohio, has two adult children and four grandchildren. Dennis is widowed, losing his wife, Linda, to lymphoma after forty-nine years of marriage. His writing spans nearly his entire life starting with a penchant for poetry in his teen and young adult years, then expanding to novels in later years.