Transition and Restart, book two: The Billion Dollar Empress

Chapter four, 2016, beach party, part one

With him at the helm yesterday's afternoon workshops went off without a hitch. Sure, some of the attendants showed some initial disdain at his apparent age, but he quickly put them out of any misconceptions.

Most of them were the same kind of over-aged middle management he remembered holding back much needed corporate change during his first life, but if you hit them hard enough over their heads with working solutions you peeled off the covers they hid behind.

In at least one sense Ulf preferred Japanese upper management to their Swedish counterpart he was used to. When they decide to go for broke they were absolutely ruthless with their workforce, especially with their middle management.

He used that advantage just as ruthlessly and forced the entire assembly to climb the murderous uphill hiking path to the camping he made certain hadn't been disassembled and brought down to the hotel.

Up there he worked them to their bones, and when he finally allowed them to rest most were so tired they just crawled into their tents and fell asleep.

To their horror he had them carry all equipment down the same path earlier this morning, and it was a dishevelled bunch that took a well deserved bath in the hot springs.

Ulf left them there after he received a long email from Christina, had two bento boxes made for them each and sauntered down to the beach. Work was what he needed, and Christina. And she had written that he was needed down there.

He made it just in time to meet her on the walkway separating beach from road when she was ready for lunch, and learned that Principal Nakagawa apparently had promised her something. They sat down with their legs dangling and arms hanging through the railings. Ulf had the pleasure of watching Christina light up with a grateful smile when he brought out their lunch.

"I've been so scared," she said.

There wasn't much of an answer he could give her. He hugged her closer with one arm. "Sorry. I won't be like that again," he murmured.

He'd been in black despair once before, but when he finally crawled out of the bottle after two weeks of the worst binge drinking since his university days he never returned into his private hell. Well, apart from now, he recalled and for a moment he was back in the ghastly scene with policemen backing away and a frantic teenager waving a gun until he put it in his mouth and pulled the trigger.

"Ulf? Please, you promised!"

He shook himself out of it and pulled a sobbing Christina into his arms. "No, I'm not going there again." Ulf watched waves rolling over sand and pulling back again. Just like Christina's breath slowed down to the rhythmic calm and love he had grown used to the last month. "I'm here with you. For as long as you want me." He hugged her harder and held her until he heard her stomach growl.

She pulled herself free and looked shamefacedly at him. Flicking away hair that had tangled in her face she regained her composure. "What about that lunch?"

Ulf grinned and handed her a paper napkin. Not even a super model was an image of perfection with snot in her face.

Without further talk they dug in on their lunch. Eating made him remember how hungry he really was, and they kept at it in silence only broken by requests for the bottle of water they shared.

When Nakagawa arrived mid-lunch he was dressed for vacation. He had a man with him. Younger, maybe forty.

"Good day," Nakagawa greeted them.

"And?" Ulf asked, nodding at the stranger.

"Mister Hammargren," the stranger opened in passable English. "My name is Arata Onishi. Pleased to meet you. Arata is my first name and I'm fine using it."