Thankfully, April refrained from chit-chat, and Lara checked email on the ride.One of the board members, Mary, had asked for more information about Connor’s communications proposal, and she’d copied Pernell also.
The request had been sent late yesterday afternoon.Unsurprisingly, her father hadn’t responded.
That continued to weigh on her.
To her knowledge, he hadn’t been in the office since Tuesday.Even though Venessa had said he was absent, yesterday Lara had gone to see for herself.His inbox had grown by at least an inch and pink pieces of paper bearing phone messages littered his desktop.He still hadn’t answered his phone or returned any of her messages.
Following her intuition, Lara asked April to drive to his house.“Do you have enough time to do that before you need to return for Connor?”
“That shouldn’t be a problem, Ms.Bertrand.”
Even though his car wasn’t in the driveway, she still took the chance and went and knocked on the door.When there was no answer, she tried the knob to find it locked.
“Ready, ma’am?”April asked.
“Thanks, yes,” she said, getting back in the car.She felt relieved to know that he wasn’t at home brooding.More likely, he was at his golf club.
Traffic was still light when she reached her office building, and she made a stop at the coffee kiosk in the lobby before heading upstairs.
A little after eleven, there was a knock on her door.
“Come in.”She pushed aside the revised marketing budget and looked up.
Pernell entered.
Shock kept her in her seat for a few seconds before she jolted herself and stood.“Dad,” she said.
“Mind if I have a seat?”
She considered going over to the less formal area but changed her mind, opting to keep the desk between them.“Please come in,” she said.
Uncertainty kept her on guard, but she forced herself to sit back in her chair rather than on its edge.Again taking a cue from Connor, she waited rather than fill the silence with nervous chatter.
“I’ve had some time for thinking,” he said.“I despise your attempt to take over my board.”
She wanted to correct him, to tell him it was the BHI board.Then she realized that his words helped identify the problem.He thought of himself and the corporation as the same entity.
In his place, perhaps she would have, too.
As a young man, he’d started working as a stockbroker.He’d done well enough that he’d left the large firm and started his own company, taking a number of clients with him.She’d heard that the beginning had been bumpy, but he’d had the love and support of Helene.She’d worked a full-time job in addition to being his secretary, and they’d lived in a small, suburban one-bedroom apartment while he’d built his empire.He’d owned ten rental houses and two commercial properties, all of which had produced a nice income, before he and Helene had even considered buying themselves a modest place to live.
They’d continued to work hard and invest, and it hadn’t been until he’d made his first two million dollars that they’d even discussed the possibility of starting a family.
“I’ve never considered that you wouldn’t want to take over as CEO.”He held up his hand when she might have spoken.“I know.You’ve said it a hundred times.I haven’t listened.”
She nodded.
“You know, Lara, since your mother left, my heart hasn’t been in it.”
Suddenly she saw him in a different light.Stubborn, yes.Curmudgeonly, even.But until now, she hadn’t seen him as a lonely man.“I’m not sure I understand.”
“Helene has a certain amount of energy.I had no idea how much I fed on it.Over the years, she wasn’t as involved in the day-to-day, but every night, we talked about the business.I bounced every idea off her.But about seven years ago, she started talking about spending more time together, traveling, maybe buying a second home in Europe.She said I could run the business just as easily from Tuscany as Houston.I was still wanting to build and she wanted to start paring back.”
It occurred to her that her mother hadn’t told her this much.But it explained a lot.
“The truth is, as your mother stepped back, I was looking for you to replace that enthusiasm for growth.”
For a paralyzing moment, Lara wondered if he was going to fire her.Technically that would be within his rights and his power, but it was an outcome she’d never considered.
