“William, it’s about time you showed up for one of these,” I joked… earning me a rare laugh.
He hadn’t joined a board meeting… ever. While my dad had tried desperately over the years to get him here, Will never came. Something brought him here today, but for the life of me, I couldn’t guess what it could be.
Will’s seat on the board was known to be purely for appearances’ sake, though we both knew it was merely maintained because our father refused to give up the notion that Will wouldn’t be taking over the company.
My dad seemed just as surprised as I was that Will was present. The two hadn’t been in the same building, let alone thesame room, since the day Will left after he’d turned eighteen. My dad was staring at him with shock and surprise. I also couldn’t help but notice the confusion in his face, when he glanced over Will’s tattoos… which I had a feeling gave Will a sense of pride. Those tattoos started as a way to cover up the abuse of my father and grew into something beautiful. It was his expression of freedom. We both had our minor ‘fuck you’ notions to my dad. Where Will had his tattoos, I had the drive to run this company and wipe our dad from its memory in the process.
Having Will here brought me a strength I hadn’t expected. I wasn’t sure where the rest of the board stood regarding their feelings on me, but I knew Will had my back. Through thick or thin, my brother would move mountains for me.
I took my seat and looked down the table to see each member of the board's gaze trained on me.
“Let’s begin.”
“That was quite literally the most boring six hours of my entire life,” Will complained as he lounged in one of my office chairs.
I chuckled, “Well, I do it every month. Imagine how I feel.”
The meeting had gone unexpectedly well. There was always an aura of distrust that hung heavy in the air during those meetings. Today, it was nowhere to be found.
While it wasn’t all sunshine and roses, the men on the board seemed to truly listen to both my reports, and those of my executives. There were still a few board members who madecomments, believing our success was pure luck, though. But it used to be far more. Some, however, began to see my initiatives as the cause.
It was working. I was swaying the board, slowly but surely.
“Why did you come today?” I asked Will, now that we finally had a moment alone. While we spoke every week, it had been over a year since I had seen him in person… and over four years since he had been in New York City.
He eyes me curiously, “You don’t know?”
I shook my head, confused.
“Rome called me,” he explained. “Thought you could use some support. My wife also had some meetings out here, so we decided to make it a trip.”
“Rome called you? For me?” I asked, bewildered. Will’s presence was greatly appreciated. His presence not only showed the board that I had his support, but also highlighted his complete disinterest in taking over. I had thought about asking him to come in the past, but he hadn’t seen our father in years for a reason, and I had no plans of forcing a reunion.
It was a wonder that our dad didn’t try to coerce some form of conversation during or after the meeting with Will. But, luckily for everyone, a board member had pulled him aside, and Will and I had escaped to my office on the other side of the executive floor.
Will then gave me a knowing smile, “What’s going on between you and Rome?”
“Absolutely nothing,” I blurted, far too quickly for it to be inconspicuous.
Will did his best to hold back a laugh, but it wasn’t going well. “You’re just so cute,” he said in the most annoyingly condescending voice ever.
I rolled my eyes and threw a pencil at him. As the pencil made contact and fell into his lap, my office door opened to Rome and Melissa making their way in.
“Can we please discuss how truly brilliant I am?” Melissa declared, dropping another stack of magazines on my desk, highlighting pictures of Rome and me. “You also now have three board members inviting you and Rome to dinner at their homes with their families.”
Rome smiled widely at the sight of Will. “Oh, William, how I have missed you,” he declared, his arms stretched out as if he were waiting for a hug.
Will rolled his eyes and threw my pencil at Rome, who simply caught it. Which shouldn’t have been as attractive as it was.
Rome plopped down in the chair next to Will, twirling the pencil between his fingers. “Someday you’re gonna love me. Hell, I convinced Bec here to tolerate me. She even called us friends.” Rome’s eyes were wide as if he were telling a shocking secret.
Both Will and I rolled our eyes at the comment.
Melissa laughed. “Like brother, like sister,” she mumbled. “Anyway… I have another list of events for you two to attend, and I was hoping I could convince your brother here to pose for some photos with the two of you.”
“No,” Will answered immediately.
“Call his wife with the details,” I answered, ignoring Will’s glare. “She’d love to work with you.”
