“Told you he’d be reverting back to Angry Theo,” he tells Carolina.
“You say that as if I ever stopped,” I say. “What are you doing here? It’s a day that ends inY, which means you aren’t normally found gracing the halls of corporate headquarters.”
“Ha! Good one.” He plants himself on an armchair that faces me. “I wanted to assure you I’m on top of this whole mess. I had a long talk with James as soon as he got out. He’s not going to even utter the name Rojas ever again.”
“Good, because if he does, he’ll find himself on the receiving end of a cease and desist, followed by a massive lawsuit to make up for the damage he’s caused.”
“Oh now, Theo,” Carolina says, carefully folding herself into the chair next to Markos’s and crossing her long legs. “It was a mistake, but it’s not a fatal one, I assure you.”
“Tell that to my CFO,” I say, folding my arms.
“Listen,hermano, I know I screwed up, but Carolina and I have a way to fix everything,” Markos says.
Carolina turns to him with one eyebrow arched, which makes him hold up both hands. “Okay, okay, Carolina has a plan. She’s the genius. I’m merely the man who asked the genius for help.”
The last thing I want to do is accept help from this woman. It’s clear what she’s really after, and I’d hoped by now it would be clear to her she’s not getting it. But desperate times… I smile at her and wait for the pitch.
“Uncle Luis told me you have a board meeting on Monday, and I may have a way to make them very happy,” she says with a smile. “One of my pet projects is a new network, X-Stream TV—all extreme sports, competitive reality shows, that type of thing. Our demo is young, fun, and dumb. We’re televising the World Bartending Championships again this year. It’ll be quite the event. The best and hottest bartenders on the planet are competing for a half-million-dollar prize. Tropical resort setting, so lots of bare-chested men and bikini-clad women sipping drinks. And they could beyourdrinks. Jacardi was our major sponsor last year, but they had to pull out at the last second, and I immediately thought of you. You’d get about $7 million in ad exposure for that relatively modest prize.”
I shake my head and am about to turn her down when Markos steps in. “Theo, I spent the last two days watching previous competitions. It’s exciting, cool, and, well, possibly our only chance to shift the narrative so we’re the brand young people want to be associated with. We’ve always relied on the older crowd, but they’re gone,hermano, never to return. We have to shift gears and find our way onto the shelves of the next generation.”
No way. Nada. Not letting Markos talk me into another idea ever again. “As much as I appreciate the thought—and I do, Carolina—this sounds a little high risk. Also, too risqué for our purposes,” I say, putting my diplomacy skills to use. “Thank you anyway for thinking of us. I’m sure you’ll find another sponsor and the event will be a massive hit.”
“I have to say, I think you’re wrong about this one, Theo.” Carolina lifts her chin. “Ratings for the world championships have grown exponentially over the past five years. We’ll be broadcasting in forty-five different countries in both English and Spanish, including in the UK, Avonia, and the US—all problem areas for you right now.”
“That may be but—”
“Sex sells, Theo,” Markos says, cutting me off.
“Thanks, Captain Obvious, but I’ve seen ads before, so I already know that.” Turning to Carolina, I say, “I’m going with my gut on this. It sounds like a situation with too many uncontrolled variables, and if anything were to go wrong, it would be the final nail in our coffin, so I’m afraid the answer is no. A conservative approach is best in this case.”
“I can tell there’s no changing your mind.” Shrugging, she stands, crosses over to me, and takes my hands in hers. “Wonderful to see you, as always.”
“You too,” I say as she closes in for the cheek kiss.
Carolina leaves me in the wake of her perfume as she strides to the door. After she opens it, she glances over her shoulder at me. “You know, last year Jacardi’s sales went up twelve percent in the five-week period following the competition. They made out like bandits. But I guess your sales are high enough, hmm? Adios, boys. I’m off to talk to Paulo at Havana Club.”
Once she’s gone, Markos gives me a meaningful look. “Twelve percent. Correct me if I’m wrong, but that’s the kind of number that can save a lot of jobs, isn’t it?”
“If they did so well, why are they pulling out this year?” Ha! What can he possibly say to that?
“They probably didn’t need the exposure since they’ve been getting all our sales for the last quarter,” he answers with a shrug.
Dammit, he’s right. Not that I’ll tell him that. “Look, I’m going to say something, and I’m not going to preface it by telling you not to take offense. Because I want you to be offended. Being offended will hopefully mean you’ll remember this for the rest of your life, so we never have to have this conversation again. I am never going to take your advice again in my life. I could literally be on fire, and you could be yelling for me to stop, drop, and roll, and I will stay perfectly still and let myself burn simply because you suggested it.”
Markos rolls his eyes, unimpressed by my theatrics. “Look, I screwed up. I know that. You know that. Old ladies on the street know that. I didn’t know James as well as I thought I did. He’s a hell of a good time to party with, but I didn’t realize how out-of-control things had gotten for him. My bad. I get it. But this competition is different. It’s exciting and fun and gets so much exposure, it will give people something tangible to associate Rojas with.”
“Yeah, some exciting and fun new scandal that will sink the Rojas ship once and for all. One hundred and seventy years of family history wiped out under my watch.” I snap my fingers to punctuate my words. “I know you’re trying to fix things, but just leave it alone and go back to the beach where you belong. You’ve done enough.”
His nostrils flare and he takes two steps towards me. “You’re the most unforgiving person I’ve ever known, and I’m including our mother in that category,” he says, setting his jaw. “I’ve got news for you,hermano. Nobody’s perfect, not even you, so maybe learn how to forgive people and give them a second chance. Because if you don’t, when your turn comes around, nobody will be here to forgive you.”
Oh, come on. How is he possibly trying to make this about me? I’m not the one who got us into this mess. Keeping my voice calm, I say, “I’m the president of this corporation. I’m responsible for the jobs of over eight thousand people. If I make mistakes, those people can’t feed their families or pay their rent. Now I know that probably means nothing to you, but it matters to me. I owe them perfection, and that is exactly what I have given them every single day for the last six years. You popped by one time with a terrible idea and fucked it all up for me and them, so please don’t think I’m going to let you do it again. They don’t owe a spoiled, selfish, lazygilipollasa second chance.”
Calling him a douchebag on top of the rest might have been one step too far. He stares, hurt in his eyes, and holds up both hands in surrender. “Okay, if that’s the way you see me, I know there’s no changing your mind.” He leaves, closing the door softly behind him without saying goodbye.
I am rooted to the floor, torn between going after him to apologize and knowing I’m doing the right thing for the family—which is the right thing for him too. His life is paid for by my life. Guilt wiggles its way into my chest and I feel a faintly nauseating combination of righteous indignation and pity for my little brother.
There are brief moments in our lives—like this one—when I understand how hard it must be for him to be in my shadow. But the fact is he’s there for a reason. He doesn’t care about this business or the family name. He only cares about the next distraction. Someday he might grow up, but today is clearly not that day. Suggesting some wild bartending competition as a way to raise the profile of our brand? I cannot think of anything less likely to work.
