My eye twitched when my father waltzed into my office and slammed the door. His nostrils flared in disgust as he stared at me, then the wall, and then back at me.
“Nice to see you too, Father.”
“Hanging up the phone on a board member? Not coming into the building in weeks? I don’t know what Laney, or your marriage, has to do with this job, but you’re about to lose it.”
“Don’t talk about my wife.” I stood up from the old black chair I had inherited. It squeaked as it rolled back, the only sound in the room despite my breathing. Adrenaline coursed through me, heightening every sound or movement. Sweat beaded on my dad’s forehead. His hands were in his pockets, but his shoulders were stiff. His chest heaved, like he’d ran up the stairs instead of taking the elevator. A tense, horrific hate clawed at my throat at seeing him in my office, glaring at me like I was a disappointment.
I worked hard. I paid taxes. I tried to be kind and do good,and I might’ve lost my way when it came to Laney, but I was back. The lens through which I saw my dad shifted. Maybe it was hearing Laney cry or knowing what the pain of her leaving felt like, but my father’s opinion of me didn’t matter anymore.
“Also I didn’t say you could walk in here.”
“Do I need permission to speak to my son now?” He barked out a horrid laugh.
“Yeah, I’m thinking you do.” I kept my hands on my desk, refusing to clench them into fists. Images of Laney, of the fireplace, of our home replayed in the back of my mind.
“You’re not invited to the board meeting, so why are you here?”
“You haven’t answered a single one of my calls. When Dennis and Ryan said you’ve been acting irrationally, I vouched for you. I put my trust in you, and you’re embarrassing me by gallivanting in some suburb instead of doing your job? You had a data breach from inside the house. What CEO leaves when that happens?”
I eyed my watch. Petra and I were meeting in ten minutes to set up in the conference room, and the last thing I wanted to do was talk to my father. Shaking my head, I sighed. I’d practiced what I wanted to say the entire drive over yesterday, yet the words did come out heated like I expected. I was calm and ready to cut this chapter from my life.
“I don’t have to answer to you. I’m not your punching bag anymore. I don’t want you in my life if this is how you’re going to act. You also shouldn’t know about the data breach being inside the house. That’s further proof Dennis shouldn’t be on the board.”
“Don’t answer to me? How do you think you got this job?”His words were harsh, and spit flew from his lips. “You’re so ungrateful—”
“I’m not. I worked hard. I’m going to ask you to leave before I call security because, despite your and Dennis’s opinion, I’m in charge of this company.” I ran a finger over my wedding ring, making sure I didn’t forget the end goal.
I wanted to have more balance at work. That meant not letting my dad or Dennis pressure me. Meeting his gaze one more time, I swallowed and steeled myself.
“You raised me as a single father, and that’s hard, and I’m glad you did. But I don’t know what you want now. I don’t get it. Why are you so indebted to Dennis? Why are you picking him over your son? I’m done with your games, Dad. If they fire me tonight, then so what? I love this job and am good at it, but tonight changes things.”
Without waiting for his response, I grabbed my laptop and phone and marched past him. Petra glanced up from her desk, immediately stood, and fell in step with me.
“How was it?” she whispered, not giving anything away.
“No fucking idea, but it’s done.” I kept my face impassive despite the thunderstorm underneath my skin. I bit the inside of my cheek to distract from my inner turmoil. How fucked was it that I was scared to stand up to my dad at thirty-five? That it took Laney almost leaving to knock some reality into me?
The company had therapy services that I’d look into if tonight went as planned. It wasn’t fair to myself, or my wife, if I didn’t work through these workaholic, obsessive tendencies.
“Board is scheduled to arrive in thirty minutes. Everything is prepared like we planned. Folders printed and set up.” Petrapushed the large conference room doors open and propped one of them open with the door stand. A blast of warm air rushed at us, and she coughed.
“Okay, how hot is it?”
“We can adjust.” I gripped my tie, sweltering in the heat.
“You figure out the heat. I’m going to go over our notes.”
The next thirty minutes to an hour flew by. The board walked in, three of them glancing at me with sympathy in their eyes. That didn’t feel great, but I stood tall and shook all their hands.
Margaret has two kids, has been married for ten years, and started her own tech company decades ago. George was conservative with money but progressive in innovation. Bruce was big on security. Ryan was hit or miss with big initiatives, and Dennis was corrupt.
Once they were seated, Petra pulled up the agenda and began. “Thank you all for coming to an emergency board session called by Dennis. You can see on the schedule that we have agenda items to discuss.”
“Is the first one really necessary? Pretty sure it’ll be voided after we make a vote on the ability of Connor to remain as CEO.” Dennis smiled and raised his hand in the air, waving it toward me. “Why discuss the position if it won’t exist depending on the vote?”
“Dennis,” Bruce chided, his brows furrowed, “we follow the order.”
“But if we vote on the new position, then remove Connor as CEO, it doesn’t matter.”
