“You’re still on your sabbatical, Carter. You promised your mother.”
I used to be grateful for his unwavering calm when I was thrust into the CEO role, but right now, the even and warm inflection fuels my anger.
“It’s not a matter that concerns you, Joseph. I’m still the majority stakeholder, you can’t lock me out. I have a business to run.”
Joseph had been pestering me to take it easy. Especially after my father’s death when I refused to taketime off. It has always been a heated topic between us the past three years.
The last thing I remember from our most recent fight was his exasperated plea.
“You have to ease up. Life’s not happening between these office windows, son!”
Next time I saw him he looked ten years older, holding my mother’s hand in my hospital room.
It’s been four months, and I’m antsy to get back. The market has noticed my absence at the head of the company. Especially since that asshole reporter, Fred Pierson, is making too much noise. The price of our stocks decreased slightly for the first time in the last thirty years.
“Your mother knows you haven’t kept your end of the deal while you were recovering,” Joseph says on a deep inhale from his cigar.
“Because you told her.” I’m beyond pissed.
“I can’t lie to her, son.” The tenderness in his voice whenever he talks about my mother has always disarmed me.
“Jackie’s in on this too, right? Mother couldn’t have pulled it off alone.”
“They called an emergency meeting with the board and voted.”
My mother and sister together had more power. I never thought they would use it to sideline me.
“We want what’s best for you. Even if you can’t see it now.”
“What’s best for me is to make sure the company my family built doesn’t turn to ashes!”
The only time I’ve felt this powerless was when I came back, tail between my legs, after not finding Lauraat Harvard. The heartbreak, the fury, blindsided and unable to do anything about it. My father cruelly turned it into a teachable moment that shaped my future as the head of the company.
“Lesson number one,” he said. “Don’t let your guard down. Lesson number two, always be ten steps ahead.”
I’m always scouting for the weak spots, analyzing the risks, and being ahead of our competition.
“Arrogance will be your undoing, son.” Joseph brings me back to the call. “Over 300,000 people work for you. Hand-picked. The best in the industry. You think we’re going to run around like a bunch of headless chickens without you for a few months?”
“Do you mean I’m useless?” A sense of worthlessness gnaws at my insides, drilling a hole in my stomach.
“No, son. I mean that you being on top of your game is what’s best for the company. If something happened to you it would impact all these people you’re responsible for.” His loud exhale makes the connection crackle. “Your ten-year business plan is our Bible. We know what we have to do, OK?”
The call doesn’t get me closer to fixing this. I never imagined my mother would stoop so low.
“I’m doing this because I love you,” the always impeccable Clara Rawlings answers on the first ring, sitting in her office.
“Yeah, you sound just like father.”
Her gasp dampens my frustration. It’s not fair to her. She’s his complete opposite.
“Listen to me, Carter,” she says in a stern voice and I’m six again after breaking one of her thousand-dollar vases. “I will not allow you to scare us like that ever again, even if it means restraining you.” She lifts her chin, not backing down.
“That doesn’t sound too relaxing,” I mumble.
“It’s up to you. You either mope for three months or find something to enjoy. I don’t care, as long as you take a break.”
“I never moped more than two weeks,” I say, defeated.
