A Word of Praise — Chapter THIRTY-NINE

A week had come and gone after thanksgiving and Chris was still not feeling like himself. The world went on with its business, but he couldn’t do the same. He was miserable because the thought of her was keeping him from enjoying the things he loved and making him despise even more the things he hated.

Running in the park with Batman was great, but he couldn’t shake the image of her playing with the dog on the beach. Besides, he began to approach every black-haired slim female he spotted on the street, which caused Chris to cut the run short almost every day.

Work was by far the worst collateral damage of Kiara’s passage through his life. He wasn’t exactly passionate about his father’s company, but he loved to work. To develop projects, make them come to life, reap the fruits of a job well done. All that took a sour turn after the holiday.

All the projects seemed dull and the employees, incompetent. He knew he couldn’t let his mood affect his people, so he opted for closing the door and working on spreadsheets for the week. However, he couldn’t really avoid human contact for long, and more often than not he found himself in a packed meeting room drifting off during a presentation on budget adjustments.

“Chris, Mrs. Edgar is calling for you in his office” His secretary informed through the phone.

“I’ll be right there”

He looked at the watch and wondered what his father could need at 4 pm on a Friday. When he passed his secretary’s table right outside his office, he remembered something.

“Tina, thanks for the dresses on thanksgiving. I know it’s not your job description, but you did great”

The woman’s face brightened up at the compliment, perhaps the first nice thing he said to her after he came back from the island.

“No worries sir, I hope she liked it”

“Oh, she loved it. And looked stunning in it too” He remembered in a mix of wonder and hurt, feelings he tried to crush as soon as he identified them.

“I’m glad! Maybe I can meet her at the Office Christmas party” She smiled, but his face must have shown how uncomfortable that statement made him because the happiness faltered in her face and she looked away.

Taking it as his cue, Chris walked away thinking about that damn party and his lack of a date for it. He knew that going alone would be sheer torture, especially with all the single women at the party binding themselves to him like Velcro. It never bothered him before, but now he shuddered at the thought. Yet another drawback of the Kiara effect.

“Edgar, you asked for me?”

“Yes. Sit” The man was still typing something into his computer, and Chris sat for a few minutes, waiting for him to be done. “Have you canceled that green initiative as we discussed?”

“Not yet, I have a meeting scheduled on Monday to discuss it”

“Do it now”

“I can’t, there’s a contract in place. I’m meeting their lawyers next week” Chris was feeling the preface of a discussion.

“Call them and say the deal is off, you can work the details later. I’ll announce the extended partnership with our old supplier during the weekend” That made absolutely no sense, they’d lose even more money in the process. It was simply a bad move.

“Edgar, I can’t do that. The fines from breaking the contract without a settlement would surpass whatever discount the old supplier offers”

“I’m not asking, Christopher” His father’s voice rose, feeling the challenge in his son’s argument.

Chris was feeling the tension increasing in the room, and knew the right move was to back down. But his mind was filled with the image of Kiara sitting in the sand, with Batman by her side. And her words kept playing on repeat in his head; ‘You should try just doing what you want for a change’.

“Then we should call for a board meeting to decide it” He spat out. His heart was beating faster, and he knew he was jeopardizing much more than his position at the company there.

It was the first time he called for a board meeting that wasn’t purely ornamental. Everyone knew the true decision power laid solely on Edgar, and the five members of the board were put there simply to please foreign investors that looked down on family business.

The elder staff was still in the building, waiting for Edgar to leave for the weekend before them so they wouldn’t be caught ‘slacking off’. When the seven of them were gathered in the meeting room, Chris decided to step forward to take the lead.

“Gentleman, we called for this extraordinary meeting to discuss the quashing of the green initiative. Edgar and I disagree on the course of action, so I expect you to act as a decision board”

The panicked faces on the older men showed Chris how unprepared they were for the job. It was a bit pathetic, and served only to prove that his father placed them there based on relationship rather than competence.

“Get on with it, Christopher, so we can leave for the weekend” Edgar barked, in an attempt to throw him off. The man never left before eight anyway.

“Of course” Chris proceeded to explain in detail the differences in profit from both contracts, then the penalties they’d suffer from breaching it. He slipped in the fact that the board had approved his plan in the first place and finished by stating the reputation cost the rupture would cause.

It felt great, and he could see the comprehension looks on the men’s faces. His father was the only one with a closed-off expression, but it was expected. Chris was actually surprised by how little his grimace affected him during the explanation.

Edgar was the next to talk, and Chris expected him to defend his option before calling for a vote.

“Our old supplier is Mr. Jackson, and he’s an old friend”

And that was it. He didn’t argue on the numbers, or the project, or anything. An old fucking friend. Chris was livid, especially so after he noticed the uneasy glances from the board members. They wouldn’t vote for what was right, he knew it.

He couldn’t understand how his father was able to create such an empire when he valued nothing more than politics and authority. It was so fucked up, Chris felt like leaving the room without voting. But he was strict on protocol and stood there watching as all hands were raised to support Edgar’s proposal.

“Wonderful. Now you can place the call” Edgar dismissed the men and turned to Chris with an impassive expression. “Don’t forget about dinner tomorrow night. Come alone” Apparently his father was not up to date on his dating life.

“Ok”

“Mr. Jackson and his family will be joining us.”