20. Hard Choices
20 HARD CHOICES
Cal
Daphne returned to the breakfast nook.
“Cal, I have poured over the financials. They aren’t good. And I know there are probably a million reasons for that. You’re going to tell me that I’m trying to revive a zombie. Retail is?—”
“Mom is seeing big returns in retail right now,” I said. “Retail isn’t dead. But as Davey sees it, luxury retail is a thing of the past. Have you looked at comps?”
I shouldn’t give her any help, but I suspected Daphne did the research. Like her mother, she held her cards so close that I never got a read-in. What did she know?
“Of course, I have. You know me too well,” Daphne answered. “The sector—as a whole—is challenged. It’s problematic for most.”
“But there are bright stars.”
“Beauty is doing very well,” Daphne said. “Which is why Elise M is over-performing.”
“No, it’s not,” I insisted. “It is because while Mom can complain about Chloe’s lack of a ‘job’, influencers are selling her product for her. It’s grassroots, guerrilla marketing—driven largely by Chloe being Mom’s biggest hype woman—making it work.”
She looked down at her wine. “I want influencers and luxury collections—not value fast-fashion. Even Davey does. Sadly, Bernie doesn’t.”
“Influencers can be complicated, but they also bring in younger people. You’re right. It worked for Mom. And Mom’s stuff isn’t even luxury . It’s just good , right?”
“Her newest line is trying. And certainly, the anti-aging stuff is. It’s hella expensive, but I swear the under-eye serum is amazing.”
I snickered.
“Don’t judge me. I’m getting old.”
“Daphne, you do not know old. You are not even middle-aged yet. Your skin is impeccable, and I am sure every woman your age hates you for it.”
“You are the first—and last—straight man to tell me that, so thank you.”
I laughed. “Fair, fair. You’re lovely, though. Can you name a major competitor that is outperforming?”
“Selfridges. Bergman-Meyer. Both have reduced their store footprints and retail stock to focus on a very specific customer. Bergman-Meyer has a similar price point and has the sort of American consumer we’d like to have. I did some research there.”
“And?”
“I talked to a shopper—she had no idea who I was. She’s our ideal customer—fashion-forward but not into fast-fashion, twenties or thirties, and the type to seek out stores with similar values to hers. She was looking for a size twelve but couldn’t find one. We carry a wider range of sizes, so I asked if she’d tried Delphine’s. She said, quite frankly, it’s a maze. It doesn’t feel like a luxury experience. And while she wants to use our personal shoppers, they’re never available.”
“So, what is the concern then? You have the beginnings of a plan. Why not think about the possibilities?”
“Because everything is complicated. Davey and I had a massive fight. He gave me a job I’m not qualified for and did not want—a director’s position when I’ve already been an SVP. It was a huge insult all to ‘protect me’. Doing anything about this will only make it ten times worse. Please, Cal. What I need are introductions—social ones. Nothing more. Let me get the ears of the people who I need to convince. Do it… as a friend?”
She gave me the sweetest, most pitiful look.
“If you want to save the Company, I will support you in any way I legally can. Your father would want it to remain solvent, Daphne. And… I will always have a soft spot for you.”
She blushed. “Do it for Dad. Leave me out of it.”
“I could never leave you out of it,” I said, too honest. “Give me exactly what you need, and I will tell you what I can do and not lose every shred of integrity when this becomes public.”
She dropped my gaze, stood, and paced. Still ruminating, she opened the kitchen French doors to let in a lake breeze.
She returned, nostrils flaring, “Tell me who we need and let’s do the math.”
“What is your ownership stake?” I asked.
“I own 25 family shares. Davey only owes ten. None of us had them before. Dad kept them until his death.”
“So, twenty percent of the company?”
“And you own?—”
“Thirty,” I said. “So, that is almost a third of the shares.”
“Yeah, so you need to get a proxy.”
“I’m working on it. I have an idea of who can step in,” I said. “Honestly, you might not even need me. There are two other non-family investors. Daphne, I am glad to set up meetings if that would help you. That is all I can do.”
And if anyone found out, it would still look bad—very bad.
She paced more before agreeing. “Okay, these are hard choices, but… if I am to save the company, I will have to risk it all. Well, if you can guarantee me one thing.”
“Yes?”
“If I end up homeless over this, you’ll take me in.”
She joked, but I realized it was a possibility. Daphne was in a precarious situation if she was as dependent on her family’s money as she expressed.
“I promised your father I would look after you and your mother,” I agreed. “That promise will be honored, Daphne. I don’t think I will need to honor it like that , but if I do, I will.”
“Good, then where do we begin?”
“It’s not that simple,” I said. “Daphne, there is one thing your brother is right about. It’s that you will need time to work through this. I can make the connections you need, but you must work on your business plan. You have it in you, but you gotta come prepared for the fight. I cannot help you there.”
“I will put in the work,” Daphne promised.
* * *
Daphne
“Dad asked you to look over all of us, right? Not just me.” I asked Cal.
“Your Dad asked me to watch over Danna because he was leaving her. But he knew the brunt of keeping things together would fall to you. I don’t think he sees either of you as a damsel, Daphne. If that is what you are worried about, that wasn’t his read.”
Maybe he should have . Part of me wondered if I’d have run to my father if he stepped in to save me. Would I have listened? Could I have seen it then?
“Then what?”
“He never trusted your ex, Daph. He loved and supported you. He wanted it to work—I am sure most people did.”
“Who didn’t?” I furrowed my brow.
Cal nervously chuckled, then cleared his throat. “For one, I remember some people being salty about it.”
“Some people?” I raised my eyebrow.
“Yes, some people.”
I held his gaze defiantly and for too long. “Like you, Cal?”
Cal’s gaze fell to his wine.
The timer beeped, and I let it go. He never answered it. His silence said it all. He regretted Chandler coming back on Sarah and Erik’s wedding day. I took out the oven dish and grabbed plates.
“I hated seeing you with him that morning,” Cal said.
I stopped, hands gripping the dishes and processed it.
“It felt unfair, Daphne. And if your dad hadn’t offered me a major real estate investment that morning, I might have been less of a coward and told you how I felt. Is that what you want to hear? That I wasn’t brave enough to possibly upset the apple cart? That money seemed more important than a fling? Because I know what you’re thinking?—”
I spun. “Cal, I don’t blame you or see it that way. You know I was railroaded into taking Chandler back. Sleeping with me was a bad idea.”
I lowered the plate. I peeled back the dish foil, trying to ground myself in the moment.
“It was a bad idea. I risked a lot—stupidly,” Cal said. “But unless you saw it as predatory—my only real concern—I don’t regret it.”
I brought plates and silverware back to the table.
“I was a grown woman,” I said. “It was stupid based on your position in the company and that you were my father’s confidant. Nothing about it was bad . Of course, I’m sure you just returned to sleeping with whomever you were sleeping with, right? I was a blip.”
Cal scowled. “Daphne, that’s not my MO.”
“You don’t have to lie,” I snickered. “I’m a big girl. This was ancient history, Cal.”
“Daphne, that isn’t me. You’re… that’s not me.”
Cal took a bite, annoyed.
“You don’t mind leftovers?”
He chuckled. “No. I was raised on them—as a latchkey kid. I couldn’t be picky. I wasn’t raised like a princess in a tower. I had to fend for myself while my mother built her business.”
I crossed my arms.
“Daphne, you’re a good cook. Relax.”
I hated that shit. He didn’t get to talk down to me like I was some petty little girl.
“I’m spoiled, but I’ve been through hell in the past decade, okay? I tied myself to an asshole who abused me in every way imaginable for the duration of our marriage. I assure you I wasn’t treated like a princess. Don’t infantilize me, Cal.”
“I wouldn’t,” Cal said. “You should have been treated like a queen. You deserve all of that and more, Daphne. I am sorry, Daph. For all of it.”
“Then don’t speak to me like that, Cal.”
“Sorry. You hit a nerve.”
“What nerve?”
“I’m not a player, okay? Or at least… I wasn’t. Now, that’s impossible. And someone my age probably shouldn’t run around like that. But that’s never been it. I don’t do one-night stands.”
“The legendary Cal Markham doesn’t do one-night stands?” I laughed. “Never?”
“Never,” Cal said.
“What were we then?”
“It didn’t feel like that, Daphne,” Cal said. “This is a mistake. I shouldn’t have?—”
He looked uncomfortable, making me reconsider baiting him.
“Cal, don’t,” I said. “Sorry. I just assumed all men who remain in your current position are just chasing women left and right. I never… considered… you know?”
“What? Considered what?”
“Considered it could have felt like more to you. I assume you’re a perpetual bachelor without judgement.”
“I haven’t been. Kristy and I were together for six years. I loved her.”
Cal showed vulnerability and sweetness not seen since the library.
“It did feel like more. I didn’t expect that. I expected to fuck you and move on. Instead, it was some of the best sex I’d ever had. I don’t fuck people I have no interest in. I guess it takes some connection to… go there, Daph.”
I was confused, “So, why’d you do it? Because doing it would have gotten you in major trouble with my father?—”
“Probably,” Cal said. “I didn’t think it through.”
“Because you were thinking with your dick. And… I didn’t think?—”
“I wasn’t. I mean, partially. I am ashamed to admit how much I’d enjoyed working with you and how badly I’d wanted to wipe that serious look off your face all summer.”
I suddenly forgot I was nervous or wasn’t supposed to feel like this. It had been years since a man talked to me like that.
“You’re gorgeous, Daphne. Tempting. But you were taken—and off-limits. I don’t know why I gave in. It seemed like we had a moratorium as long as we were in Hawaii. After that night at the office, I’d sworn it off. Then, we were in paradise and everything felt different.”
My face flushed, surprised by his forward statements. “I know what… I know what you mean.”
“It was the wickedly funny, chaotic side of you that drew me in, honestly. You were a mess—and I couldn’t help but want to make you more of a mess. It was a wild time. I dunno.”
“Blame my mother for that—always. Well, we’re working on it right now. She encouraged me to leave town because she is trying to put some space between Davey and I. Chaotic is a good word.”
“I like chaotic Daphne Delphine,” Cal’s voice was deep and hungry. “She’s great.”
Cal’s eyes lingered too long. My palms grew sweaty as I dropped his gaze.
“You really thought it was that good?”
“Was it not good enough for you?” Cal said.
“It was…” I looked for words.
“You can be honest, Daphne.”
I’ve never had so many orgasms in one weekend. I nervously laughed, afraid to tell the truth.
Cal focused on his food, unsure how to read me. I wanted to tell him everything.
“Be honest,” Cal repeated, “but don’t leave me hanging.”
“It was more than satisfactory,” I played coy. “I should have taken you up on it at least once more.”