29. Sebastian
Chapter twenty-nine
Sebastian
I ris emailed Priya, but she hasn’t received a response yet, so now I’m doing whatever I can do here at the office. To be honest, doing this kind of investigation is one of the reasons I like practicing law. But it would be better if the stakes weren’t so high and Iris’s career didn’t depend on it.
I step into Bob’s office. He doesn’t look very restored from a night of sleep. If anything, he looks worse.
And indeed, he immediately says, “I didn’t sleep a wink last night. I have a bad feeling about what’s going on. I thought Iris was telling the truth. And I wasn’t brought in on Raphael’s departure, which makes me suspicious. As the GC, I should definitely have been consulted about his termination.”
“Do we have a copy of Raphael’s NDA?” I glance at the stack of folders on Bob’s desk.
“We’ve been given nothing, but I was told he signed one by Colby and Amelia.”
“Why don’t we release Raphael from his NDA so we can get the truth about what he discovered?” I ask.
“That’s a good idea. I’ll talk to Xaiver and insist that we need to do that. I’ll ask HR to contact him,” he says. “I’ll also ask HR for copies of whatever he signed. This is part of Legal’s purview.”
Whether Xavier agrees will show whether he really wants the truth .
Back in my office, I call my former boss and ask if she can recommend employment counsel for Iris. The calendar shows Ernest is out. I call Aaron and ask him if he can come to my office.
I gnaw on my lip. Given that Hank deleted Raphael’s files, Kevin might have confided in him. Hank might be a weak link whom I can question. But that didn’t seem to be their relationship during the conversation I overheard.
Aaron knocks on my door and comes in, taking a seat. He’s carrying a mug that says, “I’m an accountant, not a magician.”
“I like your mug,” I say.
“My latest gift from my Secret Snowflake,” he says. “It seems especially apt. If only I could conjure up some more budget cuts for Colby.”
“I’m investigating this white hat hacker situation, given the company’s potential liability in an employment lawsuit.” It’s true enough. “If there was an outside white hat hacker, they would have been paid. Has that been recorded anywhere?”
“Jazmine is really upset.” Aaron opens up his laptop.
We pore through the financial statements. It’s certainly not recorded under third party payments or outside contractors.
“Ernest mentioned that he found more money at one point because Colby had recorded something incorrectly. Do you know anything about that?”
“I recall him mentioning it,” Aaron says. “The company paid an invoice, and Colby said he should have paid it instead. Ernest would keep records of that.”
“Even if Colby told him to delete that?”
“Yes. For his own sake.”
Aaron opens the accounting files that underlie the recent executive PowerPoint presentation for L’Etoile.
Nothing.
Aaron purses his lips. “Let me check this other folder.” Aaron clicks on another folder called Backup. It’s password protected.
That seems like a good sign, even if we can’t get in.
“We can ask Ernest,” I say.
“Let’s try Mother,” Aaron says.
“Mother?”
“I’m pretty sure that’s his password. He’s always saying how he doesn’t need a password book because it’s not like he’d ever forget his mother.”
Iris would have a heart attack.
And there it is.
An invoice from Snow Leopard White Hat Consulting .
With Priya’s email address.
Ernest saved the documentation that Dream paid this invoice, and Colby then reimbursed the company.
“Wow,” Aaron says. “I just got chills. This is like a smoking gun. Does it save Iris?”
“They might still claim it’s Iris’s company,” I say. “We’re closer to unraveling all the lies. I need to search the New York State corporation database to find out who owns Snow Leopard White Hat Consulting.” And I bet it’s Priya. We save the document to our own files, and I print out a copy.
Bob knocks on the door. “Xavier agreed to release Raphael from his NDA. Can you come to my office? We need to talk in private.”
That doesn’t sound good.
Aaron and I stand to leave, and I follow Bob into his office. Bob slumps in his chair. His pallor is not good. He excuses himself as he takes some pills with a glass of water.
“We found the money trail.” I show him the invoice.
Bob stares at it. “I don’t believe Colby forgot this payment. That’s not Colby. He wanted this person to think the company was paying for their services.”
“Exactly,” I say. “Which makes it unlikely it was Iris.”
Bob sighs. “I’m not as surprised as I should be. I was worried one of them would go off and do something half-cocked because they thought the company was at risk of closure. But I thought it would be Xavier, not Colby. I thought Colby was the more logical one and wouldn’t pull a crazy stunt like this.”
He picks up the invoice and the record of Colby’s repayment. He shakes his head. “At least Colby has resigned. But Xavier has made it clear that he’s blaming me for this and he expects my resignation—after I fix this. I’ll recommend that he appoint you as GC. I should have done this kind of legwork before accepting Colby and Kevin’s accusations.”
He stands. “I’ll tell Xavier now what we’ve found.”
I should feel happier, but he really doesn’t look well.
“Are you sure?” I ask. “We can wait. Are you sure you’re okay?”
“Yes, I’m sure. And I’ll feel a lot better once I’ve done this. I’ve been considering retirement for some time now, in part for health reasons. That one time you came in and I shoved the papers into a drawer—that was me doing calculations on my income streams if I quit.”
His phone rings. “I’m going to take this, but I’ll talk to Xavier as soon as I finish.”
I leave his office and return to mine.
I’m going to be the General Counsel?
I want to call Iris, but until her name is cleared, it’s not a position I can necessarily accept.
I call her anyway, but she doesn’t pick up.
Iris: In meeting with lawyer. Lawyer just called Bob, and Bob and Xavier are coming over. It looks good. Don’t worry. Will call you when it’s done.
I wish Bob had invited me to the meeting. But it’s probably for the best. My loyalty is to Iris.
My dad calls and says he’s in the neighborhood and asks if I want to meet for lunch outside. Perfect timing. Work can wait until I hear from Iris.
T he café is a small brick-walled establishment with black-and-white photos of Paris on the walls. A narrow passage between a dark wooden counter lining one wall and tables for two on the other side leads up to the counter in the back. We both order black coffees with milk and sugar and some French bread sandwiches.
We sit near the front window, even though there’s a slight chill from the door.
Dad looks good. A lot better than Bob right now. And Bob is ten years younger. Not the best omen for taking over his job.
Dad even has a little bit of a tan from all those long walks with Pepper. Or it could be the cold.
“Thanks for taking the time to meet me,” he says. Formally. He sips his coffee.
“Dad, you don’t need to thank me. I’m happy to see you. What are you doing in the neighborhood?”
“Your mom wanted to see the latest exhibit at the Whitney, but she ran into a friend, so I excused myself so they could talk freely,” my dad says with a smile.
I snort.
“She’s thrilled that you’re dating Iris. You haven’t seen her lurking outside your apartment, have you?”
I stare at my dad. “ Is she lurking outside my apartment?” It’s not outside the realm of possibility.
“Not yet, but she will be if you guys don’t show up soon to say hello as an official couple. She’s worried that you’re fake dating, like at Baby Love, so she’ll stop setting you up.”
“Iris and I are definitely dating,” I say.
“That’s good.” My dad nods. “Also, I have a friend, a CEO, who is looking to hire. I have the highest respect for her. I was very impressed—”
Not again.
“Bob told me today that he’s planning to resign and that he’ll recommend me for the General Counsel position.” I need to nip this new appeal by Dad in the bud now.
“You’re going to be the Dream GC?” he asks.
“Yes,” I say. “Providing the CEO approves. So, can you give up on my going into finance?
“This was a GC position,” my dad says.
My mouth opens.
“It was?”
He nods, a slight smile peeking out.
I grin. “You’re serious?”
“Although there is also a finance position open too, so, you know, I was going to offer that too. But if you’re the GC of Dream Studios at your age, you’re obviously a success and doing what’s right for you.”
I stare at him. He’s finally accepted my career .
“Your mom told me to stop pushing you to do finance. And Annabelle told Neville that his son needed to grow up or get out, and Neville isn’t talking to me, so maybe I’ve been blinded by rose-colored glasses in my view of finance. You actually seem happier in your career than your sister,” my dad says. “She’s furious that she is going to have to spend her vacation here cleaning up Nathan’s mess. But at least we caught it in time—because you warned us that he can’t be trusted.”
They caught it in time. Again. At least my warnings helped.
“Oh, no,” I say. “I should call Annabelle. Is she okay?”
“I told her Neville and I would do it.”
“Can you handle that?”
“I can and I will,” my dad says. “Maybe I was hoping she would come back here. I should’ve stepped in earlier. She said that at least now she can attend some of the holiday parties in London before she flies home for Christmas.”
“I wish she would move back,” I say. Annabelle flies home frequently because of the New York office and New York deals, but it would be even better if she lived here.
We talk about the dog park renovation, and then my father says he knows I have to go back to work because I keep checking my phone.
“I’m sorry,” I say but don’t mention I keep scanning for updates from Iris.
“I’m sure I did it to you when you were a child, which is even worse,” he says.
“Can I ask you to do a huge favor for me?” I ask. “It’s a Christmas present for Iris.”