24. ALEX
24
ALEX
“ I t’s a bad idea,” Ben said when I arrived at the office.
I frowned at him before walking past him and into the building.
“You know it’s a bad idea,” Ben said behind me, following me toward the offices. “You can’t just spring something like this on them and expect them to be fine with it.”
“I’m not just springing it on them. I’m having this meeting for a reason—to gauge their reaction and hopefully get their approval before moving forward. It’s not like I’m announcing this in a press release before anyone else knows what’s going on.”
Ben didn’t answer me. We stepped into the elevator when it arrived, and the door slid shut.
“Chris thinks it’s a good idea,” I said.
“Yeah, of course he would. He likes a challenge, and bringing an entire new line of yachts out is right up his alley. He likes playing around like that.”
“Daniel isn’t against the idea, either.”
“Daniel doesn’t care,” Ben clapped back. “He’s not here half the time.”
“He’ll care when it affects our income.”
I snorted. “This isn’t about money. Why are you so set against this, anyway? Even Dad is on board.”
Ben shook his head. “I’m just saying I don’t think they’ll go for it. And you can’t afford them not being happy, Alex. This company relies on its investors, and if they’re not happy, the board won’t be happy, and if the board isn’t happy, you know it’s not going to happen.”
The doors opened, and I stepped out, turning to face my brother.
“Then it won’t happen, but I’m going through the motions and doing the right thing. This is about ethics, man. Why can’t you see that?”
Ben shrugged. He wasn’t getting off on this floor. He had other business to see to—he just wanted to tell me that he was sure I would fail.
Lately, Ben was in a shitty mood almost all of the time. It was as if the more successful I became, the more it upset him. I was all for sibling rivalry, but I didn’t know what the hell his deal was.
I wasn’t going to go into it now. There wasn’t time—the meeting would start soon.
“Well, I guess there’s no turning back now. Good luck in there,” Ben said.
“Thanks.”
“You’re gonna need it.” He cocked an arrogant grin and stuffed his hands in his pockets as the doors slid shut.
I groaned and shook my head, shaking off the frustration. I would deal with whatever his issue was later—have it out with him however he wanted.
Dad waited for me outside the boardroom.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Yeah.” For the first time in a long time, I wasn’t stressed about the investors’ approval. “It’s going to be a good meeting, I can feel it in my bones.”
Dad only nodded. It made my confidence waver. Usually, Dad was all for my ideas. He’d even said that going greener would be a good move, that it would get public approval and that was a good thing.
Why did he seem more hesitant now?
Before I could ask, the first of the investors arrived, and it was time to get started.
The boardroom had already been prepared with coffee and bottles of water for everyone, the big screen for a presentation if it was necessary, and I’d had documents for each of them prepared that outlined what my idea was moving forward.
Dad was the only partner in the room. My brothers all had other things to do—Daniel was out of town again, Chris was in the factory working on something important they called him in for, and Ben had some kind of meeting that popped up last minute.
The investors took their seats, all of them looking expectant. They made small talk with each other and with my dad. Some of them paged through the document but I couldn’t gauge the expressions on their faces.
When I cleared my throat, they fell quiet and looked at me.
“Thank you for coming to see me today,” I said. “I have some exciting news. The last couple of weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about the direction our company is going. It’s so important that we never remain static, that we also learn and grow. The world is changing around us, and I like to keep up with what’s happening so that we’re always in the know, always giving the people what they want so that they can give us what we want.”
The investors nodded. Dad’s eyes were trained on me, his poker face in place. He nodded his encouragement, though, but today I didn’t need it.
I was excited about what I was about to propose.
“We talked to you about a new yacht that will be ready for the annual yacht show in two months, and we’re on track to have that ready for orders, but we’re also working on an entirely new line of yachts. In time, the new line will hopefully take over to become our main selling point, and the other lines we currently offer will fall away. Please, take the time to go through the document before you, and when you’re ready, I’m happy to discuss the new direction I want to take us.”
I unbuttoned my blazer and sat down, watching the others as they opened their documents again and started reading, paying more attention than when they’d skimmed a little earlier.
Dad was going through the document, too. Even though he knew exactly what I’d put in it. I glanced down and flipped through the pages to keep busy so that I didn’t sit there staring at everyone.
“Are you serious about this?” Sasha Martinez was the first to ask.
“Well, yes,” I said. “I’m running it by you to hear what you think, but I think it’s a good move for the company.”
“I thought you said we’re already committed to sustainability.” Elena Marini spoke up.
Chris had mentioned that in the last meeting when we’d talked about the activists.
“Yes,” I said. “We are. With our production we try to be very conscious of waste and how our manufacturing affects the environment. But our yachts are a different story. Emissions are a real problem, and the air pollution on deck isn’t good for our owners and their guests, either. It doesn’t help that we look after the production on land and we don’t care about what happens once these yachts leave the marinas. We want to be environmentally conscious all-round. I think it’s time we align our product with our process.”
Victoria Sterling looked unhappy. “You can’t just pivot on a dime without repercussions. Is this because of the campaign I mentioned?”
It was about so much more than that, but I wasn’t going to go into depth about Charlotte.
“It started my thinking process, yes, but this is much bigger than that. From time to time we need to reevaluate what we’re doing, what message we want to send.”
Nigel Donovan shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “And how long have you researched this new direction?”
“We’ve got our teams on it, of course,” I said. “I’m not saying we should do it tomorrow—it will take time. But there’s no better time to start than the present.”
“Look, I get what you’re trying to do,” Nigel said, cutting me off before I could say more. “But a shift toward sustainability might need changes to the company’s supply chain, the manufacturing process, the sales strategy… it could disrupt a business model that’s proven successful time and time again.”
Nigel had a deep understanding of yacht marketing and had a lot of influence on our sales team, and he heavily invested in our advertising budget. “A pivot , as you call it, can negatively impact the market’s perception of the company.”
I frowned. “I don’t know that it’s going to create a negative perception. In fact, I was hoping for exactly the opposite. After all, if we’re giving them what they want—”
“Is it what they want, though?” Sasha Martinez spoke up. “I don’t know if eco-friendly luxury yachts have a sufficient market. It’s very niche. Will customers be willing to pay a premium for sustainable features? How do you know if the market is large enough to justify the investment?”
I shook my head. Clearly, they weren’t as excited about this as I was. I’d thought they would be thrilled to get on board.
Samuel Bennett tossed his document onto the table. “I don’t know, I think this is a great idea.”
We all looked at him. He was the first person to react positively. “Eco-friendly yachts are exactly what we’ve needed for a long time. I’m not an activist but surely you can see how this might benefit us in the long run and help the environment? We have to be conscious of our footprint, no matter what we do.”
“It’s easy for you to talk about footprints when you’re not as financially affected by this,” Sasha snapped. “The financial risks are big. This will require a significant upfront investment. For something we don’t know will be successful, that’s a risky venture. We don’t know if it’s a sustainable initiative. Research and development, new materials, retraining staff or getting new ones… it’s a lot of money we might just be throwing in the water.”
Oh, God. They really weren’t happy with this so far. I glanced at my dad, but he was watching the investors, not saying anything.
When I’d become CEO of the company, he’d let me take the reins and he hadn’t once tried to backseat drive. He’d always been the person to encourage me from the sidelines, but he’d never been controlling, trying to take over when he’d said it was my turn at the helm.
Now, with everyone losing it over my proposed changes, I wished he would say something to help me out here.
But this was what I’d wanted to do, and it wasn’t always a given that investors were going to agree. Being a leader meant taking the bad with the good, figure out which way to turn and sticking to my guns when the going got tough.
“I don’t think there’s something wrong with this per se,” Elena Marini said. Finally, someone else on my side. “I think it’s about execution. The Blackwood yachts have a big enough name that the public might just bite. I mean, who doesn’t want to be a part of an innovative shift? Especially when it’s about status.”
“Sure,” Henry said. “If they go for it and the yachts are a great success, then sure, it will be a good move in the long run. But what about right now? Moving away from what we know means that there might be a lot of new things to learn. Take the tech, for example. This doesn’t align with my work. Can you successfully innovate this new domain?”
Chris was the one who knew all about that. I wished he’d been here and not called to the factory on some emergency. What could be more important than this right now?
“How married are you to this idea?” Victoria Sterling asked, her eyes narrowed.
“I’m serious about it,” I said. “I think this is the right thing to do, the way to move forward. I don’t think it will be a waste of money or that the market won’t go for it. It’s something new, something exciting, and with the changing climate, it’s our job to all do our part in making this world a better place for our children. We all hear this all the time, but we have to start focusing on doing things differently if we want something to change at all.”
“Be the change we want to see in the world,” Samuel Bennett said, nodding.
As cliché as it was, it was true.
Sasha shook her head. “Look, I get that you’re trying to do something new and different, and I’m all about innovation, but I’m not going to spend money I could potentially lose. It might seem short-sighted to prioritize short-term returns, but that’s business. If you’re going in this direction, I’m afraid I won’t be able to go with you.”
Her words were clipped and straight to the point.
My blood ran cold.
“You’re willing to withdraw as an investor if we change?” I asked.
“That’s right,” Sasha said. “You’ll understand, of course, that it’s not personal. It’s business.”
“I’m afraid I have to lay down the law with that, too,” Nigel said, more confident to put his foot down now that he wasn’t the only one. “The regulatory landscape around sustainable practices and green technology is complex and ever-changing and having to jump through so many hoops only to not be allowed to do something isn’t a risk I’m willing to take with my money. I’m with Sasha on this. The adage never change a winning plan still stands true and if you’re going to pivot, then it will be away from my core values.”
I stared at them, shocked.
“I’m afraid I feel the same,” Victoria said softly. She looked like she didn’t want to hurt my feelings, but she was serious about business, and ultimately, that was what this was—a business they were investing in. They had a say about where they wanted their money to go, and if they were unhappy, nothing stopped them from taking their money away.
I waited for a moment longer to be sure no one else wanted to jump on board, and then I nodded curtly.
“I appreciate your feedback. I’m very sorry to hear that this is how you feel. I’ll take your comments under advisement and discuss it with my brothers.”
The atmosphere was strained, and the investors were all tense. Three of the six had threatened to leave if I changed something without even offering to see if it was working first.
But that was because of their money, because unless there was sufficient proof and market research that there would be a positive return on their investment… they weren’t going to keep investing.
The meeting concluded, and they all stood, filing out of the office until it was just me and my dad.
“Well, that was unexpected,” I said.
Dad didn’t answer me. He looked pensive.
“I would have thought they’d be excited about the idea of change.”
“People don’t like change,” Dad said. “I think it’s a good idea, but I see where they’re coming from.”
I sighed. “Yeah, me too.” What worried me the most was their wanting to withdraw their funds. If we lost at least fifty percent of our investment funds, this company wasn’t going to make it, even if we decided to stay on the same course as we were now.
I sat on the edge of the table and looked out of the window.
“It’s not a bad thing to want to change,” I said.
“It’s not.”
“If we do this, we could lose everything.”
“There’s that possibility.”
“What happens if we don’t?” I looked over my shoulder at my dad, who stood and buttoned his blazer.
“Then we keep going the way we are now. Which isn’t bad either, you know. We’re successful, we have a good name, a positive company image despite what they’re saying about our sustainability practices… maybe it’s worth considering not doing this at all.”
He patted me on the shoulder before he left the boardroom, and I was alone.
He was right, of course. We could keep going the way we were and nothing would change.
But it wasn’t that simple. Because something big inside me had changed. I wasn’t the same person I’d been before. So much looked different.
Was it because of Charlotte?
Largely, yes. Not only because I was in love with her and I wanted to do things better because of her but also because of the story she’d told me about her father, about having the opportunity to make the right choice and choosing the wrong one, after all.
I didn’t want to be that person. I didn’t want to be the guy who made the right choice for the sake of money, forgetting about everything—and everyone—it affected.
But if I went through with this, doing the right thing, I’d lose a lot of money, and I wouldn’t be able to do what I did best.
My dad had worked his whole life to be able to give me and my brothers an empire, a legacy we could take forward so that we would be set for the rest of our lives. Could I throw all of that away for the sake of a girl? For the sake of doing the right thing?
Would it be the right thing if I let my dad down? My brothers?
The more I thought about it, the more my head hurt, and I had no idea which way to turn. Losing investors could be the downfall of the company on so many different levels. And that would mean disappointing my family.
But losing a part of myself, doing something that I thought wasn’t right anymore… and on top of it all, possibly losing Charlotte…
How could I choose?
I had my family, on the one hand, people who had always been there for me and given me a shot when my life had been a living hell before. On the other hand, I had Charlotte, who had given me a reason to live again, something bigger to strive for than my name and my reputation.
God, why did this have to be so fucking difficult?
Why couldn’t I ever just have what I wanted and it be enough?