Chapter 14 #2
“There’s endless work on a farm,” Dad says, attempting to reason with me. But as usual, he’s way off the mark. “When we were growing up—”
“Please, spare me. This is not like the olden times,” I say, putting up a dire hand.
“We live in the modern day, and you can’t expect us to know how the hell we’re supposed to farm this place, let alone live here, when we’re used to drivers, cooks, and landscapers—people you hired so that we didn’t have to do any of those things.
Maybe Gavin is used to this level of obscurity, but I’m not.
My livelihood—the one that is supporting us through this time—relies on keeping up my very public image.
So, please, don’t tell me that there’s nothing we can do. ”
Mom, Dad, and Gavin stare at me, stone-faced. Of course they find offense in my plea, ignoring the fact that my parents are the ones with unrealistic expectations and that Gavin has the emotional quotient of a brick wall.
After a long silence Mom eventually stirs. “You’re right, Elena.” Her face lacks so much expression that I can’t tell if she’s being serious or sarcastic. “You are good at having fun. It’s admirable, really. I’m sure you’ll figure something out.”
The irony is that I’m finally getting the recognition I’ve wanted from my mom, but it’s in the form of a backhanded compliment that I can’t enjoy.
Dad slowly goes over to his suitcase and pulls out the framed photo of us. He leans it against the wall on the kitchen counter. “We need to start behaving like a happy family,” he says. “Even if it’s all an act.”
I don’t know what’s worse—Dad’s belief that pretending to be a happy family is going to make us one, or the fact that Mom agrees with him.
—
Later that night I hear Mom and Dad arguing through our poorly insulated walls. Gavin has earplugs in, and I’m not even sure he’d care if he heard. I tiptoe out of the room and lean close to their door.
“How could you do this, Dale?” Even through the door, I can clearly hear the hurt in Mom’s voice. A stark difference from the brave face she was putting on earlier.
“He seemed trustworthy.” Dad remains resolute, despite the outcome of the appeal.
“But I warned you many times that it wasn’t a good idea.”
“I’m not the only one who’s affected by his scheme. Big companies like Saks, Neiman—they all bought into it.”
“Yes, but you’re the only one who lost everything.”
“I was told it was a foolproof deal. If you had that kind of assurance, wouldn’t you put everything into it?”
“It was your pride. I know it was. I’ve always warned you about it. You were trying to cover up your insecurity by getting yourself involved in bigger, riskier deals.”
“Insecurity?” He scoffs. “I don’t have—”
“Dale, just because you didn’t go to college doesn’t mean you’re not smart. You just have to stop trying to prove it to others. Isn’t it enough that you and I know that you’re smart?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says. “In any case, it doesn’t matter. George is gone, and so is our money.”
“It does matter,” Mom says in a softer voice. “You realize it seems like you chose him over me, someone who’s been by your side the entire time?” She sniffs.
“Gloria, you can’t see it like that. You know what it’s like in the meetings.”
For once Mom doesn’t disagree with him. “Sometimes you have to listen to your instincts even if they go against the trend. Isn’t that what you said in your book?”
“That’s different. These men run the industry. How could we benefit from being on the outside of the fashion world?”
“How are we better off now?” This time Dad falls silent. “It was a gamble either way, and it would have been better if we lost everything knowing that you took a chance on us.”
I go back to my room. I don’t want to hear more. Now I know there’s nothing we can do but wait to see how the board decides to reorganize the company and what type of role Dad has in it. Which means Mom was right after all. What other choice do we have but to wait it out?
I know it’s possible to work my way back to what I was, but that takes time.
In a year I’ll graduate from high school, and my parents will expect me to go to college.
How can I tell them I have no intention of going to college if I don’t have anything better lined up for me?
My future that used to be Swarovski clear is now fogged-up glass.
Excerpt
“Being a leader is not about being in charge. It’s about taking care of those in your charge.”
The American Dream Achieved: The Story of Dale Ok, Founder of It’s Ok!
Transcript
60 Minutes Interview with Gloria Ok
Interviewer: But whatever Dale’s motivations are, it seems like they’ve pushed him to a level of success people can only imagine. And now you live in a ten-thousand-square-foot mansion in the wealthy neighborhood of Calabasas. Tell me, how does that compare to living on a farm?
Gloria: To be honest, everything happened so quickly, I hardly had time to notice the difference.
In the early stages of It’s Ok!, we were inundated with getting it set up and running.
Once we made a steady income, everything happened all at once.
The house, the press, the success. It was such a blur.
Interviewer: Sounds like a lot of work.
Gloria: We were used to the work. It was the rise in status that was a bigger adjustment.
Gloria: The majority of the people in Korea are working class, with the poor at the bottom and the chaebol—high society—at the top.
Dale said that now that we were chaebol, we had to act accordingly, like in Korea.
When we had Gavin and Elena, we hired the best nannies.
When they started school, we sent them to the best private school.
We were determined to give them the life we didn’t have.
Interviewer: But the hard work made you who you are.
Gloria: That’s true. I never thought of it that way.