Chapter 24 #2
“Yes, you could say that,” she replied, her tone trying to come off as modest but failing—I could see the pride gleaming in her eyes.
“They’re all the most high-ranking members of the Governors Board—Fairwell’s governing body.
” She paused as she noticed my focus on the three tallest turrets, then added, “Those three are known as the C-Suite, by the way. Haas Turret, Willoughby Turret, and Burchard Turret.” She pointed to each of them as she spoke.
“Named after the current three most important people on Fairwell.”
Burchard… I had seen a painting of a Burchard out in the hallway. And the name Willoughby also rang a bell. It was the name of Hayden’s island.
“And what do they all do, exactly?” I asked.
“In order of rank: Burchard is the COO—Chief Operations Officer. Willoughby is the CFO—Chief Financial Officer. And Haas is the CEO—Chief Executive Officer—which is basically like the President. The head honcho of this whole show.” She paused, wetting her lips thoughtfully as she gazed out at the tallest turret.
“That position has been held by his family since the very beginning of Fairwell.”
I frowned. “How so? Do you not have a democratic government, where leaders are elected and changed occasionally?” I knew about different types of Old World governments from the history classes my grandmother had given me.
“Well, as I’m pretty sure I explained to you earlier, rank on Fairwell is based on the number of coins in your account.
The harder you work, the higher you climb.
Judging a person by monetary value may seem crass, but it’s an effective means for proving strength of character, motivation and ability.
Admittedly, in the Haas’s case, as with most of the officials living in these turrets, their wealth has been largely inherited.
The Haas were the richest when they arrived—multi billionaires of the Old World…
and they have remained so over the centuries. ”
I blinked. “So, you’re saying that all a person has to do is be lucky enough to inherit a bunch of coins from his or her parents, and suddenly he or she is fit to rule?”
She smiled. “Oh, no, that’s not how it works at all.
The person must be fit, of course. The balance in one’s account pushes one to the top, but they must also be fully capable of acting in that capacity…
which the current Haas in power certainly is.
Mr. Jacob Haas is whip-smart and an incredible visionary.
An incredible human being all around, honestly.
I’ve talked to him personally many times, and from the attention he gives you, and the focus he puts into your conversation, you’d think you were the only person in the world at that moment in time.
He somehow always manages to make time for his team even though his schedule is ridiculously busy.
“If he was anything but incredible, the Governors Board holds the power to boot him out, subject to a judicial review of any alleged discrepancies and insufficiencies. Over the years, many such attempts have been made to remove the family from power, but criticism has never held up to scrutiny.
“The Haas train their kin well, you see… and I’m guessing they’ll be in power for a long time to come. Which wouldn’t be a bad thing, honestly, as they’ve helped us thrive for centuries. They’ve led us to where we are today.”
I blew out slowly as Anna trailed off, trying to wrap my head around the concept. The idea of this monetary ranking system still didn’t sit well with me, even though I was relieved to know that the person actually did have to be qualified to lead.
I guessed a part of me was disappointed.
When we first arrived at Fairwell, Anna had mentioned that any of us settlers could make it into the government one day, if we played our cards right and proved ourselves to be motivated individuals.
And while, perhaps, some of us might eventually make it into the lower rungs of management, I couldn’t imagine we’d ever get high enough to have the power to effect real change here.
At least, it would probably be generations before that happened.
Native Fairlanders had the advantage of massive inheritances to boost their position—wealth built up over centuries. How could we ever compete with that?
“As for the other two Chiefs, however,” Anna went on, drawing my attention back to her.
A small smile quirked the edges of her lips.
“They have been a little more interchangeable over the years. Particularly the Chief Operations Officer position. There are a number of families close to Burchard’s level of wealth, who are vying to succeed him in the next Assets Review in a few month’s time… my father included.”
I gazed at her. “Oh. So, your father’s trying to be one of the top three?”
“Yup.” She nodded. “I’m not sure exactly how many coins Burchard has to his name, but my dad’s been working super hard this year to upstage him.
” Her smile stretched into a full on, almost leering grin.
“I told you we like competition in this place, eh?” she added, giving me a gentle squeeze on the shoulder.
I nodded, even as my stomach dropped at the reminder of our deal. I’d managed to forget about that for a few minutes, distracted by the view and the concept of Fairwell’s governance. I didn’t appreciate her reminding me.
I wasn’t finished with this conversation yet, though, so I didn’t let myself get sidetracked.
“And what does your dad do exactly?” I asked. She’d mentioned he was a governor/executive, but that hadn’t explained what he was actually in charge of.
“Chief of Outreach,” she replied.
“Oh,” I replied softly, taking a moment to process the information.
That would likely explain the phone call I’d overheard with him and Anna, where it had sounded like he was bossing her around. Since Anna worked in outreach too, he would literally be her boss.
It would also explain why Gerard had experience and expertise in training people for Outreach, given it was his father’s specialty.
“It’s why I invited you here to do the registration,” Anna went on. “He has all the forms up in his office.”
“I see…” I replied, then wondered why Gerard hadn’t invited Jessie here to sign her registration form too. They’d done it at the restaurant they’d eaten lunch at today, from what she’d told me. Maybe that location had just happened to be more convenient for him at the time.
“Now, shall we continue?” Anna said, clapping her hands together. “My dad’s expecting us. His office is right at the top.”
I moved away from the window to follow her.
As we continued to climb the spiral staircase, the place reminded me more and more of a fairytale, and I couldn’t help but think of Rapunzel.
The stairwell seemed to extend up through the entire turret, with breaks at every landing, and aside from the modern lighting and abstract paintings that started to appear on the walls, the place maintained its charming, rustic feel.
I doubted, however, that the occupant of the top of this tower was in the habit of letting down their hair.
All the doors on the landings we passed were closed, so I couldn’t get a glimpse of what the rest of the turret was like. Which, by the time we reached the fourth landing, started to make the journey feel never-ending.
“You’re not a fan of elevators in this place?” I asked, panting slightly as we mounted another flight of stairs.
She smirked. “We all enjoy the exercise—works off the extra calories.”
It was no wonder her thighs looked so muscular…
“You got to the door pretty quick,” I remarked.
“That’s ‘cause I’d just been in my study, which is near the front door. No worries—we’ve only three more floors to go.”
Sucking in a breath, I gripped the banister and kept climbing. As we neared the fifth floor, a delicious aroma filled my nostrils. It smelled like some kind of sweet pastry.
“Apple pie’s on the menu this evening,” Anna chortled.
Arriving on the fifth landing, my eyes moved to the door on our right, which was open.
“Is that you, Anna?” a mature, female voice drifted out from it.
“Yeah. Tani arrived,” Anna called back, then gave me a look and nodded toward the doorway. “Come on, let’s say a quick hi to my mom.”
She made for the door before I could answer, and I followed her obediently, even as I felt a prickle of apprehension.
I stepped into a grand kitchen… which was more beautiful than I ever imagined a kitchen could be.
It was a huge, circular room, and followed the same decor as the rest of the turret, fusing modern with medieval.
The same gray stone covered the walls and floors, and spacious black tabletops stretched luxuriously around its edges, sprinkled with sleek cooking gadgets and sparkling kitchenware.
Conical steel lanterns hung low from the high ceiling, casting a warm yet bright glow around the room.
It made our old communal kitchen back home seem like a hut.
My eyes fell on the woman standing at the far corner, in front of what appeared to be an oven and stove unit.
So, some people do have proper kitchen equipment here, my mind couldn’t help but note. Maybe we were just given automatic “smart pots” in our houses because they were supposed to save us time and were more economical.
Mrs. Springs was a large woman with ivy green eyes, and I could instantly see Anna in her. She was at least a couple inches shorter, and her hair was blonde, but judging from the dark grayish-brown roots that showed at the crown of her head, it was dyed.
There was also an overall frostiness to her appearance that did not exist in Anna. Her nose was sharp, her lips pinched, and though she wore makeup, her age showed.
When her eyes lighted on me, she gave a small, polite smile. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Lockwood,” she said, setting her gloves down and approaching to shake my hand.
I noted her platinum ring as I took it in a brief shake and then withdrew, nodding. “And you, Mrs. Springs,” I replied.
Anna scoffed. “Look at you two, all formal. You can call her Tani, Mom. And Tani, Mom’s first name is Susanna.”
“Hi, Susanna,” I added tentatively.
Susanna nodded, though didn’t respond in kind as her eyes traveled to her daughter. “Dad’s expecting you now, right?” she said.
“Yup.” Anna nodded, and then the sound of a chair scraping to my right distracted my attention.
I turned to see an area of the kitchen that I hadn’t even noticed yet—a small side area with a table large enough to seat six people.
Currently, it was occupied by only one: Gerard.
He had changed into a casual outfit like Anna, a pair of baggy pants and a T-shirt, and he clutched some kind of binder in his hands.
He leaned back in his chair to glance curiously at me.
He hadn’t noticed me earlier today, so I wasn’t sure if he had ever seen me before.
I definitely didn’t remember seeing him before this morning.
“Oh, and that’s my little brother Gerard,” Anna added, apparently noticing him in the room for the first time, too.
So, he was her younger brother. He did look younger, though not by a lot. Late twenties, I guessed, now that I had him in clear view, unobstructed by a windowpane.
“Hey,” he said, giving me a broad smile that was uncannily similar to Anna’s. His voice was also very much like Anna’s in cadence, just deeper.
“Hi,” I murmured.
Anna returned her focus to her mother. “Do you think there’ll be some apple pie ready before Tani leaves?”
“And when do you think that might be?” her mother replied, eyeing me with a cool curiosity.
“Oh, probably not much more than fifteen minutes or so.”
“Hmmm,” she said softly, glancing up at the clock hanging on the wall. “It should be.”
“Oh, you don’t need to—” I started to say.
But then Anna was putting her arm around my shoulder and pulling me toward the door. “We know we don’t need to,” she said, “but you can’t leave here without a piece of Mom’s pie! See you in a bit, Mom,” she added, then shepherded me out of the room.
As we continued up another staircase, she added, “Mom’s always cooking something at this time of day. It’s her hobby and how she winds down after work.”
“What does your mom do for work?” I asked.
“She’s Head Meteorologist up at the observatory. She has a pretty sweet commute, as you can imagine. There’s an elevator that runs through that big column that supports the observatory center, and she only has to walk like ten minutes to and from work every day.”
“Yeah, that must be convenient,” I said absently, while wondering how Susanna had gotten to platinum. It could have been on her own strength, through her work, but I highly doubted it. My guess was that she came from a wealthy family, just like I guessed Anna’s father did.
“And you only have one sibling?” I asked, remembering all the shoes downstairs.
“Yup,” Anna replied.
“I mean siblings as in, biological and adopted.”
“I know,” she said, flicking her wrist. “We don’t do adoptions, we’re far too busy.”
“I see,” I murmured.
Perhaps that would be the case for all the important governing families at this level. I couldn’t imagine they would have time to run around after kids. But then again…
“Too busy, even with help?” I couldn’t help but ask, hoping the bite didn’t show through in my voice as I remembered how even those who did adopt seemed to have nannies at their beck and call.
I hadn’t yet seen a nanny at my sister’s caregiver’s place, but I was aware that Martha had at least one, since she had mentioned it in conversation.
“Nah. It’s just… It’s not really our thing.” She sighed, then gave me a considering look. “I’ll be honest, as much as we spend millions on our children and respect them, I think for some families it’s a bit of a status symbol to have so many children.”
I stared at her, surprised to hear her admitting this. I mean, I kind of already understood this, the way some took in ridiculous amounts of children. Hearing it from Anna’s own lips took me aback, however.
“And what do you think about that?” I asked.
She shrugged. “Is it really so bad that we take pride in having children? And it’s not that they’re treated like collectibles, of course. They’re treated far better than that!”
“Right,” I murmured, thinking back to Bea and wondering how she was doing right now.
“And we’re here!” Anna announced. We’d reached what appeared to be the very top floor, since the staircase ended. We emerged on a platform with a single mahogany door. I stood back, holding my breath, while she knocked.
There was the sound of soft footsteps planting against carpet, and then the door swung open.