23. Lucy
LUCY
L ucy took a sip of her ginger ale. Hopefully, it would do the trick and keep her from feeling sick to her stomach.
She had a lot of important meetings today that couldn’t be rescheduled, at least not if she wanted people to take her seriously as a CEO.
The ginger ale took the edge off her nausea, but it didn’t do anything about her headache.
She was still doing all she could to be a good CEO, but it was difficult to juggle that with preparing to become a mother.
She’d been reading baby books and researching good quality cribs and strollers, but the world of babies felt overwhelming, especially on her own.
Her heart ached when she caught sight of couples shopping together, hand in hand, or pushing strollers as they walked. That kind of partnership would be nice.
She missed Elliot. She wished he were there. Yet Lucy also knew that there was no way Elliot would want to be part of her and the baby’s life. After all, in the weeks since he’d gone back to Chicago, she hadn’t heard anything from him. They’d already had a second chance, and it hadn’t worked out.
She knew she needed to tell him about the baby, even though he wouldn’t want to be part of its life, but she had no idea how to.
She couldn’t just call him up with news like this.
She needed to find the right time, the right place…
and that time and place seemed impossible to find.
And she was so happy with the idea of becoming a mother that it was hard to imagine dealing with Elliot’s upset about it.
Lucy took another sip of ginger ale. There was no point feeling sad about what could never be. It was better to move on. Speaking of which, she had to get ready for a meeting with the rest of the C-suite.
Lucy gathered her things and headed to the large meeting room.
A few people were already there, talking amongst themselves, and they all greeted Lucy with friendly smiles when she entered.
The meeting began with a discussion of previous business, which went smoothly.
Then, the CFO, Clarice Thomas, cleared her throat and offered a new piece of business that sent Lucy reeling.
“I’ve gotten some interest in purchasing the other half of the company,” Clarice said. “He can offer a good price, as much as we were hoping to sell for, and he has a great track record.”
“Why are people reaching out to you instead of me?” Lucy asked.
“I thought I was clear that I wanted to speak to all potential purchasers.” After all, whoever got the other shares would effectively be running the company alone while Lucy was on her upcoming maternity leave — not that she’d told anyone about the maternity leave yet.
She needed to find someone she could trust to run the company effectively and not stage some kind of coup while Lucy was giving birth.
“Of course,” Clarice agreed. “This gentleman reached out to me first, but he did say right away that he wanted to meet with you after I’d verified that it was a serious offer.”
“And was it a serious offer?” Lucy asked.
Clarice nodded. “It seems to be. He has plenty of experience and certainly has the capital to make an investment like this.”
“What’s his name?” Lucy asked.
“That’s the thing.” Clarice bit her lip. “He asked me to keep that quiet until the two of you were able to meet.”
Lucy sighed. She didn’t have time for games like this. “Well, whoever it is, I don’t want a co-CEO who tries to be mysterious. I need someone clear and upfront.”
“Agreed,” Clarice said. “But I really do think you should meet with him. It’s a serious offer, and to be honest, the company does need someone to purchase the other half. Unless you’re willing to consider being bought out by a bigger company.”
Lucy shook her head. She’d considered the idea briefly, especially after finding out about her pregnancy, but despite the advantages, she’d rejected it.
No matter how hard it would be to run a company while raising a baby as a single mom, she couldn’t sell her brother’s hard-earned company to one of the travel giants who would be interested.
Borderless was unique, and it needed to stay that way.
“Fine.” Lucy realized she was being a bit harsh and quickly added, “Thank you, Clarice. I’m not upset with you. I just don’t appreciate the buyer’s secrecy.”
“I understand. Shall I set up the meeting?”
“Please do.”
Discussion moved on to other business, and Lucy tried to put the mystery buyer out of her mind.
Whoever it was, she would meet them soon enough, and unless it was a truly great offer, she would turn them down.
Lucy needed to work with someone she could trust, someone who wouldn’t walk away at the first sign of hardship, someone who would listen to her ideas.
Someone who wouldn’t do what Elliot had done.
Lucy felt a flash of resentment toward Elliot for putting her in a position in which she might have to sell half of her brother’s beloved company to someone who didn’t have the same priorities just to keep Borderless afloat.
But she forced herself to take a deep breath.
There was no use being angry with Elliot.
She couldn’t regret anything, not when it had all led to her baby.
The planned meeting came a few days later.
Lucy waited in the main conference room, alone.
She wanted to scope out a potential buyer before he or she met the rest of the C-suite or any board members.
That way, she could turn down people who wouldn’t be a good fit more easily.
At exactly eleven o’clock, the agreed-upon time, the door opened, and Brooke smiled at her from the other side.
Then she stepped out of the way and ushered in a very familiar figure.
Lucy’s jaw practically dropped as Elliot stepped into the room.
He was the same as always, with his fitted suit and clean-shaven face, but he looked almost like a ghost to Lucy.
She’d been half certain that she’d never see him again.
Even now, she wondered if she was just imagining that he was here. Why was he here, anyway?
“Elliot?” Lucy got to her feet, her heart racing. “What are you doing here? I’m supposed to have a meeting with someone about buying your shares.”
“I know.” Elliot shut the door behind him. “That someone is me.”
Lucy shook her head. “That doesn’t make any sense. The shares are technically still yours. Anyway, you could have just called.”
“No, I couldn’t have.” Elliot crossed the room to the table. “May I sit?”
“I guess.” Lucy crossed her arms. She wanted to stay standing, but she felt dizzy again, so she sank back into her chair.
“This is a serious offer, Lucy.” Elliot held out a file. “I have all the paperwork here.”
Lucy shook her head again. “I still don’t understand. You put your stake in Borderless up for sale less than two months ago. Why would you want to keep it?”
“Because,” Elliot said. “It’s the only thing I can do.”
Lucy lifted a hand to tug on a strand of her hair. “What does that mean?”
“It means that…” Elliot sighed. “I made a mistake. I never should have chosen Keype over our relationship. I never should have tried to sell my half of Borderless. I never should have left New York the way I did — without you.”
Lucy took a deep, steadying breath. A part of her had wanted to hear those words from Elliot ever since he’d walked out of their office more than a month ago. Yet a stronger part knew that just because Elliot felt sorry didn’t mean that anything had changed.
“Thank you for saying that,” Lucy said softly. Her hand dropped unconsciously to her stomach. “I appreciate it. But that doesn’t mean that I’m going to sell your half of the company back to you.”
Elliot nodded. “I understand. I haven’t exactly proven myself to be a good business partner. I would rate my business partner skills as three out of ten.”
The reference was so unexpected that Lucy let out a short, surprised laugh.
In an instant, the man in front of her transformed from the guy who’d broken her heart to the boy she’d known back in college and had gotten to know again recently.
Despite the transformation, she knew she couldn’t trust Elliot not to walk away when things got difficult.
She wouldn’t let herself relax so easily.
“Three?” she asked.
“Well, I did pretty well before I left, I think.”
“I suppose you did.” Lucy smiled, but then her grin faded.
“The thing is, Elliot, our relationship may have been a ten at its best, but it was a one at its worst. We’ve both hurt each other.
We have a long history of not talking when we need to.
I appreciate you coming back and offering to buy your half — or keep it — but it isn’t a good idea.
What happens when things get difficult again? ”
“When things get difficult again, we’ll stick together,” Elliot said. He stood, circled the table, and sat next to Lucy. “You’re right. We have a long history of not talking when we need to. I want to change that, starting today.
“What I should have said when I sold the shares of Borderless was that I was scared. The only thing I was ever good at was running Keype, so when Keype hit a bump in the road, I panicked. I left because it seemed easier than sticking around and seeing everything I’d worked for with Keype and with Borderless and with you fall apart. ”
“I understand that.” Lucy nodded. “You care about your company. That makes sense. But you chose your company over me.” She’d almost said “us,” thinking about the baby, but it wasn’t the right time to tell him.