2. Sean
2
SEAN
Six Weeks Later
S unday’s Business Globe was spread out on the glass-topped oak table, and I stared at the article on the second page.
It was a small one, and it briefly read, Lead Capital Group to buy disgraced Mindwell Inc.
in a surprise move that shocks many.
In terms of scandalous headlines, really, it wasn’t.
The two class action lawsuits against the company were listed at the very bottom of the article, and they were the real scandal.
Mindwell had hidden details of emissions from their manufacturing of computer chips, and now that it was found out, the CEO, Gary Chalk, wanted to bolt.
All things considered, my partners and I had bought it for a good price.
The company had potential.
The question was, was I the one to turn their fate around?
Desmond, Alex, and Jonah—my partners at Lead Capital—seemed to think so.
I had my doubts, but I welcomed the challenge.
Anything to keep me busy while I dealt with a very inconvenient truth at home—my seven-year-old son actively disliked me.
My phone beeped with a text message from my ex-wife.
Helen had traveled to Australia for a month-long vacation with her boyfriend, Matt, and was due back next week.
Helen : I’m shopping for gifts for Lucas before I land in New York.
Any suggestions?
Helen and I shared joint custody of Lucas, for whom I’d gladly give up making surprise deals that shocked many.
I wanted his admiration and attention the way I used to look up to my dad when I was seven.
But Lucas was a closed book around me, and I knew nothing about his likes or dislikes.
He hated me.
Sean : I think I saw him playing with an old set of Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head in his room.
Perhaps you could buy him a newer one?
I didn’t ask her how she liked Australia.
We’d gone there for our honeymoon eight years ago, and reminders about that time were just painful.
Her response came swiftly.
Helen : From what I remember, he hates lovey-dovey things .
Are you sure he’s playing with those toys?
She was right. I’d seen him hold Mr. Potato Head on his first day with me, but now that I forced myself to think of it, I’d probably seen it in the trash the next day.
Helen : I was wondering if he had a new toy obsession, but it looks like he hasn’t developed one so soon.
I think I’ll fall back on his favorite Spider-Man toys.
How about this one?
Every day in the past three weeks of living with Lucas had been a lesson in how little I knew him.
How little quality time I had spent with him all these years.
I bit back the urge to curse myself and instead looked at the picture of the toy Spider-Man she’d sent me.
Sean : Sure, you could buy that.
You know him the best.
I felt a pang of envy as I admitted the truth.
From the rows of figurines in the background of the picture, I realized that she was at Paddy’s Markets, the famous shopping marketplace I’d taken her to during our honeymoon.
Was she taking Matt to every place we’d been together?
What next, the Bondi to Coogee Walk and a ferry to Watsons Bay for one of their many seafood restaurants?
There was no response from Helen.
In the silence, as I stared at her message, my assistant, Amelia, peeked into the office.
“Everyone’s assembled in the Orion conference hall,” she said, eyes darting between me and the door, as though she wanted to make a run for it before I gave her another disagreeable task to do.
I turned my phone off and set it in my pocket.
Recently, I’d registered just how little emotion I felt when I saw Helen’s photos, and it struck me as a grave reminder of the effects of love.
Love was just a false high.
There was always a low that followed.
I had seen that with my dad and mom.
Dad had been head over heels for Mom, but somehow, it wasn’t enough for her.
After Mom cheated on Dad and left us, it had been incredibly lonely—not to mention disheartening—to live with a father who was depressed and silent.
I’d lived through the low myself.
When Helen revenge-cheated on me after accusing me of having an affair when I was simply overworking, I was hit with a divorce.
In short, I was a mess.
After Helen had left, taking Lucas with her, I never entertained thoughts of falling in love again.
Love happened only once, and when it was done, all that was left was bitterness and a child who hated you.
“Is everything okay?”
I looked up to find Amelia gazing at me in concern.
I’d never confided in anyone about my pain of losing out on time with my son.
After the divorce, he spent most of his time with his mom.
He was so unhappy to spend time with me in my home—the home he’d grown up in—that I voluntarily gave him more opportunities to stay with his mom instead.
Opportunities Lucas would grab without hesitation.
Now, I was left with a stinging regret for all those times and a child who was as emotionally distant from me as possible.
It hurt.
No one could understand this.
I drew in a deep breath and shook my head.
“All good,” I said gruffly, but Amelia’s worried face reminded me of my job here.
“Everyone in the conference room? Good. That wasn’t so hard, was it?” I asked, fixing my tie and walking around the table to stand next to my assistant.
“I assume no one bit your head off in the process?”
“They’re worried,” she said in barely a whisper.
“They think this merger means that some jobs are going to go.”
“Well, they aren’t wrong,” I said with a frown.
When Mindwell Inc. had merged with Tassater Inc.
—the company I ran—we had duplicate teams. Two marketing teams, two analytics teams. It was a mess for sure.
Layoffs were inevitable.
“But my job is to build the best tech company in the e-marketplace business, and I’ll make sure the best of the teams stays on.”
“There are two executive assistants for the CEO,” Amelia said, lowering her voice even more and giving me a pointed look.
“Mindwell Inc.’s CEO has an executive assistant, too, who is waiting in the same conference room as the others. So, do I wait to see who you think is the best, or should I leave right away?” she asked in a shaky voice.
When I didn’t answer her, she disappeared out the door, looking miserable.
I stared at her retreating figure until the hallway outside was quiet, without the usual bustle of chairs and papers from Amelia’s desk right outside.
No doubt, getting the two companies to sit down together in a single room had been too much for her, or she would never have harbored thoughts of me replacing her.
Skittish.
An image of a beautiful, curly-haired blonde in a wedding dress came to my mind.
She’d trusted me. She wasn’t skittish.
She didn’t apologize when she spilled that coffee on me and didn’t cower in fear, like Jeremy from accounting had when he spilled his latte over me.
Very few people messed up and then calmly looked at me like she did.
Forget calm. She’d been happy.
Laughing, until that bastard of a fiancé had given up on her.
I walked out of the door and shut it behind me.
I took a deep breath and walked to the elevator.
I needed to stop thinking about that blonde woman every day.
Had she gotten over the breakup?
How was she doing now?
Was she able to laugh again?
Jesus. What was with my brain and these questions?
I’d never see her again, and thank goodness for that.
A woman who kept popping into my mind when we hadn’t even exchanged names wasn’t a good woman to have in my vicinity.
I spotted Amelia’s empty desk just as the elevator doors closed and heaved a sigh.
I’d see about this new executive assistant—the one who still insisted on hanging around even though her CEO had been given the boot.
I wasn’t going to let Amelia go, skittish or not.
She was loyal, even if she was a little too dramatic for me, and I always favored loyalty.
Helen had cheated on me within two years of our marriage, whereas Amelia had been my assistant for five years now.
Loyalty was a quality that was missing in people today.
I’d realized that years ago, after Helen’s vindictive attempt.
And as evidenced by Gary Chalk’s executive assistant, it seemed, if he or she hadn’t followed their CEO out.
I got out of the elevator on the first floor and walked to the Orion conference hall.
Amelia had composed herself and was waiting outside the conference hall for me.
Her hand was on her belly, and I could see that she was tired.
She had another three months to go before the baby got here, and she didn’t need more stress.
“What’s the name of the other assistant?” I asked, stopping in front of her before walking through the door, where I could hear the voices falling silent.
“Chloe Nichols,” Amelia said in a muted voice.
“She’s the one by the window.”
I didn’t turn to look at the woman by the window.
I looked at Amelia’s nervous eyes before I said, “Tell Edith from HR that we can let Chloe go. Make sure the compensation isn’t too bad.”
Amelia nodded, looking relieved.
“I will. Thank you.”
“Have her out of here by the next hour,” I muttered as she stepped into the conference room while I made a quick detour to the restroom, completely forgetting to look at the woman by the window.