13. Alex
Alex
Acouple of weeks have passed without Chanice solidifying plans.
Perhaps needing a break after that confession on the streets, she is keeping her distance.
And what to make of it? Telling me so openly that no one has treated her with the bare minimum that she deserves.
Praising me for giving her so little in the bigger scheme of things.
I don’t know what she will do if she lets me shower her with the affection I would give if we were in a relationship.
Only time will tell. Until then, I need to focus on what I can change.
Which is the way our warehouse handles goods prior to shipping. The system is a mess, and with the new deal with America Knight, I need to make our processing times shorter. Meeting with the head executive of that department and the warehouse managers of England, I’m looking to see what we can do.
Ethan, the executive, looks around the boardroom at the men and women he should know well by this point. They look back at him with as much recognition as a stranger on the street would, already helping me diagnose a part of the problem.
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for meeting with me today. I’m hoping we can figure out how we can get our goods in and out of our possession while cutting down at least twenty-five percent of our time. I want to know where we are going wrong.”
Ethan decides to go first. “I honestly think if we invest in tech that can help the sorting and boxing of products, we can reduce not only some of the time but the workforce as well.”
The managers look at each other with wide eyes.
“Why would we need to lessen our workforce?” I ask.
“To save money.” He doesn’t even look in the direction of the people he would be directly impacting.
“If I can say something.”
“Of course, George.”
He looks surprised that I know his name.
“We already had to lay off at least one-third of our workers to meet the budget cuts last year. I think that is part of the reason we are so slow. A lot of our people are doing the work that would usually take at least two individuals. We’re breaking our backs here.”
This finally gets Ethan to look in their direction, his eyes narrowing. George doesn’t back down from the stare, making me like him even more.
“We made ￡2.4 billion last year in profit. You gave yourself a raise, almost doubling your salary. Care to explain to me, Ethan, why the budget in this area needed to be cut?” I ask.
“Well, uh, the increase in minimum wage impacted our numbers hard.”
Numbers that are already too high to just be paying workers minimum wage. I know exactly who this change impacted.
“It seems to me, Ethan, that you are unable to do your job correctly. If there are budget cuts, they should affect everyone in the company and not just our hourly staff. You could have lowered your salary instead of doubling it, if we were trying to save money.” He goes to speak, and I hold up my hand.
“Your decision to fire a good portion of our workers has resulted in overworked employees and a delay in our processing. This has resulted in millions of pounds lost. I think with that result, you are not qualified for your original salary, let alone the one you gave yourself.”
He stutters and gasps, sitting there like I didn’t make myself clear.
“You’re sacked. I’ll have security lead you out.”
George practically claps with the way his hands come together. The others smile for the first time since walking into this room.
Once Ethan is gone, we discuss the hiring initiative I’ll be enacting to return our staff to full capacity. Letting the managers know that anyone in their field can apply for the new executive role, I bring us back to our roots.
After everyone leaves, I look at the budget cuts that have been implemented over the last few years and start to map out the way things are going to be rectified.
People don’t quit jobs, they quit bosses, and I don’t see how anyone in this blasted company can’t see how much money that would save us in turnover.
If they want me to run things, then they will have to watch how I do it.
Working overtime to try to get things back to the way they should be, I’m spending way too much time in my office.
Staring at the drab gray walls every day is constantly giving me a headache.
It’s enough to have me keep ibuprofen on standby at all times.
I should give the task of redecorating to my father’s assistant, Ms. Welch, but I barely trust her to send emails for me.
Before I can go online to find a designer, my phone rings for what seems like the hundredth time today.
“Yes, Ms. Welch?”
“I have Olivia Whitmore on the phone. She says she’s your sister.” The fact that Ms. Welch doesn’t already know who Liv is speaks volumes about the relationship my father had with my sister.
“Send her through.” I sit back in my seat, slouching into a more comfortable position for what is likely going to be a long conversation.
“Alex!” she says, her voice high-pitched and bright.
“Liv.”
“What are you doing?” I can hear the TV in the background blaring some reality TV show with two women yelling insults at each other. I sigh, and it’s enough for her to know to pause it.
“I am at work. What else would I be doing?”
“Come visit. I am on bed rest because the doctor is worried about my blood pressure. You would think I was running marathons with the way he is fretting. In actuality, I can barely walk without this big belly always getting in the way.” Having inherited our mother’s ability to put people in their place with a look alone, I am sure the situation must be more dire than she is implying if she couldn’t bully him into letting her stay on her feet.
“I will after work. You are following his orders, right?” Worry nestles into my chest at the idea of something happening to her.
“Yes, yes, but I am driving everyone crazy. You grew up with me, so you are used to my difficult nature. Come now and keep me company. Please,” she whines.
I sit up and look at my calendar to check if I have any pressing matters to address today.
Seeing that my day is clear to work on this quarter’s budget report, I decide I can finish it tonight.
I tell her I will be there in thirty minutes, and immediately give orders to Ms. Welch to forward my calls to my cell.
When I use my key to enter Liv’s townhouse, I can hear her before I see her.
She is yelling at the TV show she is watching, making sure the empty house is privy to all her opinions.
I open the bedroom door to see that she is perched in the middle of the bed with pillows all around her.
To the left is a tray of all her favorite snacks.
“You’re here!” she screams, trying to get up.
“No, sit. I’ll come to you.” I slide onto the bed on her right side and pull her into a half-hug.
She moves over, making room for me to sit more comfortably.
“Do you want to know something interesting?” The smile she gives is both brilliant and mischievous. She lifts one eyebrow in question while she waits for me to answer.
Even though she is seven months pregnant, she looks so beautifully put together. Dressed as if she had somewhere to go, she even curled her blonde hair. We look so alike, the only differentiating feature other than our sex is her brown eyes. They gleam with barely leashed amusement.
“Always,” I say, wondering what tidbit she has to offer.
Despite the fact that we went to different boarding schools, she was able to keep me up on all the gossip of both of them throughout my entire stay. Even blacklisted, I wouldn’t be surprised if she is still in the know about everyone.
“Mother called.” Her joy is so exuberant that it stops me from letting her in on the fact that I coerced her to do it.
It’s easy to fake my surprise, as I genuinely didn’t think our mother would actually follow through with her end of the bargain so soon. The happiness it brings Olivia is enough to make me want to keep my side of the deal.
“What did she say?”
“Well, she asked how I was doing, and when I am due. I think she might actually come to the hospital.”
“Please don’t get too excited about that. I don’t want you to be disappointed.”
“Why would I be disappointed? You are going to convince her to come, just like you convinced her to call. Also, we are getting lunch this week to catch up.” Too smart for her own good, she has figured me out. Still, I try to deny it.
“Oh, stop, I know this was because of you. She spent half the phone call talking about you taking over the company and dating Elizabeth Blackmore. Who is beautiful and cunning, but clearly not your type. Anyway, I told you it would work.”
The plan she constructed, since she was essentially disowned, was reliant on my making our parents come around.
I am supposed to stay in their lives and influence them to allow her back in as well.
Our father was barely present as it was, so it was more about getting our mother to accept everything.
I vehemently disagreed and told her I should treat them the way they treated her, but Olivia is adamant that I do as she says. She clings to the moments with our mother where she made us smile.
“I should just cut her off. It would be better for both of us,” I say with a frown.
“Nonsense. Plus, you promised me you wouldn’t. It would really hurt her if you did.”
Nothing hurts our mother unless it involves her reputation or her money. She would have to care about us more to be hurt by our actions.
“I don’t get why you still love her.”
“Because she is our mother, and one day she will remember that.”
One of the things that makes my sister so lovable is her optimism. It is only matched by her big, giving heart. These are the two reasons she is so often let down in life. I only have enough space in my own for a few people, and they had to prove themselves beyond worthy to occupy it.
“Do you want to feel the baby kick?” she asks, moving the blanket down her stomach. I place my hand there and am overcome with awe as I feel its little foot. We fall into silence, both too focused on the movement to speak. When he stops kicking, I look up to see tears in her eyes.
“Don’t mind me, it’s the hormones,” she says while wiping them away.
The last time I saw her cry was when everything went down between us all. It makes me feel as helpless as I did in that moment.
“Let me help you,” I say, desperation weighing down my words.
“You have helped me. You paid for this house and the IVF. What more do you want to do?”
“I want to give you half my trust fund, or at least my inheritance from father. That way, you never have to worry about anything.”
She pushes away my words with the flick of her hand.
“We are fine, baby brother. I know our upbringing taught us that who we know and what we have is everything. I have learned that lesson in a different context now, one that does not involve an absurd amount of money.”
Before I can argue further, we hear the front door open.
“We are in the bedroom,” Liv yells out, telling Mei where to go.
She steps into the room, a smile ready on her lips. Walking over, she kisses my sister before quickly giving me a hug. Tucking her red hair behind her ear, she showcases her many piercings.
“Welcome home, wife. Was the market okay?” Olivia asks, sitting up a little more.
“I found my favorite Kimchi, and it was on sale, so all is good.” They look at each other, and in their eyes I see the love that made Olivia turn her back on everything.
If she had never met this intricate, charming woman, then she would likely have gone on to end up in a loveless marriage. Despite everything she went through, this is clearly better for her.
“I’m going to start cooking tteokbokki. Are you staying for dinner, Alex?” Mei asks.
“Yes.”
Satisfied with my answer, she turns and goes.
“You deserve to have everything,” I say, looking at my sister.
“If money were everything, then I would have married a man and gotten my trust fund. I wouldn’t have turned my back on everyone we know to be my true self.”
“That’s not what I mean. I get you have a lot, but you can also have more, despite what they said. It’s not right that because you love who you love, you don’t get to live the life you were promised.”
While my trust fund required me to complete a postgraduate degree in business, hers required that she marry a man of suitable standards. It’s like they knew when they made it who she truly was. And one way or another, they were going to force her to change.
She shakes her head, smiling like I am amusing her with my conversation.
“That’s what you don’t get, Alex. I don’t want that life.
That life never seemed appealing to me. Just like it never seemed appealing to you.
At some point, I was always going to leave that world behind, and I wait for the day that you do, too.
” She grabs my hand into both of hers and holds it like it’s the most precious thing.
“I saw you in France. You were happy. Truly happy. Now, everyone is telling you what you are supposed to do, and it’s going to make you miserable. ”
I feel her words sink into my chest and start to dig up a truth buried so deep into my pits of denial. Even though I know this is not what I want, I don’t have the ability to admit to the life I dream about instead.
“I’ll be alright.”
She looks the saddest she has been since I showed up. “I hope that’s true,” she says, patting my hand.