I poured him a cup of coffee and slid it across the counter. “It’s just been a rough week.”
I pulled off the eggs and dumped them on a plate. I sat down beside him and began to eat. “Tell me. Let’s work through this.”
“I don’t think I can do this. No one likes me.”
He chuckled, sipping his coffee. “I feel like we have had this conversation before. It was your first week of fifth grade at a new school.”
“This is different. This is so much bigger. I’m supposed to be a leader and I know everyone is looking at me with disgust and anger.”
“Anger about what?”
“Everything! They are mad that I got the company. They are mad that I’m who I am. Worst of all, they are mad that I fired some hotshot dude without a second thought.”
“You did what?” he asked with shock. “You fired someone?”
“I did. He was a total asshole and I smelled alcohol on his breath. Dad never would have put up with that shit. There is no way I could put up with it. I fired him and now Rogan is pissed.”
“Why is Rogan pissed?”
I sighed and quickly elaborated on the story. He nodded and made the occasional grunting noise. “Now, the man that was supposed to be my right hand is my enemy.”
He smiled and shook his head. “He isn’t your enemy.”
“You haven’t seen the way he looks at me. You haven’t heard him. He hates me.”
“I’ve known Rogan a long time. He is as loyal as they come. He might not like you, but he will never be disloyal.”
I sighed, wishing I could believe that. “Disloyalty isn’t the worst thing.”
“What do you want him to do?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I want him to agree with me. I want him to look at me like he likes me.”
“Why does that matter? You said you were the boss and you are acting like a boss. You are doing what is best for the company. You know that. You believe that and that is all that matters.”
“He was so pissed,” I told him. “I really hurt his feelings, I think. I was just lashing out when I told him he had to be the foreman for the day. I didn’t realize in the moment that I was insulting him.”
“Do you know that’s where Rogan started?”
“Where?”
“He was a railman. He worked his ass off to get to where he is. He isn’t like us, Cora. He didn’t have the option to go to college. He has always had to deal with people looking at him like he wasn’t good enough. Even in the company, when he started to move up, he never felt like he belonged. You don’t think he deals with his own kind of isolation?”
“Everyone loves him. They all go to him anytime there is an issue. It’s like he is the boss. Not me.”
He laughed. “Aha! Now I get it. You’re jealous.”
“No! I’m not jealous. I just want to go to work and I want things to be easier.”
“Is he making it difficult?”
I hated that he was being so reasonable. “Not necessarily but I feel like we are butting heads. I feel like he is always looking at me like I’m an idiot.”
“Has he said that?”
“No, but I know he isn’t happy with the way things are going.”
“Have you tried to talk to him about how you feel?”
I rolled my eyes. “No. I mean, we had a conversation, but it wasn’t exactly productive. It ended with me reminding him I was the boss.”
He winced, and I knew I had screwed up. “Rogan is a proud man. I’m sure you two will work well together once you find your groove. You just need to hash things out. Come to some kind of agreement. He needs space. He needs to know he is valuable.”
“Well of course he is valuable. Am I supposed to stroke his ego?”
“Is he supposed to stroke yours?”
“No, but it would be nice if he could just treat me with some respect.”
“Do you want me to talk to him?”
“No!” I quickly protested. “He will think I tattled. I don’t want him to know I ran to my big brother.”
“You didn’t run to me. You are talking to me. I’m your sounding board but I also have a unique position as a friend to Rogan. I feel like I can see this from both sides and I want you both to be happy.”
“I don’t need you to protect me from the big bad Rogan.”
“It’s my job to protect you.”
I shook my head. “Don’t. I’ll be okay. I have to learn to do this on my own. Don’t say anything to him.”
He nodded but I got the feeling he was purposely not committing to anything. I finished eating and quickly cleaned up before heading to the office. I was not going to be late. Rogan always beat me into the office. I knew he had a real thing for being on time. I was trying to do better, but I was still struggling to iron out all the kinks.
The moment the elevator doors opened, I knew something was off. It was too quiet. I stepped off the elevator and took a few tentative steps into the reception area. It was empty. No one was sitting at the reception desk. Odd, but I assumed she was grabbing some coffee or maybe running late.
I made my way down the hall, passing empty offices and empty desks. I took a slight detour on my way to my own office and did my best to appear casual as I walked by Rogan’s office. His door was usually open. I often caught myself looking, watching him as he typed on the laptop or spoke on the phone. He wasn’t there. I checked the time. I was a few minutes early but not terribly so.
It was eerie. I wondered if it was Saturday. The week had been hellish. It would make sense if I mixed up days. I slowly made my way to my desk. I didn’t want to panic but my mind was racing. What if it was the same walkout scenario that happened at the yard?
“Oh shit,” I breathed.
I sat down in my chair, placing my hands on my desk and taking a few deep breaths. There wasn’t even the sound of a ringing phone. I was in a nightmare. That had to be it. I was in a dream. I was still in bed and was probably going to wake up any second and realize I was running late for work.
I waited. Nothing happened. “What the hell?” I mumbled.
“Good morning,” Beau said as he walked into my office.
I breathed a sigh of relief. My clocks must have been off. All of them. And my phone’s clock. I was just really early. “Hi. I was beginning to think I showed up on a Saturday without realizing it.”
He chuckled. “Nope, it’s Friday.”
“Where is everyone? Am I really early?”
“It’s Friday,” he said. “The last Friday of the month.”
I raised my eyebrows. “And?”
“And that’s the day your father has given off to the upper management for years. The support staff works a half day.”
I didn’t know what to say. What could I say? “I have never heard of this.”
“It’s been a company tradition for a while. It’s a way to say thank you to the hard-working people behind the scenes. These guys often work late without any compensation.”
“And Rogan?”
“What about him?”
“Is he off for the day?”
He slowly nodded. “Of course. Out of everyone here, he probably works the hardest.”
“What about you? Why are you here?”
He smiled. “Because me and your dad always stayed in the office to hold down the fort.”
“Oh,” I said, realizing that meant I was expected to work the full day.
He sat down, crossing one leg over the other. “I wanted to say you did a good job handling the Rogan situation.”
“The Rogan situation?” I asked. “I’m not sure what you are referring to.”
“We both knew he was not going to be pleased with the Derek dismissal.”
“Oh,” I said, remembering the incident in my office.
“He came to me,” he said.
“What?” I asked with shock. “What did he say?”
“He had some concerns. I explained to him that you made the right call. If it
had been me or your father stumbling into that mess, I would hope we had the courage to do what you did.”
“Really?” I asked with excitement. It was the validation I had been looking for.
“You are doing a good job. You handled the situation like a pro. You handled Rogan without letting him bully you. I think you two are still doing the dance.”
“The dance?” I asked.
“You both need to feel each other out. You’re testing him, and he is testing you. Once you have established some boundaries, it will get better. You are both strong-willed and you both want the same thing.”
“Which is what? This chair? I’m not about to give it up. He will have to pry it from my cold, dead hands.”
He smirked. “That seems a little extreme. He doesn’t want your chair. He wants the company to be successful. That man has literally bent over backward to do well. He has a real knack for making things work. The people that work here respect him. They look up to him. Trust me. You need him on your side. He can help you take this company to the next level.”
“I thought that’s what you were going to do,” I teased.
“I’m old. I’m tired. I’m dated. Rogan is your man. He is going to be the one you want at your side taking this company into a new era. In fact, I know he has been looking into some eco-friendly options. That’s where the world is headed, and he will get you there.”
I let out a dramatic sigh. “I know he is good at what he does but I won’t let him make a fool out of me. I can’t have him treating me like I’m the employee and he is the employer. I had to put my foot down.”
“I agree. You’ve done that. Now, it’s time to figure out a way to work together. Respect him for what he does, and I know he will return the favor. Now, I have to check on some things. Enjoy the quiet and let me know if you need anything.”
“Thank you, Beau,” I said as he walked out.
Everyone was telling me the same thing about Rogan. I believed it and I wanted to mend fences, but if he wasn’t so damn stubborn, it would be a lot easier. I was not going to grovel. He wasn’t going to grovel. We were going to have to figure out a way to get work done without stepping on one another’s toes.
“Easier said than done,” I muttered.
Chapter 15
Rogan
The chunk-chunk sound of the nail gun was satisfying as I put up the final piece of trim over the door. I stepped back to admire my handiwork. It looked good. Slowly, I had been updating my house. My house had been a wreck when I bought it a few years ago. The carpets had stunk, there had been holes in the wall, and the nineteen-seventies linoleum floors and ugly laminate countertops had turned away a lot of buyers, but not me. I saw the diamond in the rough.
The neighborhood, which had once been middle-class, suffered some mild setbacks throughout the nineties, but it was picking up. Home flippers were snatching up the properties, fixing them up, and selling them to young families. I was proud of the work I had done and felt good about it.
I put away the nail gun and went to grab some water from the fridge. I used the hem of my shirt to wipe away the sweat clinging to my brow. The AC was next on the list to be replaced. It was a big investment, and most of my expendable cash was tied up in the new floors, paint, landscaping, and everything else.
There was a knock on the door, pulling me from my wish list of things I wanted for my house. I opened the door to find Oakley standing on my new front stoop. “Oakley!” I exclaimed.
“Hey,” he greeted with a smile. “This is a nice place.”
“Thank you. Come in.”
I pulled open the door and invited him into my domain. He walked in, nodding as he looked around. “I can’t believe this is the same house. I had this image in my head. You sent me the listing and I was a little worried but now I get it. If this job doesn’t work out, you have a place in the construction world.”
“If this job doesn’t work out? What does that mean?”
“Nothing,” he said with a laugh. “I just meant you are a multi-talented man.”
“Oh,” I said, feeling a little defensive.
“Can you show me around?”
“Sure,” I said, taking him on the two-cent tour. “It’s still got some work that needs to be done but it’s coming along.”
We stepped into the backyard. I was proud of the deck I’d built last summer. It was cozy and comfortable and where I spent the bulk of my time when I was at home.
“This is awesome,” he exclaimed with a little too much enthusiasm.
“What brings you by?” I asked, wanting to get right to the heart of the matter.
“As you know, I’m sticking around for a bit, and I don’t have any meetings until later. I was wondering if you wanted to grab some lunch.”
“Sure, I’d like that. We can catch up.”
Twenty minutes later, we were sitting in a booth, drinking cold beers. “How’s it going?” he asked.
“As in?”
“As in, your job. How are things going with the company?”
I nodded, understanding exactly why he’d stopped by. “I would say it’s going fine. Nothing too exciting to write home about.”
“I talked with Cora.”
I smirked. “And?”
“And she says there has been some tension between the two of you. She mentioned things got a little heated.”
I shrugged. “That would be an accurate description.”
“I’m not sure how to approach that,” he said. “This is kind of a weird position to be in. She’s my little sister and you are my friend. I love you both and hate to see you guys at odds.”
He was the consummate big brother. I knew he had a duty to his little sister just like Ben had a duty to give the company to her. Cora was well taken care of. I both envied her and was a little jealous at the same time.
“Say what you need to say,” I told him. “You have a responsibility to her and I can respect that. Hit me. Not literally.”
He grinned, which was a good sign. “I just want to help,” he said. “You are my friend. She’s my sister. I don’t want the company and I don’t want it to go belly up. That means I need to figure out how to make this thing work without me having to actually be there. I have to tell you, I really don’t want to be there. I really don’t like the idea of being cooped up. I am hoping I can mediate without actually mediating and keep my source of income flowing.”
“It’s not going to go belly up,” I told him. “There’s just a lot of tension right now. She’s got her style and it is different than mine or your father’s. It’s an adjustment period.”
I didn’t know how much he knew, and I wasn’t going to be the one to tell him. Cora could tattle to her big brother all she wanted. I expected as much. If he wanted me gone, he could fire me himself. I was sure he had just as much authority as she did.
“She thinks a lot of you,” he said.
I sipped on my beer before wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “I don’t know who you’ve been talking to, but it can’t be Cora. She thinks very little of me.”
He shook his head. “That’s not true.”
“Oakley, you don’t have to be nice. I know things are rough between us. It’s cool.”
“I don’t think they need to be rough,” he said.
“We’ll figure it out,” I assured him.
“She wants the best for the company. You want the best for the company. You guys have the same goal in mind. I think you guys will figure it out together. Don’t take this the wrong way, but you guys are both kind of stubborn.”
I chuckled. “That’s one way of putting it.”
“She’s trying,” he said in a soft voice. “My dad’s death, it hit her hard. I’m not sure how she’s even getting out of bed in the morning. She was closer to him than I was and I’m struggling. I hear her crying sometimes. She doesn’t know I hear her, but I do. When I ask if there is anything I can do, she always tells me she is fine. She’s barely holding it together
. This week has been especially hard on her.”
I felt about an inch tall. “I didn’t mean to make things hard on her,” I told him. “I really didn’t. I’m trying. We’re all trying.”
“I know you were close to him as well. You are grieving. She’s grieving. We are all grieving. I can’t say I have had a lot of experience with grief, but I’ve heard it fucks with the head. Anger, sadness, everything all rolled up into one. This is why families split apart after a death. She’s raw.”
I nodded, really feeling like an asshole for losing my cool with her. “I get it.”
“I’m leaving next week,” he announced.
“Already?”
“I need to take care of a few things. I’d like to think I’m leaving her in good hands. I don’t expect you to coddle her or handle her with kid gloves, but I hope you guys can come to some kind of understanding.”
I felt like I was being abandoned. He wasn’t my brother, but I felt like he was leaving me. Not just leaving me but leaving his little sister. He was basically asking me to take care of her. That was way too much responsibility. I was not the man he wanted taking care of his sister. I had only pissed her off and hurt her feelings. I managed to do all of that in less than a week.
“Are you sure?” I asked. “I mean, is that a good idea? Is she ready for that?”
He smiled, drinking from his beer. “I think she is. I don’t think it’s going to be easy, but she will be all right. I trust you and Beau to help her at work, and she has always been fine on her own. Cora is a tough girl. She needs to know she can stand on her own two feet. I don’t want to hold her back. If she thinks I’m hovering, she’s only going to get pissed at me.”
I nodded, knowing that much to be true. “How are you doing with all of this?” I asked.
He sighed. “I don’t think it has completely sunk in. It’s weird being in the house.”
“Are you guys going to keep it?”
“Yes, we want to. It might get a little tricky, but we can hire a caretaker.”
“Isn’t Cora staying there?”
Backing You Up Page 9
