Humbled

by Patricia Haley

  He raised his arms in the air. “You have another month or so here. Do you have another job lined up?” Joel asked.

  “Not yet,” she said without looking up.

  “See? There you go. Our partnership was meant to be. I’m already out of work, and soon you will be too. What better opportunity for us to start a company together?”

  “You must be kidding,” Abigail hurled at him.

  He drew close to the desk again. “I’m serious. We ran this place like a well-oiled machine together. DMI realized record growth when I was CEO and you were my executive vice president. We ran this place like no one ever has, not even my father.”

  Abigail shook her head. She’d made the painful climb out of the pit of despair and longing for Joel. Actually, Abigail had Tamara to thank for shoving her into the face of reality. Joel wasn’t going to put anyone above his own needs. After Tamara abrasively pointed out what she should have detected several years ago, Abigail broke off her ties with Joel, and now she wasn’t going backwards. His presence could be tempting, but not this time. She was going to put Abigail first. She was in complete control. She was confident Joel would be able to relate.

  “Come on, Abigail,” Joel said. “I need you. I really do.”

  “I don’t think so,” she said, almost singing the words. She noticed a charge coming from within. Her love for him had been trampled. She really was free. It was hard even for her to believe it, but it was a fact. His suave presence and convincing lines were an irritation, not a tool of persuasion, not anymore.

  “Give me one good reason why we shouldn’t start a company together.”

  She flashed him a look and responded, “You want only one. Wow, that’s too easy.” She gently closed her laptop again and rested her folded hands on top. Calmly and with as much control as she could muster, Abigail said, “You had your opportunity with me, and you blew it. Go home to your wife or back to Chicago, to your friend Sheba, or whoever it is that happens to be your lady this week.”

  “Okay, I get it. I hurt you. I’ve apologized over and over.”

  “No, you never really apologized, but don’t worry. It’s not important.” She smiled and titled her head slightly. Abigail was certain Joel didn’t know how to take the new woman sitting in her office. “Honestly, I’m glad I saw the man you truly are before it was too late. I pity your wife.”

  “I didn’t realize that you’re still this upset about me getting married.”

  “I’m not,” she barked at him.

  He smirked. “Will you please let me apologize and put the past behind us?”

  “Do whatever you’d like. The days of me waiting for table scraps from you or anyone else with the last name of Mitchell are over. I’ve gotten off this circus ride.”

  “Okay, but, Abigail, if you’re truly being honest, you have to admit that I never misled you. Never.” He pushed away from the desk.

  Maybe he was right. Maybe he wasn’t. She didn’t want to think about their history any longer. Chips of anxiety were fluttering around, and she didn’t want them to land on her.

  He went on. “I told you repeatedly that I wasn’t interested in a serious relationship. I made it clear when we began working together that DMI and God were my only priorities.”

  “Humph, and you don’t have much interaction with either after all your professions of faith, do you?” Abigail asked.

  “We all make mistakes. There’s no doubt I’ve made plenty, and I want to apologize for what happened between us. I didn’t marry Zarah to hurt you. It was purely business, but I am sorry for hurting you.”

  She pulled out her notepad. His apology was no more than a scrap of paper blowing in the wind. They were done. She went back to drafting her report, willing to let Joel sit there until doomsday, staring at the woman who used to love him with her whole heart. Now she pitied him with the same fervor.

  Chapter 15

  Joel sat in the seat a while longer. He thought maybe Abigail would soften. After a couple of minutes, she hadn’t. He found himself in unfamiliar territory. He was armed for her anger and outrage but hadn’t contemplated simply being ignored. He stood with the intent of apologizing once again, as the depth of her hurt had been exposed. Upon further consideration, he kept quiet. He wasn’t going to push her. He approached the doorway and turned to face her. Abigail wouldn’t look up. He exited her office, not sure if their friendship was completely dead or in a coma. He’d have to wait and see.

  What couldn’t wait was getting a job. He had to find a gig and fast. It was the only thread enabling him to maintain his grip on sanity. Abigail was a bust, but there was another executive at DMI who had the power to help him.

  Joel squared his shoulders and put some pep in his steps. Don’s office was several doors down the hallway. He walked every inch of the short distance with confidence. He’d volleyed back and forth between Abigail’s office and his old office too many times to count. They’d logged many miles together. Beyond DMI, he missed her friendship, especially now. She was the one he would have discussed the pregnancy with and would have relied on for input. He knew better than to broach the subject. Their relationship was too fractured for him to mention the pregnancy to her. It was clear that she wasn’t interested in him, let alone his problems with Zarah. He had to believe she’d allow forgiveness to carve a small place in her heart for him to enter sometime soon. For now, though, he had to focus on his most urgent matter.

  He stepped up to the desk of Don’s assistant, with whom Joel hadn’t worked previously. She greeted him. Although he’d been out of the office for a short period, the group appeared to be much the same. People on the executive floor knew him. He didn’t waste time on small talk.

  “Is my brother in?”

  “He is, and I think he just ended a call. So he’s available. Would you like for me to let him know you’re here?”

  “No,” he said, tapping the counter attached to the workstation. Joel took a few steps and knocked on Don’s office door and walked in. He found Don at his conference table, across the room from his desk.

  “How’s it going, big brother?” he asked.

  “Good, good.” Don stood to shake Joel’s hand. “I thought you’d left town.”

  “I did, and I’ve returned.” They sat.

  “I was under the impression you were gone for good. What brings you home so soon?”

  “Business . . .” Joel could tell him about the baby, but the timing didn’t feel right. He’d keep his personal business off the table and limit the scope of their conversation to DMI, where he had better odds of success.

  “What kind of business?” Don asked, fumbling with his pen on the table.

  Joel was apprehensive. He didn’t have a good sense of where Don was with forgiveness. A lot had happened by Joel’s doing, much of it not good for Don or DMI. He understood there were fences to be mended. Don had been the peacemaker in their family over the past year. Joel prayed he was still wearing the cloak of restoration. This was Joel’s last option. Don had to give him a break.

  “I’m looking for a job. I figured I might as well come here first.”

  Don peered at his brother without revealing any reaction, causing Joel to grow tense.

  “Really? Hmm,” Don uttered. He flipped his pen onto the table, latched his hands behind his head, and reared back in his seat. “I certainly didn’t anticipate this visit.”

  “I didn’t, either.”

  Silence hovered over them. Joel couldn’t tell if Don was contemplating an answer or recovering from the shock of his request. Silence remained as Don stared into the openness and played with his pen. Joel couldn’t take it anymore.

  “What do you think?” he asked. Joel watched Don pinch the tip of his nose slowly and let his gaze fall. Joel wasn’t sensing positive vibes. He had to convince Don to say yes before his brother said no. “Don’t you have to replace Abigail?”

  “Maybe.”

  “What does that mean?” Joel asked.

 
; “I haven’t given up on getting her to stay. We both know how valuable she is to DMI. Dad hired her, and I see why. As long as I’m CEO, she has a job.”

  This time Joel leaned back in his seat. “Good luck with getting her to stay. I just left her office, and Abigail didn’t give any indication that she’s staying with DMI. Actually, I got the impression she is ready to walk out any minute.”

  “I’m sure you’re right, but time can heal wounds and change our minds.”

  “That’s what I’m counting on,” Joel said, digesting the message. “So what do you say, big brother? Is there a place for me here?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Come on, you have at least one vacancy. I don’t have to be on executive row.”

  Don snickered. “So you’re willing to take a job in the mail room? Is that what you’re telling me?”

  Joel snickered too. “Maybe not starting at ground level, but I’m willing to take on a senior vice president or even a vice president role.”

  Don smirked. “Neither is the role for you, and you know it. You wouldn’t be satisfied.”

  “Try me.”

  “No, it’s not a good idea. Get real. You were the CEO,” Don pointed out. “How are you going to be reduced to a junior level role? That’s like the president of the United States becoming a city councilman after serving two terms. It’s unheard of.”

  Don had a point. Yet the fact remained that Joel needed a job, a purpose. He had to make a new entrance onto the corporate stage. Being sidelined was agony. “I need this, Don,” he confessed. “I’ve run out of options. You’re my last hope.”

  “Don’t put this kind of pressure on me. God is your last hope.”

  “But he can direct you to help me.” Joel rubbed his forehead. He rattled off a silent prayer, not sure where God was with his jumbled state of affairs.

  “I’ll tell you what,” Don said, interrupting Joel’s prayer. “I can’t say yes, but I’m not saying no, either. I have to figure out where we’re taking DMI before I fill any vacancies.”

  Joel saw the lifeline slipping out of his hands. He made one more effort to hold on. “What about your other company, LTI? Don’t you have any openings there? I don’t mind going to South Africa, if that’s what it takes.”

  “LTI isn’t in the picture,” Don said, giving him a rapid response.

  It wasn’t what Don said that made Joel cringe. It was how his brother spoke that made Joel take notice. He swallowed the rejection and didn’t pursue the suggestion any further.

  “So you can’t think of a single job for me at DMI, not one?”

  “Nope, not right now, but I’ll keep you in mind.”

  Joel tapped on the table a few times and pushed his chair back to stand. “If you change your mind, you know where to reach me.”

  He entered the hallway and meandered to the bank of elevators, drawing on each ounce of dignity he had reserved. There wasn’t a large dose available, as humiliation was nibbling at him with every step. Joel kept wondering if God was as merciful as he had once believed. If He was, then his savior had to meet him on the ground floor. Otherwise he was finished.

  Finally, the elevator door opened. He stepped into the den of doom. The door closed, and he descended into greater despair.

  Chapter 16

  The stench of desperation hung in the air long after Joel had left. Don attempted to shove his brother’s situation to the rear of his priorities. He flipped his pen around in his hand, pondering and dissecting Joel’s request. He couldn’t let the conversation rest. There was a nagging feeling that wouldn’t go away. It was like a wasp stinging him repeatedly in the dark. The random stings seemed endless. His experience told him Joel was going to make a play for Zarah’s ownership stake in Harmonious Energy and the West Coast division. There wasn’t much else for Joel to do. Don hated the notion of his brother waging a war over the division, but Don understood Joel’s dire straits. It didn’t make him happy. Actually, he wanted to gasp. Don wondered when he was going to get a real break at DMI. He’d wrestled with challenge after challenge. What else did God want him to do? Peace was elusive, and he was tired. Don attempted to get some work done off and on for nearly an hour, but he accomplished nothing meaningful.

  He snatched up the phone receiver and paged his administrative assistant. “Call Zarah Mitchell, Joel’s wife, and set up a meeting,” Don told her. “See if she can come into the office.”

  “What time?” she asked.

  Don peered at his watch. He had no idea what Joel was capable of doing in his current state. If Don waited too long to make Zarah an offer on the West Coast division, he might lose out to his brother and sister. Time was not to be wasted. “In an hour or two.”

  “Do you have a number for her?”

  “Get Joel’s home number from the executive directory.”

  Don played with a list of possible deals, each offering as much as required to secure the division while simultaneously unloading DMI’s ownership position in Harmonious Energy. He couldn’t off-load Bengali’s family business fast enough. It would be the last item to clean up from Joel’s administration. Don had another incentive to wrap up the deal. The sooner DMI was stable, the faster he could get back to his company, LTI, and his girlfriend in South Africa. Soothing memories of her gentle touch, her African mixed with French accent, and her quiet strength settled his anxiety.

  A few minutes passed before Don’s assistant rang him on the intercom that went from her desk to his. “Mrs. Mitchell can’t meet today. She’s not feeling well and can’t come into the office. Would you like for me to schedule a meeting later in the week, or should I hold off until next week?”

  Don shuddered. Next week would be too late. Joel and Tamara weren’t going to wait too long to make their moves. They were on the attack, and if Don was going to be considered a viable contender, he had to get an offer in front of Zarah immediately. He grabbed his coat and went into the hallway.

  “Get Zarah on the phone again. She doesn’t have to come into the office. I’m going to her house,” he told his assistant. She looked puzzled. “Get her on the phone right away and tell her I’ll be there in thirty to forty minutes.” He didn’t wait for an answer. Don left the building and rushed to Joel and Zarah’s house as the sun hung high in the noonday sky.

  The housekeeper answered the door when he arrived.

  “Is Mrs. Mitchell home?” he asked.

  “Please come in, Mr. Mitchell.”

  The housekeeper must have remembered Don from the visit he made to the house with Tamara and Abigail several months ago.

  “We’ve been expecting you.”

  Then Don remembered his assistant had called ahead too. That was most likely why the housekeeper recognized him. He stepped into the foyer. “Is Joel home?”

  “No, he’s not home at the moment. Can I please take your coat?”

  “Yes, sure. Thank you,” Don said, handing it to her.

  “Please follow me into the library. I’ll have Mrs. Mitchell join you there.”

  Don followed the housekeeper into the library, which was lined with built-in bookshelves. Eventually, Zarah entered the room to find Don flipping through a book. Aware of her presence, he closed the book and placed it back on the shelf. He greeted his sister-in-law, opting to shake her hand and give her a heavy nod, unsure of the most appropriate gesture. It generated a small smile from her, which helped put Don at ease.

  “Please take a seat,” she said, sitting too with a shawl across her legs. “What brings you here?”

  Don didn’t want to jump right in, although sitting around and jabbering wasn’t appealing, either. He exchanged common courtesies with Zarah and then got down to business. He wanted to get in and out before Joel got home. Honestly, Don thought DMI had a slim chance of buying the division from Zarah, but he had to try for his mother’s sake.

  A table and lamp separated Zarah’s seat from Don’s. He had been in her presence only a few times and hadn’t noticed how cap
tivating Zarah was. Her skin was brushed with a richness not easily described. She wasn’t light or dark. Zarah was simply attractive. He tried not to stare into her deep-colored eyes, which accentuated the soft hue of her complexion and her dark, silky hair, but found it difficult to refrain. Her brightly colored outfit, particularly the heavy scarf-like material delicately wrapped around her body, held his attention.

  He leaned forward. “Zarah, I’m here on business.” He gritted his teeth. “I’m not going to beat around the bush. I’d like to return the West Coast division to DMI. So I’m prepared to make you a very generous offer.” She didn’t respond, forcing Don to elaborate more. “I know there are others who want to buy the company too.” Don intentionally didn’t mention names. He wasn’t sure if Tamara or Joel had made their interest known to Zarah yet. If they hadn’t, he wasn’t going to do the introductions for them. They’d have to make their own pleas.

  “Don, I am pleased about your visit, but I am not ready to sell the division.”

  “Is it that you don’t want to sell the division at all or that you don’t want to sell it to me?”

  Don noticed she kept rubbing her stomach. “I’ve decided to keep the division and run my father’s company. It is in honor of my family.”

  Don had to sit up in the chair and shift his weight. Where was this coming from? “I didn’t realize you were interested in running a company.”

  “I have always worked with my father. Many people don’t know that about me. Yes, he did have a team of people working with him. You are correct. There was not much interest from me until I spoke with Tamara and received her good advice. She has helped me see the importance of keeping my company.”

  Don couldn’t fully process what Zarah was saying. When did Tamara become a counselor?

  “I would like to make you an offer to purchase DMI’s fifty-one percent of Harmonious Energy so I can take full charge of the company,” Zarah stated.

  Don leaned forward again. “Please forgive me, but you’ve caught me off guard. I wasn’t prepared for this. I’ll have to think about this and get back to you. For some reason I was under the impression that you wanted to be a housewife. I didn’t think you planned to work.”