Isaac
“What’s going on, Charlie?” I cry out as I take a chair in the conference room. “What’s so important that you had to call me into this big important meeting first thing on a Monday morning, huh?”
He sits up straighter in his seat, trying to brush off my cockiness, but I know it gets to him. He thinks that to do good business, you have to act in a certain way all the time. He’s a stuffy older guy, just like my father. I’m young, bringing fresh blood into the equation, showing them a new way of doing things. He might not like it, but I don’t give a shit. It is what it is. Shit still gets done around here.
“It isn’t first thing on a Monday morning. It’s eleven AM. Most people have been here since eight.”
“And things are getting done, aren’t they? Marketing is being created? I am a great manager. The flock of sheep don’t need their shepherd around to herd them all the time. It’s fine.”
Charlie’s lips turn down into a frown. I know that he thinks I only have the managerial job because my father owns the company, and he might be right about that, but who the fuck cares? I’m where I am, and he’s my father’s right hand man. We’re in our positions, we just need to make the best of it and deal with one another.
“Look, your father doesn’t think that it’s ‘totally fine’.” He actually does air quotes like an asshole. “He wanted me to have a meeting with you because he doesn’t think that things are going well at all. You aren’t here enough, you’re always out partying, and it’s starting to get in the way of business. We are losing contracts because people don’t know that they can trust you. It’s affecting all of us now.”
I roll my eyes and look away. “It doesn’t matter. We make so much money that a few contracts from a few stuck up assholes don’t matter. Why would my father even give a shit? And if he does care that much, then why isn’t he here giving me this bullshit speech himself?”
“You really want you father to come down here?” He folds his arms across his chest, knowing that he has me. The last thing I want is my dad showing up and throwing his weight around. “Exactly, that’s what I thought. So, instead of me calling him and getting him down here, me and you are going to have a talk and make things right. We aren’t leaving this board room until we have to come to some sort of agreement.”
“Right, I see. So, you’re here to give me some serious shit and then we can leave. Get it over with then.”
“No, no, no, this isn’t going to be something that we just ‘get over’, this is going to be something that we discuss properly like adults and we will be on the same page when were.”
“I’ll come into the office more. Does that make you happy?”
“No… well, yes, that is something that we’re aiming for, but it isn’t the only end goal. There are a lot of changes that we need to make. You are a smart man, Isaac, a very smart man. Your father paid out of his ass to make sure that you got the best education. He gave you the job managing his most successful company because he believes in you, he thinks that you can make it work. He wants more for you than it seems like you want for yourself. I really think that it’s time to grow the hell up and start to realize what you have here.”
My blood boils, a red mist descends. A temper that I have never felt so powerfully before overcomes me. How dare he? Yes, I know that I have been given chance after chance, and that I’ve had it all, but that’s just because my father wanted to mold me into another version of him. That’s what all of this is about really. He doesn’t want me to break free, to go out on my own in the world, to make my own path.
I want to make my own path, but instead I’ve been a fucking idiot and taken the easy way out, always. I’ve done what my father wanted, I’ve become the molded version of what he wants.
“I care about this job, you know,” I spit out. “I do want to do well here, but I don’t want the…”
“If you want to be here,” Charlie interrupts, refusing to let me get into my impassioned speech. “Then you need to show it. You need to make things better. You need to prove to your father and everyone else that you give a shit and you want to make this work. Because right now, no one can see it.”
I let those words wash over me for a moment. Is he right? Do I need to change? To pull my finger out my ass and start being a better version of who I already am? I do love partying and fucking around, and I hate getting up early… but I could do better, couldn’t I? Prove to the world… or would that be me becoming more of a mold?
“Whatever, Charlie.” I just want this bullshit meeting over with now. “I will make more effort.”
“I don’t know if I quite believe you. It doesn’t feel right.”
“I can’t tell you, can I? It doesn’t work like that. I’ll prove it to you.”
Charlie says nothing, he simply continues to stare me down like I’m a piece of dirt underneath his shoes. We both know that I’m lying, but he could at least pretend that he thinks I might be speaking the truth, for both of our benefits. This is the way that our relationship works best.
I slowly start edging my way towards the door, searching for a rapid escape but before I get there, it seems like Charlie has one last dig to get in. I should have known that he’d do this. This is his favorite.
“Oh, and Isaac, why did Amelia quit? That must make your workload worse…”
I roll my eyes and stare at the door, willing time to pass so I can go inside. “She got another job.”
“She didn’t though, did she? Because I read the full report that she sent to HR.”
“Oh fuck.” This isn’t good, this is going to end up in a real mess. “Okay, well it is what it is.”
“She quit because of you. Because of your behavior. And you know what I’m talking about.” He gives me a meaningful look. “That is something I believe we should properly discuss.”
“No, we’re done here, Charlie. We don’t need to discuss that at all. We’re done talking. What are you going to do? Give me a warning? We both know that shit won’t fly."
Charlie is silenced. He knows this is right, he can’t touch me. There isn’t a damn thing that he can do.