After a deep breath, I gave them the details that Dad had told me were okay to share with everyone. A select few were going to get more, but that would be up to Dad to do when he got home.
“So when do you think he’s going to be back to work?” That was the question.
“The thing is, we just don’t know. It’s going to take some time to figure out what his limitations are. He might come back part time for a while,” I said. There were a lot of frowns and looks of sympathy around the room. Most of these people were more than just co-workers to Dad.
“So, that means we need an interim president.” That was Mark Torres, the new Head of the Board of Directors who had taken over for Hal.
“Yes,” I said, going back to my seat. Mark took my place. He was younger than Hal, but he’d been another friend of Dad’s forever. I liked him, but I was still having trust issues with the Board at the moment.
Mark listed all the potential candidates and, even though it wasn’t very official, he distributed little bits of paper and pens so everyone could write down their vote. I looked at Violet across the table and she gave me a sympathetic smile. I had the feeling I was going to be getting those looks a lot in the next week.
The votes were tabulated and I nearly fell out of my chair when Mark said, “By a narrow margin, congratulations, Aurora Clarke. You are the new interim President.”
~*~*~
Everyone looked at me and I didn’t even know what to say. I had barely considered this as possibility. It was so remote that I didn’t think it would happen. Now here I was and everyone was looking at me for answers.
“Uh, okay.” Very professional. “Thank you so much. I didn’t expect this, but I’m going to do my very best for all of you. Hopefully it will only be for a little while until Walter is back with us.” I wouldn’t let myself go to the mental place that told me this could turn into a permanent situation.
Why hadn’t I thought of this before now? Why was this such a shock? I’d always thought about running this company and now it was being handed to me and I was freaking out. I shouldn’t be freaking out. I should be pulling up my damn pantyhose and barking out orders. I was Aurora Fucking Clarke and I was a professional. I was born for this. I was made for this.
“For now, I’m going to stay in my office, so if you need to meet with me, that’s where I’ll be. I’ll also have Walter’s email forwarded to me until he returns so things will function as usual.” I looked at all of them in turn and tried to look as confident as possible. I could do this.
We talked for over two hours about what to tell the rest of the company. Eventually we wrote out a mass email that would go to everyone with instructions for what they were to tell anyone outside of the company. Since we’d just been through the embezzlement fiasco, we were already sort of prepared for how this was going to go.
When the meeting finally adjourned, I was dehydrated and needed caffeine desperately.
I went back to my office, dodging more questions about Dad on the way. I was so grateful when I saw Lilia’s face. She was talking with Mrs. Andrews.
Mrs. Andrews. The minute she saw me, she put her arms out and I gave her a hug. This woman had known me my whole life. Had been Dad’s assistant forever.
“I’m going to the hospital tonight to see him,” she said, rubbing my back. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I said, trying to keep myself together. I wasn’t going to cry here. I wasn’t going to lose it. I definitely had to keep it professional. I could fall apart later, with my Lucah.
Lilia also gave me a hug. Guess it was the day for that sort of thing. I had about a million messages and emails waiting for me. It was going to be a long day. I had more work on my plate than ever before.
I opened the door of my office and there was a sexy redhead waiting for me with a cup of coffee and a strawberry frosted donut.
“I sent Lilia out for it a little while ago,” he said, handing me the cup.
“I love you so much right now,” I said, sipping the blessed liquid. I sat down in my chair, but didn’t turn on my computer. I had to decompress for a few minutes first.
I leaned back and savored the warmth coursing through my system.
“This is going to be the longest day ever, isn’t it?” I said.
“Probably,” he said. I looked at him over the rim of my cup.
“I’m scared. I’m worried I can’t do this. That I can’t handle it,” I said, being totally honest with him.
“I know. But you can do it. And you will. I have no doubts in my mind and you shouldn’t either. You were born for this.” I was. I had to keep telling myself that.
“I know. I just needed to hear it again. Okay.” I set my coffee down and powered on my computer as I picked up my donut. Time to rock this.
“I’ll see you later,” I said to Lucah and he got up with a smile.
“I’ll bring you some food later.” He knew that I wasn’t going to be leaving my desk anytime soon.