“What makes you think I’m not creative?” I asked.
“You’re too lazy to be creative,” he said. “Doesn’t mean you need to be lazy, just means you’ve not chosen to stop yet.”
“You really think I can do this?” I asked.
“Yep. Just don’t go leaving all your friends behind when you make it in the big leagues,” he said.
“If I found a spot for you in the company, would you take it?” I asked.
“Not a chance in hell,” he said, smirking. “Don’t be nervous, Christian. You’re gonna catapult this company into greatness once you realize you can.”
“What if this doesn’t make me happy?” I asked.
“Then hand the company over to Stella. I’m sure they have paperwork somewhere for that kind of shit.”
“Or, I could do it now, and we could just keep trekking through life like we are,” I said.
“Dude, even I’m not that big of an idiot,” he said
“There won’t be any more parties if I take this on,” I said.
“You don’t come to half of them anyway,” he said.
“And you wouldn’t have a wingman anymore for the bar,” I said.
“I’ll survive, I’m sure,” he said. “Just give this a shot. Let Stella cool down, then give her an offer she can’t refuse.”
“And if she refuses it?” I asked.
“Then I guess you’re just a big ass failure destined for nothing but doom and gloom,” he said.
“I knew you’d see it my way,” I said, winking.
“Take your coffee and go run your company,” he said.
I grabbed my cold brew soaked with creamer and headed for the door. Todd’s idea about hiring Stella had been brilliant, but I still felt overwhelmed. That was the good thing about what Todd did: he never seemed too overwhelmed to enjoy his life. There was a part of me that knew if I took on this endeavor, I wouldn’t experience the kind of happiness he had. I mean, getting paychecks wasn’t all this world had to offer.
Todd understood that.
But, my mother’s letter kept echoing in the back of my mind, and as I got into my car and started it up, I knew what I had to do.
I had to do some research into what kind of job I could offer Stella.
Chapter Six
Stella
I wasn’t going to take any of this lying down. I had to save my father’s company. Christian didn’t have the skills, the knowledge, or the experience to run anything near the type of company my father had built, and I wasn’t going to watch it crumble in the hands of an entitled, lazy man-child. After sleeping on the emotions riled up during my failed lunch with Christian, I decided to head back to the lawyer’s office to discuss my options.
“Miss Harte, I assumed you would be in here fairly soon,” the lawyer said.
“I would like to know my options,” I said.
“On what?” the lawyer said.
“On how I can take the company back from my stepbrother.”
“I see. And, why would you want to go against your father’s wishes?”