I’ve been trying to spare her the truth of what the man she held in such high regard was really like. There was no point in shattering her world completely, but she was making it harder and harder as the days go by. Her coming here like this day after day only makes me question that decision more and more.
“Have you eaten?” The question threw her for a sec but she regrouped rather quickly and I couldn’t help but admire her fortitude. That blueblood pride of hers keeps her upper lip stiff and her back straight at all times. She’d been born with that shit, I had to earn mine. “That’s none of your damn business, show me the books.”
Here we go. I guess I could settle this shit once and for all by showing them to her, but then I’d expose her old man’s underbelly and shatter her ideal, that hero worship she wears like a badge, but I didn’t want to do that to her. Not that I owed her shit, but I didn’t have it in me to bring her that low. I sometimes wonder why.
Since my earlier days I’d learned not to give a damn. I didn’t get where I am by being soft, or caring about what others felt. But somehow this slip of a girl had wormed her way under my protective shell, and so, here we are. Everyday at end of business I find myself at the wrong end of her tongue for the past two weeks. All because I couldn’t bring myself to tell her the truth about her ass of an old man.
“I am under no obligation to do that. Now if that’s all…” I stood as if about to leave, but I knew she wasn’t done with me yet. She stood her ground and even took a step closer and I couldn’t help but admire her lack of fear. I’m sure that at some point, between the first day we met and now, she must’ve done her research, so she’d know my reputation. Still it didn’t stop her from coming here and tangling with me. Brave girl.
“I’m not leaving here until you show me the papers that says my dad signed our business over to you.” Oh, those papers. I had to run it through in my mind to remember if there was anything on there that would tip her off to the brevity of her old man’s situation there at the end. As far as I can recall there was nothing there that would raise any red flags so there was no reason not to, except to goad her.
“Very well.” I pressed the intercom for my secretary who answered right away. As if she were waiting for it. Honestly I was surprised that she was still here, I’d given her permission to leave ten minutes ago. I was beginning to suspect that some members of my staff liked to hang around for the fireworks. “Sir.” Eager beaver. Was that laughter I heard in her voice?
“Bring me the bill of sale for the Bronson deal.” The firebrand in front of me relaxed just a little and I saw the tiredness in her eyes, the pinched set of her lips and the way her shoulders drooped. It bothered me, seeing her like this, and I asked myself not for the first time why it should.
I was pondering that question when my secretary Mrs. Smith came in, papers in hand. She smiled a greeting to Emily who to my surprise returned it as her eyes followed the folder that would hold the answer to all her questions. Before today she’d been screaming about the take over papers, things that were of no concern of hers. Today was the first time she’d asked to see the actual transfer of ownership.
“You may go home Anita.” I gave her a stern look, which I was sure she would ignore if she so chose, because she’s just as ornery as this one. She rolled her eyes at me out of sight of the young girl before making her way out of the room. I waited until she’d cleared the door before taking my seat again and signaling for Emily to do the same across from me.
I waited for her to comply before passing the folder across the desk to her. I didn’t miss the slight tremble in her hands as she reached for it, or the way her lip trembled and her breath hitched. She too must be realizing that this was it. Once she read those papers there would be no doubt that the company was legitimately mine and there would be no need for her to come here like this any longer. It would also be the end of something more. She’d have to accept that the company that was supposed to be her inheritance was no longer.
It pisses me off that Timothy Bronson hadn’t prepared his wife and kid for this. How could the man have been so selfish as to take his own life before making preparations for his family? I’d bought the company for a song that’s true, but surely his debts hadn’t taken it all. Two hundred million dollars was a lot of money. Granted the man had been worth a hundred times that at one time. But still, I can’t believe that he’d left them the way he had, in such dire straits. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as all that.