Natalie
I rapped my knuckles on the door to Brett Hamm's office. He told me to come in. Three o'clock. He had come to me that morning and said that he had needed to talk to me at three o’clock. It sounded urgent, but he hadn't given me anything more than that, so my guess was as good as anyone's. It wasn't that uncommon for people to try hit me up for their own personal legal advice because I was a lawyer and happened to be around. For the people I liked, I gave it to them. The ones I didn't like, I told them my hourly rate. Brett I not only liked, but he was second in seniority only to Grayson Porter. Whatever he wanted to talk to me about, I knew would be something important.
He looked up when I walked in and removed his glasses.
"Natalie, please sit," he said.
I smiled, coming up to his desk. The office was nice, decked out in shiny dark wood and a lot of taupe and camel accents. I didn't know whether he had picked it himself, but I liked it. It matched the man who sat behind the desk: a distinguished, sharp-dressed executive from head to toe. Brett Hamm had been a looker in his younger days. I knew; I had seen the old company photos. If I had been born thirty years earlier or just had less respect for his wife and family, I would have batted my lashes in his direction. He only ever wore red ties, and his hair was a nice mix of salt and pepper that was consistent in his beard as well.
"I'm not in trouble, am I?" I asked. He shook his head. His facial hair hid his smile, but it crinkled the corners of his eyes. He was like Grayson-lite, even more approachable but with enough authority that nobody would ever dare fuck with him.
"Not unless you have a confession you want to make before I find out," he said lightly. "No, I wanted to talk to you. Grayson told me he had been in to see you earlier this week."
"I've talked to him several times this week, but I think I know the time you're referring to." He nodded.
"Did he speak to you about Cameron?"
"He did. Is there an update on that or something? He said he wanted me to talk to him, but last I checked, I had some time before I had to do it. Not ‘til he got back from his trip and Cameron's little trial period was over."
"I can imagine he left you with more questions than he answered, asking you to do that."
"And the number gets higher every day."
"Hm. Cameron... he has a lot of potential, but he broods. He thinks too much, and it gets in his way." He is a spoiled rich boy who was going to be handed a company valued over a billion dollars in a few years, and he has decided to sulk about it, I thought, but
kept that thought to myself. Brett was close to Grayson, ergo, close to his son. I didn't know anything about Cameron's life, personal or otherwise, but the two older men sure seemed to have a lot to say about how he ran it. Again, none of my business, but I was glad it wasn’t me. I loved my family but had worked hard to establish myself separately from them. I didn’t know what I would have done if I hadn’t had that freedom.
"I don't think a pep talk from me is what's going to snap him out of it."
"It will take more than that. You're right. In time, when he is at the head of the company, when his father has stepped down, he is going to need your legal counsel. Heads up: he isn't going to be excited about the minutiae."
"Nobody is," I said. Brett was doing nothing for my already low opinion of Cameron Porter.
"I'm going to ask you for patience, Natalie. That, and if you can, a little training."
"Training?"
"Drilling, you can call it, if you want."
"All due respect, Mr. Hamm, I don't."
"It's going to be a journey, for all of us."
"If he's at the wheel, I don't know how much I want to be on this ride."
"He was born to do this," he said insistently. Both he and Mr. Porter had used the phrase like it actually meant something. Being the intended heir of Porter Holdings didn’t make him the best person for the job. It didn’t work like that. We sat in silence for a few seconds.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Go ahead."
"I don't mean any disrespect but, why him? Why Cameron? He's supposed to be the Porter in Porter Holdings, but from what I've heard from both you and his father, getting him to step up to the plate is going to be like pulling teeth."
He sighed. "He's been training his whole life for this post. It's his. His father wouldn't leave the responsibility to anyone else."
"Even if that someone else was more qualified and actually wanted to take the responsibility?"
"Cameron is qualified."