I walked over to her and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Good morning Gran.”
“Good morning, Ryan.”
“I hope this won’t be too long,” I said, taking a seat at the table. “I have a call with Christian LaMont soon. It’s nearly closing time in France so I don’t want to keep him.”
“This will be quick,” she assured me.
Hunter was already sitting across from me enjoying a bagel. Carter, my other brother, entered, and like me gave my grandmother a kiss and took a seat at the table. All my brothers and I went wide-eyed when our youngest brother, Noah walked in wearing his signature leather jacket and jeans. He was trained enough to kiss granny on the cheek, but not so well that he’d maintain his manners. He sat in a chair and kicked his feet up on the table. I frowned. My other brothers shook their heads.
Granny scowled but ignored the gesture. She probably knew Noah’s behavior was
done to annoy her and she wasn’t one to let her buttons be pushed.
“The time is coming near, boys—”
“They’re men, Margaret, well, except for Noah. We’re not even sure he’s human,” Andi quipped. Andi was pretty much my grandmother's id, saying what my grandmother was probably thinking but wouldn’t speak aloud.
Noah smirked at Andi.
“The point is, I’m going to be retiring soon and I need to know that I’m leaving the company in good hands,” my grandmother stated.
This wasn’t a surprise and yet, it was unexpected at this time. I suspect deep down, I thought she’d live and run Strong Incorporated forever.
“What are you going to do with your free time,” I asked, not able to imagine her knitting or taking strolls on the beach to collect shells. She was business through and through. I took after her in that respect and I didn’t know what I’d do with myself if it weren’t for the business.
“I don’t know yet, but I’m not worried about it. All I know is that I’m ready to move on. I know you boys…men can handle the job of carrying on the company. So today, I’m announcing your new positions. They’ve been chosen to play to all your strengths.”
“Noah doesn’t have strengths,” Carter joked, throwing a balled-up piece of paper at our youngest sibling.
“He’s a strong slacker,” Andi said.
We all laughed. Noah shrugged it off. He didn’t care. I admired that about him even as it made him annoying.
“Ryan, you’ll be the Chief Operations Officer,” my grandmother said, ignoring the joking going on around her.
“That’s because you’re bossy,” Noah quipped.
I thought about saying he was fired, except he didn’t actually work at Strong Incorporated like I and my other brothers did. He took after my dad in that respect.
“Hunter, you’ll be the Chief Marketing Officer,” Gran continued.
That made sense. Hunter was creative and already worked in marketing.
“Carter, you’ll be Chief Financial Officer,” she said.
That made sense too. He was a wiz at math, and probably could have gone on to work for NASA or something, but chose to stay in the family business.
“Noah, you’ll be Chief Technology Officer.”
Actually, that made sense too. Noah was brilliant like Carter, but he just was lazy in his brilliance. He’d created a few apps, sold them for a ton of money, and spent the rest of his time riding his motorcycle. He did some work for us sometimes, but mostly he hated corporate life.
“I don’t work here,” Noah responded.
“Noah, it’s time you put more focus in your life beyond your bike. This role fits with you perfectly,” Gran stated in a way that for the rest of us would have been taken as not having a choice.
“Gran, you know I love you, but I’m not interested.” Noah planted his boots on the floor, stood and strode out of the room.
I rolled my eyes.