Bennett
A week later, my father sat across from Lee, Henry, and me, looking all too much like a nervous applicant in front of a board of interviewers.
Technically, he should have been in front of our board, but we were doing a practice run, first in Lee's living room. I was sure many of the members would recognize my father, and I wanted him to be in tip-top shape for the interview. To save both of our faces.
However, with the way my father kept pulling at his collar, and tapping his foot, it seemed we had our work cut out for us. I hoped this wasn't a waste of my Saturday.
"Sit still," I snapped.
His eyes widened and he sat straight up, cheeks flushing. "Sorry."
Lee pursed his lips at me. "It's natural to feel nervous, Bennett."
"You have to show you're confident. Don't show any hesitation," I said, ignoring Lee. "Don't act like Henry."
Henry's mouth fell open. "I'm not even doing anything!"
I ignored Henry too, secretly smiling to myself. That was just a little retaliation after their newly engaged shenanigans in the back of my car the other day. "Did you bring your resume?"
My father nodded eagerly and Lee handed me a manila envelope. I flipped it open, finding a single piece of paper there. It held my father's full name, his phone number, his e-mail, his schooling, and exactly no jobs listed.
"What is this?" I asked my father.
"I worked under the table," he admitted. "I can't use those jobs on my resume."
"Then what's the point of handing me one?"
"My school credentials," he said. "Also, my references."
The references on his resume were very easy to find seeing as the entirety of it wasn't even half a page. Lee Calloway. Bennett Calloway. Henry Arceo. Sighing, I shoved the envelope away from me. "Are we filming a sitcom or something?" I said flatly.
Lee's eyes lit up. "Actuallyâ"
"No."
He deflated a bit. "Fine."
"I wouldn't hire you based on this," I told my father, frowning. "You have no job history and the only references you listed are family members."
"Technically Henry isn't a family member yet," my father pointed out and Henry nodded.
"It's still a no."
My father crossed his arms, scrunching up his forehead. "Should I try to get a job as an analyst or something and work my way up?"
I rubbed my forehead. "That's counterproductive to the fact I need someone now."
"Dad, why don't you just put your past work history at the company?" Lee asked. "That woman is in prison now. How could she stop you? You didn't sign and kind of agreement, did you?"
"You think she would just trust me to do as she said? Of course I signed an agreement."
I bristled a little at Lee using the term dad with our father. It would take time to get used to it. I still had my doubts about him, but the more I talked to him, and saw him interact with Lee and everyone else, the more I started questioning those doubts. I knew I couldn't blame him entirely for what had happened, but it wasn't as easy for me to forgive him as it was for Lee. The whole situation was hard for me to wrap my mind around.
But moments like this led me to believe my father truly believed he was doing what was best for us. How was it possible he couldn't even list one job he'd held with our hotel? Just because our mother had forbidden him from doing so? He'd essentially had to start from scratch in his career, and judging by the fact he'd chosen bartending, I was sure another clause in his agreement with my mother was not entering into the same industry. Or, he'd signed a non-compete agreement. But those didn't last decades.
"Do you happen to still have that agreement?" I asked.
My father shook his head. "No, but maybe your mother still has it."
"I can guarantee she still does," Henry said bitterly. "She keeps every single thing that may be beneficial to her."
"That tendency is part of the reason she ended up being arrested for all her crimes, though," I said slowly. "We still have access to all her records and files. I bet if we searched through it we could find it and then have Sebastian look over it."
"I bet Sebastian could help!" Lee added enthusiastically. "He probably can think of something we can't. Especially considering that woman was arrested partly for covering things up and fraud. Maybe it could null that contract in some way?"
"It's worth a shot," Henry agreed.
"Would Sebastian do that for me, though? He seemed pretty angry the last time I met with him," my father said, scratching his neck. "I understand why he was upset, but..."
I shook my head. "The situation is different now. I'm sure he would help. We'll push back the interview with the board members until we can figure out what to do about your resume."
"I'm not sure if we'll be able to do anything. Your mother is very thorough."
I waved him off. "We'll try."
"Even if we can't change it, how is she going to stop you from where she rots in prison?" Lee pointed out. "And who cares if she does try? Surely no one is going to take her side."
"I wouldn't be so sure," I said, my lips curving down. "Lee, you know how people acted toward you when you came back. There are still people who support and trust her. We have to be careful."
"Maybe now is the time to give the company a hard cleanse, then," Lee said, his jaw setting.
"Getting rid of high-level employees isn't something I'm exactly interested in doing right now."
"Then you'll always have to watch your back."
"I have for most of my life, anyway," I said dismissively. "If anyone has a problem with how I run my company, then they're welcome to leave on their own. I don't need to chase anyone out."
Lee sighed, standing up from his chair. "I'm going to go give Sebastian a call. See if he can meet with us today. I'm also going to go see if I can find the agreement in the file at your mother's house."
"You're going to go there?" I asked, surprised.
"She has to have it somewhere. I'll go look through her files."
"Do you want me to come with you?" Henry asked.
Lee shook his head. "You can keep Bennett company so he doesn't feel awkward."
My face burned. "Lee!"
He threw me a smirk and waved me off, heading for the door. "I'll see you guys later. I'll let you know what Sebastian says."
I nodded, and then turned my attention back to my father, hoping my face wasn't red. "Let's at least run through some practice questions."
"Sure," he responded, sitting a little straighter, seemingly eager.
"What is your five-year plan for our company?"
His face went blank and he blinked a few times. "Um. Well..."
I could feel a muscle in my jaw twitch. This would be a long process.
Henry and I workshopped questions with my father for the next few hours. Although it hadn't seemed promising at first, my father slowly gained more confidence in his answers, and although I could tell he was making things up on the spot, they were actually quality responsesâ
inventive, knowledgeable, and achievable. I was impressed. If he could answer questions with the limited knowledge he had now like this, once he studied a bit more, he'd easily be able to pass the interview rounds with the board members.
That was, if we could get a work history for him.
Sebastian ended up having free time and suggested meeting at McKellan's, and Henry, my father, and I all headed over and joined up with Lee before we walked in. Lee had managed to find the agreement, by some miracle. Sebastian stood near the bar talking to Brandon when we entered. We went up to them and Brandon glanced at me, giving me a quick smile, then turned to Lee, his face morphing into a huge grin and his eyes lighting up. He came around the bar to greet Lee with a hug, and just gave me a head nod.
I didn't know why, but I felt oddly irritated at that. Why did Brandon like Lee so much more than me? Why did I even care to think about why?
Sebastian's gaze followed Brandon the entire time, and then he looked at me, his eyebrows high on his forehead. "I hadn't realized those two became so close."
"Me either," I muttered.
"Well, they will be family one day. I suppose it's a good thing they get along well."
I wanted to ask and what about me? But I managed not to. I glanced behind me, seeing my father chatting with Brandon, Lee and Henry, and then returned my attention to Sebastian. "Do you think it's a good idea to bring my father into the company?"
"You want my honest opinion?" Sebastian asked, leaning back on the stool he was sitting on and resting his elbows against the bar countertop.
"Do you ever give me anything but that?"
"Depends on your mental state."
I narrowed my eyes at him.
He smirked. "Kidding." His expression turned more serious as his gaze turned to my father. "I'm not quite sure what to think. Your father was there when the company started and helped build it from the ground up. I think there's something to be said for that. But it's also been a long time."
"It has," I agreed.
"That gap in his resume won't look good to the board members, even if his interviews go well."
I took a seat on a stool next to him. "I know."
"Also consider what trouble you mother could try to cause if you bring him on."
"I don't care about that. I won't let her, or the threat of her, control any part of my life anymore."
Sebastian smiled a little. "Good."
"I don't feel like there are many people I can trust to promote," I said.
"Why not just become the sole CEO?"
"I'd like to split the workload," I said bluntly.
Sebastian shifted in his seat, crossing one of his legs over the other. "You know you can still do that as the sole CEO. Just delegate."
"That's easier said than done when you want things done the right way."
"Then train someone. Shape them to be someone you can trust and rely on."
I drummed my fingers on my knee. "I'm not sure if I could trust anyone enough."
"Sounds like that's the start of your problem."
"You're right," I admitted. "But I have no idea who still supports my mother. It would catastrophic to promote someone who doesn't approve of me as the CEO."
Sebastian dipped his head in agreement. "I suppose that could be another benefit to hiring your father. He won't support your mother."
"I'm not sure what Lee mentioned, but can my mother really forbid him from listing his work at our company on his resume?"
"It's highly doubtful," Sebastian responded. "Most likely, she intimidated your father into believing that. I'd need to see the agreement to be certain, though, but more likely than not, he should be fine to list it on his resume." He paused. "Although, even if she had legally bound him not to, she doesn't need to know what's on his resume. She won't be at the interview."
"Why would she even do that?"
"To prevent him from working at similar jobs and having experience in case he ever wanted to try and fight her for the company."
I snorted. "As if he would have tried that. He agreed to stay away from his children for her."
"Well, I'm sure your mother believed you would never go against her either. Until you did."
"Barely." A little guilt gnawed at me. At my lack of backbone. "I only did because of Henley and Lee."
"The point is you did. So, it's not so inconceivable that your mom would think that far ahead with your father."
Brandon walked back over to us, sliding back behind the bar to take care of a customer. Lee, my father, and Henry walked up to Sebastian and I, and Lee handed over the file with the agreement to Sebastian. Sebastian took it, placing it on the bar top, and flipping through it. We gave him time, browsing the food menu.
"What's Henley up to?" Brandon asked me as he wandered back over to our side of the bar.
"I'm not sure," I said, glancing down at my phone, seeing my notifications empty. "She said she didn't have any plans today. Didn't you see her this morning?"
Brandon shook his head. "Nah, I worked at the hotel this morning so I was out of the house before she woke up."
"I see..." I picked up my phone, anxiety settling into my stomach. So, she was alone? "I'll see if she wants to come join us."
"Tell her to have Ariana come, too."
"You tell her," I responded before starting a text to Henley. After a second, though, I deleted it, and decided to give her a call instead. As soon as she answered, the pit in my stomach went away.
"Hey," she greeted. "What's up?"
"We're all at McKellan's. Do you want to join us?"
"Oh, sure. I'm getting kind of hungry. How did the mock interview go?"
"It... went."
She laughed, and I couldn't help but smile. "That well, huh?"
"I'll explain when you get here." I paused. "Should I come pick you up?"
"Huh? Why? I can drive myself."
"You're alone, aren't you?"
"It'll be fine," she responded. "Nothing strange has happened in a while. Maybe the last confrontation scared that guy off."
I wasn't convinced. "Then stay on the phone with me as you walk to your car."
"Okay. I'm ready to go, so I'll head out now."
My muscles felt tense as I heard her front door open and then close, my mind counting the steps it usually took to get to the driveway. I heard the jingling of her keys and the car door opening and then closing, but I still couldn't relax. "Lock your doors."
"They automatically lock when I start driving," she said, but the click of the locks came through the speaker. "Okay, I'm going to start driving over."
"Okay, see you when you get here. I love you."
"Love you too," she responded before hanging up the phone.
I stared at my phone screen for a moment, twisting my lips. While it was true nothing out of the ordinary had happened in a while, I didn't believe that guy would give up so easily. Especially if there was a chance my mother could somehow be involved. I regretted not doing more to him when he'd shown up before.
"Yeah, as I thought, she can't force you to leave out your job history on resumes," Sebastian spoke, gaining all our attention as his eyes continued to scan over the agreement. "It does say you can't work for the company again in perpetuity, but I'm sure there's a loophole around it. I'll have to look into it more. But for now, you're free to put your experience on your resume, Eli."
My father offered Sebastian a grateful smile. "Great. Thanks for looking that over for me."
"You'd still have a huge gap in your resume, though," I pointed out, my lips curving down.
My father put his hands in his pockets, mimicking my expression. "Like I said, I'm willing to start at a lower position and work my way up."
"Maybe," I agreed. Maybe I was thinking too optimistically thinking I could find someone to fit the CEO role so easily. "But I think I'll be full-up on assistants soon."
Henry gave me a sheepish look. "I'm still looking at the other positions."
"You're welcome to split the role with Henley, Henry. She only works part time."
"I want to work full time," he insisted.
Lee playfully rolled his eyes. "He thinks we're going to go broke because I'm not working anymore."
Henry spared Lee a dirty look. "I don't think that. I just like to feel reassured with job security."
Lee nodded, pouting his lips, and drawing Henry close to him. "You'll be my sweet, sweet sugar daddy now."
I made a face at them, catching my father's gaze, who chuckled. "I'm starting you at a base salary," I said.
Lee's mouth fell open, offended. "Don't even joke about that Bennett. You know he has plenty of experience! You can't just start him atâ"
Henry put his hand on Lee's shoulder. "You can't fall for that every time Bennett starts up, Lee."
A smug smile slipped across my lips as Lee's offense turned to annoyance. He shot me a glare. "Just let me see your contract when you get it, Henry."
"I will, I will."
I twisted in my seat until I faced the bar, waving down Brandon, who'd disappeared to help the other people waiting. "Can I have whatever is on tap?"
"Yup, one sec," he said, grabbing a clean glass, and expertly pouring the beer. "You want to open a tab?"
"Sure. You can put everyone on it."
"So generous," he said with a coo.
"Well, we have three..." I considered Sebastian. "Four unemployed people here with me."
Sebastian cleared his throat. "Hey. Technically I'm self-employed."
"You barely work."
"But I do work, sometimes."
Brandon poured Sebastian a beer as well, sliding it over to him. "We know you get most of your money by scamming poor people like my sister by renting to them while you benefit off passive income. Scumlord."
My eyes widened at Brandon's words, but Brandon was smirking, and Sebastian rubbed the back of his neck, looking a little embarrassed. "I understand there are a lot of bad landlords, but I like to think I'm fair... and some people do prefer to rent, believe it or not."
Brandon leaned over the bar, patting Sebastian's head. "Just messing with you, buddy."
I glanced between the two of them. Maybe Brandon was close to everyone but me. "Brandon, we should get dinner sometime. Just the two of us."
Both Sebastian and Brandon turned to me, their eyebrows raised.
"You know you're dating my sister, right? Not me?"
"Obviously not like a date," I snapped, but then I felt my ears turn red, realizing how my words had sounded.
Brandon crossed his arms over his chest, watching me with a bemused expression. "You're not going to ask for Henley's hand in marriage from me, right? Because if so, know that that's so old-fashioned, and she'd absolutely hate it. She'd say something like, 'I'm not his to give away'."
"No, not that either. I agree, I wouldn't ask anyone for that. Only Henley. It's her decision.'
Recognition flashed across Brandon's face. "Ah! I know. I'm doing so good at work you want to promote me to CEO. Wow, a dream come true. From janitor to CEO."
"...No, not that either." I supposed hanging out with me was just too foreign a concept for him to even consider.
I decided to drop it.
Henley came through the doors a few moments later, and we all moved to one of the longer tables so we could sit together. She kept a spot open next to her, telling us Ariana was also on her way. I saw Lee trying to move into the other side and bodied him out of the way to take the spot first. I didn't know why he always tried to take my spot next to her.
"Hey, Bennett," she greeted me, her eyes scrunching as she smiled at me.
I leaned forward to kiss her, putting my hand on the back of her neck. "Hello."
"If we keep eating out, I feel like you'll pass away," she said, gesturing toward the menus on the table.
"I've gotten used to it by now," I told her. "And I kind of like it now. It's nice for all of us to be able to gather so often like this. And not have to worry about them in my house all the time."
"Well, now we gather at my house," she said, grinning. "But I like it, too."
"If it made you happy, I would eat out every night."
She leaned closer to me, a teasing look crossing her face. "Really? Even fast food?"
I paused. She waited.
"If...that would truly make you happy," I answered slowly.
She stood up from her chair. "Great! Let's go!"
I quickly grabbed her hand. "Wait! You just got here. You don't want to leave everyone, right?"
"For Taco Bell? I'd do anything."
I pulled on her hand, pulling her back down into her chair. "I've just made the decision that is just something I can't let you do, even if it makes you happy. For your health."
She laughed, placing her other hand over our entwined ones. "I was just kidding anyway, Bennett. I just like to hear what you'd do for me."
"Anything," I promised. Then frowned. "Well. Almost anything. That doesn't risk our health."
"I'll take it. So, how did it go with your father?" she asked, lowering her voice a bit, glancing down the table where Lee, Henry, and my father were chatting with Sebastian.
I moved in closer to her, explaining what had happened, and she pressed her lips into a flat line as she listened, nodding.
"Are you sure you need someone to step into the CEO role right away?" she asked. "It sounds like it might be easier to have someone start a bit below that level, and then work their way up. That way you're not pissing anyone who might what the position off by bringing in someone from outside without enough experience."
"Either way, he'd have to be approved by the board members. If I wanted to avoid that." If I really wanted to hire my father, I could, regardless of what the board said, but that was a dangerous game. "But I'm also starting to think maybe I'll just be the sole CEO for a while."
"You know I'll be there to help you with whatever I can be," Henley said, putting her hand on my thigh. "And Henry. And your father does have experience. And you can hire like another COO or something."
I gave her a wry smile. "I'm not sure our current COO would approve of that. Although, I don't think he approves of me, anyway. He worked for my mother for a long time. I doubt he's happy she's gone."
"Ah, so that's why you wouldn't promote him?"
"Exactly. There aren't much prospective internal candidates. I did consider our CFOâI believe you met her beforeâbut she is content where she is."
Henley had slid higher on my thigh and she squeezed it, causing me to jump, and heat to pool in my stomach. It must have been subconscious, because she didn't react much, just gazing out into the restaurant. "It's hard, huh? I wish I could do more to help."
I reached for her hand, pulling it back down my thigh, not wanting to react more to it. "You do enough," I said, having to swallow before I could speak. "More than enough."
"Moral support isn't the same as actually being able to help, though."
"You're more than moral support. You're the source of most of my happiness."
Her cheeks turned pink and she gave me one of her glaring, but reluctantly smiling looks. Before she could respond though, my father appeared behind us. She looked up at him, nodding her head a bit in greeting.
"Hey, Henley," he said, offering her a smile. "How's it going?"
"I'm good, how are you?"
"It's going. I heard from Lee that you changed your major to business? I did half of my degree at the same college."
Henley angled herself in her chair to face him better. "You did? Really?"
He nodded. "I did half at community college before finishing at a private school. It saved me a lot of money that way."
"You didn't put that on your resume," I said, furrowing my eyebrows. "Why did you leave your education blank, too?"
"Well, you know your mother," he began, moving around the table to sit opposite us so he could face us both. "The fact that I went to community college wasn't something she exactly wanted me telling the world."
Henley pursed her lips. "As if there is anything wrong with community college. Not that I'm surprised to hear that."
"I guess I was just having a bit of... hesitation about that," my father said, clasping his hands on the table.
"Well, let's add that to your resume, too," I said, taking out my phone, and making a note of it. "That'll help."
"Where did you go to college?" my father asked me, sounding casual.
I looked up from my phone at him. "That wasn't something you found in any magazine articles while you were keeping tabs on us while we were thinking you were dead? I'm sure that information is in a few articles out there."
Henley went still beside me, and I immediately felt bad for putting her in an uncomfortable situation, but to my surprise, my father didn't freeze up as well. His shoulders tensed, but he held my gaze.
"It was," he told me. "I know the answer to that question. But I wanted to hear from you. I don't want to know you from magazine articles any more, Bennett. I want to know you from you. I won't ask any questions if it bothers you, though."
My hand curled into a fist under the table. Guilt mixed with annoyance. Working with my father was one thing, but having a close relationship was another. It wasn't easy to overcome the bitter feelings of him abandoning Lee and I with our mother, even though I knew his reasoning, and could hardly hold it against him. Seeing him trying to close the distance between us left me feeling... disconcerted. I wasn't like Lee. I couldn't adapt that easily.
"Sorry," I apologized after a moment.
"It's okay," my father told me, his voice soft. "I know this is strange. It's strange for me, too. Understandably more so for you. If I'm overstepping, I will take a step back until you're ready."
"If we're going to be working together, I need to get over it, anyway," I said.
Henley's hand found mine under the table and she held it.
"Even so, I can give you space," my father responded. "I can wait until you're ready." He stood up, returning to his seat near Lee, and I didn't stop him.
Henley turned in her seat a bit, her knees bumping into my leg. "Will you be okay working with him?"
"Yes," I said, meeting her gaze, frowning. "I can separate personal and business relationships. And it's not like I hate him. I just..." I trailed off, unsure of what I wanted to say. Didn't want to forgive him as easily as Lee had? Didn't want to let him into my life yet? But wasn't hiring him into the company already a combination of both those things?
"It's a complicated situation. It's okay to take your time and figure out what you're okay with and what you're not okay with," Henley said, as understanding as ever.
I managed to give her a smile. "You're right."
I knew I'd figure it out eventually. Especially with Henley beside me.
_______________
I forgot I've been sitting on this and have forgotten to post it. In case you missed my message on my profile, all my wattpad books are on paused until I finish the book I'm self-publishing! It's a Hades x Persephone meets Labyrinth (David bowie) book!