Terms and Conditions: Chapter 42

My father and I continue to compete for Mr. Yakura’s attention. Rather than go with Iris’s advice, I choose to fight back harder, proving I’m the best candidate to bring Dreamland Tokyo to life. My father meets my every stride. He makes promises I’m not even sure he can uphold, although he appears mighty confident in the manner. I can tell it’s getting messy. Mr. and Mrs. Yakura try to keep their smiles wide and their eyes bright, but I can only imagine how exhausting all this is.

Iris warned me to end it, but I didn’t listen.

No. I trampled all over her instead because I was too pissed to think clearly. After working so damn hard to earn her trust, I threw it away at the first sign of adversity. There is no one to blame but me. Not my anger. Not my father. And definitely not Iris, although I’m sure I made her feel that way.

A dark cloud of emotion follows me through the rest of our walkthrough. I can’t shake the feeling that I made a huge mistake by continuing on with the rest of my day despite Iris’s advice. The more time that passes, the less I’m sure my choice to stay was the right one. My doubt has nothing to do with my father stealing Mr. Yakura’s time, but more so to do with the idea of me hurting Iris and letting her walk away. The urge is stronger than ever to leave them all behind so I can go find Iris.

I can’t stop thinking of the things I told her when I was angry. It was one thing to call her a distraction, but it’s a completely different issue to doubt her ability to do her job. I know she is capable of everything and more, yet I tore her down like she was worth nothing. I’m not proud of the way I told her how the plan she made was shitty. But nothing feels worse than telling her she failed. I chose my words out of anger without truly thinking of the impact they could have.

It’s not until we make our way back to the entrance of the park that Mr. Yakura pulls me aside. My father’s eyes track us even as we step out of earshot.

“Declan. Is everything okay?” He looks up at me with a big smile as bright as his ridiculous neon shirt.

“I’m fine.”

“I couldn’t help noticing how you’ve been much quieter since Iris left. While I appreciate you spending the day with us, we would rather you be with your wife if she isn’t feeling well.”

If you even have a wife to go back to.

“She wanted me to see this through.” At least I think so.

His smile falters. “I expected as much. She was rather persuasive on the phone when she was setting up this entire trip for us. I almost felt bad for inviting your father along, knowing the two of you aren’t on the best of terms.”

Wait, what? “Repeat that.”

“I was the one who invited your father to join us here. Why else did you think he would show up?”

“When did you do that?”

Mr. Yakura tilts his head. “The same day Iris called to schedule everything with my assistant. I wanted to make sure everyone could make it here for the announcement. It’s a shame Iris won’t be here though. I know how hard she worked on putting all this together and I hate the idea of leaving here without telling her that this decision had nothing to do with her.”

With the way my stomach rolls, I’m about one confession from throwing up. Iris had nothing to do with my father coming here. Sure, she set up an automatic email telling people I would be visiting Dreamland, but my father knew about the trip way before she created that.

Fuck.

I made a colossal mistake. One done out of anger and irrationality, all because I thought I could blame everyone else for my failure except me.

“Why would you do that?”

“I was curious about how you and your father worked together. Turns out my theories were right.”

Fuck him and fuck my father. If Mr. Yakura wants to work with him, then fine. If he wants to work with me, great, although I’m not too certain I even want to work with him anymore. Not with the way he played me. I’d rather work with honest people who aren’t out to manipulate me.

He holds his hands up. “I can tell this news upsets you. I promise I didn’t mean for you to take any offense. My intention was solely to better understand the family dynamics before I made a decision to work with either of you.”

“And let me guess—you don’t want to.”

His lips press together. “It’s not that I don’t want to, but your relationship with your father is complex. I can tell there is a lot of animosity between the two of you, although both of you try to pretend it doesn’t exist. It became more apparent once Iris left.”

If you had listened to her instead of shooting her down…

I take a few deep breaths to slow down my thoughts.

You’re a fucking idiot, Declan. A stupid idiot who drove away the one person in your corner because you wanted to prove you had what it took to finish a deal.

“Did you even come here with the intention of signing a contract?”

“I did come with an open mind. My wife and I were both rooting for you, but I see there is still a lot you need to overcome. You’re young, Declan. Young and ambitious and passionate enough to have what it takes to be a leader one day. No one is discounting that, although I’m sure it might feel like that because of my decision.”

My temple throbs from the building pressure behind my skull. “I see.”

“I doubt you want to hear this from me, but if you don’t mind, I want to give you advice from one CEO to a future one.”

I take a deep breath to stop myself from snapping. “Go ahead.”

He releases a sigh as if he was actually nervous I would say no. “You’re only as strong as your biggest fear. Take your father for example: he is afraid of being powerless, so he will go out of his way to ruin his own child’s success just to feel strong and relevant. It will be his greatest downfall one day—I can guarantee that. So choose to learn from him and his mistakes before it’s too late for you. Embrace your fears and grow from them or spend the rest of your life fighting them at every turn.”

I try to stop myself from speaking but lose the ability to control my words. “What’s mine?”

He laughs. “Go do some soul searching and find out for yourself. I can’t just give you all the answers. That’s the whole point of life.”

Mrs. Yakura calls his name, and he looks over his shoulder and holds up a finger.

“One last thing.” He turns back toward me.

As if this entire conversation can’t get any worse. “What?”

“Come back and talk to me when you feel the time is right. If the gossip articles my wife reads are correct, then maybe it’s sooner rather than later. Hopefully you have yourself sorted out by then.” He winks.

I have no idea how he knows, but I can tell in his eyes that he suspects something.

“Go take care of your wife. Tell her I’m sorry and that I hope she understands.” He gives me one last smile before he and his wife leave the park.

I watch them disappear behind the gates, so I miss my father walking up to me.

“How does it feel to lose something you worked two years on?”

“Not nearly as pathetic as you must feel going home to an empty house, knowing you only have your miserable self to keep you company. I’ll see you on Monday.”

His shoes clap after me. “Where are you going?”

“I’m done here. I tried and I lost. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to get my wife and get the hell out of here.”

He grabs my arm and I rip it out of his grasp.

“Don’t touch me,” I seethe.

“We’re not done here.”

“If you’re looking for some kind of big reaction from me, you’re not going to get one. Not anymore.”

“Really? I guess I’ll have to wait for Monday then when you have to present your failure to the board.”

I shrug. “It doesn’t matter what they think about me. Half of them think you’re a piece of shit and they still kiss your ass because of your last name. So long as I have my inheritance, their opinions of me aren’t worth shit.”

“And you consider this proving yourself? It makes you look like a pathetic option for CEO.”

“Maybe, but it doesn’t matter, does it? Grandpa made sure of that.”

“I will fight you every step of the way on this.”

“You can sure try, but I’m not planning on fighting back. I’m done. You’re a lost cause I refuse to spend any more energy on. I’d rather redirect it to what’s important like my wife, kids, and brothers. You made your choice to be a miserable fuck, but that doesn’t mean I have to.” I walk away before I say anything else.

Mr. Yakura wanted me to consider my biggest fear and I was staring right at it.

I don’t want to become my father.

I’ve spent my entire life striving to be better than him, to the point of following in his same footsteps to usurp him. I spent far too much of my time trying to destroy him when I should have been focusing on what’s important.

I don’t plan on making the same mistake. Not anymore.

I return to the hotel expecting to find Iris in the room, but discover it empty of all her things. Did she get another room because she wanted to avoid me? After what I said, I wouldn’t blame her. But if she thinks I’m going to have her sleep somewhere else, she’s mistaken.

Couples fight. We can get through this. But first, I need her to listen to me.

I check my messages, but none are from Iris. My heart beats harder against my chest as I call her cellphone and it goes directly to voicemail.

“Shit.” I throw my phone on the bed, and it bounces against a piece of white paper that blended into the comforter. I’m almost afraid to turn it over but suck it up. The message is my worst fucking nightmare.

Consider this my informal resignation letter. Formal notice will arrive on your desk this Monday at 9 a.m. —Iris

I crumple the paper before chucking it in the trash bin. I’m not letting her quit because we got into one fight about work, no matter how much she might want to. My words were harsh, uncalled for, and out of line, but that doesn’t mean she can quit without giving me a chance to make it up to her.

But first you need to find her.

“Shit.”