I grabbed the door and opened it in an effort to get him to leave, but he still just sat there. “Are we going out for lunch?” he asked with a playful smile on his face.
“No, you can go wherever you want. Anywhere but here would be preferable.”
“Come on, Anna, you know me. You know I wouldn’t do something that was horrible to your father. Give me a chance to explain what’s going on. This is going to help your dad. It’s going to ensure the employees that want to keep working will have a more stable working environment. Please, let me explain,” Jason said, and he stood up and walked slowly toward me.
He wasn’t about to leave because his suit jacket was still sitting on the couch. Instead, he moved in closer and closer to me as his eyes locked with mine, and I felt that electric connection that the two of us had. It was undeniable, it was strong, and I felt my power sliding away as my desire for Jason slowly grew.
“Just tell me now. How is this supposed to help?”
“Anna, you’re angry, and you won’t be able to hear me right now with all this going on,” he said as his hands waved over me and focused on my arms crossed over my chest. “You have to calm down a little. Please, let’s go get something to eat, and we can talk about it. I’ll explain everything.”
“I don’t see why you can’t just explain it to me right now.”
“Please,” he said as his hand gently grabbed mine and held onto it. “Let me take you to breakfast, or lunch, or just a smoothie. Let’s go and talk.”
His voice was smooth and sexy and exactly what I didn’t want. This was why I had ignored his calls and texts. I knew if he was in front of me, it was going to be really hard for me to stay angry at him.
“You’re impossible. I bet you always get your way, don’t you?”
“Says the girl with the pink bikini and the trampoline.” He laughed.
“Fine, I’ll go to lunch. But don’t think I’m going to be any less upset with you just because we’re eating food.”
Jason grabbed his coat, and we went downstairs. I actually was starving and convinced myself that this was the only way to get him to explain what was really going on. I didn’t get how he could actually think this plan of his was anything but hurtful. Jason knew my father had worked his life helping to build this company. My father had even been offered to buy the company outright when the original owner passed away, but we didn’t have the money for that fifteen years ago when it happened.
Instead of my father buying the company alone, he went in on the deal with Morgan Sparser and Marcus Conner, and the three of them owned it together. Unfortunately, Morgan had passed away a few years ago, and he’d given his portion of the company to my father and Marcus. The three of them were inseparable when they were young and first employed by the company, and they remained friends throughout their time as owners. Marcus and my father weren’t businessmen by trade, and they had clearly made some business mistakes over the years. But that was why Jason and his company were there—Jason was supposed to be saving my father, and instead, he was ruining everything.
I sat quietly in Jason’s car and didn’t look at or talk to him for the entire ride to the restaurant. He was clearly dressed for work, and I was in my casual jeans, so I wasn’t exactly sure where he was taking us to eat. Chicago was packed with great food though, and I wasn’t a picky eater, even when I was angry.
“Ready?” Jason asked as we pulled up to the valet parking at Rupert’s.
As the valet opened my door, I climbed out and waited for Jason to come around to the sidewalk. I’d uncrossed my arms and stopped pouting a little bit, purely because I didn’t want to look ridiculous while we were waiting to eat.
“I’m still angry,” I said as Jason gently grabbed my hand, and we walked straight into the restaurant to sit down.
“Yes, I know,” he said with a smirk. “We can eat and talk, and you can stay as angry as you like.”
We didn’t have to wait at all, and Jason just waved to the hostess as we walked past. He held onto my hand while we weaved our way in and out of the tables until we got to the very corner of the room. I could have let go of his hand, but I didn’t. The feel of his fingers and mine together was perfection, even though I was upset at him. There was no denying that I still longed for his touch.
“So now will you explain to me what’s going on?” I asked as he pulled my chair out and waited for me to sit down.
“Can we at least order our food first?”
Like clockwork, the waitress was at our table handing us menus and pouring ice water. She smiled kindly at the two of us. Her brown hair was filled with wild curls, and her freckles seemed especially prominent in the lighting of the restaurant.
“What would you like to drink?”
“I’ll have an orange juice,” I said.
“Bloody Mary,” Jason added.
“We are serving breakfast still until eleven, but if you really want lunch, I’m sure we can convince the chef.”
“Thank you,” Jason said as he put his menu down right away and looked at me while he waited for the waitress to leave. “You look amazing,” he said to me.
“I’m wearing jeans and a T-shirt.”
“And you look amazing.”
I ignored his compliment. “So, we are waiting until we order and then you’re going to tell me what’s going on?” I asked. If he thought buttering me up with compliments was going to stop me from being upset, then he really didn’t know me at all.
“Can’t we just have a nice meal and talk when it’s done?”
“No. After we order, you are telling me what’s going on or I’m leaving,” I said firmly. “This isn’t a date, Jason.”
He smiled at me as if I was being ridiculous, but I could see by the smile and glint in his eyes that he thought he could charm his way out of this. He was really damn charming, but I still needed answers. I wasn’t going to let him rip my father’s company apart all because he happened to be drop dead gorgeous and made me wet when I looked at him.
“Okay, whatever you’d like. It’s your date,” he antagonized me a little.
I huffed and crossed my arms as I leaned back in my chair and waited for the waitress to come get our order. Fifteen minutes later, she showed up with our drinks and then had to run off and help another table quickly. If I hadn’t known any better, I would have thought Jason had coordinated this whole thing with her somehow. It seemed really odd to me that this waitress hadn’t even taken our order yet.
After sitting quietly and not talking to Jason for fifteen minutes, I finally caved in and leaned in toward him. With my elbows on the table, I gave him a huge smile. “Was Clyde excited about school today?” I ventured with the only safe subject I could think of.
“Yeah, he showed me around the school and didn’t even cry when I left. In fact, I think I was probably more nervous than he was.”
“He’s a really great kid. You must be doing something right.”
“It was nice of you to stop by and give him that toy. It was really cute,” Jason said. “I’m glad I was running late and got to see you. I’m glad you agreed to come on this date too,” he snickered.
I just rolled my eyes and shook my head at him. He was purposely antagonizing me just for the fun of it. I did my best not to look at him and bit my lip to prevent myself from feeding his ego by smiling at his joke. If I wasn’t so worried about my father and what Jason was doing to him, I might have been inclined to think Jason was funny.
There was a lengthy silence, and I looked down when I noticed Jason’s arms moving a little. He had his phone in his lap and was punching in a text message. I quickly reached over and grabbed the phone from him and read what was on the screen.
JASON: Not yet, another 10 min.
“What’s this?” I asked as I looked around the restaurant and saw our waitress laughing and running off to the back room. “Are you texting her and telling her not to come to our table? You know her? You’re such a weasel,” I playfully punched
him on the arm and slid his phone back over to him.
“Sorry.” He laughed and motioned for the waitress, who was looking out from the back room, to come over.
“What can I get for you guys?” she said as her eyes stayed glued on the order pad she held.
“An egg white omelet please,” I said.
“Same,” Jason added.
“Okay, now tell me why this plan of yours is a good one and not the most horrible thing in the world.”
“Let me explain it to you the best I can. Think of your father’s company like a Walmart. It has everything there is to have for construction. You’ve got top-notch equipment, engineers, software, and even a new high-end support device that everyone on the market wants. Got it?”
“Sure,” I replied although I wasn’t sure at all that I understood what he was trying to say.
“So, let’s just say you have eight awesome divisions in your store. It would be best to have someone in charge of each of those divisions—preferably someone who understands that area and is very knowledgeable about it, right?”
“Okay.”
“But what if instead of having individually run divisions you just had this guy Bob sitting at the front of the store. He knows the store; he can point you in the right direction, but he can’t do a very good job of selling the services of each division because he’s trying to do everything by himself. Bob is sitting there at the front of the store, and he doesn’t have any help. Customers are leaving because they like to have help when they need it. Understand?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said as I started to laugh a little. “Is my dad Bob in this scenario?”
Jason looked frustrated at me as he tried to think about how he wanted to explain what was going on in different terms. He opened his mouth like he was going to talk on a couple occasions but then didn’t say anything. When the waitress arrived with our food, it was an excuse for us to eat while he was trying to think of another way of explaining whatever it was that he was trying to tell me.
It was actually endearing how hard Jason was trying to explain what was going on to me. Each time he came up with an idea of how he was going to describe things, he looked excited for a moment, then retreated back into his thoughts. I was still upset, but the fact that he was trying so hard to explain things did make me believe that Jason’s intentions were not bad. Whatever was going on, Jason appeared to genuinely be behind this decision.
“Okay, I’ve got it,” Jason said enthusiastically.
“I’m ready. Bring it on.”
“You know how Disneyworld has several different worlds in the park? You’ve got Adventureland, Fantasyland, wait… what other lands are there?” he stopped as he tried to think of the parts of Disneyworld that he wanted to use in his explanation, and I couldn’t help laughing. I honestly wasn’t laughing at Jason’s effort. It was just funny how he had roped me into coming to breakfast with him, bribed the waitress to leave us to talk and not take our orders, and then when it came to actually explaining things, he couldn’t figure out what it was he wanted to say.
“Why don’t you just tell me what’s going on with the company. No analogies. No weird explanations. What is going on?”
“No, I’ve got it. I do. Instead of Disneyworld, let’s talk about all the Disney parks. Okay, we have Disneyland, Disneyworld, Paris Disney, and Shanghai Disney, um I think there’s another Disney in China, isn’t there? And the other one… Goddamn, this isn’t working,” he said in frustration as he ran his fingers through his hair.
“Maybe this isn’t working. How about you just take me home, and you can send me an email explaining what’s going on?”
“No,” he protested.
“Then what Jason? I have no idea what’s going on, and you’re not explaining things. I appreciate that on some level you appear to think you are doing the right thing. Perhaps, in the long run, this is going to be the best thing for the employees; hell, I have no idea. But from where I’m sitting I think this is a bad idea for my father.”
“You’re not listening to what I’m saying,” Jason said in an agitated tone.
“Okay, I’m done here.” I folded my napkin and pushed my chair back. “Whatever explanation or excuse you were planning on giving me, just email it to me. Thanks for the omelet. I can get myself home.”
I stood up to leave, and Jason grabbed my wrist firmly, a little too firmly for my comfort, and I yanked it away from him. I didn’t say another word as I stormed out of the restaurant and used my phone to order a ride to come and get me. Whether Jason had good intentions or not, it didn’t matter all that much at this point. My father was still going to lose his company.
“Anna, please,” Jason said as he ran out of the restaurant and stood with me.
“Please what? Come on Jason, I’m tired of these games. This is all about money, and I get that. You are a businessman and selling off my father’s company is good for business. Don’t try to sugar coat it and make me believe it’s about anything else.”
My voice was getting louder and louder, and I noticed people were looking at us. But at this point, I didn’t care. Jason could have all the good intentions in the world, but the facts were the facts. Jason and Kevin were going to destroy my father’s life work.
Chapter 13
Jason
“Let me take you home. There’s no reason to get an Uber,” I said after Anna had finished yelling at me. “It’s the least you can let me do.” As the words left my mouth, I instantly wished they hadn’t.
Anna’s face changed from mildly agitated with me to full blown angry. “It’s the least I can do for you? Really? Because I owe you somehow?”
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
“How exactly did you mean it? That you’ve done so much for me and for my father that I owe you? I should be nice to you because you gave me a job or because you bought my father’s company? Maybe I should be nice to you because you’re breaking my father’s company up and can’t even explain to me why it’s a good idea? No, the least I can do is to get in this Uber when it comes and forget I ever had feelings for you.”
“Feelings?” I said in a little bit of shock.
“Oh, shut up,” Anna groaned and pushed me. “You know what I meant.”
“No, what did you mean?” I really wasn’t trying to be an asshole or draw any correlation between her trying to explain what she had said and me trying to explain what was going on with her father’s company. I was just shocked to hear her say she had feelings for me. Anna was tough. She was hard on the outside and not vulnerable like many women I knew. She put on this mask when she interacted with people, and I’d only recently been privileged to see her let that mask down. But having feelings was a big deal, especially because I’d felt some feelings toward her as well.
Her Uber pulled up, and Anna opened the car door and was about to get in when I held onto the door handle.
“Let me take you home, please,” I said softly.
Anna looked at me and then at the Uber driver. She contemplated what to do for only about five seconds before she waved the man off and pushed the door shut. “Fine,” she said softly. “I’m tired of arguing with you.”
“Thank you.”
We waited in the valet line for my car without saying a single word. Anna stayed busy looking at her phone, and I tried to think of a better way of explaining what was going on with her father’s company. Sure, at first it sounded like we were just after the money, and breaking up his company would bring us the most money. But it was much more complex than that, and Anna would have to understand the full complex situation in order to see the positive side of breaking her father’s company into smaller elements.
When my car came around, I held the door open for Anna and then drove her back toward her apartment. My mind raced as I tried to think of some way of explaining what I had to say to her. It was like a business deal—if I couldn’t explain it right, then Anna wouldn’t agree with me. Then, I
saw a sign for the strip mall that was near Anna’s apartment. It had a lingerie store, tennis shoe store, and a ton of other specialty stores. This was exactly what I needed to explain to Anna. I turned into the parking lot and parked next to the name brand tennis shoe store.
“Are we going shopping?” Anna finally asked as she looked up from her phone.
“Yes, come with me,” I said and hopped out of the car full of excitement. “Okay, if you needed to get a new pair of tennis shoes, which one of these stores would you go to?”
Anna looked around for a minute. She took her time and even walked a little away from the car to make sure she could see all of the stores and what their signs said. She furrowed her brow at me, rolled her eyes, and then pointed to the tennis shoe store. “Obviously,” she said, totally not amused with my game.
“Okay, hang with me for a minute. Now, if you wanted to buy some new kitchen pans, which store would you go to?”
“That kitchen place, of course. What is this all about Jason? This is really weird.”
“How about new sexy lingerie?”
Anna rolled her eyes and pointed to the bra and panty store. I couldn’t help giving her a little nudge in that direction as if we should go over there and pick something out, but her death stare made me back away.
“No,” she said firmly.
“Okay, how about you have a friend with a baby, and you need to get them some baby clothes?”
“That one,” Anna said and pointed to the baby clothing store.
“And sunglasses?”
“That one,” she pointed to the sunglass store as she was getting more and more annoyed with me. “Jason, what does this have to do with anything?”
“This is what I want to do with your father’s company. See, this place is so easy to tell which businesses provide which service. You don’t have to wonder if something is available. You can simply look at the sign and know what goes on in there. Your father’s company has some pretty amazing proprietary equipment and techniques that are being wasted away because they only do a few jobs per year. The engineering department of your father’s company could easily be its own firm, making millions of dollars a year.”
The Baby Package Page 75