“I’m even more confused now,” he said, turning his back on Tyler and all his attention on Aydan. “You want me to fire your company?”
“I want you to honor your contract.”
“But it’s your family?”
“That’s where you are wrong, sir. Besides, Ferdowsi HVAC was on the blacklist here long before I joined the company and frankly, I’m very proud to work in a place that stands behind its people and policies.”
Fener looked like he wanted to argue but dropped the subject, moving instead to those issues delaying his workers. “How the hell do you expect me to maintain a schedule if I can’t even get full access to the space?”
“Before you worry about access why don’t you tell me why safety pads haven’t been installed in the elevators, or why the temporary partition curtain hasn’t been hung on this floor, or why the rigging hasn’t been installed for the demolition chute and why the construction bin hasn’t been ordered, or why you haven’t chosen a spot to—”
“All right, already. Geez…you really are Ben’s kid. Okay, I’ll get my guys working on the scaffolding and bins and stuff, but I want to know what’s next. I need to have some idea who and when to bring them in.”
“We understand that,” she assured him. “That’s why we’re all here right now, to get this thing going and going in the right direction. I’m working on the detailed plan for the eighth floor and will have it for you next week. For now we need you to concentrate on prepping this floor, and three and four. Once the construction bin is in and the scaffolding secure, have your men work on stripping all the walls down to the brick on three and four. Once that’s done you may bring in your HVAC sub, one preapproved by Dr. Marsh, and the elevator people to find and repair the dumbwaiter. If you’re still twiddling your thumbs, feel free to start in on the restoration of the maple floors.”
Fener stared at her before making a note on his clipboard. “Okay, boss. That works for me.” Tucking his clipboard under his arm and heading out, he stopped at the fire exit door, offering casually, “Just for the record, your dad was a good guy. It’s too bad your brothers are such shits.”
Aydan didn’t know what shocked her more, the sight of Tyler standing with her hand clamped over her mouth, or Leslie Phipps’s backslap of her and her hearty howl. She was just as stunned by her assertiveness, but worried she had overstepped the line with her boss. “I’m sorry Dr. Marsh. I…”
“I have never seen Fener back down, even with Dad or when Uncle Danny was alive.” Leslie cried, “Aydan rocks!”
Tyler was laughing too. “Oh my God, you were great and please you can call me Tyler anytime. I will be so happy to tell Georgie you speak Fener!”
“Can I ask a question?”
“Aydan, of course you can. This is your project to run. Only you know what information you need to do your job.”
“Did you blacklist my brothers’ company because of me?”
Leslie stepped forward to explain a story that predated Tyler. “Actually, it was Georgie and she did it about seven, maybe eight years ago when I was opening the restaurant. I’m sorry but it was an older man she was dealing with.”
“No need to apologize. My father died sixteen years ago. My grandfather ran the company. Now my brothers have taken over. He was not a kind man and neither are they.”
Was that the nicest thing she could say about the men in her family? It wasn’t that she couldn’t or wouldn’t admit to these strong women that her brothers, in the absence of her dad, had become conservative fear-mongering control freaks who thought nothing of taking out their disappointments in life on her. Their treatment over the years and especially in these last few months, made their beliefs and behaviors even more intolerable. For her there was no forgiving them; but she had never imagined the outside world might judge them as harshly. Maybe a part of their ignorance had been pounded into her. They might never have to answer for their actions personally, but there was a whole new justice in them being blacklisted from a job she was managing.
“Do you know what they did to be blacklisted?”
“Oh I know…I was there,” Leslie said. “So that was your grandfather?”
Aydan nodded.
“Well, good old granddad kept arguing with me over the layout of the kitchen. I’ve worked in a lot of bad kitchens and I knew the changes he was suggesting were for his benefit not mine. When I wouldn’t amend the plans he started demanding to talk to the real chef. He was sure the guy in charge would understand the technical issues. I could have called Dad or Uncle Danny to deal with him but this was my project, my restaurant, so I called Georgie down. She was COO back then and had final say on anything in the building.”
“Aydan,” Tyler added, “this would be before Georgie’s head injury.”
Leslie nodded. “So she came down and listened to his complaints, then spent an hour discussing everything from building codes to work flow. He kept trying to shut her down, coming up with one excuse after another. When that didn’t sway her, he tried bullying her, saying only he understood how to do the job. You should know, Georgie really tried with him, but when he got belligerent, she busted his balls for a dozen things from code violations to thingamajigs. He did not take it well. He stormed out, then sent a scathing email. She sent one back informing him that his services were no longer required on this project.”
“Wait…” Aydan closed her eyes, remembering her eldest brother’s venomous attack on one Georgina DiNamico. “It all makes so much sense now. My brother BJ went to work for my grandfather right after dad died. The way my brother reacted, especially after my youngest brother Alan went online and told him the women of your family were now running the companies, tells me he remembered something. Probably just the awful things my grandfather said. Still…” She smiled at the irony. “No wonder he was so upset to hear the company was doing so well. This economy has been particularly difficult for their industry.”
“Oh, Aydan…” Tyler’s concern for Georgie’s intern and assistant had already been riding at DEFCON 2. Knowing Aydan’s family’s protest had been partially fueled by Georgie herself, not to mention the announcement of their engagement, was heartbreaking. “I am so, so sorry.”
“Not at all. Please,” Aydan assured them. “I should have stood up to them a long time ago. Actually, this is nothing new for them. So this is why Ferdowsi HVAC is blacklisted, the restaurant fiasco?”
“Actually, that was just the start. The old bastard tried to sue us for breach of contract. When that didn’t work, he tried to name the company in a suit claiming racial discrimination,” Leslie added with a grin. She still enjoyed the irony of old man Ferdowsi accusing a family that was half African American as racially discriminating against him. “That one got as far as the preliminary hearing. Were you there for that, Aydan?”
Now she was smiling too. “Sorry no, but how I wish I had been.”
Leslie nodded, turning to Tyler to say, “You should have seen it. The clerk read out the docket thing and the judge asked who was representing Dynamic Marine. You should have seen his face when my very black father and our white but olive-skinned Uncle Dan stood up. Then the judge asks exactly who the complaint is against and Georgie and I stand up. I think it was one of the first times in my life I remember being truly proud I was African American and part of this crazy family. And you know how dark my dad is and Uncle Danny, well he was so swarthy he could pass for Middle Eastern. You should have seen it. Marnie and Lori, Lou, even Susan were there, and all stood up. It was like our own little United Nations. The judge scolded your grandfather’s lawyers for bringing a nuisance lawsuit into his court, and that was it.”
Incredible, it was absolutely incredible. She wouldn’t call it a coincidence—she didn’t believe in them—but she would now consider the connection between her family and this one. How incredibly different their upbringings must have been. “Thank you, Leslie, for telling me this story. I can’t tell you how proud I am to work here. I just hope my famil
y’s behavior both now and then won’t—”
“Nonsense,” Tyler interjected, while Leslie gave her another more cautious slap on the back. “There’s something you should know about working here. It’s an assurance I was given pretty much every day for my first six months. This company is family. I thought it meant a lot of people working here were related. I was wrong. When someone says we are family around here, they really mean we are all part of this extended amazing clan.”
“Tyler’s right,” Leslie added, “and don’t think you’re the only stray to be welcomed by our happy mash-up. I’m so sorry your family isn’t in a place where they should be, but you’ve got us now. We’re not perfect, but we take care of our own.”
“Besides,” Tyler joked, “now that we know you speak fluent Fener, you definitely have a place in the pack.”
Aydan wasn’t sure which lifted her more, their enthusiasm for including her or the simple relief at knowing they too knew what her family was all about and had stood up to them, never backing down.
Chapter Eight
When Aydan sat down at her desk the next day she still had a few good hours to work before Georgie’s morning seclusion ended. She wanted to get a jump on her drawing for the new space on the eighth floor. She was confident that contractor Fener had plenty to keep him busy for a week or two. She was determined to make sure she had a finalized plan by Monday. Georgie had wanted to spend a day out at the boatyard, but lucky for Aydan, Tyler had asked her to finalize the building updates here before addressing the needed changes out there. She had just finished adding the last of the change requirements into her project plan when she sensed more than felt a presence nearby. Looking up, she smiled to see Skip waiting patiently for her attention. He was such a strange young man and so different from her brothers.
“Hey, dude,” he said, “I heard you’re working on the floor drawings. Want me to show you how to put them up on the worktable? It’s cool if you don’t. I just thought it would be easier than trying to look them over on your laptop. Hey, is that a new phone? Look it’s the same model as mine!”
For the first time since starting at the company, she smiled at him. He was young and kind and trying so hard to make her feel included. It had taken awhile for her to understand him and understanding was turning slowly into trust. “Thanks, Skip. I know how to open a file on there, but I’m not sure how to make amendments. Will you show me that?”
You’d think she’d just named him Prince of all the World, the way he beamed at her response. “Okay, save your file to the Cloud, then we can open it over there. Oh, you can use a stylus if you like or the keyboard graphic. I just like to scribble on everything, but Georgie, she can really type, so she uses the keyboard GUI a lot.”
He spent the next hour helping her check the figures on each layout before leaving her alone to work on her ideas. Someone in the group had started calling it the R&D Lab and Skip had repeated it with glee. His enthusiasm really was a boon. That, and feeling like she was actually doing something, something that mattered and would have a long-term effect on the company and her coworkers. Getting this right wasn’t just about proving herself as an engineer or a project manager but returning the trust they had placed in her. Complete strangers were trusting her, housing and feeding her, and never once had they judged her.
The first few days staying with Georgie and Tyler had been nerve-wracking. She had managed the first evening with ease mostly because they had guests—well, a house full of women planning a wedding, a lesbian wedding no less! She had been mostly forgotten by everyone except Lori and Megan. They’d both lost interest in the planning session about two minutes in. Aydan was pretty sure Georgie’s eyes had glossed over early too, but it was her wedding and she was starting to understand that if it was important to Tyler, it was important to Georgie too. She admired that, admired her devotion to her woman and Tyler too, who oversaw every aspect of Georgie’s life. She didn’t understand it at first, even sneered to think Tyler would kowtow to someone like Georgie but she wasn’t a “someone like.” She was a real person with a disability. Maybe disability wasn’t the right word. She was certainly one of the most talented engineers she had met. And Georgie had given her a chance, a real chance to prove herself, not to mention given the kind of support her own family denied.
While the rest of the women were hammering out the guest list, Lori took her and Megan on a private tour of the entire ninth floor. Megan had been in Georgie and Tyler’s place many times but Henry’s only once, when she was invited for her first DiNamico New Year’s party, just weeks before Aydan started her internship. Making their way through Georgie and Tyler’s private space was less overwhelming for Aydan with both Lori and Megan along. Megan fawned over their antique bedroom furniture and they both listened intently as Lori told the story of Aunt Georgina and how she adored little Georgie. She glossed over the family tragedy of the older Georgina, focusing on the tale of little Georgie deciding at eight years old that it was her responsibility to take over her aunt’s job in the family company. For a moment, she recognized the common loss Lori had suffered and marveled at how she deflected her own pain. They all did it, Lori, Leslie, even Mrs. Pulaski. Telling stories about Georgie had become a way of coping for all of them. She could only imagine the trauma for the whole family of almost losing the woman. That sentiment hit her hard as Lori took them through the walk-in closet. She had never seen anything like it, not even in movies.
“I don’t know if you’ll be managing any of this. I know Tyler does it all now, but it is part of the assistant’s job.”
“What part, like laundry?” Megan asked. She had stopped in front of the section housing Georgie’s Air Force uniforms.
“No, no, cleaners are in here twice a week and they do that. It’s just making sure things get replaced when needed and her wardrobe gets a once-over every year. That’s always fun. This year Tyler and I went out to old Uncle John’s, he’s got a tailor shop in Williamsville. Anyway, between them, I think they have this covered.”
Megan was still drooling over the assorted uniforms when Lori opened a small drawer for her to take a peek.
“Oh man! Are these hers?”
“Of course,” Lori said, taking out the set of mounted ribbons and medals and handing them reverently to her.
She pulled out a few other items, and although she wasn’t sure what Aydan thought, she didn’t have to guess with Megan.
“Oh man! Are those her wings? Boss, those are master aviator wings! That star is for combat, isn’t it? What else does she have?”
Megan’s eyes almost bugged out when Lori showed her the second pair of silver wings.
“Holy cow, she has jump wings too! Oh man!”
“Who is this man you keep referring to?” Aydan asked unable to keep a straight face at Megan’s confused look.
“She got you there, kiddo.” Lori chimed in, enjoying this jesting Aydan. “Come on, Aydan, we’ll let Megs here do a little more drooling while I show you the laundry room. Meet you in Henry’s, okay? And make sure you put everything back just like the chart in the drawer. Understood?”
“Yes ma’am!” Megan offered with a grin. She had her phone out and was comparing Georgie’s fruit salad of medals to the USAF website’s description of awards. “I want to see what all of these are for.”
Lori led Aydan into what was once Georgie’s safe room. It still was, but here too Tyler’s touch was undeniable. She had added a treadmill and some free weights, making the hospital bed in the corner look less clinical. “When my cousin first came home she had bad PTSD plus every time she fell or even moved too quickly it affected her head injury. My dad and Uncle Danny both lived up here—I’ll show you their apartments in a minute—but basically they brought her home and added this funny little room. It used to be part of the foyer. Anyway, they took turns every night sitting watching over her. When we learned it was helping, we all took turns. After Uncle Dan died, we got the dog. That really helped too.”
&nb
sp; Shocked by the commitment it must have taken from the entire family to care for this one woman, while they also had their own families and work, she asked, “Does she still…”
“I don’t think so, at least not when Tyler’s here. I know you only know her like she is now but, well, we all just assumed she would take over one day. I don’t think any of us really took our work too seriously until they shipped her home from Afghanistan. The first year was hell on everyone, but we were all trying to pretend nothing had changed. Then my dad and Uncle Dan sat us all down for a family meeting. And when I say family I mean everyone, all the cousins, DiNamico and Phipps, even the second cousins, any and all family working for the company. We sat down in the boardroom and the old boys laid it all on the line. We could all step up or walk away, no questions asked. No more cruising and letting Georgie shoulder our future expectations. I think everyone was a little stunned at first, mostly because we were all being called out, but they were right. Back when she was chief operating officer, we had each made her life a living hell. She’s almost five years older than Marnie and me and we were spoiled brats, Lou and Leslie too. And we were all like, why me? I have to hand it to our dads, they stayed cool with us, but they made it clear we needed to shape up or ship out. ‘No hard feelings’ they said. Anyone who didn’t want to work for the company anymore didn’t have to. Then they started telling us these stories of all the times Georgie had bailed our asses out, literally and figuratively. Holy cow, those old guys knew every secret we had!
“They knew she had bailed me out for drinking under age, went to court with me and paid my fine. They knew about me getting in fights and her taking time to talk with me and get me to a counselor. They knew about Georgie pulling Marnie out of cars with bad boys, and they knew a million other things she had done to save our skins. By the time they were done, I don’t think there was a dry face in the place. They left us to talk without them. I remember us all hitting the wine a little hard, but that didn’t take away the sting. The truth was Georgie had been groomed for the top spot right from the start. Not because she was oldest or anything like that, it’s just that she had earned it. She had been working toward it from the time she was eight and decided she needed to get to work because old Aunt Georgina was gone. She worked harder than all of us put together and she took care of us in a million ways we didn’t even think about.”
Stay with Me Page 13