Back To The Grind

I was finally allowed to return to work as soon as I felt okay, which was the next day. It seemed like my personal life was more eventful than my work life. I didn't even have a chance to work a shift at Lombardi's.

"Mr. Azure! You're back!" The secretaries gathered around me hurriedly as I stopped into the office.

"Are you feeling okay?"

"Why did you come to work like this?"

"Are you feeling better?"

"Your poor face, look at you!"

"Let me recommend a good spa for you!"

"Do you need any help, sir?"

"I'm alright, ladies. You guys must've had a hard time without me here," I said.

"Mr. Chambers had a harder time than us," the youngest secretary took my coat for me, being mindful of my arm in a sling. "It's good to have you back, sir."

"I'll send him a consolation present. Let me go buy you guys some coffee to say thank you," I smiled at them.

But they bombarded me with their own concerns.

"You don't have to, sir!"

"How can we ask you to do anything right now?"

"You really should heal up first!"

"You should really sit and just relax today!"

"You're too injured to do that!"

"Ladies! It's alright. I should treat you all for keeping things going," I sighed. Before I could get to my desk, Jasper appeared in front of me with a smile.

"I want a treat too," he said happily. Not falling for the act, I turned around and walked straight for the doors.

"Wait, Sugar, ah, Mr. Azure, what about me?"

"Ask Mr. Chambers to get it for you," I insisted.

"No, I want you to get it for me!" Jasper whined. Is this guy really thirty? Sam's kid was way more mature than Jasper. Embarrassing.

"Treat me too!"

"Stop running in the hall!" I snapped, pressing the elevator button. Once we got into the elevator, we made our way down to the quaint little cafe in the lobby. It was a unique place, one that only those with a high stable salary could afford to eat breakfast at every day. Personally, I thought I could get the same quality of everything here at a Starbucks, but everyone in the office seemed to love it.

"I want to try that pumpkin spice thing," Jasper said.

"Don't pick something you aren't going to drink. It's full of sugar," I told him.

"Then I want a vanilla latte," he said.

"Buy it yourself," I muttered.

"And some chocolate," Jasper added.

"I left my wallet at home."

Jasper turned to the cashier, "Alex likes to walk around command—"

I covered his mouth quickly with my good hand, amused by his tactic in front of the cashier lady. The asshole! "Okay! You're crazy! I'll buy it for you!" I could feel my face heating up. "Ms. Cashier, please give me some assorted chocolates and enough pastries and coffee for the entire secretary department. Have someone bring it up for me too."

"Ha, from now on, whenever you get something for the secretaries, get me something too," Jasper smiled at me.

"Fuck, why?"

"I'm your best secretary and I love you the most," Jasper pouted.

What a baby! "Very well, shut your mouth now."

I wanted to go crawl under my desk, but there were too many dirty memories there for me to truly escape embarrassment. Jasper would probably take it as an invitation anyway.

"Did you just take a picture of us?" Jasper asked the girl behind the cashier.

She immediately looked scared. "I... I just... wanted to share it with my friends. It's only a photo, I can delete it if you want."

"A simple picture won't do any harm," I sighed. Was she part of that stupid fan club too? Fuck, how many of them were inside the house?

"Can I really keep it?" She squealed. "Even though your face is..."

"Yeah, whatever, just deliver the stuff like I told you," I said as the cashier handed Jasper his vanilla latte and a box of assorted chocolates.

"Have a nice day, Mr. Azure," the cashier smiled as Jasper and I exited the cafe. Was the cashier in the fan club as well? Should I have everyone in that club fired?

"This is why I don't like them," Jasper muttered. "They're all creeps."

"Not much different from what you did," I commented.

"That's different, we love each other," he said as we walked back into the office.

"Mr. Azure! Your father is waiting for you on line one and Mr. Jameson is in your office!" One secretary informed me.

Jasper's face scrunched up as he headed for my office with me close behind. Once I sat down, I pressed line one and put Mr. Azure on speaker so he could listen in before turning my attention to Jared, who looked distracted in front of me.

"Hello, Jared, what brings you here today?" I asked.

"Just... well, how are you doing?" Jared asked nervously. "Hopefully that bastard will get what's coming to him for hurting our great boss!"

"Jared, what's on your mind?" I asked.

The implication of his duplicitous nature wasn't wrong. He had to be kissing ass like this for a good reason. "I'm a bit worried."

I knew it. "Is that about your start-up? Your investors are lined up and you'll go public soon. All that's left to do is watch the money roll in."

Jared flinched a bit. "That's what I'm worried about!"

"You should be celebrating! What's there to be worried about?" I asked.

"My company has yet to record profits. We want to monetize our services," he said.

"Going public without the profit to show is normal," Mr. Chambers interjected.

"But my company is different! I can guarantee we'll survive the initial peak period, that's why I want to wait a bit longer but the investors are trying to force me to do it earlier," Jared hissed.

"Didn't you do the start-up with two other people from college? Aren't they major shareholders as well?" I asked.

"I have 25% and the other two already exited. They sold off their shares."

"Then convince the investors to give you more time!" I snapped.

"They'll push for October at the latest," Jared said. "This isn't normal! I'm the owner and I'm saying it isn't ready yet!"

"It's commonplace. Tech is all the rage, so they don't want to miss the chance with such a hot market. With you, they'd make ten times their investment, nobody cares about the future of a startup." I told him. "There's too much risk to waiting."

"They're threatening me. They've all been influenced by my shitty brother! They keep saying they'll take me for all I've got if I keep denying them and threatening to send me to jail if they find any dirt!" Jared put his head in his hands.

"Is there anything there?" I asked.

"Things can be created! Even I can make a realistic deep fake in an hour these days!" Jared said.

"If it's someone who's threatening a CEO, it means the funds were all short-term capital. In other words, someone's waiting to manipulate stocks as soon as you go public," that seemed like a lot to deal with and I didn't particularly want to. "You should accept it and invite talented people to join you so it can be a legit company, it's not like you're selling a fake product after all."

"There's something he's not telling you," Jasper observed, making Jared turn a bit red. "Why not just spit it out?"

"Can you invest?" He mumbled.

"Me?"

"I'll take anything! If you were to become a majority shareholder, what bastard would dare challenge this? I'll make sure you won't lose a dime!" Jared pleaded. "I'll even give Jasper half of my shares so this can be delayed to when the time is right! I can't fail again!"

But doesn't it already seem too late for him? October will be here in ten days. "I need to consult my dad about this first. I'll get back to you soon."

"Thanks for thinking about it! It means so much!" Jared looked like he was about to cry. Before he could, he raced from my office, slamming the door behind him.

""So, are you going to save him or not?"" Mr. Azure's voice sounded from the speaker, catching Jasper off guard.

"I don't know if I want to yet. I mean, although it's a small investment, the quality of work is great. If they manipulate the stocks, I can just pull out." I thought about it.

""How is it you always choose to shake things up?"" Mr. Azure asked.

"Well, looking at this pump and dump, it's like playing poker while looking at your opponent's cards." I smiled, thinking of the profit.

"Wait, are you only thinking about the money? You don't care about what happens to Jared?" Jasper asked.

"There's no way to help him at all anyway, so why not make some money?" I shrugged. Jasper had to learn about being a true trader. There's no peak for a pro. No matter how high you climb up, you end up looking even higher.

""Whatever you want, Alexander. You know what's good for you," Mr. Azure said. "Good to see your business acumen hasn't been affected.""

"Well, it's part of my instincts," I bragged. "Just don't get in the way."

""I'm sure even if I tried to stop you, you'd do it anyway,"" Mr. Azure said. ""Well, that ends my checking up on you.""

Mr. Azure gave me an update on my dad and that he had arrived in prison. ""You're free to do what you want to him now,"" he added.

"What made you change your mind?" I asked.

""I've read the police statement, and I must say, I'm utterly appalled by the behavior of that man you call a father,"" Mr. Azure began, his voice dripping with disdain. ""The audacity of him to think he could even come close to matching you, Alexander, is laughable. He's nothing but a low-class thug, trying to punch above his weight.""

I leaned back in my chair, a small smile playing on my lips. "He's always been that way, hasn't he? Thinking he's more than he is."

""Indeed,"" Mr. Azure continued, not holding back. ""This man, who dares to raise a hand against my son-in-law, has shown nothing but contempt for you your entire life. It's clear he's threatened by your success, your intelligence, your very existence. How pathetic must he feel, knowing that he'll never be anything more than a footnote in your story?""

"I suppose it's hard for him to accept that I've surpassed him in every way," I replied, the satisfaction evident in my tone.

""Surpassed him?"" Mr. Azure scoffed. ""You've left him in the dust. The man couldn't run a business if his life depended on it. It's no wonder your grandfather left him nothing in his will. Your father's incompetence is legendary. The Todd name was nearly dragged through the mud because of him. If it weren't for you, there wouldn't be a Todd Corporation to speak of.""

I nodded, appreciating the validation. "He's always been a liability."

Mr. Azure's voice took on a deadly seriousness. ""Your father is a coward, Alexander. A coward who can't face the reality that he failed as a businessman, a father, and a man. His attempts to shift the blame onto you are nothing more than the desperate flailings of a man who knows he's lost. But remember, don't let your guard down. These types of people, they don't give up easily. They're like cockroaches. They'll try to crawl back into your life, into your business. Don't let them. Crush them completely.""

I nodded, my resolve hardening. "I'll make sure of it. Thank you for the update."

""Anytime, Alexander,"" Mr. Azure said. ""And remember, don't do anything that can be traced back to you.""

With that, the call ended, leaving me with a renewed sense of purpose. The path was clear, and I knew exactly what I had to do next.