AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My eyes, which had been glued to Nicole, searching for an emotion other than disdain, returned to the older man. “That’s right. We think combining the two would yield efficiencies.”
“Please have a seat, Josh,” Ernst offered.
Nicole pushed past me. “I’ve got things to do.”
“Nicole, you should stay for this,” Ernst said.
The door shut behind her without a reply.
Ernst shrugged with a look as perplexed as I felt. “I should explain, I guess.”
“Yes.” I took the closer, still-warm seat Nicole had occupied.
“Forgive her. She’s upset. I wasn’t able to reach her to tell her what was happening until just now—something about her phone.”
Her dead phone from Barbados lay on the desk. “I see.” He didn’t need to know my part in that.
The desk and the office were oddly devoid of anything personal. Nothing on the walls, none of the usual family pictures on the desk or credenza behind him. The office was beyond stark, almost like he’d just moved into a rental.
“Anyway, as you might imagine, she’s quite attached to the business, and this is a terrible shock for her. Her grandfather started with a single store, and she’s the third generation working at Rossi’s. We’d hoped she’d be able to take over one day and pass it on to the next generation.”
I glanced at a few questions I’d written down. “How many other family members are with the company?” This could be a tricky transition if they were inserted at all levels in all departments and had the same reaction as she’d just had.
“Currently, she’s the only Rossi here, my brother-in-law’s only child. I married into the family, and I’m the only other relative here. My wife, her aunt, was never interested in the business, and her father didn’t have any other siblings, so when the time came, I took over, and it’s just me and her now.”
“How long ago did you take over from her father?”
His eyes cast down for a moment. “Uh… I’ve been in charge for the last six years.”
I studied him a moment. “You said your niece is upset about the sale, yet she signed off on it?”
“No. That’s probably the root of the problem—that and the shock of it all. Her shares are in trust until her thirtieth birthday. Her aunt and I are the trustees, and we signed the papers for her share of the company. I wanted to discuss it with her but…” He pointed at the phone. “Well, circumstances prevented that, and so here we are. It couldn’t be helped.”
He’d been put in a hard spot by Nicole’s phone disaster, but if it were me, I would have found a way to contact her. A lack of communication like that wouldn’t have happened in my family. This guy had the follow through of a banana slug.
I’d had a few minutes with Harold before coming over, and he’d filled me in on their unusual need to close over the weekend. Their bank had canceled all their credit and called all the loans, so they wouldn’t have been able to make this week’s payroll. They were completely over a barrel.
“I’ll be out of your way this afternoon, and you can use this office,” he said.
His eagerness to leave was unusual. “Since we haven’t had a chance to come in and learn about your operations, I’m going to need some time with you to learn about the company—your direct reports, daily operational kinds of things.”
He sighed. “You don’t need me for that. I’ve only ever been a figurehead here. Nicole is the real brains of the operation.”
Add eager to leave to his odd characteristics.
With a Stanford MBA, I didn’t doubt Nicole was brainy, but I still felt he was probably selling himself short. “You are the CEO, are you not?”
“In title yes, but Nicole is the COO, and she handles pretty much everything around here. She’ll probably tell you I spend too much time playing golf and not enough paying attention to the business.” He checked his watch. “I’ll leave you in her capable hands.” He stood.
I’d never run into a more disinterested CEO, at a family business or otherwise. If the rest of the senior staff was like him, no wonder they’d gotten into trouble. I picked up the pad I’d written nothing on, and rose.
He came around the desk to shake again. “I wish you and your father the best of luck. I’m sure Rossi’s is in good hands with you two running it going forward.”
His desire to wash his hands of what was about to happen couldn’t have been clearer. He went back behind his desk and picked up a box. He’d already packed his personal shit, and he really did mean to leave right fucking now and not come back.
“I need some time with you before you go,” I said.
“Nicole, and Stephanie Quantell, are the two you need to talk to.” He carried the box to the door, balanced it on his knee, and pulled open the door.
