Vanessa placed the contract in front of Blake, while the representatives of Blue Silver Consulting looked on.
He picked a pen from his pen holder and appended his signature on the six copies of the contract as the lawyers from Blue Silver Consulting had done.
That was one of his efforts to make the public know that Carter Incorporation was back on its own.
He looked up and gave the two gentlemen sitting across from him a professional smile.
“Thank you Mr. Carter,” the lawyer said, opening his briefcase. He dropped three copies of the contract Venessa had handed over to him in it and stood up. His partner stood up too.
“It’s nice doing business with you, Mr. Carter.” The man extended his hand.
“Yeah, the pleasure is all mine.” Blake stood up and shook the men’s hands. “Venessa here will see you out.”
Vanessa led the men out of Blake’s office.
Blake leaned back in his seat, a huge smile spreading across his face. He was so sure that his father would be happy with the business decisions he was making already.
His father had been moving to the background little by little since Carter Incorporation came back to existence. He was still the president and chairman, but Blake was the new acting Managing Director and the one making most of the decisions now.
Blake had always known he would take over from his father sooner than he thought. He knew the board would not hesitate to ratify him as the MD at the upcoming board of directors’ meeting.
He and his elder sister, Jolie, had been involved in the business since they were kids. The two of them started working on Friday evenings when they were in junior high. They would staple sheets of papers together under their father’s secretary’s close supervision. They would file away folders and do little things around. And as they grew, their responsibilities increased, so also was their paycheck.
There was a knock on the door. He darted his eyes to the closed door, and it opened. Venessa walked in with some files in her hands.
“These are the folders you asked for.” She placed the folders in front of him. “Will you want me to do anything else for you?”
“Thank you,” he looked at the folders in front of him. “That will be all for now.”
She nodded and left him.
He remembered the call he wanted to make to his cousin, Ethan, who just returned to town to take over his mother’s laundry and cleaning business. ‘Absolute Cleaners’ used to the among the best of the best in New York city. But age was telling on Ethan’s mom and she was becoming incapacitated every day. She had been begging Ethan to resign from his bank job and come back home for over three years. Thankfully, he had seen reasons for the move and returned two weeks ago.
He picked up his cell phone and dialed Ethan’s number. He answered on the third dial.
“Hey man,” Ethan greeted from the other end. “Good afternoon.”
“Hey, afternoon,” Blake greeted back. “How is it going?”
“Not so good,” Ethan said in a low voice. “I can’t believe the rot I found here.”
“You don’t mean it?” Blake exclaimed.
“It’s so terrible,” Ethan lamented. “The accounts of all the four branches are in shambles. “Mom’s staff had really taken advantage of her.”
“Oh no,” Blake said. “I thought Eric was helping her to take care of the business.” Eric was Absolute Cleaning’s general manager.
“Eric?” Ethan laughed mirthlessly. “From the look of things, he’s the major culprit here.”
“That’s so bad,” Blake pushed forward in his seat. “So, what are you going to do now?”
“He’s surely going to pay,” Ethan said angrily. “You can’t steal from the Coopers. I am just gathering evidence before I strike.”
“That’s better,” Blake agreed. “If you need any help, you just holla.”
“On that note,” Ethan’s voice mellowed a bit. “I will need your help to get a wife.”
“A wife?” He burst into a belly laugh. “You are not serious.”
“I’m dead serious, my brother,” he started laughing too. “You need to see how my mom is hounding me to get a wife and give her grandchildren before she dies.”
“I think you need to do that,” Blake chuckled. “Do you want to die like an old bachelor? You have to take her seriously.”
“I don’t want to have anything to do with marriage. Can’t you people see things my way?”
“No no no, buddy, don’t think like that,” Blake retorted. “Get married or at least have a kid or two.”
“I will think about it,” Ethan soft pedaled. “Can we have lunch or dinner together before the week runs out? I have one or two things I would like to discuss with you.”
“It’s fine.” Blake cleared his throat. “I will check my schedule and let you know which day I will be available.”
“Okay then,” he replied. “Thanks so much for your call. I really appreciate.”
“It’s nothing,” Blake replied. “Later.”
“Later, bro,” Ethan said and disconnected the line.
**********
”Only last night I had a dream, something good is gonna happen to me…” Tasha sang one of her favorite songs as she cleaned up the kitchen that night. Tyson was sitting at the kitchen table, busy with his computer game. Her eyes darted to the clock and realized that it was a little past Tyson’s bed time.
“Hey sunshine, time for bed,” she rinsed her hands under the water at the sink. “Can you put your tablet away?”
“Is daddy not coming tonight?”
The little boy had been addressing Grant as daddy since Grant proposed to Tasha a day after the three of them returned to Berkeley.
It was a very sentimental night for Tasha, she wasn’t expecting it that night at all. And Tyson was over the moon, he was so happy to witness the proposal. He was even the first to shout yes, yes before his mom could find her voice.
“Yes, he’s coming,” she stopped the tap and picked the kitchen towel to dry her hands. “But he’s at a client’s birthday party now at Lush Gardens.”
“I will wait for him,” he said without taking his eyes off his tablet screen.
“No, you can’t wait for him,” his mom said, knowing he just wanted to keep playing his game. “He’ll come home late, you can’t wait for him.
“Mummie,” he made his usual puppy face.
“Upstairs now, little man,” his mom refused to fall for his antics. “You have school tomorrow.”
He dropped his tablet and went upstairs grudgingly.