Chapter 18

RIVER

River wasn’t in the mood to have anyone telling him what he needed to do. He didn’t really care if Mariah was trying to be helpful or not. The truth of the matter was that River wasn’t going to do a single thing that would harm his son, and if that meant he suffered, then that’s what was going to happen.

He had spent a lot of his life with other people trying to tell him what was best and what wasn’t, but River hadn’t gotten to the place he was by listening to others. He knew it wouldn’t be a good idea to come out and say anything defensive or apologetic. Sooner or later, the truth was going to come out, and that was when River would be vindicated.

Mariah was too young to really understand the ways of the world. She didn’t realize how many consequences there were for every action you took. Of course, River knew that he hadn’t quite learned that lesson himself yet. His anger had been getting the best of him ever since his past had caught up with him. It was best if Mariah just stayed away from him; it would be easier for both of them if they just stayed away from each other.

Plus, he didn’t actually think his company was in danger. He had made a life for himself all while dating random women without anyone caring at all in the past. It was highly unlikely the people who bought things through his company were now going to care what River did in the privacy of his own home. River had faith in his customers and their ability to see the difference between rumors and reality.

In business, the key was not to panic. River had watched many of his fellow business professionals panic at the first sign of business going poorly. That panic would change how they did many things in their life. The sense of losing control could, in fact, perpetuate a company into actually losing control.

River was better than that. He knew how to ride the bad times out and get to the good times. He understood how the trends worked and how his customers worked as well. His new product line was a good one. It was something his customers had requested since they first started offering meals delivered to the home. River was confident that the press would die down, and his new product roll out would go off without a hitch.

As he pulled up to his office the next morning, things were calm as could be. After the conversations he had with April, River was prepared for a scene out of the movies with everyone running around in a panic. But it wasn’t anything like that when he arrived. Everyone was working at their desks like normal; there wasn’t any panic going on at all. It was simply a normal day at the office.

River loved walking into his office building and taking the elevator to the top floor. It was more than just the idea that he had built everything up from scratch. There was a prestige in having an office that could overlook the city. It was a feeling River wasn’t going to easily give up just because of some rumors about his personal life.

“We should talk,” April said when she saw River enter the sitting area near his office.

“Sure, what’s up?”

River was trying to keep his cool about everything. If he kept his cool, then everyone around him worried much less. Over the years, he had learned even when things weren’t going his way, that keeping that information to himself was much more productive than sharing the panic with his co-workers. The only two people that he trusted with the real truth of a situation were April and Edward. They understood River the best, and they were able to help him have more insight into every situation.

“Several of the board members are in your office,” April said calmly. “Edward is in talking with them and trying to calm them down.”

River felt his blood start to boil at the mention of anyone having a meeting without him. But it was even worse that they were doing it in his office. River had to wonder how much his office had been used by his employees during the two months that he was away. Had they just decided to take it over as their own? Did they actually think that it was alright to have a meeting without him when they knew he was coming to work that day?

“Calm them down? What on earth do they have to be angry about,” River said as he quickly lost control over his ability to remain calm.

He burst through the doors to his office and walked straight up to the head of his conference table. George, his trusted friend and lead board member, was sitting at the head of the table. He appeared to be in control of some sort of meeting they were having, but George quickly got up and moved the second he saw River storm through the door.

“Sorry,” George said as he found a new seat.

“What is it? Are you all seriously this freaked out over a little fist fight?”

“It was more than just a drunken brawl or a regular fist fight. You punched the governor, River. This is a family friendly business,” George spoke up. “You can’t just go around punching a public figure like that and assume everything is going to be just fine.”

Everyone else at the conference table was mute and obviously afraid to confront River on what was going on. They all looked to George to take on the fury of River. But some of them also looked at Edward.

River watched Edward as he tried to look away from him. There was obviously some sort of tension going on in that room, and Edward didn’t seem to be standing up for River at all. The more River looked at him, the more Edward looked away.

“He deserved it.”

“River, whether you think he deserved it or not, the governor isn’t the kind of person you should be confronting with your anger. You certainly shouldn’t be punching him on live television.”

“And there is the rape charge,” said Beth from the far end of the table.

“Rape charge? Excuse me, Beth! Excuse me! Unless I’m mistaken, I would have to actually have a criminal charge against me before this board could even consider removing me. I absolutely am not being charged with rape!”

“You were charged with assault,” George said calmly.

River felt his blood practically boiling over with rage as they talked. His own board of directors was trying to get him pushed out of his own company. Sure, they would deny that that was what they were doing. But it was clear as day to River. He couldn’t trust a single one of them. He probably couldn’t even trust Edward.

“Oh, God. Are you seriously considering removing me from my own company over a simple assault charge? You wouldn’t dare!”

“Let’s all calm down here,” Edward said as he tried to intervene. “I think we all want what is best for the company, and no one really thinks that getting rid of River is a good idea. Do you?” Edward looked sternly at George.

George sat quietly for a moment as he looked around the table. It wasn’t really clear what George and the members wanted. But River could tell that they were all scared, which was what they should have come to him with instead of this backstabbing talk of taking him out of his own company. It was normal to feel nervous when there was a dip in sales. That nervousness was what drove a company to reevaluate its business and try to make things better.

“I’m done here. I have a company to run. How about you wait until the company is actually in danger of failing before you all freak out and show your faces here again!” River yelled at them.

The board members gathered their things and made their way out of the office. It was clear to them that River wasn’t going to be someone who could look at things reasonably. If they decided to take him out of control of his company, it wasn’t going to go over nicely. The board really had to think about what they wanted and what results would come from removing River if any.

The public would always associate River Anders with his company. It wasn’t likely that removing him was going to make very much difference when it came to the bottom line. George knew that River was the best one to run the company, but only when River was running things with a clear head. It was obvious that River didn’t currently have a very clear head for running his company.

“You let them in my office?” River said angrily to Edward.

“We had to talk with them. It was better to get it out of the way first thing.”

River stewed in his anger as he sat behind his desk and tried to figure out what to do next. He didn’t want his company to go under any more than anyone else did. It was River’s vision and hard work that had made the company what it was; he wasn’t going to let everything just slip away.

“I need a drink,” River said as he pulled an old bottle of Scotch out of the cabinet behind his desk. “Do you want one?”

“It’s nine o’clock in the morning.”

Edward’s judgmental look at River certainly didn’t help him calm down at all. River had never felt like so many people were against him before. Why couldn’t anyone see that this was all not a big deal? It would die down. Business would get back to normal. There wasn’t a need to freak out and change everything; they simply had to make some small tweaks to get things running smoothly again.

“Is that a no?”

“River, we need to make a plan. If you could make a public statement about the allegations being false, that would really be helpful.”

“Have you been talking to Mariah?” River said as he sipped on his Scotch. “I don’t need you or anyone else telling me what is best for me. I know the deal here, Edward. I know what is going on. I’m just the latest story trend. It will go away soon.”

“No, I haven’t been talking to Mariah much, but if she made the same suggestion, that’s even more of a reason you should do it. You hired Public Waves to help you manage this crisis; let them actually manage it. Do what they are telling you to do.”

“Edward, we are friends, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then listen to me when I say this. I will not apologize for anything. I will not make a public statement. I will not put my son’s privacy in danger. This is my company. This is my life. I will not be bullied by you or Mariah or anyone else. I have made up my mind!”

Edward sat down somberly across from River as he tried to think of a plan that might work. It was clear that nothing they said to River was going to make him want to talk to the press. They were going to have to figure out a different way of attacking their problem.

River poured himself a second drink and quickly took in the alcohol. He wasn’t normally the kind of guy that drank while at work, but River couldn’t get himself calmed down. His life was spinning out of control, and it didn’t seem like there was anything he could do to gain the control back. River wasn’t used to living life without firmly being in control.

“I’m going to let you go for now. Let’s try to think of something that will help. OK?” Edward said as he watched his friend close to self-destruction.

Edward just looked at River and waited for him to respond. When it was clear that River didn’t intend to answer his friend, Edward made his way out to the reception area to discuss things with April. They couldn’t let River self-destruct over this. There had to be a better way of addressing the rumors than to bring Jackson into the public eye.

“Keep an eye on him. He’s a wreck,” Edward said.

“I heard. I talked with Mariah, and she said he was pretty angry yesterday. Perhaps it’s just the change from being in jail?” April offered. “Maybe we just need to give him some space?”

“I don’t know what is going on. I haven’t seen him this angry for a really long time. He was drinking Scotch already this morning. I don’t have time to deal with him. I’m going to try and mend this deal with Wholesome Foods. They wanted to talk to River, but that’s probably not the best idea. I’m going to fly out there and meet with them and see if I can calm their nerves.”

“They want to hear that River is sorry for punching the governor. I don’t think he’s sorry.”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m fine with lying to them. He’s sorry. He’s terribly sorry. Now let’s finish this deal,” Edward said as he laughed.

“I’ll let you know how things go here on the home front. Good luck!”

River felt like his heart was beating out of his chest. Nothing seemed to be working out as smoothly as he had pictured it while he was in jail. He held his ear up to the door and listened while Edward and April talked about him like he was a teenager, and they were trying to keep him from ruining his own company.

He hated the feeling of losing his company, but he was confident it wasn’t going to happen. Unfortunately, the more he thought about the bad press he was getting, the more River felt hopeless. If he didn’t come out and publicly deny the claims that he had taken advantage of Kimberly, then people were going to keep believing that it was the truth. He hated that Kimberly wouldn’t come out on her own and admit that the story wasn’t totally truthful. Certainly, she had to feel bad that River was left to defend himself. But the more River drank, and the more he thought about everything, the less he felt like he understood.

His anger was getting out of control as the morning pushed on, and the final straw came when he yelled at April and threw his pen at her. Never in all the years they had worked together had River ever screamed at April like that. It scared her, but it scared River as well. It was a big red flag to him, and he had to get out of the office.

Dealing with as much stress as he had been dealing with was exhausting. He hadn’t expected things to be so hard on him. River had made so many plans for when he got out so he could really build his company up. But everyone around him seemed to think he was on the wrong path.

He gathered his things and stormed out of the office. Soon, he found himself sitting at the bar of a local dive and drinking his sorrows away. He couldn’t even stand to go visit with Jackson, even though it was his first day back from jail, and he had promised Kimberly he would go. Jackson didn’t need to see River in such a crappy mood. Jackson didn’t deserve to have a father that acted like River did, so River decided he just couldn’t go and visit.

The day quickly turned to night, and when River woke up the next morning, he couldn’t stand the thought of going back into work and dealing with Edward and April again; so he didn’t. Instead, he flew out to Atlanta and let his favorite driver take him back to the dance club that he frequented when he was there on business.

The Black Kitty Lounge was just one of those places that River could behave badly, and it didn’t matter at all. The women loved him, and they loved to give him attention. All he had to do was walk in the door and the dancers were excited to see him and quickly lined up for the chance to dance for him. There was a simplicity in their interactions, and River needed that in his life at that moment. He couldn’t deal with the complexities of his real life for another second.

But as River walked through the doors, he didn’t feel the same as he normally did. His attitude was down, and his confidence didn’t radiate like the women were used to seeing. As he made his way to his normal table, one of the girls who served drinks was there waiting for him. Instead of feeling relieved and relaxed while he sat down at the club, River felt horrible. He couldn’t get his problems off of his mind, and he feared there wasn’t going to be a way out of it all.

“You look sad,” she said as she cleared the table. “What can I get for you?”

“A pitcher, and see if Renee is working, I’d like to see her in the back room,” River said.

“She’s here. I’ll get her.”

River felt sick to his stomach as he waited to see Renee. She was the woman who always loved to give him some extra attention when he came to visit. He had come all the way back to Atlanta thinking that he would feel better as soon as she wrapped her lips around him. But as he sat there, all River could think about was Mariah. She had called him at least a dozen times in the last 48 hours, and River hadn’t returned any of the calls. He felt like shit.

“Hey baby, want to go to the back room?” Renee said as she sat next to River.

“Actually, I think I’m going to pass today,” River said as he handed her a couple hundred dollar bills. “It was good seeing you, though.”

River wasn’t in the mood, and he got up to leave the club. It had been a mistake to show up there. He shouldn’t have come. Nothing was going to make him feel better until he dealt with everything that was going on. And he certainly couldn’t let Renee wrap her lips around him when he couldn’t get Mariah out of his mind.

“Hey, watch where you are going,” a large man said to River as he accidently ran into him.

“Sorry man,” River said without looking up.

“You think you’re better than me? You think you can take all the women from me. I paid Renee good money, and the second you show up, she runs over to you.”

“Fuck you!” River said as he looked up at the guy.

“Oh, yeah?” The man said as he swung at River and connected right to his eye.