Chapter Twenty-One
Declan
After calling to apologize to Teddy, he had accepted my invitation to come meet and try to resolve our issues. We were either going to dissolve everything or move forward with our current projects, but at least he had agreed to meet in person so we could try and work things out.
It had been two weeks since our phone call and truce, and he was finally set to come to my office with his lawyers for our meeting. Teddy hadn’t told me at all if he was considering backing off the plan to break up our projects we had together. But I considered it progress that he was at least willing to sit down in a meeting and talk about the pros and cons of our decisions.
“Your meeting with Theodore Shields will be at 10 o’clock. Your lawyers said they are running late and won’t be able to meet with you before the meeting,” Belinda, my new assistant, said.
“Thank you.”
“You do have three other meetings today, and an assessor is calling for the new project you were looking at in downtown Los Angeles,” Belinda continued on. “You’ll need to meet with them by 2 o’clock and then sign papers downtown. Then get back here for the rest of your meetings.”
She was talking so fast that I could hardly keep everything straight. I could only take one meeting at a time and zoned out as she listed off everything else I needed to do with my day.
“Is it all in my schedule?” I asked.
“Yes, and I have reminders to pop up on your phone and help you stay on track with the whole day. If you have any questions, please ask instead of just deleting it like you did last time.”
“Sorry,” I said as in winced at the reminder. “I really didn’t even know what I was deleting.”
“It’s fine. We are getting on a good schedule here. I’m sure we will have all our kinks worked out in no time.”
She had actually worked out to be really effective, which had surprised me. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the reasons I couldn’t keep an assistant in the past were probably more about me than they were about the qualifications of the assistants. I was lucky that Margery had been able to put up with me for as long as she had.
“Do you think you’ll be able to mend things with Mr. Shields?” Belinda asked. “I’ve heard the two of you were really close friends before.”
“I hope so. I told him on the phone that I wanted to talk about mending things instead of dissolving our assets. He was still willing to show up, so if I can behave myself, I think we will be able to resolve everything.”
“Behave yourself?” Belinda laughed. “I don’t know you very well, but I’ve never seen you not being respectful.”
She was laughing because she had only known me as a polite boss who treated her with respect and was kind to her. She had no idea of the stupid things I had done or said to people in the past. Even though my employees would generally say I was a good boss, I certainly had the ability to fly off the handle when things got difficult.
“Yes, I will need to be on my best behavior to make this all come together.”
“I’m sure it will be fine.”
“Hopefully you are right.”
When people started to arrive for the meeting, my hands started to shake in anticipation. Meetings were what I was good at and I normally wasn’t nervous at all. But this meeting was much different. I needed to sell Teddy on the idea of us continuing to work together, and if he asked about Emmi, I was going to have to lie and say nothing was going on. Well, technically that wasn’t a lie at all. Emmi had said goodbye to me in the bathroom of my office and I hadn’t heard from her since, but I still had feelings for her.
I loved Emmi, and there was no denying it. If I could have professed my love in that meeting and still continued to have a business relationship with Teddy, I would have done it, but I couldn’t do that. I had to keep my feelings about Emmi to myself and do my best to suck up and make Teddy understand that us working together was the best possible solution.
I waited until everyone had been walked to the conference room, and then took a moment to gather my nerves. I breathed in slowly and then let it out. Again and again, I took in deep breaths in an effort to calm my nerves before going into the meeting. This was it. I’d waited two weeks to have my chance to talk with Teddy, and now here it was. I wasn’t about to ruin it.
Slowly, I walked to the conference room, and as I opened the door, I made eye contact with Teddy. He flashed me a smile and then got up and came over to shake my hand. I hadn’t expected him to be welcoming to me at all. I wasn’t sure what exactly I had expected, but his smile and move to shake my hand was really confusing to me.
“I appreciate your apology, son, and I think we can make this meeting about moving forward and not about dissolving our relationship.”
“Really?” I said excitedly as I continued to shake his hand. “I’m so sorry for lying to you Teddy. I just—”
“Let’s leave that all behind us. I know you two didn’t have feelings for each other and it was just a young, stupid week together. I’m moving past it, and so is Emmi. I think we can all chalk it up to you two being trapped together in that snowstorm.”
The way he was putting it made our relationship seem like some cheap fling. That wasn’t at all what I remembered about Emmi. I thought of our time together as one of the happiest weeks I’d ever had. It was the first time I’d opened up with a girl in a very long time. She’d filled my heart until I thought it might actually burst. I loved her, but I couldn’t say it now.
“Thank you, Teddy.”
“Now, why don’t you show me what your plans are to keep the costs down on this project? I certainly didn’t like the first set of numbers I saw from Rosa and her team.”
“Yes, okay. Rosa, can you go grab your mock-ups of the new project?”
“I’ve got them here,” she said as she started to hand them around. “This new project is going to use the same walls and setup as the current building. I’ve verified that we can add basement supports to meet the new codes as long as we aren’t actually tearing down any walls. As you will see, the new designs are modern and edgy, right where the market is right now,” Rosa continued on as she told the group about the new designs.
I got lost in my thoughts as she talked. It was eating me alive that Teddy actually thought I would have broken my promise to him over a meaningless fling with his daughter. Sure, I had to agree that it was something like that so he wouldn’t be angry, but I just couldn’t get the idea to settle for me.
My thoughts raced, and I wasn’t paying attention at all as I tried to figure out how I could come to terms with what I was doing. Basically, I was giving up my chance at lifelong happiness because of a business deal. It was ridiculous. I didn’t want Teddy to go broke any more than he wanted me to, but why did my happiness have to be part of the deal?
“If you’ll look at the portfolio I have in front of you, you’ll see some of the new colors and features we are looking at,” Rosa continued on.
“Declan, this is some good work. I like how innovative you and your team were to switch ideas when the original cost was escalating,” Teddy said.
“Actually it was…” I was going to tell him Emmi had done a lot of the work, but then changed my mind. “Thank you,” I finally said.
“Do you think we could make a chain of hotels specific with these designs and this fun feeling?” One of the marketing guys asked.
There were nearly a dozen people in the room. Some of them were employed by me and some by Teddy. I’d expected a meeting full of lawyers and a lot of arguing about the details of breaking up our companies, but instead, Teddy seemed to have brought his team for development.
“I’m not sure, I guess we could,” I said, a little caught off guard. “I’ll need to grab the rest of my team so they could join us and discuss the details.”
“Bring them in. We are doing this. I love this idea,” Teddy said boisterously.
Teddy seemed like he was his old self again. He reminded me of how fun it was to work with him on the first few projects we had done together. I’d wanted to keep working with him because of his positive attitude, and now there he was sitting in my conference room, that same easygoing guy.
“Um, okay, so we are good, Teddy? Things are back to normal?” I asked just to make sure I wasn’t totally dreaming.
Teddy had been so angry with me. I couldn’t fathom that he had changed his mind and decided to give this all a shot again. Even thought I had apologized, I didn’t think it was going to work at all. I still expected to have to grovel and try to sell him on the positive points of us working together. But he seemed sold on the idea already. He was clearly in a good mood and was ready to move forward with our projects like nothing had ever happened between us.
“Yes, like I said, Emmi explained everything to me. I know how you young people can be, and she assured me the two of you aren’t going to be seeing any more of each other. She’s landed a job at Allen and Huff Law, and it’s a great fit for her. I think everything is turning out the way it is supposed to. Why don’t you go grab the rest of your team, and I’ll have Rosa continue to tell us about these designs.”
I stood up and looked over the room for a minute as I tried to figure out who else needed to be at the meeting. My brain wasn’t working, though. It was a jumbled mess of thoughts and feelings, and I could hardly remember if I was breathing as I walked out of the meeting and tried to pull myself together.
Never seeing Emmi again wasn’t what I wanted. I already was lost and missing her after only two weeks apart. I’d really hoped that we would be able to reconnect after everything calmed down. But Teddy clearly wasn’t thinking that he ever wanted me near his daughter again.
My chest was tight as I tried to pull in a deep breath, and I just couldn’t seem to get a full inhale. It was as if someone was sitting on my chest preventing me from fully expanding my lungs.
“Are you alright?” Stanley asked.
“Um, yes,” I said. “I need everyone who is going to work on the Breckenridge project to come to the meeting. It turns out the project is still on.”
“Do we need to bring anything?”
“Um, I’m not sure. Just grab people and head in there, please.”
“Okay,” Stanley replied, a little unsure of what I was asking of him.
None of my team had been prepared to move forward with the Breckenridge project until after this meeting. I was surely confusing them by asking them to come sit in, but I could hardly explain what was going on since I couldn’t get my thoughts straight at all.
I returned to the meeting and poured myself a glass of ice water to try and calm my breathing. But nothing seemed to work, and soon, I was sweating and had blurred vision as I worked to catch my breath.
Never seeing Emmi just wasn’t an option. The panic rushing through my body was a clear sign that I would not be able to go the rest of my life without seeing her again. Hell, I wasn’t sure I could go the rest of the day without seeing her. This wasn’t right. None of it was right for me.
As my team filed into the room and pulled their chairs up around the table, I started to feel extremely claustrophobic. I’d built a conference room with glass walls to avoid ever feeling the way I was at that moment, but it didn’t matter. As Rosa continued to talk, my shirt felt too tight for me, and I unbuttoned the top button of my collar. I looked around to see if anyone else noticed how hot the room was getting, but they didn’t seem to notice at all.
“So I think if we used these designs on smaller properties, it would be possible…” Rosa said, and I interrupted her by scooting my chair out and abruptly standing up.
“I’m sorry, I need to say something,” I said as I stood up in the middle of Rosa’s presentation. “Teddy. I admire you. Hell, I love you like you are my own father, but I love Emmi, and I can’t give her up.” My pulse was still beating fast, but the feeling of claustrophobia had left me, and I was finally able to take in a deep breath.
“What are you talking about, Declan?” Teddy said as he angrily crossed his arms.
“If that means I go broke, then that’s what will happen because I can’t take this any longer. It’s been two weeks, and all I think about is Emmi. I dream about what our life could be like, and I’m not willing to give that up. I want to work with you. I think we make a good team and our brands working together are making us both money. I hope you’ll keep working with me. But more than that, I hope Emmi will forgive me for agreeing to give her up in order to keep our business deal going.”
“You are willing to give all of this up over my daughter?” he asked in a stern tone.
“Yes, I am. I know that sounds crazy, and hell, we might only last a month together. But I can’t stand the idea of not giving it a try. You know me, Teddy; you know I wouldn’t say or do this if I didn’t actually care about her.”
The whole room was staring at me as I stopped talking and looked over at Teddy. He expression was blank, and I had no idea what he might do or say. Everyone in the room was looking at him, and the anticipation grew the longer he was silent. I braced myself for the explosion of anger and how I would handle myself when he started yelling at me.
“So, to be clear, you are willing to give up your entire company to date my daughter? You’re willing to risk my company going under as well?”
The way he put it made me sound a little crazy. I wasn’t exactly giving up my company, only giving up the deals with Teddy. I would try to adapt. I’d try to make a comeback on my own and build up my own brand of hotels. The new design was technically mine; I could start from there.
“Um. Teddy, I—” I started to talk, but he interrupted me.
“I’m not done yet,” Teddy said as he stood up and moved toward me.
Everyone near me moved their chairs away as if they were expecting the two of us to break out in a fist fight. Teddy had his mouth pressed together in anger and moved within a foot of me.
“Teddy, I respect you—” I started to talk again.
“Shut up. I’m not done talking, I said.”
There was a collective buzz in the room as everyone tensed up and waited for Teddy to punch me or get violent. I prepared for his fist to make contact with my face as well. I deserved it and I would take whatever anger he had toward me, but I wasn’t going to change my mind.
“Okay, I’m sorry. Please go ahead.”
“I have never had anyone talk to me like you just did. You clearly have your priorities elsewhere and not on our business relationship. But I never thought I’d meet anyone that was good enough for my little girl. I never expected a man would be willing to give up his life’s work in order to make her happy. That’s pretty damn impressive.”
I must have looked like a stoned teenager as I stood there looking at Teddy with my mouth wide open. I couldn’t register what he was saying. Was he saying we could still work together and I could date Emmi? The confusion must have been evident on my face as Teddy continued talking.
“Let’s set a new meeting up for next week. I think this new plan is a great idea and I’ve got a few other small properties I looked at that might work. Does that sound alright to everyone?” Teddy asked as he looked at the group.
“So we are still working together?” I managed to mutter.
“Ha, yes, boy. You have some balls the size of Texas. If you can stand up to me and be truthful at a time like this, I think I can trust you again. Plus, you’ll never lie to me again, right?” Teddy said as he grabbed my arm firmly.
He was smiling, but the firm grip he had on me made it clear that he was 100 percent serious about me not lying to him again.
“No sir, I won’t lie again.”
“Then go get her, boy. She’s been miserable the last two weeks as well.”
I looked around the room and stood there for a moment as I took it all in. He was giving me permission to go to Emmi. He was saying I could go see her.
“So we are good, though? Still doing business?” I asked to clarify.
“Yes, now go get her. We will figure out a new meeting time for next week,” Teddy said as he shook my hand and then pulled me in for a hug. “But if you break her heart, I won’t be so nice to you.”
“Yes, sir,” I said and swallowed hard as I pulled away.
I turned to leave the room and stopped to look back on everyone. Rosa actually had tears in her eyes as she motioned for me to leave. I walked slowly out of the room and down the hall, but then got anxious waiting for the elevator and decided to run down the stairs instead.
This was it. I was going for it. I had to find Emmi and tell her the great news.