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“It hasn’t been brought up to the investors, but I can put it on the agenda for the next meeting,” Alicia said.
“Sounds good. Anything to add, Hayden?”
I sat there, staring out the window as my newest Senior Project Manager and my COO went back and forth about things I needed to be caring about. I should’ve been caring about them. I really needed to keep my head in the game. But I was unfocused. Distracted. None of it seemed to matter any longer. The hotels. The luxuriousness of it all. Not even the view from my penthouse office could rip me back to reality.
My return to work was less pomp and more circumstance. It was time for me to go back. People were expecting me to return. But it wasn’t something I was necessarily overjoyed about. Investors were dragging me into almost daily meetings because their nerves were getting the best of them and usually? I was okay with talking them down. In fact, it was one of the things I was skilled at. But lately, I was looking at them in an entirely new light. A bunch of old, crotchety men who smoked cigars they didn’t care for and drank Scotch that was way too expensive in an attempt to portray some type of strong facade before running to me, scared, with their tail between their legs.
I had a bunch of toddlers I was babysitting. Not men investing wisely with me in my company.
“What if we found new investors?” I asked.
I slowly turned my seat around and found dumbfounded looks on both Mike and Alicia.
“Wanna run that by me again?” Mike asked.
“Come on. I’m staring at an email from two of our fifteen investors and they want to schedule another private meeting. I’ve seen all of them at least four times in the two weeks I’ve been back. We need investors with balls, and we don’t have that,” I said.
“They have reason to be concerned,” Alicia said. “This project was falling through just before you were in your car accident. It would make sense that they would be nervous about embarking on anything else.”
“Then listen to this email,” I said as I pulled it up. “Mr. Lowell. It’s wonderful that you’re back. I hope you’re feeling well. I was wondering if myself and Mr. Rashaw could have the chance to sit down with you face-to-face and plot out, in its entirety, when we expect to see our returns from this project. Also, is there any chance we could talk about how the company is advertising itself on television? It’s rubbing me the wrong way.”
“Rubbing him the wrong way?” Mike asked.
“That’s what it says. In my absence, how much did you lean on the investors?” I asked.
Mike and Alicia fell silent and I drew in a deep breath.
“Our board needs to be reminded of what their role is in this company. They also need to understand what they do and do not control. Now, it’s flattering that you guys couldn’t seem to hold down the fort for the past three and a half months, but I’m back. And my investors are still bouncing between cowardice and holding their tail between their legs. It shouldn’t be my mess to clean up.”
“Yes sir,” Alicia said.
“Hayden, they did have more say in things,” Mike said. “But it isn’t out of the ordinary for them to want to know projections for their investment.”
“A file I’ve given them three times over the last two weeks. A file that has not changed as of…”
I looked at the clock and counted down the minutes.
“Two hours ago. Which was when our last meeting occurred,” I said.
“Okay, so the investors are being a little overbearing,” Alicia said.
“If I get another email in my inbo-”
But before I could get the damn word out of my mouth, my email flashed with another message from an investor. Yet another poor, lost little soul wondering about projections, money, and this time? The company’s image.
Something my Public Relations department had been on top of and excelling at for an entire month.
“Alicia.”
“Yes?”
“Call another meeting with all the investors. Inform them that this will be the last official meeting for the rest of the year, so come prepared,” I said.
“What?” Mike asked. “There’s still two more quarters to go.”
“And we’ve already had double those meetings since I’ve been back,” I said. “Alicia, inform the investors that this is their last chance to air any concerns they have and ask questions. Tell them the projections haven’t, and won’t, change. Also tell them that if they’re really this worried about a company that they feel they have the right to control, poke, and prod about every aspect of it, then I will find an investor to replace them.”
“Mr. Lowell, I don’t think that’s-”
