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I groan internally. Anytime my brother starts withhear me out, I know that I'm not going to enjoy whatever comes next.
“We've gotten an offer.” He stares at me as if those words are supposed to have some meaning that I should understand. But I don't.
“I was unaware we were looking to sell.” I say the words as a joke, certain that I'm misunderstanding what he's saying.
“Well, that's just it. We weren't, but we got a deal and I think you need to hear this out.” He leans in even closer, both his stare and his posture growing more intense.
It's the second time he said the magical phrase, and I know that I'm really in trouble now.
I wave a hand his direction. “I'm listening; talk.”
Still filled with excited, nervous energy, he moves around the chair again and sits down. “So there's this Japanese company-”
I already don't like where this is going.
“Their structure is very similar to us and they’re looking for a merger.” My brother shifts in his seat while I think about his words.
So the offer isn't to buy us out, that's a step in the right direction. Still, I can't help but wonder what's got my brother all worked up, why he's so serious about this, why he's interested in some offer he's been given. We'd agreed a long time ago to keep this company and the family, which is really hard to do the more people you bring in.
“And what's the catch?” There's no way I'm going to just jump on board and trust that there's no downside to this deal. That's not how I've ever done business. My brother is incredibly smart, but sometimes he makes bad decisions. That's why everything big has to be run by both of us before we make any life-altering business decisions.
I know I've hit the heart of the matter when he shifts in his chair and all that nervous energy seems to drain out of him. For the first time since he burst into my office, he’s still.
“Well,” he says, dipping his head forward as he says the word like it takes considerable effort. “The current CEO will only leave on one condition.”
The fact that he's leaving details and said annoys me more than anything and tells me that this isn't a good idea. If he's dragging his feet telling me this part, then there's a reason I know my brother well enough to know when he's holding back and when he's holding back to get his way. I just don't understand the point. He knows I'm going to say no, so why is he even running this by me? There must be more to this than I'm seeing.
Pushed by a morbid curiosity, I give him a gentle prod. “And that is...?”
My brother doesn't answer right away. Instead, he looks around the room. “Did you redecorate? It looks great in here.”
When I first decorated this room, my brother called it cold and too modern, so I know he's bullshittingme right now. “I don't have the time for games, Scott. If you want me to take this seriously, then tell me. If not, leave so I can get back to work.”
Work has been increasingly difficult now that I can't keep Stacia off my mind. Given what she told me today, I'm even more concerned about her. The thought of her having a crazy ex trying to extort her bothers me. The fact that she wasn't willing to say anything bad about him bothers me even more. The man definitely sounds like a con, and given the way she didn't argue with me when I said that, she agrees.
My heart breaks for her, knowing that her family, friends and people she cared about chose a con man over her. Then again, I've known a few people like that in my life, and I know how slippery they are, how good they are winning people over, and how awful they can be to their victims.
“They want you for one year.” My brother throws the words like a gauntlet between us and I sit in stunned surprise. Why me specifically? Something about this doesn't ring true, and I'm about to get to the bottom of it.
“They want me to come to Japan for a year.”
My brother nods, his expression unreadable.
“Why exactly? And what made you think I'd agree to this or think it was a good idea?” But I think I know the answer. It's the perfect way to split Stacia and I for at least a year. It's a good way to put the company on my back and the weight of the decision directly on my shoulders. My brother is a clever bastard I'll give him that.
“They feel like you're the best fit for the company.” My brother is refusing to meet my gaze, and I know that there's more to it than he's telling me.
“There's nothing that I do better than you in this company, so why me?” I'm going to make him say it. I want to hear him tell me the truth. I'm already dead set against it. There's no way I'm going to spend a year away from Stacia. There's no way that I'm going to let anything come between us. Not my brother, not the company, not money.
“Come on, brother, you know there are things that you're better at, going to a foreign country, handling locals, learning a new system-”
“Those are all things that you had to do too when we left the states.” Is my brother forgetting that we both did this together after Valerie's dad screwed over our family?
“But we both know that you were better at it.”
The fact that he doesn't have anything else to say and he's just reiterating his original point tells me that he is grasping at straws.
“OK, now I need you to tell me the truth.” I'm not sure what he's getting at, but I want him to just be open and honest with me. Nobody gets ahead with all these head games and I'm not in the mood. So far we've been really good about being honest and straightforward, but if this is the way he's going to behave now, I'm not interested.
