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“I do control it,” Charlie snaps. “That’s what makes you so mad.”
“I’m not mad,” Don says, struggling to keep his voice even. “I’m just getting tired of watching you waste your potential. Charlie, you’re smart. You could do something with your life if you stopped playing around and put some effort into settling down.”
Charlie demands, “Why does my love life have anything to do with my career?”
This question has been asked too many times these last few years, in various forms, receiving vague answers each time. But never like this. Don looks totally taken off guard by it, just staring at my brother.
Charlie, red-faced, slaps a hand down on the top of the table. “The fact that I’m not getting married to the first girl that bats her pretty eyes at me doesn’t mean that I’m not fit to lead this company. It doesn’t mean that I’m wasting my potential. Fuck, it means I’m being smart, if anything! I’m more interested in focusing on my career than I am on starting a family! That should be a good thing!”
“Don’t raise your voice at me,” warns Don.
Charlie says, “Then why don’t you answer—” The door opens. “The question.”
He drops off immediately, his mouth snapping shut with enough force that I can hear his teeth click shut. While both my father and my younger brother try to gather themselves, I get up and go over to greet the client.
I’m aware of the tension in the room throughout the whole meeting, but by some stroke of luck, it doesn’t seem like the client picks up on it. And if nothing else, both Charlie and Don are professional enough to leave their fighting until after the meeting is over.
I end up seeing the client out too, hoping that by the time I get back inside, they’ll have cooled down. It seems that Charlie has held onto his anger through the entire meeting though. When I step back into the office room, he’s shoving papers into his briefcase and angrily snapping it shut.
“This is exactly what I mean,” says Don, not helping matters in the slightest. “You’re acting like a child right now.”
“Just because I’m not rolling over and showing my belly doesn’t mean that I’m acting like a child.” He grabs his briefcase and gives my father a sour look. “My relationships don’t affect my ability to do my job. Bottom line. I like to date. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“It’s a bad image,” says Don. “Having a new girlfriend every other week. Clients are going to think that you’re unwilling to commit.”
“Clients aren’t going to care, because this isn’t the fifties,” Charlie insists. “And because my dating life isn’t going to be brought up during our meetings. The only one who thinks that my love life has a bearing on my ability to commit to a client is you.”
“You’re right,” says Don, putting a sudden end to the back and forth. “I do think that it shows how unable to commit to a client you are. And considering I’m your boss, my views on it are the only thing that matters. If you were actually interested in proving to me that you were serious, you would have found someone to settle down with like Grant.”
Fuck. This is NOT a conversation that I want to be pulled into. My brother turns to scowl at me. My father has honed in on my sudden fiancé enough that any doubts Charlie might have had about why my relationship came to be have vanished—he is now certain it’s all a ploy.
I can see it in his eyes, and he can see it in mine.
Don continues on, “I would rather give my company over to someone that is willing to prove they can do what it takes, than to someone—”
Charlie shoulders past him. “The meeting’s over. I’m going to get a drink.”
“We’re not done here,” says Don, standing out. He pulls out the full first name, trying to show that he’s serious. “Charles. We’re not finished discussing this. You need to change the way that you’re living. It’s not going to do you any favors.”
“Sure, Dad,” says Charlie, grabbing the handle of the door and pulling it open. “That sounds great. I’ll absolutely stop living my life the way that I want, to do it the way that you want instead. That’s perfect. I’ll be just like Grant.”
And then he steps out of the door, slamming it behind him. You would think that might get my father’s attention, right? But it’s not the first time that they’ve gotten into this exact fight. My father just looks beyond irritated that Charlie got mouthy with him.
Sighing, I put my papers away. “I’ll go try and talk to him.”
Don waves a hand at me. “Let him cool off. That’s exactly one of the points that I’ve been trying to make to him. He can’t go running around, reacting at the drop of a pin. He needs to be able to…”
And on the lecture goes, until even I’ve got this tight knot of tension twisted up in the pit of my chest. I’m grateful when I get a phone call—it’s one of our smaller clients, asking me to check on something. I step away to take the call, moving to the window. From where I’m standing, I can see Charlie get into a cab.
So much for trying to catch up to him and calm him down. I’ll have to try and talk with him later. One of the biggest problems my brother has is the fact that he’s exactly like my father. They’re hard-headed, they want things done their way, and neither man is supposed to give.
A part of me wonders if I’m any better, considering that I’m pretending to be engaged for this job but—at least I’m not starting fights at the drop of the hat. When I finish with the call, I tell my father, “I’m going to rush on out of here, alright? I want to make sure that I get to spend a good chunk of time with Ashley today.”
Don nods. “Good man. Take her somewhere nice to make up for the long hours. And treat her to something tomorrow. Your mother loves going to the spa while I’m working.”
Good point. I think that Ashley would love being pampered at the spa.
“That’s a good idea,” I say.
