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By the time I got to the office, I was filled in completely on what was going on. It felt like a damn takeover to me. There were a couple of people on my board that were always trying to get me out. They wanted more control, they wanted to do things that would make money in the short term but not the long term. It was all about cash profits and dividends right now.
Not to me though. I wanted the fundamental business to be sound and ever since I got extra funding, I have regretted it. Now, I was going to have to find out what was truly going on.
When I walked into the boardroom, I saw many surprised faces turn my way. The meeting had been going on for about half an hour, and I was just happy that I hadn't missed it, a fear I had the whole way over. I didn't know what they had said or done so far, but I didn't really care. At the end of the day, this was my company, and I wasn't going to let anybody push me out. So, I married my assistant, so what?
“Gentlemen, it is good to see that everybody is here. The only problem is, I did not get a memo about this meeting.”
“No one could reach you, Derrick. How can we tell you about a meeting when you wouldn't even answer your phone?”
I stopped and looked at William Witwell. He was an investor from the old days, and he was one of the biggest proponents of using our reputation for short term gain, even if it led to long-term losses. I didn't like him, he was simple-minded and short sighted, and I didn’t know how he had any money left. His special version of ignorance was a deadly combination, especially when considering that he had his hands in many of the startups that were going to be big in the next five to ten years. William had once been someone I admired, but the longer he was on my board, the more I didn't really want to have anything to do with him. This moment added to that.
“I was on my honeymoon.”
That got a little bit of excitement running through the people that were meeting here. I grabbed a seat up in the front, having to wedge out William almost physically. I stood there towering over him, until he finally scooted over far enough away that I could put my own chair at the head of the table where I belonged. It was a petty power move, but this was my company and this time more than any other, it felt like these money people needed to remember that.
“Was it really to your secretary?”
“She is my executive assistant, and yes. I assure you that my wife will not be filing sexual harassment charges on the company. My company. What are we doing here today? I hear there is a vote of no confidence going out. Is that true?” I asked a question, knowing what the answer was going to be. What other reason would they have for being here?
“We, um, felt like it was best to take a vote and see how everyone felt about your disappearance and your fornication with employees. Some question your sanity to continue to run the company, considering your most recent choices.”
William was the only one talking, probably the only one that had the balls to say anything, and I will give it to him. He went for it, and it was hard not to see it and respect that he tried. I’d always told him that he didn't have enough balls and courage to do what was needed. I didn't know, maybe I needed to change that assessment. He had surprised me, if nothing else.”
“My sanity is just fine, but if you want me to spend the money and hire some doctor to say as much, go ahead. It comes out of your dividends. I married my assistant, we never did anything unprofessional before said marriage, so there is really nothing to be said about it. What I do on my own time is none of your business.”
William scoffed. “Are you telling me that you guys didn't do anything until you got married?” he asked with a side of derision that I really did not like. I agreed that that's exactly what I was saying, and he told me that it was preposterous. “How can you prove that?”
I guess there were a couple of ways to do it, one of them would be calling Augustine into a meeting to answer their filthy questions, but that was not going to happen. It was not going to happen at all. There was no way and I shut it down with all the problem-solving skills I had. It just wasn’t going to happen.
“You're just going to have to take my word for it,” I concluded. That made William smile. Apparently, he liked that answer because to him it proved I was lying. The rest of the board were more hesitant to say such a thing. They wanted to give me a week to prove what I had told them was true. I knew that even in a week, it wasn't going to happen. Augustine was not going to go in front of the board and get questioned, but at least it bought me more time.
I knew there was a possibility that I could lose my company, but I would rather lose my company than have people like William have the right to question her. She wouldn’t forgive me, and I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.
On the way home, I thought about how it was all going to play out. Had I just lost my company?
It was better than losing my wife.
40
Augustine
Iwaited up for Derrick because of how he just took off like he did. He got a call and then he was gone. I worried that something horrible had happened at work, but he didn’t say. When he got home, he didn’t have to say anything. It was written all over his face in permanent marker. I tried to ask him what was going on, but it did me no good. He would barely look at me.
“Come on, Derrick, you have to tell me what is going on.”
He shrugged and said that it didn’t matter. It mattered, whatever it was had obviously bothered him immensely. I didn’t know what to say, because I didn’t know what was going on.
“I don’t really want to talk about it right now, Augustine. I need to go lay down. I have a headache.”
“Now?” I asked concerned. I didn’t think he had ever taken a nap before, not in the middle of the day. I had known Derrick for a long time, so I knew that it wasn’t like him. Was he sick or was the news he had gotten that bad? I couldn’t be sure.
“Yeah, now.”
The next natural question was if he wanted me to join him. He said that he didn’t, and I just had to be okay with it. I was confused at the way he was acting, but I was going to leave him be. It was obvious that’s what he wanted. I told him that I was going to go by mom’s. She’d left messages to call her because she needed to talk to me urgently, but I had no idea why. I wasn’t too enthused to find out either.
Even though none of this was my doing, I felt bad leaving him like he was. Derrick was bummed, I wondered why, and hoped that he would tell me sometime soon. There had to be some kind of reason why he kept it from me.
I left and stopped by my apartment before going to my mom’s house. I still hadn’t gotten all of my things, but I was still paying the rent on it, so I could keep it, just in case. This marriage was different than anything I could have imagined. It wasn’t like a normal marriage. We weren’t a normal couple and that had to be kept in mind.
