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“It’san important meeting,Poppy,”Momwhispered.Papawas sleeping, and neither of us wanted to wake him. “Jaythinks the algorithm will set you up for the future.”
Forthe futuremeant afterPapapassed away, andIeventually took over the company.Momavoided speaking the morbid truth as if pretending would makePapa’sALSgo away.Hismobility had decreased, while the headaches and lethargy had increased.Ultimately, patients withALSwere unable to move oxygen in and out of their lungs and passed away from respiratory failure.JudgingfromMom’sgloomy mood, she suspected the end was near.Itonly stirred my anger.Wehad limited time with him.Whywere these people here to interrupt it?
“Idon't understand why the board can’t take care of the meeting.Whydo they need to meet withPapa?”
“Becauseyour father knows what he’s doing,”Momexplained patiently. “Andhe is perfectly capable of sitting through a meeting.”
Lies.Momdidn’t thinkPapawas up for the meeting, either.Doubtwas etched on her face, but she rarely argued with him.Theywere nauseatingly in love and unconditionally supportive of one another.Peopleoften said my parents were soul mates.Ipresumed it was gut-wrenching to lose the love of your life and tracked her tear-stricken face.Shecried in the bathroom again with the shower on to muffle her sobs.Papa’slooming death would destroy my mother.Hislast wish was for an extended family vacation sailing to his favorite cities on our yacht.Wedocked inSingaporeto meet with the board ofAmbaniCorp.Theyknew of the situation and were here to straighten things out beforeCharlesJamiesontook over as the interimCEO.
Noone was allowed to becomeCEOunless they bore the last nameAmbani.Theboard agreed toCharlesJamiesonwith the expectationI’dtake over in the future.Itwas blasphemous to eye theCEOposition at fourteen, butPapaandIshared the same dream.Fifty-five-year-oldCharleswould be the actingCEOfor ten years, giving me enough time to finish college and gain work experience.He’dhand me the reins when his contract expired and retire toBordeauxwith his wife.Therewere some loose ends, including a meeting withMaxwellCorpabout their revolutionary software.
Papastirred from our voices.Thebed was tucked in one corner, draped in soft luxury fabrics.Momarranged the furniture to make the most of the room.Twonightstands, a closet built into the wall, a small sofa placed at one end of the room, and a writing desk at the other, complete with the smell of the ocean wafting in through the attached terrace.Thebedroom walls were painted blue, and a modern light fixture hung from the ceiling.Themuted lighting and comfortable duvet made the room enticing for sleep.Momdesigned it for comfort soPapawould be less inclined to work.
Papacracked one eye open and caught us standing next to the bed.
“What’sgoing on?”Hisvoice was reduced to a scruff and unrecognizable in the shaky way he spoke nowadays.Mostpeople didn’t understand him anymore, so he made a point not to speak at meetings, further proving my point.
“Youshouldn’t attend the meeting today,”Isaid directly. “Momcan attend for you.”AfterPapatook a turn for the worse,Momattended meetings as his proxy.Shewore an earpiece soPapacould hear and whisper notes to her.
“Theycame all this way to meet me.”Hisvoice was a hoarse, raspy whisper.Thesimple act of inhaling and exhaling was labored.
“Whocares?”Imuttered.
Theywere intruding on his limited time, butPapawas adamant. “Jordanset up this meeting months ago, andIcanceled twice.It’llbe disrespectful not to meet them.”
Momsat on the bed.“Poppy, can you check on your cousins?” she asked me.Itwas code forgive us a minute.
Istepped onto the terrace, which connected to the rest of the boat.However,Ididn’t veer far and watched them through the slightly ajar door.
“Youshould let me go as your proxy,”Momsaid soothingly. “I’vedone it before.”
"Ican do it,”Papaargued.Hewas stubborn to a fault. “Canyou help me up?”
Myfrustration increased as wheezing followed his next breath.Mommoved quickly, grabbing the oxygen mask and pulling it over his face.Papaturned pale, face contorted in pain.Istood there, helpless, like an idiot, becauseIhad no idea what to do.Momhad been a pro during these moments.Shewas attentive, lulling him back to the pillow with a gentle but firm stance.Paparefused to concede despite another bout of wheezing.
Whenhe gasped for air again, he finally relented, givingMomdetailed instructions on what he wanted out of the deal.Itook notes on my phone from outside in caseMommissed anything.Whenhe finished,Papaleaned against the pillow and tested the earpiece.Hislaptop sat readily on the nightstand for easy reference to guide her through the meeting.
Mompulled a blanket over him and turned onFriendswith the volume on low before leaving the room. “Ready?” she asked upon finding me on the terrace.
Ishrugged and followed her to the other side of the boat.Theconference room on the yacht was immaculate.Thelong rectangular table in the middle was set for fourteen people, with eight water bottles on one side to identify seats for the board members ofAmbaniCorpand six on the other forMaxwellCorp.
Isat in the chairs against the wall with my cousins,Rose,Samar,Rayyan, andNikhilJr.,Nickfor short.Mycousins andIwere allowed to attend business meetings as junior interns for the company.Wetook notes and ran errands like fetching water or office supplies.Itallowed us access to the ins and outs of our operations.Iconsidered it a privilege becauseIplanned to sit inPapa’schair one day.Meanwhile, my cousins thought it was forced labor.
Oneby one, my aunts and uncles filled the room and took their respective seats at the table.Folderswere passed with the details of today’s meeting, and my aunt,Sonia, laid out the agenda.Everyonelistened attentively and took notes, myself included.
Theonly distractions were my cousins, who were more interested in horseplay.Theypinched each other discreetly to get the others to squeal and get in trouble with the adults.
“Doit and lose the hand,”Isaid mildly whenRayyantried to pinch me.
“Relax,Pops.”Heretracted.Rayyanwas older, graduating soon from college, but acted like a child. “It’sjust a dumb meeting.”
“Whichis why you’ll never sit inthatchair.”Inodded at the seat, slightly larger than the rest.ItwasPapa’schair, currently occupied byMom.
Rayyanground his molars.Hewas also gunning for the coveted position, butPapamade sureIwas first in the line of succession.Rayyanflipped his notepad open.
Ilistened carefully as my aunt spoke, taking meticulous notes about the software created byDamonMaxwell.Isuddenly understood whyPapathought this meeting was necessary.Ifwe locked down this partnership, we’d be the first hedge fund company to pioneerDamonMaxwell’salgorithm.There’dbe no more concerns about cash flow, further solidifying my future with this company.
Otherwise,MaxwellCorpcould edge us out by keeping this technology to themselves.However, they would have to acquire a large client base, so it was mutually beneficial to merge with us instead.Itwould make a great partnership, though concerns were raised aboutJoeMaxwell.Hewas the co-CEOalong withHenryMaxwell, my auntJordan’sfiancé.WhereHenrywas collected,Joewas erratic, and taking on a volatile partner was a huge risk.
