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“Excuse me?” He needed to explain that.
“You are going to bring something new to this role.”
“Ah. Well, I’m sure my father would’ve done the same, but he was busy dealing with the customers, and the staff. I’m not running this place all on my own. At least not yet. I’m sureit won’t be long before you decide that you’ve been here long enough and take off again,” I said, giving him a dig.
He didn’t even flinch. “I will not be leaving for a while. As I said before, I need to get the company back on track. I’m not saying that I don’t trust you, but...”
“But you don’t,” I cut in.
“I never said that,” he replied.
“You don’t have to. If it will make you feel better, I will notify you ahead of time regarding which customers I will be contacting.”
He tapped his hand on his leg, but then shook his head. “Just log detailed notes in their customer record so I know their status.” Then he got up and said, “I’ll be on the floor keeping track of productivity.”
He closed the door as he left my office.God, he makes me nervous. I hoped he didn't pick up on it. I was trying so hard to look confident and sound professional, but the truth was, I didn’t have experience in this. I was just doing what I’d heard my father say. Niko might think that I’m so much better than my father, but that wasn’t true. Everything I knew was because he taught me. I needed my father. He would know exactly what we needed to do to get back on track. And if he hadn’t left, then we never would’ve fallen behind. But I didn’t know how to make them work faster than the orders coming in. And if I was right, neither did Niko.
You just don’t want to admit that my father is the backbone of this company. He’s just going through a difficult time. And you’re not cutting him any slack.
I wish I understood why he was so...unforgiving. It wasn’t the Tabiqian way. Maybe with me being here, I could get to know him better and help him see that he was handling the situation wrong. Yes, my father handled things incorrectly too, and couldhave done better. But as far as I was concerned, so could have Niko.
My cell phone rang and I was half afraid to answer it at work. But I did anyway.
“Hello.”
“Ovi, where are you? I thought you would be at home,” my father said.
How did he know I wasn’t? “I’m at the office,” I said.
“I should come and meet you there, so you can go home.”
“No!” I blurted out. Quickly, I tried to cover myself. “You should relax and settle in. It’s been too long since you’ve been home.”
“Too long since I’ve been in the office too,” he reminded me.
I couldn’t tell him that Niko was going to fire him. And if I did, then Niko would be angry with me, and I’d be fired as well. That would make everything so...final. Maybe if I could talk my father into staying away just a little longer, I would be able to convince Niko that my father was the best person for the job.
He’s so stubborn, it might take me years to get him to listen to anything I have to say.It might take a miracle, but I have to try. For the sake of my father.
Right now, I couldn’t focus on Niko. I needed to think about my father. “It is not a good time to come in. I would give it a couple of days.”
“Why? I thought you would be ecstatic that I am home.”
“I am. And I can’t wait to sit and have dinner with you tonight. There is so much I want to ask you. So much I need to tell you. And you know what I would really love? One of your special homecooked meals.”
My father loved to cook. I did too. But he cooked special meals that my mother loved. Since she had passed, he hadn’t done that. Hopefully, it didn’t bring back the pain of losing her all over again.
“Special?” he asked.
“You know. Like you used to, can you make one for me? Please,” I begged.
I could almost hear him smiling. “Anything for you, Ovi. Yes, I’ll cook you one of my very special dinners.”
“Thank you. I missed them so much.”I miss Mom.
“So do I,” he said softly. I knew he wasn't referencing the food.
“I’ll see you tonight. I love you, Father.”
