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The bartender brought Dean another beer. He raised it in the air and said, “Here’s to a better day tomorrow.”
I raised my glass of Bourbon and said, “To business.”
CHAPTER 2
Ovi Mayas
Oh, Dad, where are you? I can’t do this. Not like you do.
I’d never met Niko Rio, only seen his picture hanging on a wall beside the mission statement. He was a very handsome man, and the words on the wall were meant to encourage and give hope for the future of not just the factory, but all of Tabiq. It was a shame that his text message to me, I mean to my father, didn’t reflect that mission statement. If anything, it portrayed him to be a very...controlling and unpleasant person. That was probably why my father just up and left. He couldn’t take the pressure any longer. Goodness knew the orders for new custom pieces were coming in faster than ever before and I wasn’t even sure the employees could produce what was being asked of them. Mr. Rio needed to hire more people. I could pretend to be my father in a text message to Mr. Rio to answer his general questions. Even then I said very little so as not to draw too much attention to myself. But when it came to staffing issues, thatwould require a lengthy conversation. One that wasn’t going to happen via text message.
This was just another reason why I needed my father here. But it wasn’t just his job that he had left… he had left me too. I needed him. Why didn’t he understand that? Granted, at twenty-eight I wasn’t a child any longer, but it had only been a couple of months since my mother had died. It might not have been sudden, and people thought that because it was expected, it was easier, but they were wrong. My heart ached each day, and I’d cried myself to sleep almost every night.
That was before my father decided he needed to get away from everything that reminded him of her. Guess that included me. I loved him and would support him in whatever he needed to do to grieve his loss.
Even if it meant covering for him at the factory. Which was getting harder and harder each day. There were a lot of things I knew how to do, like answering basic questions from employees about the quality of the furniture or giving suggestions as to what needed to be done to make it perfect. I grew up assisting my father in carving the wood and making what I thought were masterpieces for people most of my life. But when it came to managing the rest of the business, I was clueless. Tasks were falling behind and there was no hope of catching up. At least not before Mr. Rio realized there was something wrong and decided to return to Tabiq.
Closing the laptop, I rested my head on my folded arms and sunk into the desk. I was beyond exhausted. It wouldn’t be the first night I was too tired to drive home. I just wished there was someplace comfortable where I could sleep. Granted, there was plenty of furniture in the warehouse, but it was all spoken for, and customers wouldn’t appreciate getting used pieces.
Just like they don’t appreciate not getting their order on time.
I needed to remind myself that at least they were still getting them. If the assistant manager, Almi, wasn’t a family friend and helped me cover for my father, the factory would’ve stopped working altogether. But since they were all used to seeing me bring my father lunch each day and hang around to observe the process, my being here now didn't seem unusual to them. Yet, they were beginning to question why my father no longer walked the floor inspecting the work himself. We had convinced them that he was on calls with Mr. Rio so much and doing the paperwork all the time that he only had time to inspect the products after hours.
That lie could only go on for so long. Eventually, someone was going to figure it out. They would end up calling Mr. Rio and my father would be terminated. Rightly so, but that didn’t mean I shouldn’t try my darndest not to let that happen. I knew my father was going to return. When he did, he was going to need this job because it was all he had. With my mother gone, his work would be his life.
My eyes fluttered and closed. I knew sleep was inevitable. I only prayed that I wouldn’t be haunted by nightmares of Mr. Rio learning of the deception and taking his wrath out on me.
Just as I drifted off,one of the cell phones rang. My first thought was that it was Mr. Rio calling demanding yet another confirmation about Mr. Baker’s shipment. I realized that it wasn’t my father’s business cell phone ringing, it was mine. A different type of panic filled me. It was almost two in the morning. Who would be calling me at this time?
I sat up filled with tension and quickly grabbed my phone off the desk. The caller ID was from an unknown number. I debated letting it go to voicemail and dealing with it later, but it must be important given the hour of the call.
Please don’t let it be about my father. Don’t let them call me with any...bad news.It was a fear that I’ve had since he told mehe was leaving. A fear that it was goodbye, and not just see you soon. I took a deep breath preparing myself for whatever he was about to say.
“Hello, this is Ovi Mayas. Can I help you?” I knew my voice was shaky.
“Ovi, it’s me.”
Father.I was relieved to hear his voice again yet until I knew nothing was wrong, I couldn’t relax.
“Hi. Is everything okay?” I asked.
“Yes. It is. I will be coming home,” he said.
Thank God.
My heart began to beat normally again. “Good. I need you here. The employees need you here.”
It was the truth. This wasn’t just about me or him. Mr. Rio paid a fair wage and so many people relied on the factory for their livelihood. If it were to close, their families would suffer. Unlike some other countries, there was no help given. So, when you had a job, you did everything you could to keep it. It explained why each piece of furniture was made with such care and attention to quality. What they produced amazed me. They were driven by the need to be the best, to shine in their trade. They were constantly afraid that if they weren’t at the top of the game, they’d be replaced. No one could afford to lose such a well-paying job. They had limited options as to what their next career would be if they did.
Before I could ask him when he’d arrive, he said, “I will be there in a couple of days.”
“Why so long?” I blurted out.
“I am not in Tabiq. It will take me that long to get back,” he said.
I knew he didn’t fly out of Tabiq because if he did, people would’ve known that he was gone. That left only one other way off the island. Why hadn’t I thought about it before? Oh yeah, I'dbeen busy doing his job. If I hadn’t, then I’d have remembered that his friend was a well-known deep-sea fisherman and owned a boat. Not only was his friend loyal, but he was also the only person my dad would go to for help.
Part of me was glad that he wasn’t going through all this alone. I wish I could say the same about me.
