Page 53 of Dominant

“Yeah, it’s weird,” I admitted. “Coming to work every day, no one bathing me or preparing my meals…” I laughed. “I really miss it, actually. I was so frightened going into it. It’s a strange, scary world at first, but it ended up being such an incredible experience. It’s changed me forever. I wish I could go back.”

“Well, maybe you can. When we move into your chateau there will be room for business expansion. Who knows what that might mean for me or you?”

I cocked my head, not understanding. “Move into my chateau? You mean, Chateau Andilet?”

His eyes widened slightly and he inhaled sharply. “Uh oh, I’ve said too much,” he looked visibly uncomfortable. “I’m speaking out of turn. Apologies.”

The wheels in my head started turning fast. My roommate’s words echoed in my mind. This is a pretty straightforward offer, taken objectively. This is one company trying to increase their shares in another company - presumably to take it over.

I could feel my heart rate increasing.

“Excuse me,” I said abruptly, standing up.

My father didn’t pick up when I called so I tried Jennifer immediately.

“Did you give me shares in Chateau Andilet?” I asked directly after saying hello.

“Well, yes. Of course. We want everyone in the family to own a piece of the business, although to varying degrees depending on their involvement and investment--”

“And Abbott Holdings is trying to buy them?”

She hesitated. “Yes. Didn’t you get the letter last week?”

“I was away,” I said quickly.

“Oh right.” I could almost hear her rolling her eyes. “At your training. Anyway, Alexander is your boss. I would have thought you already knew about this.”

“Nope,” I answered curtly. “I didn’t know about any of this. Why would he want to buy our shares?”

“Well…” she hesitated, probably wondering why I was asking such an obvious question, but I just needed to hear her say it. “He’s trying to buy the company out from under us. You know his initial offer was for the entire company. We decided we wanted to save part of it for you girls.”

“So you’re not going to sell your shares?”

“Absolutely not. And you shouldn’t either. He only needs two more shares to be able to make decisions that affect the direction of the company. You know…” she said thoughtfully. “You should join the Board of Directors. That will be a good experience for you, especially if, you know, you wanted to look for another job at some point.”

An hour ago, I would’ve frowned at her suggestion that I might want to look for another job, but suddenly it didn’t seem so unlikely.

“Yeah,” I said vaguely, my mind still on other things. “I’ll think about it.” I pulled an elastic band out of my desk drawer and looked at it, and slipped it onto my wrist. It had just the right firmness, tightness and elasticity.

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