Page 11 of Corporate Escapades

“Jessamine, come on,” said Dom. “Our son isn’t much better. He’s constantly losing his temper at work. He sleeps with a different woman every other night. They’re both on a destructive course. If we aren’t careful, something much worse than anight in jail could happen. The papers have picked up on his demeanor and Paris’s. They know about the overdose and that she’s accused of theft. Anyone who isn’t blind can see she’s been separating herself from the family as much as possible. Mikel and I have had to talk her out of trouble more times than we care to admit. Our children have been a growing disaster ever since—” stopping, he let out a deep sigh and shook his head. “You know what I’m saying.”

“Yeah,” replied Mikel. Reaching out, he patted Dom on the shoulder. “We all hoped they’d snap out of this destructive behavior, but they haven’t. It’s time to do something before we lose them too. Tomorrow, we meet early to discuss a plan of action. We’ve all enjoyed too much drink tonight to launch any serious plans. Let’s try to salvage what’s left of this evening. The kids are safe, for now.”

Raising his glass, Mikel looked at his partners. “A toast to change, my friends. Tomorrow’s a new day.” The wheels within his mind had already begun to spin.

Chapter four

Shape up. The words echoed in Mikel’s head as he walked into the boardroom. He was the first to arrive, which was not unforeseeable since he’d been an hour early. He felt the need to write out some notes regarding the plan he’d mentally formulated the previous night.

He called Cristo earlier that morning to invite him to the session. It was only appropriate that the company’s five creators should be there to hash out the details together. Cristo wasn’t overly excited since his child wasn’t the problem, but he agreed that action was long overdue.

Looking back, it had been 32 years since the four friends had begun the company. They started out with a spark of an idea, and it took off like wildfire. After two years, they’d become so big that they brought on Dom’s younger brother Cristo as a partner in ownership. Mikel was acting CEO, Dom the COO, Jessamine CFO, Nicola the Marketing Manager, and Cristo the Production Manager. They owned five magazines, four high-end restaurants, two hotel chains, and the adventure and event planning agency, Sense of Adventure. It was Sense of Adventure that had breathed life into all the other business avenues. Together, they ran a smooth operating company. There was no room for out-of-control offspring.

Pressing a button, Mikel requested a fresh batch of pastries and coffee from Java Dough, their very own bakery and coffee shop. The business was located inside the ADG building right next to Sense of Adventure.

Over the past year, Mikel watched Paris alienate herself from her friends, family, and colleagues. She’d lost her zeal for life and for helping others. He feared the consequences that might follow if his daughter didn’t learn to grieve more appropriately. While he appeared to be tough, Paris’s destructive behavior hurt him to the core. In some ways, he lost both girls on the same day.

Dom fought a similar battle with Vic. More than one client threatened to file suits against ADG when they found out Vic had slept with their wives. Try as he might, Dom couldn’t control him. Vic marched to the beat of his own drum. Luckily, his brother Jack was a kind-hearted soul who stayed out of trouble.

Jack’s strength surprised Mikel. Dom admitted the same on more than one occasion. Jack fell hard for Alli and had been quite upset when Brody won her heart, but he conceded like a gentleman. When Alli passed, he shut down for two weeks, and then, as if nothing had happened, he came back to work and moved on. He laughed, he interacted, and he moved his infatuation over to Paris, much to Paris’s dismay. While separated in age by five years, Alli and Paris looked like twins, though they had unique personalities and different hairstyles. The shadow of Alli that he saw in Paris, drew Jack in.

Lord, how he missed Alli. A tear rolled out of his eye and caught on the scar on his cheek as he thought about his daughter. She was happy and lived her life fully. He’d giveanything for one more day with both of his daughters. Raising his hand, he brushed the tear from his cheek, recalling the day Dom had given him the scar. Sure. They’d fought over a girl once, but it had been nothing like the situation surrounding Vic and Paris.

Without the strength of family and friends, ADG might have perished, along with Brody and Alli. Somehow, the business survived. Today was a new day, and for the sake of them all, Paris and Vic were about to learn a hard lesson about tough love.

“Your pastries and coffee, sir,” said Mandy, as she set the boxes on the boardroom table. “Have a nice day,” she said as she exited the room. She nodded to Nicola as they passed each other.

Walking up to Mikel, Nicola leaned in, wrapping her arms around his neck, and kissed him. “You were up quite early this morning.”

Mikel sighed. “I couldn’t sleep. Too much on my mind.”

“Me either. After you got up, I went for a walk in the park. It was nice to enjoy the crisp morning air.” Grabbing two cups, Nicola poured them each some coffee. “Here, you look like you could use this.” Opening the pastry box, she grabbed herself a bear claw. “Do you want one?”

“Nah, thanks, hon. I can’t eat right now.”

“I understand. Let me start the meeting, okay?”

“Be my guest,” he replied. He was glad he didn’t have to.

“Welcome, strangers,” said Nicola as Jessamine, Dom, and Cristo straggled in. “How’d you sleep?”

“Sleep,” snorted Cristo. “What’s that?”

“So, no sleep then?” asked Dom. “I guess I slept as well as possible, considering the current state of things. I sent Byron to pick up the kids this morning. I figured sending the lawyer instead of one of us would give them an idea of the seriousness of their situation. They’re back at their condos, sleeping thingsoff. Byron told them to be here at three for a mandatory meeting. They both agreed to be present.”

“Great,” said Nicola. “We should have everything ironed out by then. I’m letting you all know right now that I expect us to stay in this room, except for bathroom breaks, until we nail down a plan to deal with their behavior.”

“I agree, and I think it’s more than fair,” replied Dom. “We have to protect them as well as our company.”

“Yeah, too bad we weren’t able to do that sooner,” commented Cristo. He was no stranger to loss. Before the loss of his son, he’d also lost his wife six years earlier to cancer.

Jessamine walked up behind his chair and placed her hand on his shoulder. “I know, Cristo. I wish that too. Losing Brody and Alli has been a tough blow for us all.”

“Cristo,” said Dom, “while we’re discussing taking care of family and the business, I feel I need to get something off my chest. I’m quite concerned about you as well. Your conduct at some parties has been questionable. You’re making some of the staff uncomfortable. I need you to tone down the drinking when you’re at work events. If you’re not careful, I fear we’ll have a sexual harassment suit on our hands.”

Cristo leaned in, narrowing his eyes at his brother. “What? Are you kidding me, Dom?”

“No, he’s not,” backed Mikel. “I’ve seen it too. You grabbed Mya’s butt right in front of a couple of reporters yesterday. As far as I know, you two aren’t in a relationship, and she’s turned you down before.”

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