Page 90 of Back for More
Lily
*Are You Kidding?*
This is the first time I’ve been invited to my dad’s office since I was about ten years old, so I’m kind of excited, but I also can’t help feeling like I’m being called to the principal’s office. Tina didn’t know what he wanted to talk to me about, but a tiny optimistic part of me is hoping that Wes told him I did good work on the office park report. Maybe he’s going to praise me? Or maybe I’m just so in love right now that I’m an idiot.
“Hey, Tina! I’m here.”
“Hello, sweetheart. Don’t you look pretty as always. You can go right on in. He’s waiting for you.”
I thank her, and I don’t know what possesses me to go through the door like an old-timey vaudeville actor doing a jig, but that’s what’s happening, and I can’t stop now. “Tah dahhh! You wanted to see me, sir?”
My father stares at me, unblinking, for a few seconds, before shaking his head and gesturing toward the sofa opposite him. “Have a seat, Lily,” he says as he puts his phone to sleep and places it facedown on the coffee table.
“Wow. This is a nice office. You’ve redecorated since I was last here. It’s…more pleasant than I imagined it would be.”
It looks like one corner of his lip is trying to curl upwards, but it doesn’t remember how. “Do you imagine me working in a dungeon all day?”
“Not exactly. More like Mr. Krabs’ office?”
Blank stare.
“Eugene H. Krab. The owner of the Krusty Krab?”
He blinks once, unsmiling.
“OnSpongebob Squarepants?”
He blinks twice, still not smiling.
“It’s a cartoon that I’ve been watching forever. Never mind. I like your office. It’s nice. What’s up?”
My father straightens his tie and clears his throat before leaning back in his armchair and getting right into it: “I’ve been thinking about the best way to go about introducing you to the business and the company, if your desire is to stay on and work your way up the ranks…” He glances up for a reaction.
I nod, a little too vehemently. “It is. Sure.”
“Wes has only good things to say about your work on his desk, and it’s fine for getting your feet wet, but I think it might be better for you to really jump in.”
“I think things are just great the way they are.”
“I’m afraid you’re getting a little too distracted.”
We engage in a ten second staring contest, and I’m the first to blink. “I haven’t let the play disrupt my work at all.”
“I’m not just talking about the play.” My father never raises his voice, but he is very tense right now. “You’re my daughter. If you don’t want to be taken seriously here, then…” He scrubs his face with the palm of his hand. “I’m giving you another chance. I think it would be best if I move you to the Brokerage Department and you train to become a broker. You will earn an entry level broker license. You must complete one hundred and fifty hours of the required broker pre-license education from the community college at night and work as a floating assistant in the Brokerage Department during the day. Once you’ve passed the exam and earned that license, you must have three years of sales experience in order to become a principal broker, licensed by the state.”
“If I do this, then I’d have to quit working for Mrs. Naylor.”
“Correct.”
“I wouldn’t be able to do any kind of theater work. Ever. I’d have to be available for clients, basically all the time.”
“Until you’re senior enough to have a team, at least.”
“So, you’re making me choose. Between having a job here and a life that involves acting or theater in any way.”
“I’m asking you to choose the family business, which is what I thought you wanted.”
“I did. I thought I did…But I think it’s time I started a new family business: being happy.”
