Page 7 of Tommy Gabrini: All Fall Down
“The ones drafted a few years back? Yes I have.”
“Not those,” said Grace. “The new ones I asked you and the board to review several months ago. The ones I decided to give final approval this morning.”
“Tommy, please tell Grace she does not have the authority to give final approval on expansions without the approval of the board.” The vice-chair slammed his hand on the table to demonstrate how emphatic he was.
But Grace was just as emphatic. “How many times do I have to tell you, Curtis, that I only need board buy-in if it concerns mergers and acquisitions.”
“That’s not accurate, Grace,” said the vice-chair.
“It is accurate,” said Orrie. “Mergers and acquisitions were the only two carve-outs in the bylaws. This expansion project doesn’t concern either one of those. Grace has final approval on expansions period.”
“Since when are you an expert on what powers Grace has? Your ass just got here!”
“His background is in corporation expansionism and you know that, Curtis. That’s why I hired him. And that’s why he’s at this meeting.”
“But why now, Grace?” asked another board member. “The last time this came up you said you would give us a chance to review the matter.”
“That was four months ago!” Grace said with animation. “Every month I keep telling this board that if we don’t expand we’ll continue to contract until we will fail. I’ve waited month after month for a decision, and you’ve given me none. I’ve been nothing but fair to this board when I could have moved ahead without any buy-in from any of you. But I didn’t do that.”
“Until now,” said the vice-chair, eyeing Orrie.
Grace exhaled. “The time is now. No more delays. I’ve already given the go-ahead.”
Tommy looked at her. “Under what authority did you give that go-ahead?”
“If it’s not explicitly stated in the bylaws,” said Orrie, “then the CEO hascarte blanche.”
“That’s bullshit,” Tommy said.
Orrie was shocked by his guttural language, but the other board members were delighted. Leave it to Tommy, they felt, to put that upstart in his place.
Although Grace wasn’t shocked by Tommy’s language, she wasn’t delighted by it either. “How is it bullshit, Tommy?”
“You can override the board on decisions not expressly mentioned in the bylaws,” Tommy said, “but you can’t override the chairman of said board. If every board member is against that decision and the chairman agrees with it, then your decision carries the day. But if the chairman disagrees along with the board, then the chairman carries the day.”
“Where is that in the bylaws?” asked a frustrated Orrie.
“Article 91, Section 4,” said Tommy.
Orrie didn’t expect him to have an answer.
But Grace did. She was staring at Tommy. They both made it clear years ago that they were not husband and wife concerning any business-related matters, and they kept that understanding all those years. But this was near and dear to Grace’s heart. She believed in expansionism with all she hadwithin her. “Are you saying that you agree with the board that we shouldn’t expand?”
“That’s what I’m saying, yes,” said Tommy. “There will be no expansion. Now I have a business of my own to run,” he said, rising to his feet. The Gabrini Corporation was ten times the size of Trammel, and he’d been away all week. “Is there anything else?”
Orrie looked at Grace. But Grace was frowning at Tommy. “This hasn’t been resolved,” she said forcefully. “You told me from day one that I was in charge of this company. That’s why I’m asserting my right as the owner of Trammel Trucking to approve expansion over the objections of every board member, and you too if I have to. I’ve been asking for board buy-in for months and all I’ve gotten were delays. No more delays!”
No one had ever seen mild-mannered Grace so animated. “I approved it and I’m not changing it.”
Tommy’s jaw tightened. Everybody at that table knew he could be a bastard of bastards if you pushed him. Grace was pushing him. “And I said it is not approved. Now who the fuck you think is gonna win that battle?”
Grace was so angry that she could hardly contain herself. Still staring daggers at Tommy, she stood up and walked out, leaving the door flapping open behind her. Orrie, knowing he had no business at that table except by order of his boss, hurried out behind her.
And that act alone, Orrie running behind Grace as if he was running behind his woman, was too much for Tommy. He hurried out of that boardroom too, and caught up with Grace and Orrie at the elevator. When he made it up to them, he grabbed Grace by the arm and all but dragged her across that room and then flung her into one of the private offices so that they could have a private conversation. Then he slammed thedoor, opened his suitcoat, and placed his hands on his hips. “Don’t you ever defy me like that!”
But Grace wasn’t backing down. “How am I defying you? For years I’ve been telling you what I know is best for this company. And I’ve never been wrong. But every time I want to expand, I get pushback. Every single time. Well I’m tired of it, Tommy. I’m not backing down.”
“And you think I am?”
