Page 99 of My Ex-Fiance's Best Men
“I hope you don’t mind,” Terrence says. “I took the liberty.”
“Not at all. Except I’m only on decaf until the baby is born,” I reply with an apologetic smile.
Ellie points to a separate pot. “I made you decaf. Shall I pour it?”
“Oh, yes, please.”
Once she’s done with the service, she takes the tray and leaves us to our business. Mr. Terrence takes a long sip, then gives me a smile. “I look forward to having more children running around in this office again.”
“Ah, let’s hope I can handle it all. Motherhood, the company… I’m a tad overwhelmed right now.”
“You’ll be fine. There’s no doubt in my mind. And you have our full support for the cleanup. It’s gotten messy without a capable leader around here, I’m afraid.”
“Right. So, first item?”
“Our legal representation. There was some dissent regarding your decision to remove the previous law firm in charge of Baldwin Enterprises, but your friend’s firm is equally reputable, and they’re already doing a marvelous job of handling our case against your mother and sister in court. They’re cooperating with the DA and the SEC on that front.”
“Yes. I’ll be hiring their firm for a long-term contract. Penny is already drawing up the papers, and I’ll have copies for the board to review before the end of the week. If all goes well, we should be ready to sign them early next week.”
Mr. Terrence makes notes in the dossier. “There is also the matter of testifying. The entire board and approximately twenty other employees from the finance and accounting departments have been subpoenaed for the trial.”
“I’m assuming they will be provided with legal aid, should they be unable to afford their own. I presume we’re not talking about the employees who were arrested in connection with Mom and Crystal’s activities.”
“Oh, no. Their contracts were immediately terminated. They’re on their own,” Mr. Terrence shakes his head.
“Good. We need to review all of our employee records anyway. I want to make sure we have no loyalists of the previous regime left in our ranks.”
“I completely agree. I’ll add this to the next board meeting agenda, for sure. Next, there’s the issue of the SEC having frozen our funds, pending their investigation. We’re operating on air. The first of the month is pay day for all employees.”
I nod slowly. “Right. Can you liaise with Penny on this? I know she was in the process of getting the SEC to back off so we can continue our work. They already have all the evidence they need against my mother, and we’re still digging through the accounting archives to supplement their requirements. There’s no need to keep our accounts frozen, not at this point in time.”
“I’ll do that.”
“Thank you.”
To my surprise, the meeting unfolds smoothly and harmoniously. Mr. Terrence and I see eye to eye on most of the issues regarding my father’s company, and we both reach the same conclusion.
“We have our work cut out for us, don’t we?” I ask him, albeit rhetorically.
“I’m afraid so. But if we get our accounts back, I know you’ll be able to move some things around to secure a steady flow over the next six months.”
“Your confidence in me is overwhelming.” I nervously laugh.
Mr. Terrence gives me a wry smile. “I read your preliminary financial report, Miss Baldwin. You know what you’re doing.”
He’s right, I do know what I’m doing. I’m just thankful so many people around me are also aware of that and are willing to let me steer this ship away from the waterfall’s edge. Mom went to such great lengths to keep me out of the company; I’d almost begun doubting myself somewhere along the way.
My phone pings.
Look outside.
It’s a text message from Dominic, and it immediately piques my interest.
“Mr. Terrence, can you excuse me for just one second?” I ask and get up from my seat.
“Of course.”
My baby bump is starting to show, ever so slightly, against the pink satin shirt I’m wearing. I like the way I look, more and more.
