A Controlling Father
1583 Words
Danilo's POV ( Seven Years Ago)
" Do you really have to go?" Veronica said to me as she climbed on my back while I put my pants on.
" Yes, I have to go, but don't worry, I will be back soon," I said to her.
"Fine," she said and climbed off my back.
Veronica and I have been together for three years now, the longest relationship I have ever had. She is not like the other women I have been with, she is different, she is fun and she is a s*x fiend, which is perfect since I love s*x as much as she does.
I got dressed and made my way to my father's house, the house I grew up in. I moved out six years ago and my mother still kept my room the way I left it. I drove up to the gate and punched in the code, the gate opened and I drove inside the property.
The smell of lavender oil and tulips filled the air as soon as I walked in. Even the smell is still the same. I heard my mother laughing in the sitting room, so I headed there. My mother was on the phone, she saw me and moved the phone phone from her ear.
" Dani!" My mother said with excitement and got off her chair, she gave me a quick hug, and I kissed her cheeks.
" Mother," I said.
" I will call you back, my son is here," she said and hung up the phone.
" Oh son, it's so good to see you," she said with a smile.
" Yes, I guess it's been a while," I said to her.
" You haven't been in this house in a year, don't stay away from me for so long, I get worried," she said to me.
" I won't, where's dad?" I said to her.
" Upstairs in his office, he is expecting you," she said to me.
" Oh, okay... So did he say why he wanted to meet?" I asked her.
" I think you should go upstairs, he is waiting for you," she said.
I don't know how to explain it but I felt like I was not going to like what my father wanted to say to me. The man is my father but our relationship is a bit complicated, we don't see eye to eye about a lot of things. The reason I haven't been to the house in a year was because we fought the last time I was here.
" Please tell me that he doesn't want to talk about Veronica again, I don't have the energy for that," I said to my mother.
" Just go and talk to your father and no, it is not about Violet," my mother said.
" It's Veronica's mother, you know her name," I said to her and went upstairs. I went to my father's office and knocked on the door.
" Come in son," he said to me.
I opened the door and went inside. He was sitting by his desk with a glass of whiskey in his hand. That was another telling sign from my parents, my father doesn't drink during the day, not unless he is stressed about something.
" Father, " I said to him.
" Sit down," he said and stood up. He walked to the bookshelf and took out a bottle of his favorite whiskey and a glass, he poured a shot and gave it to me.
" Drinking during the day? This can't be good," I said and took the drink, I sat down and put it on top of a coaster.
" Depends on how you look at it," he said to me.
" Dad, what is it? Why am I here?" I asked him.
" We lost the Crammer account," he said to me.
" What? How?" I asked him.
I understand why he was drinking during the day, the Crammer account is one of our biggest clients, the only client that keeps the company running, without the account, we might lose the business. What I don't understand is why he was so calm about the issue.
" It doesn't matter how we lost the account, the fact of the matter is that we lost it," he said to me.
" Fine, I will call Dexter and find out, whatever it is, I am sure that we can fix it, we won't survive without that account," I said to him.
" I have already tried that, their minds are made up, they went with another company," my father said.
" Who?" I asked him.
" The Roberts," my father said to me.
"But they don't have the resources to manage an account that big," I said to my father.
" Yes they don't have the resources we do but they can outsource, that is where we come in, if we share the work with them, we can share the profits, the numbers add up," my father said.
" Yes that could keep us afloat but why would the Roberts agree to work with us? I mean it is no secret that they are our rivals, " I said to him.
" Well you will be surprised to know that I have already spoken to Roberts and we have reached an agreement, one that will work for both companies," my father said to me.
" Then why I am here? It seems like you have already saved the company all on your own, " I said to him.
It was the truth but I was also being sarcastic, my father should have handed the company over to me by now, instead, he kept on stalling. The man doesn't want to lose control, that is why he does things like this. I am the company's director and he didn't even tell me that we were losing our account. I am beginning to doubt if the handover will ever be done, he will probably continue working until he dies.
" You are here because you have a role to play, a big role to play, I made a deal with Roberts, the deal involves you," he said to me.
"Me? What part do I have to play? You have already solved the problem," I said to him.
" I have solved part of the problem, son the Roberts don't trust us, just as we don't trust them. So we both decided that we should be a collective, and have a long-standing relationship, it will make Roberts see that we are good and that their account will be in good hands," he said to me.
" Well I guess it makes sense, a friendship will be good, but I still don't understand what all of that has to do with me," I said to him.
" Let me frank son, Roberts has a daughter, a little younger than you, you will marry her, that is the agreement we made," he said to me.
" You are joking right?" I said and laughed at him.
" I am glad you see humor in this, but I am serious, this is the only way we will secure the Crammer account," he said to me.
" What? Dad, we are living in the twenty-first century, draw up a contract, a legal document that binds the both of you, I am not marrying some woman I don't know," I said to him.
" Yes you are, you want to know why you are going to marry her because as soon as you are married, I will announce that I am stepping down as CEO, I will announce you as my successor," he said to me.
Do you see why I don't get along with my father? The man is manipulative. Everything I have done in my life was to prepare me for when he would step down. I didn't know the kind of sacrifice I would have to make for that to happen.
" You planned this, you have never liked Veronica, that is why you are doing this to me," I said to him.
" You are a businessman, your relationship with that woman has no benefit to you, she is old and she doesn't bring anything to the table. Danilo you are not a child anymore, you have to do what's right for the family and this is what is right!
You will marry the woman I chose for you and you will make it work, and if you think that you can divorce her then you are wrong, your marriage has to last a minimum of five years, failure to keep your word, I will list the company and you will have no part of it, not even a job.
The house that you live in, the fancy apartment in the city, that Platinum credit card, and the sports cars, are all gone! I will take everything I gave you!" he said to me.
" No!" I said and flipped the table over. "I will not marry her and you can damn well keep your money!" I said to him.
" Before you leave, remember this, I own this town, and no one will even give you a job as a messenger, if you walk out that door, it's for good," he said to me.
" Damn you!" I said to him in anger.
" The wedding is in two weeks!"
- Writer
