Tangled Love

~ Chapter Seven ~

After lunch my father and I went back to his office and for the first time in forever, I saw a photo of me and him sitting on his desk. The photo was of the day he dropped me off at Cornell University almost four years ago. I picked up the photo in the frame and smiled when I read the frames wording, it read ‘A Proud Father Moment’.

“Darlene gave me that frame last Father’s Day and that was the only picture I could think of to put in it. That was a proud father moment.” My dad said with a smile.

“How is Darlene? I thought I would have seen her by now.” I asked about his assistant that is always around.

“She had to tend to some family matter. I gave her the day off. She will be back tomorrow morning.” He said with a smile, and I nodded.

“What’s the schedule for tomorrow pop?” I asked and he opened his desk drawer and pulled out a stack of papers and slid them across the desk over to me.

As I looked over the papers, I noticed that everything had my name as the new hotel name, and I thought about it for a minute then resumed reading. It wasn’t until I got to the end of the document that I noticed the Hotel wasn’t just listed under my name, I was listed as the one hundred percent owner and junior partner of Jordan Dynasty Hotel Group LLC with fifty percent interest. I looked at my father, but he was typing away on his computer paying me no mind at all. I was going to say something but decided to finish reviewing the documents. When I finally got to the schedule, I saw it was a short groundbreaking at maximum forty-five minutes to an hour and I was delivering the closing speech.

“Hey Pop, are you sure you want me to deliver the closing speech? You know how tongue twisted I get when I am forced to public speak.” I asked and he looked at me from his computer.

“You’re about to be the riches young man in Vancouver, Washington. It’s best that you get practice public speaking now. I’m sure you will do fine. I already had Kory write your speech, you will only need to read what he wrote.” My dad said confidently and went back to typing away on his computer.

I waited a minute for him to get back into his zone then pulled out my cell phone and quickly sent Kory a text.

‘Hey man, why didn’t you give me a heads up that my dad has be delivering the closing speech tomorrow?’ I sent and Kory responded immediately.

‘Oh f**k, I assumed you knew. I wrote a short and easy speech I will email it to you now.’ Kory’s text said and I exhaled.

“Send her in.” I heard my father say and I looked up at him as a woman about my age walked into my dad’s office. She was beautiful with pretty hazel green eyes and milk chocolate skin.

“Good after…” She started to say as she walked in and noticed me.

“Good afternoon Casey, I would like you to meet my son, Elias.” My dad said and the woman looked at me.

“I’m sorry sir, I wasn’t expecting you to have company. Good afternoon Mr. Jordan and Mr. Jordan.” Casey said and my father smiled.

“It’s not a problem Casey. It’s time you meet your new boss. Elias, Casey is the publicist and PR consultant for ELIAS Boutique Hotels. She has been working tirelessly to get the press scheduled for tomorrow.” My father said smiling at the woman.

“It’s nice to meet you. I look forward to serving all you Publicity and PR needs, Mr. Jordan.” Casey said to me and stretched out her hand, so I shook it.

“It’s nice to meet you as well, please call me Elias. Mr. Jordan is my father.” I said looking at my father then smiled at Casey.

“You two have a lot to discuss. Go on, take some time to get to know each other. I will give you a call when I’m ready for dinner.” My dad said and we both nodded then exited his office and walked over to the conference room.

When we got to the conference room, I pulled out my notepad and sat it on the table. Then I sat down in one of the chairs at the table. My father is great at picking his staff members but not always so great at picking mine.

“So, Casey, tell me a little about yourself.” I asked her as she sat down.

“My name is Casey Witmore, I’m a junior in the Public relations, advertising, and applied communication program at Washington State University. My current GPA is a 3.75.” Casey said and I nodded.

“Do you have a spouse and or children?” I asked and she smiled.

“Yes, I have a daughter. She’s five years old. Her father is a sergeant in the US Army and currently deployed. We are not married. He asked before he left for this last deployment, but I told him we should really discuss it when he returns.” Casey said and I nodded.

“I see, I only asked because, this position will require a commitment and dedication. It may even require long hours. Who cares for your daughter when you are working?” I asked her and she looked away then looked back at me and smiled.

“My mother or her father’s mother picks her up from school and I pick her up after work.” She said and I nodded.

“We will see how this work out. I won’t make any decision now. I will give you a three-month trial. If it works out great. You will be required to complete your assignments timely and since I will be across the nation you will be required to work around the clock sometimes. I will try my best to keep your workload during your time zone but I can’t make any promises or guarantees to that. Is that clear?” I asked her and she smiled brightly then nodded.

“Thank you Elias, I really appreciate this opportunity.” She said and I nodded.