The Billionaire's Second Chance

Chapter 8

Austin

The bright Texas sun was shining through the windows of my rental as Eli and I sped through the city to get to Offbeat for this meeting. I couldn’t help thinking of what my dad told me and what my mom told me when I called her. Apparently, dad has been sick for some time, but he has been going through treatments and they weren’t working, so they are going towards a more aggressive approach. My phone rang through the Bluetooth, caller ID showing it was my mom.

“Hey mom.” I answered the phone, smiling. As much as my dad drives me bat s**t crazy, my mom always knows how to ground us.

“How do you boys like Crossdale?” she asked.

“It’s actually quite beautiful here.” I wasn’t lying. The town outside the city of Crossdale where we were staying was beautiful. The dusky plains, the clear blue skies, the hills in the background gave it a homey feeling that I feel like I’ve been missing. As we drove more into the city, you can tell they take care of themselves. The buildings were all in good sorts and the townspeople looked happy. It was no wonder why Offbeat picked here to be their main headquarters.

“It really is. When I came to visit with your father we fell in love with the city and town. They seem to take care of themselves and the crime is actually quite low, almost non existent. Then we noticed Offbeat , which has numerous locations, but the owner of this branch, Angela, opened this one about 5 years ago. We've heard amazing things about the company so we met with Angela, who you will be meeting later today, and everything just kind of fell in place. She will meet you at the front of the building to give you a tour.”

“Thanks mom. I got it from here. How’s dad doing?” I haven’t spoken to my father in a few months since I found out about his diagnosis. It has taken me some time to get everything situated to come down here because we had to transfer everything from him to me since I became the new CEO. I originally didn’t want to complete the acquisition of Offbeat. I just wanted to concentrate on Nicholson Marketing and working to make it better, but my mother was insistent on it.

“He’s not getting better but he’s not worse so I guess there’s that. You need to call me as soon as you’re done with the meeting and let me know what you think of Offbeat. By the way, he is still going on about you and Amber. I know you don't want to marry her, but can you just think about it? It would be good for both companies and I'm sure in time, you two will fall in love.” She sounded too excited I couldn’t help but wonder if there was something else going on with this than she led me to, about Offbeat that was. But when she brought up Amber, a scowl came across my face.

"Mother. You know I refuse to marry her. You guys made this deal without my consent and it is something that will not be happening. When I get married, IF I get married, it will be with the person I fall in love with. I've known Amber my entire life, she simply wants to do it just to get the money that comes with the merger. I may be the new Nicholson Billionaire, but she will have no part of it." I said sternly.

"And how will you know that your future wife will love you for you and not for your money?" She said in 'a matter of fact' tone.

"Because my heart will know. Or I just simply wont tell her how wealthy I am. It's no ones business really."

"But I'm sure you two can make things work." she insisted.

"Mother, drop it. It's not happening and tell Amber as well. I've told her numerous times but she likes to randomly show up at the office and try to seduce me or whatever she's trying to do."

"I'll have a chat with her. But Austin, just, please keep an open mind about it?"

"No."

"You can be so hard headed at times, just like your father. Regardless, I hope you enjoy your time in Crossdale. Make sure you call me." I rolled my eyes and looked over at Eli who was just shaking his head and laughing at the situation. He couldn't believe they were still going on about this whole marriage bullshit.

“I will but we just pulled in. I think I see Angela. Love you.”

“Love you and good luck!” after we hung up I parked the car and took in the building in front of me. It was a simple four story building that looked more historical than it did modern. The brick looked aged but it worked for this town. Eli and I got out of the car, straightening our suit coats. He was dressed in a sleek black suit with a white dress shirt. His clean shaven self would make any girl swoon at his feet. I, on the other hand, opted for my dark gray suit and coat with a black button down shirt, no tie. My five o-clock shadow showing as it accentuated my green eyes and dark brown hair, opposite Eli’s blonde hair. You would think by looking at us we were some tough business tycoons but in reality, we were the complete opposite. We were very accommodating with our staff, which is one of the things my father hated about us. We learned to be more understanding and accommodating since I started from the bottom of the company. Once I was promoted to the CEO role, I instantly made Eli my CFO, since he did get his master’s in business finance. Trust me when I say father was not happy with that choice as well. He believed that with Eli and I running the company, we would run it to the ground. Thanks dad for the confidence.

“Angela I presume?” I asked approaching an older woman meeting us outside the building. Her hair was pulled back into a low ponytail, hiding the gray hairs that were peeping through. Her smile was welcoming, something we were not used to. A lot of the businesspeople we have met have been stern and closed off, so this welcoming to say the least.

“Welcome to Offbeat Incorporated gentleman.” She shook both our hands with enthusiasm. “We are really proud to become a part of the Nicholson family. Per your request, my staff does not know who is acquiring the company. Please come in and we will take you on a tour.” She held her hand out and showed us to the front door.

“Wonderful. Let’s begin shall we.” Eli nodded in agreement as Angela took us into the reception area of the building. When walking into the building, you would except something more rustic, however that was not the case. The walls were a beautiful white color with black accents, plants complemented the room perfectly. The receptionist desk was long and beautiful, it kind of reminded me of the reception desk at some of the high class hotels we’ve stayed at. We heard giggling coming in the distance and Eli gave me a confused look.

“Children?” he asked, c*****g his eyebrow.

“Oh yes. We understand here at Offbeat that childcare is not the easiest thing to come by and being a single parent is unfortunately, more of a norm now a days than it has been in the past. So, we offer free childcare for all our employees no matter their position or status. During the school year, the child convene here and get picked up by the bus at the building and when school is out of session, we offer full time day care. Come on, lets go introduce you to Eliza.” We made our way to the wing that held the day care. I was impressed. The walls were colorful and expertly painted with cartoon characters, bringing a relaxing and welcoming feel for the children. The tiles hand painted hand prints on them and looked like were covered with a clear coat to preserve them with the name and year of the children.

As we turned to the daycare room, it was like a child’s dream come true. They had tables set up for arts and crafts, a chalkboard and white board that had poorly drawn pictures all over the place. Toys were spewed all over the floor while the children were laughing in little groups playing with blocks, cars, dolls, and other toys they have available to them. The decoration around the room were made by the children and displayed with pride and what was the best about the whole experience were the smiling faces plastered on every single child.

“Eliza!” Angela said from the doorway before we made our way in.

“Good afternoon Mrs. Angela!” the kids all said at once, making her blush. It was actually sweet of them to say. I looked over at Eli who just smiled and walked in behind Angela.

“Hello kids.” She beamed. “I want to introduce you all to Mr. Austin and Mr. Eli. These fine gentleman are going to be the ones to take care of the building while Greg and I retire.” She smiled.

"Hello Mr. Austin and Mr. Eli." They said in unison. I couldn't help but smile at them. I have never seen so many well behaved children in one sitting before.

The girl, I believe her name was Eliza, rushed over to Angela, looking kind of worried. She pulled her away slightly from us, trying to whisper but not doing a very good job at it. “Did you hear from Hannah?” My head snapped to their conversation and so did Eli’s. It was like, every time I heard the name Hannah, my heart sped up. Even though it was a common name, I still had my hopes that one day, our paths will cross and we can try everything again and this time, I would be 100% honest with her through everything.

“What about Hannah? Where’s Dylan?” Angela questioned, looking around at the children looking for this one particular child.

“Hannah took Dylan to the hospital. He spiked a 103 fever, throwing up and very dizzy. We tried breaking it but nothing worked. I’m sorry. We should have called you sooner. I just knew today was an important day...” Angela held her hand up to stop her. The look on her face told us she was about to yell at the young girl, so we stood back and watched, wanting to see the interaction between Angela and the staff. This would tell us their priorities when it came to the business.

“Eliza, you did the right thing to call Hannah. Taking care of Dylan is priority.” She pulled Eliza into a warm hug, comforting her as she let a tear roll down her cheek. Seeing this interaction made securing this business a no brainer. If this is the way they treat each other, then this is something we want to partake in. The care and compassion for people is part of our mission statement and this exemplified that. “If you can excuse me gentleman, I have to make a phone call really quick to Hannah.” We nodded and made our way into the playroom, taking a closer look at everything the children have to enjoy. On the walls there were pictures of the children that used the day care, almost like a yearbook of some sorts. We made our way and looked at each child, smiling at how happy they were until I reached one at the end of a little boy. He has green eyes and dark brown hair. His smile was so familiar but the look in his eyes, it was almost like looking in a mirror.

“Woah dude...do you have a child that you didn’t know about?” Eli asked. “That kid looks exactly like you, it’s kind of creepy. Have you been to Crossdale on a whim and had a one night stand or something? The kid looks about 4 or 5.”

I shook my head no "I don't think I've ever been here. The last person I was with was Hannah." I brought my hand up to the picture and traced the outside frame of it. “Eliza.” I called and she came running over.

“Yes Austin?” she asked, smiling.

“Who is this little boy? I don’t see him here.” I asked. She was about to answer me until Angela called us over.

“Okay Eli, Austin, let’s start our way to the conference room, shall we?” we nodded our heads, not able to finish our conversation with Eliza.

“Isn’t it weird, there is a picture of a mini you and a girl named Hannah is in the hospital with her son?” Eli mentioned.

“I’m sure its just a coincidence.” I shrugged my shoulders.

“What if she had a child and didn’t tell you...”

I paused in the hallway for a moment, “She would have told me. There is no way she would have hidden that information from me. That’s not like her.” I stated. He nodded his head in agreement and we proceeded to follow Angela. "Angela, if you don't mind me asking, why did you want to keep the company acquisition a secret from your employees?"

She chuckled to herself. "Not so much the acquisition, but I wanted to keep the Nicholson name out of the picture. I just feel that if we keep the company name off the mind of the staff, they would be less inclined to do their owe research and scare themselves, especially since your company recently went through some changes in upper management as well I believe."

"We did and it kind of makes sense. I would have preferred for your employees to know who was taking over the company, but I respect your decision and I'm sure Eli does as well."

"I do. I am sure we will make the transition go as smoothly as possible." Eli stated, nodding his head agreeing with my previous statement.

We made our way through the floors, looking around at all the offices and desks and noticing how well organized everything was. For a business that recently started not long ago, they were definitely on the right track and we will have to take a hard look at all the positions and accounts to see where we can move some things around to put the business more in the black and away from the red. We rounded the corner of more offices when I needed to use the restroom. I let Angela know and headed inside the closest one. As I was finishing and washing my hands, I heard a conversation that piqued my interest.

“That b***h caught me with Trixie.” The guy laughed. I looked over at him from the side, noticing his shorter stature, probably five foot ten. He was dressed in a simple polo and dark jeans. Not exactly professional wear. I rolled my eyes at his cocky demeanor as he laughed with the other gentleman he was with. I hated men like that, who would use women and cheat on them, not realizing how well they have it.

“Well, serves you right man. You know you’re not supposed to do s**t with clients.” I c****d my eyebrow. How interesting. I needed to know who this douchebag was and he would be the first position I look into. Any man that would become intimate with a client is someone I do not want associated with my business.

“Psh, doesn’t matter man. We got the contract and it’s making the company money. Who cares if I get a little side action in the meantime? It’s not like Hannah and I are actually doing s**t anyways. Her bastard of a child is too much in the damn way.” I coughed, letting them know I was there. Something about that statement irked me the wrong way. Someone who has views like this is sickening. It’s not Hannah’s fault that the father isn’t in the picture. There could be numerous reasons why and to say this about a woman you're involved with is a disgrace. “What the hell are you looking at dude? Mind your own business.” He snapped at me. I took him in as I smirked, putting my hands in my pockets. This man was nothing. I took in more of his appearance, noting he has some muscles but could work on his body a bit. His hair was a mess and so was his clothes. You can see the lipstick stains on the color. This is a great representation to the company.

I chuckled slightly, shaking my head at him. “Just remember, you never know who you’re speaking to.” I winked at him and walked out of the room, hearing the two men grumble about me being an asshole.

Well, this is going to be an interesting experience.