This is the ninth part in a series, so if you have not already done so, you might want to read Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, and Part VIII before continuing.
“So, if you have to kiss me every time I get promoted, does that mean I have to kiss you every time you get promoted?” Chris asked as he watched Sandra settling into her new desk.
Sandra looked up at him and smiled, but then she quickly turned serious. “We already had this conversation. None of that at the office.”
“Oh, I wasn’t planning on giving you your reward here. But I do need to know what it will be. What if it’s something I’m not prepared to give?”
Sandra felt her lips spreading into a grin despite herself. Why did he have to be so damn cute? Maybe working this close to him hadn’t been such a good idea. Sticking to her resolution to keep things strictly professional when they were at the office was going to be harder than she had thought.
Her thoughts were interrupted by her brother’s entrance, which prompted her to stand up straight, as though at attention. She wasn’t sure where that had come from. Maybe the job was doing funny things to her.
As Hugh walked past Chris’s desk, he held out his hand, which Chris smoothly filled with a stack of papers. Sandra hadn’t even noticed him picking up the stack of papers from his desk. The whole operation went so smoothly it made her realize that Chris was better at this job than she had given him credit for. It wasn’t just her scheming that had gotten him here. She wondered if it was time to accelerate her plan to the next level.
But first she had to be sure of something.
Sandra bided her time, going through the motions of her first day as her brother’s second assistant as though it were any other day.
She waited until she and her brother were at dinner together before bringing up the matter of the will. She tried to sound casual as she asked, “So, when do I get my share of the business?”
“When you turn 25. You know that.”
Sandra shrugged. “I didn’t know if you had made any changes.”
“I can’t make changes to Mom and Dad’s will.”
“But you own the business now.”
“No, I only own my half. I run the business. Your half is still controlled by the trust until you come of age.”
“The trust of which you are the trustee.”
“Yes.”
Sandra waited for Hugh to connect the dots, but he just kept methodically chewing his pesto chicken as he cut his next piece.
Finally, Sandra said, “You don’t realize how much power you have.”
He looked up at her and smiled. “You know that line about how great power comes with great responsibility?”
Sandra nodded.
“You might look at my position and only see the power. I see the responsibility. Trustees are chosen based on how, well, trustworthy they are. Because, yes, they are in a position to steal from the trust if that’s the kind of person they are. But I don’t see it that way. I see only the responsibility I have to protect your assets and make the most of this business so you’ll have something worth inheriting. And I have a responsibility to everyone who works for this company to make sure they still have a job so they can take care of their families.”
Sandra looked at her brother over the dining room table and thought about how two people could come from the same set of parents, and yet be so very different from each other.
To be continued…