He shrugs. “Or maybe he thought he would get good cheap labor. He hired me on at his factory when I was only fourteen.”
“Fourteen? Isn’t that illegal?” I try not to raise my voice in horror at the idea of a fourteen-year-old in a factory job.
“Not for part time, and no one was going to make a fuss with Phillip. At the time it was one of the largest factories in the city. It produced several different medical devices and brought a large amount of business to Manchester. At the time he paid better than all the odd jobs combined I was running. It was a relief to work for him. If anyone asked questions about it, I didn't answer them."
"It was a good thing for you? He didn't take advantage of you?"
Smiling, he strokes the frown line in my forehead. "No, he didn't take advantage of me. In the end he was the best thing to happen to me. I told him as soon as I finished sitting my GCSEs I wanted to go straight to full time for him, whatever the results were. He urged me to have a think on it. To do my best and we'd discuss it once I got the results."
"Let me guess, he had a plan?"
"He did indeed." Chuckling, he nods. "I sat them and was actually quite depressed when I did so well. The push was coming from all around me to continue on with my education, when all I wanted was to get a bigger paycheck."
"I can understand that, my Abuela wouldn't let me get a job when I was sixteen because she didn't want me hooked on getting a paycheck. She promised my father I'd go to college no matter what." It was one of the few times Abuela ever put her foot down with anger when I tried to argue with her.
"It isn't easy to wait for the bigger paycheck when you need one right then. All I could think was once I went on to university, I would have to take out loans to pay for it. They weren't huge, a few thousand, nothing like in the US, but when every penny was going to keep heat on and the girls fed, I didn't want to owe anyone anything."
Once again, the idea of him carrying such a heavy burden at such a young age makes me very glad I won’t meet his mother. "How did he talk you out of it?"
A lift of his eyebrow teases me. "By offering me a bigger paycheck, much bigger, in the end. Phillip laid out his hope for me. His son wasn’t shaping up to be the person to carry on the company. After a mild heart attack, Phillip was ready to make plans. He wanted me to keep going through all the way until I got my degree. I would need it and everything I learned to take over. Phillip would pay for university, and when I was ready we would create a partnership. I would run the place and he could retire.”
I could see it, someone recognizing Ivan's intelligence and drive at such a young age. Something tells me even if Ivan hadn’t met Markhoff, he would have found a way to succeed beyond a factory job and into wealth. “He had very big plans for you. So you kept going.”
“I did. I got into the University of Manchester. Phillip paid the tuition and I kept working part time while going to school. When I graduated I went full time the next day. Six months later Phillip died of a heart attack, before we signed any paperwork about the partnership.”
I hold him tight. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too, he was a good guy. Two weeks later Dmitri Markhoff came into the factory and told me he was there to take over. Phillip’s son hated me and wanted nothing to do with the company. He was willing to hand it over for a check.
“I told Markhoff to fuck off. I could save the company and make it profitable. I had been working five years for this; I wasn’t going to let him take it away from me. Twenty-one, young and dumb and convinced I knew everything.” He chuckles as he shakes his head. I know he’s gone, back in that moment.
“And he told you what?”
“He would give me six months. If I could turn it around in six months, he’d sell it to me for what he paid for it. I worked my ass off, I was eating and sleeping there. I only left to meet with suppliers and make sales pitches.”
“You turned the company around in just six months?”
He laughs, a full, throaty laugh that makes my panties wet. “No, I crashed and burned. Didn’t even come close.”
“What happened?” I never would have thought Ivan would fail.
“Markhoff walked in and told me he appreciated the effort. Told me he had been keeping his eyes on me. He liked what he saw. Did I want to come work for him?”
“And you jumped at the chance?”
“I left with him the very same day. He threw me into the deep end. I did everything, a mix of PA, kept an eye out for acquisitions. After a few years he sent me in to troubleshoot and come up with a turnaround plan once we took over.”
“You have the biggest grin on your face.” I hate we’re in public and I can’t touch him the way I want to. “You loved it.”
“Yeah, at first it was fascinating, fun stuff but then I saw him fire a PA for a lapse. It wasn’t a small thing and it cost him loads of money, but it shook me, reminded me of the plan.”
“What plan?” And why am I not surprised Ivan went to work for Markhoff with a plan?
“That I was going to learn everything I could to ensure nothing like what Markhoff did would ever happen to me again. I would never wake up one morning only to have everything taken from me before the day was through.
“By that time, I was making enough to cover expenses for the girls and save money. I put away everything I could. It took almost five years until I found a company I could afford. I knew it was too small for Markhoff, but it was perfect for me. I went to him and told him I wanted it for myself.”
“And he said?”