“No way,” I agree. “I would have had to drag him there, kicking and screaming.
We both laugh at the image. My father is so stubborn that he’ll never do anything he doesn’t want to do, even if it would benefit him and his company. I would never say it, but sometimes I think that this stubbornness is what has affected his business. It’s the reason why Energy Plus Co. was able to shoot ahead and be far more successful. The old owners had an amazing sense of business, and their son has only taken the company to new levels. My father, on the other hand, stuck in his own ways, isn’t going to move forward any further if he doesn’t start accepting that change is a good thing.
I glance at my mother. I was only nine when my parents divorced and, as an adult, I sometimes look back in amazement that they even lasted that long. They were always clashing; my father’s pig-headedness and my mother’s temper often made for explosive arguments. Those arguments, however, would fizzle out as quickly as they began.
But eventually, the stress of the company, raising me and their different outlooks on life was what broke them apart. Interestingly, neither of them remarried, and only ever had short relationships afterward. I often ask why, but neither of them will ever give me a straight answer.
Still, they’re both happy, and that’s all that matters.
“Anyway, I met Brandon, and he was really interested in hearing my thoughts,” I continue. “The beginning contract looks really good, but there are a few things that we need to figure out. For example, we don’t know enough about each other’s staff, so we’ll need to talk about that in order to find the best team for the job. Apparently, however, Energy Plus Co. have started organizing themselves, so we’ll need to do the same if we want this deal to go ahead.”
My mother watches me as I wave my fork in the air in my excitement while I talk, her smile fond and amused. She loves hearing me talk about work. There are, of course, many things that I can’t tell her about, because the information is sensitive company secrets, but I do my best to give her all the information I can.
“What have Energy Plus Co. organized so far?” she asks.
“They’ve already started working on a basic design and thinking about the technology we’ll need,” I explain. “Of course, if the collaboration goes ahead, they want our opinion on how to make the hardware both lightweight and fast, with as much RAM and storage as possible. If this works, they’ve even started noting down the possibility of expanding into computer hardware and software.”
“Impressive,” my mother notes. “From what I’m hearing, your father will be a fool not to take this deal.”
“At this point, I’m of the same opinion,” I say. “Naturally, there will still be many more talks so we can flesh out the details, and there’s still potential for a deal-breaker on either side. But, if it’s all sound, it won’t matter what Dad thinks; I’m the one in control of this deal, now.”
“Completely?” my mother asks, surprised.
“Dad said that the decision regarding this venture is entirely on me,” I reply, shrugging.
A concerned look passes across my mother’s face.
“That means you’re responsible if anything goes wrong,” she points out, biting her lower lip.
“Yes,” I admit. ?
?It does. It’s definitely a risk, especially considering the roadblocks Dad is definitely going to throw in front of me. If it fails, it’s on me.” I grin. “But if it succeeds, that’s on me, too. There can’t be any chance of success without a chance of failure, after all.”
My mother chuckles.
“I remember your father saying almost exactly that to me once, right before he opened Tech Square Inc.,” she says fondly. “Just be careful, okay?”
“I will, “ I assure her.
She still looks concerned, though, and I can’t blame her. She knows what my father is like just as well as I do. He won’t go easy on me just because I’m his daughter. On top of that, being thrown something so large for my first ever project will be hard enough.
But I’ve been waiting for this opportunity for a very, very long time. I’ve been trying to convince my father to give me more responsibility for over a year. Regardless of whatever he seems to think, I am more than ready to take this challenge on and succeed.
“I’m not going to fail,” I say. “I want this to happen more than anything. It’s time to bring Tech Square Inc. into the future if we have any hope of surviving. I honestly think a collaboration with Energy Plus Co. is exactly what we need. With the Thompson son at the helm, even if he is as much of a bastard as Dad seems to think he is, that company has made leaps and bounds in the last two years. Dad needs to get his head out of his ass and start following that example.”
My mother giggles.
“I’d love to be a fly on the wall if you actually say that to him,” she says.
I snort.
“Do I look like I have a death wish?” I ask.
We both laugh. My father would definitely not like me saying something like that to him.
“Well, I’m glad things are improving for you at work,” my mother says. “I’m really proud of you, Amanda, and I really hope this all goes well for you. Keep me updated on how you’re going through this, okay? And if you ever need a sounding board, I’m always here for you.”
I smile. I’d never admit it to my father, but, more than once, I’ve run several of my ideas past my mother before I presented them to him. She never helps me more than telling me I need to work at it a little more if she thinks there’s something wrong, making me think of a solution on my own so I can reliably say I thought of the idea. But I trust her thoughts and opinions more than those of anyone else in the world. Her continued support and trust in me is what has kept me going, even as I’m knocked back time and time again by my own father.