He hiked a hip onto the credenza against the wall and studied her, hands buried in his pockets, a sheepish smile on his face. “I admit I was surprised that you were president. I thought it was a family appointment, nepotism at its finest. Then I saw you had an MBA and wondered how you could have gotten that with just a pretty face.”
“Well, at least you took the time to see past the face. My father may love me, but he’s ruthless with business. He’d fire me if I couldn’t do the job, trust me.”
“Do you think he might fire you with the changes you’re trying to make?”
She leaned against the credenza next to him, arms gripping the top. “Maybe. He’s not happy with the trade or anything else, to be honest.”
“Is he ever happy?”
She laughed. “Not especially. Even if we won the series, he’d still find something to harp on, something we could have done better. But that’s why he was successful in his other businesses.”
“That may be true but, honestly, baseball has changed significantly over the past decade. If he doesn’t change with it, he’s going to lose.”
She nodded slowly. “Try to convince him of that.” She glanced at him. “Do you think your father would have been happy to see you working for the league?”
His expression grew shuttered and he looked past her at something only he could see. “I don’t know. He might have seen it as a betrayal. I didn’t want to work for him, now I’m working for the league.”
“He’d be happy to see you helping us now.”
“Would he? Helping the man who took his team?” The bitterness in his voice surprised her.
“You can’t honestly think my father stole the team from your father. Seamus can be ruthless in business, but he’s not dishonest.”
He turned to face her, disbelief on his face. “Is this the man’s daughter speaking or his employee? In business, there’s no place for sentimentality. It’s all about the bottom line.”
“Maybe that’s the lesson your father taught you, but not mine,” she replied primly. “My father reminds me about the people we have working here every day. We have an obligation to them. Sometimes you have to make tough decisions but always think of the greater good.”
“Really? So why are you pussyfooting around your leadership team, your coaching staff? They’re all doing just enough to get by, waiting for your father to come back. No one has implemented any of the changes you requested, except of course for the trade. So how are you being a leader like your father?”
“Unlike my father, I don’t yell and shout. I prefer to lead as a team.”
He laughed, a loud sound that sounded faintly derisive to her ears. “Honey, leader implies not being part of the team but leading it, giving orders, telling them what to do. Not getting consensus. You may want to consider that as you go forward.”
“Or what?” She stepped up into his face, hands on hips and glared at him.
He held up his hands in mock surrender. “I’m just saying, working as a team is all great and sounds good, but no one listens except to the voice of authority.”
Her shoulders slumped. “I had hoped they just didn’t agree with me. Not that they didn’t respect me.” She turned away and sat in her office chair, staring blindly at the monitor.
He followed and sat on the top of the desktop, hands folded on his knee. “They still see your father as the leader. While he’s out, someone needs to fill the void or nothing gets done. You’ve gathered your information. What do you want to do?”
She slowly nodded. “We need to make these changes. Other teams have had success doing this and so can we, if we’re all on board.” She stood, a decision made. “Pack your bags, Wainright. We’re going to Florida.”