Page 74 of Someone Like You

“Beth visited her and gave her an ultimatum. Either she ends things with me, or she would report her to the board for unethical behavior so that she could lose her license.”

“My God.”

“I know, Dad.”

“What can I do? Should I call Greg?”

“No. Don’t worry about it. I’m handling it.”

Greg Sorenson was married to the president of the Georgia State Board of Examiners of Psychologists. He also happened to be good friends with my father, and his wife was my mother’s best friend.

“Are you sure? Because I don’t mind putting in a call.”

“I’d rather handle things on my own using my tactics before I call in a favor with them. I’d like to look at them as a last resort.”

“Okay, whatever you say, Casimir. Let me know if there’s any other way that I can help.”

“I will, Dad. I just wanted to call to make sure that you and I were okay.”

“Son, I would never allow anything or anyone to come between us. You’re my son, and I love you, and I’m damn sure proud of you.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

I had finally shared information about my businesses with my parents when they began to worry about my financial status.

“I hope that we’ll get to meet this special lady someday soon.”

“If I can convince her to come back to my team, the very next thing I will do is bring her to meet you two.”

“Good.”

“Okay, Dad. I have to go. I’ve got some more loose ends to wrap up.”

“Okay. Love you, son.”

“Love you, too, and tell Mama I love her too.”

We ended the call, and I lay back on my bed to breathe for a moment and think about what I wanted to do to convince Giselle to come back to me.

Casimir

Three Days Later

“. . . a

re down. This latest discovery will surely have a larger impact on their stock prices, Ned.”

“Yes, Darla. It seems that former COO Casimir Perez got out just in time before everything spiraled downward.”

“This isn’t a good look for Glenco Energy at all. The incumbent COO, Will Jennings, will have his hands full trying to save this company from the brink of destruction and assist CEO, Senator Rob Bradwell, with cleaning up the company’s image.”

“I doubt that he’ll be able to do that. His background shows that he has experience in turning failing companies around, Ned, but this isn’t just a failure of catastrophic proportions. This spells doomsday for the company. Board chairman Preston Willcott, CEO, Senator Rob Bradwell, James Carson, the COO of Carson Gas and Electric, and Peter Tinsdale, the COO of Carson Gas and Electric, were all in this meeting.”

“People, if you’re just tuning in, we’re discussing the release of taped conversations between the heads of two major energy and gas companies in the country that have been colluding to boost energy prices. We all remember the energy blackouts we’ve experienced over this last summer. Well, it seems that they weren’t just some random acts of failure, but a planned strategy to spike energy prices across the country,” Darla Samuels, the reporter, informed newcomers to the channel.

“It won’t happen overnight, but this will surely spell the end of Glenco and Carson, making room for Tandem and Powerhouse to become the top energy and gas providers in the country,” Ned Evers explained. “And it’s all on the heels of those pictures of Senator Bradwell and lobbyist Anne Partham coming out.”

I switched the TV off and spun around in my seat. A wry smile twisted my lips as I stared at my ex-wife, who fumed in the chair across from my desk.

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