Page 54 of Sail Away
Of course, there was Jim. Fucking asshole.
And the fact that this entire trip was a damn setup.
“I’m not sure what that has to do with our business.” Reid held out his hand, not wanting to continue down that path. “Have you already signed contracts with Hans?” Thus far, he hadn’t found any on the mirrored server, which in his mind was good, but that didn’t mean they weren’t moving forward. And without patents and proof the technology would work, none of it mattered.
“We did a licensing deal. Yes. We are making fire-resistant bedsheets, comforters, and window treatments.”
“There is no approval for this. No proof that our product works. We don’t even know if we can scale it down.”
“The patent is pending, and that’s all the proof we need. Besides, we’re not claiming it won’t catch fire, we’re just saying it will take a little while longer—which we know with the suits is true. And it’s not like we’re not the first company out there to claim this.”
“Oh, and that makes it okay?”
“I really don’t understand why you’re getting so upset.”
“You should have told me this the other day when I asked. Hell, I should have been involved from the very beginning. Especially when we said we wouldn’t bring this to a mass-market level.”
“We never said that.” Preston waved a folder between the two of them. “For years, we’ve done things mostly your way. I’ve always had to either design the product first and get you excited, or just let you be pissed at me until the money came rolling in.”
“We had this discussion last night. It got us nowhere.”
“I was drunk. I didn’t articulate myself well, and I didn’t have these.” He handed him the folder.
“What’s this?”
“The financial health of our company. Its growth. Projections. Both past and present. It shows that in the last year, basically while you’ve been drinking yourself to death over Darcie, I’ve increased our profits by nearly twenty percent. I’ve also taken a few random employee polls that are very telling, as well.”
“And what exactly does that express?” Reid didn’t need to be told the answer. He knew. He felt it every time he walked into the office. He’d thought that, over time, things would turn around and his people would learn to trust him again.
Especially since he and Preston were working well together.
But that had all been a farce, and Preston had planned on kicking him to the curb all along.
“That our people are more productive and happier when I’m at the helm,” Preston said.
“You can make numbers present themselves one way or the other,” Reid said. He knew how to play the game. However, he was sure there was some truth to the statement. Reid had checked out of so many things for the last year that he honestly hadn’t a clue what deals Preston had been negotiating or even what new products were being developed. He’d been playing catch-up and not very well.
“I made no analysis. Just black and white. And you have to admit, you and I are constantly butting heads.”
“I’ll admit it’s been a rough year, but I thought we’d cleared up our differences two months ago.” Reid wanted the business to succeed because he wanted to honor Erin. But Preston only wanted to use the memory of his sister to make money. And long before Darcie came into the picture, Reid had been pulling back from his responsibilities. It had become a constant battle to keep Preston from going off the deep end.
So, why the hell was Reid even sitting here listening to this bullshit?
Darcie.
His company.
His life’s work.
It’s why he’d come back in the first place. He’d lost everything, and it was high time he got his shit together and gained his life back.
Only, he might have opened his eyes too late to save his company.
Hopefully, it wasn’t too late for him and Darcie.
“I placated you when you decided you wanted to work again,” Preston said.
“Why would you do that if you planned on running me out?” Reid pushed his glasses up over his head. “And don’t try to deny it. I know that’s what you’re doing.”
