Page 8 of The Cinderella Secret
“Bummer. But Bai Zhao can’t blame us for that, can he?”
Evian looked at him pityingly. “It has been my experience that most people who worked for Randall and Owen blame them for any number of things.”
Aiden frowned. “Do ex-employees actually say things to you?”
“Not much anymore,” said Evan, avoiding eye contact. “It was worse right after they died.”
“No one ever says anything to me,” said Aiden and instantly wished he hadn’t.
“Your parents were nice,” said Evan. “Anyway, my point is that it would not surprise me to learn that Bai Zhao doesn’t care for us. And that would make his recent moves in stock acquisition more concerning.”
“Yeah,” agreed Aiden thoughtfully. He picked up the sugar skull and leaned back in his chair. He loved the smooth, cool feeling of the ceramic, and it always gave him a sweet twinge of nostalgia for Cinderella. He wondered what she was doing now. He hoped she was happy and safe. He tossed the skull up in the air and caught it. He knew it made people nervous to watch him throw a breakable object around and he’d used that nervousness to his advantage on more than one occasion, but Evan didn’t appear to notice. He wondered what that said about Evan.
“I think I should probably do a little reading up on Zhao Industries,” said Aiden, sitting up and setting the skull down on the desk. “Even if they bought all the remaining stock, there isn’t much they could do though, right? How much is available?”
“If they could get enough, they might be able to demand a seat on the board or force a board turn-over,” replied Evan.
“They can’t get rid of us or Charlie though.”
“That’s more your department than mine. But Dad and Randall once talked about forcing Charles Senior out. If I remember right, they could have forced him off the board, but he would have still owned shares and voting rights.”
Aiden sucked air through his teeth. “I’m going to have to go back and read the partnership agreement, the wills, and the incorporation paperwork. Thanks.”
Evan laughed. “Thanks? I just handed you a pile of homework.”
“Meh,” said Aiden. “It’s not hard and I’ve read all of them before. It’s just a brush up. But if we’re exposed to some potential risk from Zhao, I want to know now rather than when he’s camped on our front doorstep.” Aiden tapped his fingers a bit more. “I’ll see what I can pull together and then we’ll compare notes at Sunday dinner?”
Evan looked surprised, although Aiden wasn’t sure why. “Yeah. Yeah, sounds good. Let me know if you need anything,” he added, standing up.
“Probably the names of the companies buying stock.”
“I’ll send you what I’ve got when I get back to the office,” said Evan.
“Great, thanks.”
“See you Sunday,” said Evan, opening the door.
“Yeah, see you Sunday,” said Aiden, already logging onto his computer intending to run a search on Zhao Industries. He looked up again in time to see Evan lean down to say a brief sentence to Jenna and then depart for the elevator. Jenna looked shocked, but smiled tentatively after him. Aiden waited until he heard the elevator ding and then went out to Jenna’s desk.
“What did he say?” Aiden asked, bracing himself for the worst.
“He said thank you for the water,” said Jenna. “Every time he’s been here before he’s been… I’ve never had anyone make me feel so incompetent in my life. And he’s definitely never said please or thank you before.”
“I’m sorry he was rude,” said Aiden. “I didn’t realize he’d done that. I would have said something to him.”
“It was only a few times,” said Jenna, looking embarrassed. “He didn’t actuallydoanything.”
“He can be really horrible,” said Aiden. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault,” she said. “And this time he was fine. Sort of nice even? I thought maybe you’d already said something to him.”
“No,” said Aiden. “That was all him.”
Jenna shrugged. “Well, then... I don’t know. Maybe he found a better therapist?”
“I think he foundatherapist,” said Aiden and then realized that she had been joking and that Evan would be mortified to have his problems publicly discussed. Why could he never learn to keep his mouth shut? Jenna looked uncertain of how to respond.
“That is really great, then,” she said eventually. “I would send his therapist a massive bouquet of flowers.”
