Rich People Problems

iii | grabbing balls

KIMBERLY

THE GLOW OF the sun—at that right time before sunset—was hitting the glass windows of the meeting room ethereally.

The tense atmosphere created by the board members was balanced by the light, giving me some faith that maybe—just maybe—everything would turn out okay. It was wishful thinking, but right now, it was all I could depend on.

"How lovely of you to join us, Ms. Astor," one of the senior board members, Markus Farrell, greeted me, animosity seeping through his tone. Looks like he's been taking a leaf out of Dad's book. Nonetheless, you don't make it in this world if you let them get to your head.

I had my own reasons for disliking every single cell of skin on that man, but for the sake of running a company, I couldn't let that show... theoretically.

Markus Farrell has been with our company—serving as the COO—for a little over a decade, so he had the seniority and connections that would make Dad kill me if I did anything to piss Farrell off.

It didn't matter that Dad didn't like him either. After all, business was business.

Placing myself in the seat adjacent to Dad's, I forced a smile in his direction. "Of course, I wouldn't miss this for the world."

"I assume you are aware as to why we called for this meeting," a slightly warmer voice called out.

Dr. Keisha Adebayo was another one of the high-ranking board members and CFO of the company. Being a woman of color in a white man's world is not to be taken lightly, but Dr. Adebayo filled her role with grace and dignity. The same can't be said for everyone here.

With more respect in my tone, I responded, "I think I have an idea as to why I'm here, but there might be more I'm unaware of."

This was nothing but the truth. My drinking situation—and the habits that came with it—wasn't an unusual topic of conversation, but it's not often that all the board members gather to discuss it. It was more something Dad preferred to berate me about in private because 'image matters'.

Dr. Adebayo continued, knowing that the only person who I would remotely listen to was her, "As you already know, our long-term investors are getting angsty with the transition of power from your father to you."

"Angsty is an understatement," Markus rudely interrupted. I narrowed my eyes in his direction and opened my mouth to let out what would be considered an inappropriate retort, but the death glare Dad was giving me put my comeback on hold.

"Refrain from interrupting me while I'm speaking," Dr. Adebayo continued. "As I was saying, they are especially uncomfortable because of your very public habits that they consider a weakness against our old, but strong rivals."

She didn't even need to name them. I instantly knew who she was talking about.

There are a few companies that dominate a majority of the industry that they are in. As a conglomerate, we have a foot in many of those industries. However, there was a company that was giving us a run for our money.

Laurent-Shaw Inc.

Gregory Laurent and David Shaw were two very lucrative business partners and created a major alliance to save their suffering companies. They were doing great for a while until David Shaw suddenly passed away about a decade ago.

It shocked the business world, but the company slowly recovered and recently began attacking at full force, putting their seemingly docile nature aside.

I didn't know much about the two, but I definitely knew Gregory Laurent's son Nathan Laurent.

There are only two words I can think of to describe him: fucking asshat.