A Rose by Any Other Name

Besides the tourist board, just outside the caves, where it was possible to stand beside the fence and look out over the forest, to see the waterfall in the clearing along the top edge, and beyond that where Silver Lake itself glittered in bright, sunny light, where on the clearest day you could see the great structure of the Ravers Lake Hotel, it’s tall majestic windows like golden monoliths in the sun, that was where Heather imagined herself, dressed in the grey and green colors of the National Park Rangers. Maybe Ranger White was behind her, the pair of them preparing to navigate the tunnels, to look for areas of structural weakness, or perhaps there was a crowd of school children, eagerly awaiting a tour to see the habitat of bats that lived inside.

It didn’t really matter what she was doing, the point was that Heather could see herself there, in that uniform, doing the job. She had great respect and appreciation for the lands surrounding Silver Lake, which was more than a lot of people could say for their jobs. Even as rich as she was, despite never having worked a proper job a day in her life, Heather was quite aware that job satisfaction wasn’t something that everyone could claim to have. It was why her father was intent on hiring people who were not just at the top of their fields but also had a real passion for their work.

As a Park Ranger, Heather could do some real good. The main role of a ranger was to help others, which meant regularly interacting with strangers, something Heather had no problem with thanks to her personable personality. She was quick and decisive, meaning that she would be able to help in the most efficient manner possible. The challenge of the job appealed to her as well. No day was ever the same, and required the skills of a doctor, a fireman and a police officer, without any of the specialized equipment on location. What do you do when someone is trapped under a log, and the emergency services take an hour to even get up the mountain, and longer still to hike because the rig can’t make it up the trail? Those kinds of problems were only solved because of the ingenuity of the Rangers.

However, she could do a lot more good at Ravers Enterprises, or whatever their new company would be called. Silver Lakes, as big as it was, was only one part of Azure Rocks, and the busy little town that bustled in the shadow of the mountain was still growing. Heather wanted to be part of that development, to build hospitals and houses, to provide jobs and security, to create good memories for everyone else who grew up here, so that they would appreciate and respect the town just as she did. And yes, tourism too, to invite others to come and see what all the fuss was about.

“I’ve thought about it,” Heather announced, having taken the full five minutes. “And this is where I belong, here, with my family, in our company.”

“I’m not surprised. I had an inkling that you’d stick with it, but I’m just happy you didn’t just charge ahead without a second thought,” Brooke told her, as she smiled and stood, waiting for Robert finish hugging their daughter.

“Well, what about you Zack?” Robert asked, as Brooke hugged Heather and Daniel rose to embrace her as well.

The dark-haired boy bit his lip pensively. Neither his father nor his grandfather had ever pushed him into medicine or detective work, and yet those felt like the main two paths in his life that he could follow. His only hobby was reading, he didn’t quite have the skills to write convincingly like Victoria, nor was he technically minded like Gavin, and, though fit, he lacked the raw athletic talent of someone like Brandon. But reading hadn’t been a complete waste; it had left him analytical and quick thinking, if not particularly decisive, both traits that he felt would serve him well in investigative work or diagnostic medicine.

It wasn’t until just yesterday, when he spent a day in the life of Robert Ravers, that he even considered one day running his own business. And the Ravers weren’t even asking him to join them because of any particular skill, it was purely out of loyalty. Though, Zack didn’t think he’d be bad at the job, being quick to understand a problem, and able to critically assess the situation were traits that no doubt serve him well in the world of business as well, but he didn’t want to take a job just because he’d sided with the right people.

“I’m sorry,” he said, rather softly. “I appreciate the offer because I helped you all out, but I don’t think I can accept the responsibility of being anyone’s successor, just out of loyalty.”

“Is that what you think we’re doing?” Daniel asked, with a raised eyebrow as he parted from his niece. “Zack, this isn’t simply nepotism. I threw you into the deep end this past day, I’m not only impressed by how you swam but how well you swam. Not a lot of people would have understood what was going on, or as sharply as you did. You have good instincts.”

“You seem to be forgetting that it was you who inspired me on how to contain the damage that Hannah could have done,” Heather added, smiling brightly with her hands on her hips. “None of us would even be standing here talking about this if it weren’t for you and that brain of yours. It wasn’t me or my family you were thinking of then, it was Lisa, but it was still a good idea.”

“Wait a moment, Hannah and Lisa?” Brooke balked, looking between her daughter and her ex-husband. “Did you have something to do with those two girls that were on the news?”

“The lawyer is handling it,” Robert replied curtly.

“Uh, I really don’t think now is the right time to talk about that,” Heather said under the hot stare of her mother’s scouring gaze. “Uncle Daniel says we’re on a tight schedule.”

“Listen, Zack,” Robert approached the youngster. “I’m sorry if we made it seem like we were only offering you the job because you helped out. Honestly, son or not, I still see a lot of myself in you, perhaps some parts I wish Heather had inherited, like the patience to stand by and assess the problem, or the ability to take criticism and adjust. But the way you remind me of myself most is that I felt exactly the same when I was young.”

“Everyone I met, who talked to me for more than five minutes, said I had a good mind for business, that I was smart and capable and would make a good CEO someday. But I felt inexperienced and there were a lot of things I didn’t know about running a company,” Robert continued, resting his hands on Zack’s shoulders. “People have this perception of business that it’s just learning the rules and sticking to them, or that it’s a gamble, but the truth is that it’s an ever growing, every changing organism, that requires constant learning and attention to tame. I can’t count the number of courses and training that Daniel and I have done of the years just to keep up to speed with the evolving ways in which the modern world does business.”

“Now, don’t take this as us trying to convince you to join the new company. You have a lot of reasons to say ‘no’, and if that’s your answer, then that’s your answer. None of us, not even Heather, will stop you from following your own path,” he shot a warning glance at his daughter to make sure she agreed with a firm nod. “But please, don’t turn down this offer because you think you aren’t good enough. We’re offering this to you because you are, in fact, you are exactly what we need. But you have to want it too.”

Zack felt flushed following Robert’s impromptu speech. It wasn’t just his face, his whole body felt warm and glowing, as if there had been a momentous shift in the ground beneath him, a feeling he hadn’t felt since he found out Robert might be his father. At that time he had ran, ran all the way through the dark and unknown tunnels inside the caves of Silver Lake mountain and came out behind Zaffre Falls, to find Lisa, distraught and crying upon a rock.

Stumbling upon his then ex-girlfriend, now girlfriend again, at that time, in that place, had felt like fate. Just as this moment did now too. Perhaps it was the sincere way in which the Ravers family had talked about his characteristics, or maybe it was something more otherworldly that he couldn’t quite define, but this felt like something he should do. A way for him to grow, to expand, to become the kind of man he wanted to be, for himself, and for Lisa. Beaming, his eyes shining, close to tears, he agreed.

“Yes. Yes, I’ll do it.”

The five of them cheered, and it was Zack’s turn to be passed from body to body, hugged and embraced and welcomed and congratulated.

“Now that we have our junior partners, we need to decide what our next move is,” Daniel said as he separated from Zack, and Heather moved in to hug her friend. “Namely, what we’re going to do. Tourism and development is naturally our-”

“Hold on,” Heather interrupted, while Zack moved on to her mother, blushing slightly to be held in the arms of the older woman. “Shouldn’t we decide on a name for our new company first?”

“I don’t think that’s the most pertinent issue right now, honey,” Robert said calmly. “Like Daniel was going to say, our first goal should be deciding on a project that-”

“But, if you don’t have a name, what will I say when I answer the phone?” Chastity asked with a hint of a pout. “Or the letterhead?”

“I don’t foresee us getting many calls for now, or sending any memos,” Robert noted.

“Not to overstep, after all those cool things you had to say to me, but, well, we are building a brand as much as a company,” Zack hesitantly disagreed. “It’ll be easier to sell a new organisation if it has a name.”

“He has a point,” Brooke sided with Chastity and the kids. “Developers and investors will be much more willing to work with Ravers Enterprises 2.0, than a group with no name.”

Heather elbowed Zack’s ribs and grinned. “And you thought you weren’t useful.”

“Well, since you all seem to be in agreement, I guess we should sort this out before we move on,” Robert conceded, folding his arms as he stared downwards, thoughtfully. “‘Ravers Enterprises 2.0’ is a terrible name though.”

“It wasn’t meant to be taken seriously.” Brooke huffed.

“Simplicity is always best. ‘The Ravers Building Group’, or ‘Azure Rocks Developments’ are clear and informative,” Daniel suggested.

“And boring,” Heather countered, though offered nothing in return.

“Pity. I liked ‘Enterprises’. Enterprises just has a nice zing to it. And it’s fun to say. Enterprises. Enterprises. Enterpri…” Chastity went rigid, breasts jiggling, literally jolted upright as she was struck by an idea. “How about ‘Bishop Enterprises’, after Zacky?”

“Z-Zacky?” Heather looked at her friend like all her Christmases had come at once.

“Shut it,” ‘Zacky’ hissed before humbly rejecting Chastity’s suggestion. “There’s no way you can put my name on the title. There’s more Ravers than Bishops represented here.”

“More than Lakefield ever got,” Brooke joked. “Maybe I should change my name to Bishop as well to even out the odds.”

“Oh, me too,” Chastity said, utterly sincere, her hand shooting up into the air. “I want to be a Bishop too.”

Rather than simply changing their names, Zack imagined having to marry both women to bring them into the Bishop fold. It wasn’t difficult, they were both fine, beautiful women, though completely different in personality. Brooke Lakefield had the appearance of a matured Heather Ravers, her cool blue eyes not quite as electric as the younger model but still capable of subduing him in a single stare. And any woman that was married to Robert Ravers must have quite the sex drive, Zack assumed, picturing the fierce, confident woman, barging into his room and announcing they were doing to fuck. Unfortunately, as the fit, medium breasted MILF crawled over him, her face and body morphed and instead it was his mother straddling him.

He shook his head, dispelling the image he knew he shouldn’t even think about. A picture of Chastity conjured up in his mind in its stead, the big titted, honey colored blonde sitting atop their bed, dressing in nothing but a white, sheer negligee. She bounced on her knees to see him approach, and clapped her hands ecstatically at the bulge in his pants. He imagined her awe when he pulled it out for her, but the very idea that she’d name that part of him too made him shudder, and he **** himself back to the real world.

“Someday, Zack, you’ll be on the company name, don’t worry about that,” Robert insisted, slapping the young male on his shoulder with a large hand. “Typically, however, junior partners don’t get their name on the title.”

“Well, why not?” Heather continued to smirk, unable to stop herself. “People also don’t typically break off from their own company to start another, so who cares about convention? Besides, if we want to convince ‘Zacky’ here that he’s a valued part of the company as much as anyone else, shouldn’t we put his name on the title too?” Tapping a finger on her chin, Heather turned her attention to the name itself. “Not ‘Bishop Enterprises’ though, because two competing companies using ‘Enterprises’ is silly. No…how about…the ‘Bishop-Ravers Corporation’?”