Future Shock

Robert stood and turned away from the table. Closing his eyes tight, he tried to process the incredible amount of information that had been squeezed inside his brain in the last several minutes. His mind was whirling with a mixture of emotions and facts. Part of him was frustrated that he hadn’t been consulted, that Daniel had made this plan and enacted it, all without his knowledge or permission. Maybe they could have came up with another plan, a way out that didn’t involve shedding the company he’d spent years rebuilding. But his rational mind, acknowledged the facts still.

It was true that Robert’s first instinct was to fight. The fact that he hadn’t even been allowed in the ring was what angered him, but Daniel’s prediction was just as true. Zurbrugg would have retaliated, the board would have been fractured, the business itself would have suffered, and in the long run, even if he won, he would have spent years again, rebuilding, just to get back to the same plateau of success. He wasn’t a young man anymore. He didn’t want to keep fixing broken things, he wanted to build something that he could pass on to the next generation.

Pacing now, along the length of the dining table, behind Brooke and Heather, he considered Daniel’s plan. In part, it was insane, and risky as hell, if the board figured out what was going on too soon. But, he had to appreciate everything that his brother, Chastity and Zack had done to ensure some small sliver of victory. With everything that they had stolen from the company, they could make their moves before the board even knew what hit them. The real question was whether he wanted it. Though it had been some time ago, the long hours, early mornings, the headaches when negotiations just weren’t going his way and he had no leverage; it was all still etched into his memory.

Nowadays, Ravers Enterprises had grown so much that there wasn’t a deal that couldn’t be worked out with some patience or a little strong-arming. And, in truth, there was no fun in that. Robert still enjoyed his job, but he did miss the rush of working towards a deal that might make or break the company. The months of agonizing sleepless nights and negotiations that seemed to go round in circles were all worth it for the satisfaction in the end when he finally got what he wanted and kept the company running for one more year. But that was a long time ago, and Robert didn’t know if he still had it in him to go through all of that again.

“I’m in, but only if they are too.” He gestured towards Heather, and Zack.

“What do you mean, if I’m in?” Heather looked at her father as if he’d grown a second head. “If you think this is a good idea, then I’m behind you one hundred percent.”

“I appreciate that, honey, but right now, we’re at a crossroads.” Robert explained, stepping close to his daughter and kneeling before her as he placed a tender hand on her leg. “There’s no question of your loyalty, rather, if there was ever a time when you wanted to do something else, this would be it. I won’t be offended, and Daniel won’t be upset either.” His daughter looked to her uncle who confirmed the sentiment with a nod. “This company, it was always my dream. It doesn’t have to be yours.”

“There’s nothing I want to do than run this company at your side.”

“Well, that’s not true.”

All heads turned to Zack, surprised at his contradiction. He swallowed, suddenly feeling very warm with all the eyes in the room on him. Heather’s eyes in particularly, glowering at him, not quite sure what he meant, felt like they were burning into his soul so intensely that they actually have set him on fire.

With some trepidation, he explained, “Remember, when we went hiking up to the caves to look for Victoria? You told me, when you were younger, that you had been interested in being a ranger. I’ve heard you talk about that place; Silver Lakes might be the one place that you’re passionate about, other than your family and the company.”

“Zack, and your father, are right,” her mother joined in the chorus voices impressing upon the raven-haired teen that the rest of her life could be decided from this very moment. “This isn’t something you should do without due consideration. I don’t begrudge the fact that you look up to your father, or that you want to follow in his footsteps, but this company has always been his dream. This might be your one opportunity to do whatever else you want to do with your life, darling. You won’t be letting anyone down. We’ll all support you, no matter what.”

“And,” Robert rose, back to his feet, with some effort, his bones not quite as limber as they used to be. “What about Zack?”

The young man’s cheeks flushed again, as he pointed at himself, and dumbly asked, “me?” as if there were any other Zacks in the room.

“Yes, Robert,” Brooke stared at her ex-husband with similar confusion. “You do remember the leaked paternity results? He’s not actually your son.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Robert replied with a shrug. “Think of the loyalty this kid has shown our family over the last few days. He could have been angry with me when he thought I was his father, or he could have chosen to have nothing to do with us and sided with his own family. Just yesterday morning, Gregory was here, shouting down the walls about how Zack shouldn’t be working for us, but when given the choice, he chose to stay on and help.”

“Well, by that point, Daniel had already told me the situation at the company,” Zack interjected, anything to take the shine out of Robert’s words. “I couldn’t just abandon him after I said I would help.”

“That’s my point exactly!” Robert beamed at him, deepening Zack’s embarrassment. “Time and time again, you’ve put the needs of this family and this company before yourself. Heather, you know, but Daniel you didn’t, and still agreed to help. As far as I’m concerned Zack, there will always be a place at this table for you, and a place in the new company, if you want it.”

“I didn’t…I mean…I just…” Zack stammered, unprepared for such high praise. “It was just the right thing to do.”

“Possibly,” Daniel remarked. “But you still did it, and that’s what matters. Even if Heather agrees, she’s going to need someone who has her back. Someone to support her when she’s doing the right thing, and someone to challenge her when she isn’t. There will always be advisers and businessmen who’ll try and tell you to do one thing or another, but they all have their own agenda and motives. She’s going to need someone she can trust, and you’ve more than proven your trustworthiness.”

“Wait, aren’t you two getting just a little ahead of yourselves?” Heather asked, grappling with the huge decision that had been placed upon her. “We’re just setting up the new company. It’ll be years before you two think of passing it on.”

“Back when we took over Ravers Enterprises, we were in prime of our lives. A wealth of possibilities and opportunities lay before us. You find, as you get older, that those opportunities and possibilities that once spread themselves out like a carpet before you, get smaller and smaller. I still intend to be around a few decades yet, but I can’t expect to still be running the company into my eighties or nineties. So, if we do this, it has to be with a view towards the future, it has to be for the next generation,” Robert explained, striding to the head of the table, and standing behind the chair. “It has to be with your permission and your partnership.”

“I agree, even though I have no children of my own. Maybe it could still happen, I’m not sterile yet, but I’m also getting to an age where there are any number of ailments and complications that could cut my life short prematurely.” A deep frown darkened Daniel’s face. “The future of the company has been on my mind a lot lately, perhaps even more so than it is for Robert. It is imperative that we pass down our work to worthy successors. Our grandfather ruined the company by passing it on to our own incompetent father, and he held on to the company for too long, his pride in the way of realizing his own time had come to an end. When the time comes, I can’t think of two more worthy successors than you pair.”

“Unfortunately, we can’t really give you much time to consider it,” Daniel added with an apologetic grimace. “Making the move against Ravers Enterprises today is time sensitive. At most, I figure we have eight hours, so we’re going to need your answers now. I understand the pressure is immense, asking you to decide the rest of your lives in five minutes, but we need to know now, before we begin.”

Zack shook his head, but didn’t speak. What they were saying was crazy, asking him, an eighteen-year-old, whether he would someday want to inherit their company. Though he’d admitted to Lisa just last night that going into the world of business might be a potential career path for him, he’d never in his wildest dreams expected Robert and Daniel to offer it up to him on a silver platter. He’d even been worried that they’d hate him, but instead Robert called him family. But as sweet as their words were, Zack had to think of his mother, of his real father, how would they react? Would choosing one side push away the other, he wondered.

Indecision had crippled Zack for days. Chloe or Ashley? Ashley or Lisa? Follow his heart or betray his friend? Act on his incestuous desires or ignore them and bury them deep deep down? Cheat on his girlfriend, or stay faithful? Even when he had made decisive actions, like asking his mother about who his father really was, hadn’t he been encouraged by Lisa? Pushed by Heather? He sucked at deciding what he wanted. Even hiking up that hill to the caves with Heather, he’d admitted, he didn’t know what he wanted to do after high school. And now he was being put on the spot and asked to decide his whole life. It was impossible.

For Heather, it was almost a case of being the opposite problem. The decision had been one that she’d made a long time ago. She was going to inherit her father’s company and do him proud. It had become akin to her destiny, she believed in it so deeply, but that same zealousness was also what had kept her from considering any other career paths, at least with any seriousness. She was to take over for her father, and that was that. Except it was no long that, and if she wanted, if she really truly wanted to do anything else with her life, to forge her own path, she could do it. So, the question she asked herself was ‘what do I really want?’