Deborah stood at her desk and flipped through the slides she’d copied for her meeting with Isaac. Even though she told herself the meeting wasn’t a big deal, she was anxious about it. She felt she needed to prove to him that she was competent for the position Abraham had given her with Running Brook. Even though she wished it wasn’t so, it was important that he thought well of her and Michael.
Satisfied that the status of Running Brook was accurately represented in the slides, she put one set in each of the two folders on the desk before her. Taking the folders, she headed out of her office and to Isaac’s. Not seeing his secretary, she checked her watch. Two minutes early. Perfect timing. She knocked on his door.
“It’s open,” Isaac said. “Come on in.”
She opened the door and entered his office. Hers looked like a cubbyhole in comparison. She knew from Alan that this was actually Abraham’s office. The massive desk drew her attention first—it was twice the size of hers. She didn’t want to gawk, but couldn’t help sneaking a peek at the photos on his desk. She thought she saw one with him and former President Bill Clinton. The bookcase—actually, a library media unit—was filled with gilt-edged books.
Isaac waved her over to the conference table where he sat, a multitude of files and papers in front of him. When she reached the table, he stood. “Thanks for coming,” he said, a welcoming but professional smile on his face.
“No problem. You’re the boss, after all.” His smile faded a bit. She wanted to take back the words as soon as she said them.
“Have a seat,” he said, reseating himself.
She followed his direction.
“This is awkward, isn’t it?” he said.
She was taken off guard by the comment. She’d expected him to keep their conversation strictly work-related. “Very awkward.”
He studied her for a long minute. “Do you mind if we talk about it?”
She shook her head. She didn’t mind but she had no idea where or how to start.
He chuckled. “I don’t know how to talk about it.”
She smiled. He was trying, and she had to give him credit for that. “It must be harder for you. You grew up an only child. I grew up with Michael.”
It was his turn to laugh. “I don’t know if I’d agree. Growing up with Michael couldn’t have been easy.”
Deborah had to walk the tightrope of defending her brother and making excuses for him. “I apologize for what happened at the board meeting. Michael shouldn’t have hit you.”
“I hit him first,” Isaac said. “He provoked me, though.”
“I’m sure he did,” she said. “I don’t know what else to say.”
“Our father wants us to be this big happy family but I don’t see how that can be, since Michael hates me.”
“He doesn’t hate you.”
“He and my wife Rebecca used to date. Did you know that?”
Deborah shook her head. Michael had gone through a lot of women before he married Josette. He didn’t bring many of them home to meet the family.
“Well, they did. Michael sent us a wedding gift and followed that up with anniversary gifts each year. He was taunting me, even before I knew he was my brother. I’d say he hates me.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “I don’t know what gets into Michael.”
Isaac tossed his pencil on the table and slouched down in his chair. “I don’t blame you or him for what happened between your mother and my dad, so why does Michael blame me?”
“Think about it, Isaac,” she said. “Put yourself in Michael’s shoes. It’s easy for you to be magnanimous. You grew up with a father and all of this. We had neither.”
He seemed to consider what she said. “Do you hate me, too?”
She gave his question similar consideration. “I don’t hate you,” she said, “but I hate what you represent.”
“And what’s that?”
“Someone my father chose to love when he didn’t choose to love me.”
“Oh, my God.” Isaac wiped his hand down his face. “I never looked at it that way.”
“Why should you? You’ve always had Abraham. You probably took—take—his love for granted. You have a sense of entitlement that’s been inbred in you, and nobody blames you for it. You’re entitled because you’re a son. It’s different with us. I’m a daughter, but I was never entitled. Just the opposite, in fact. Same with Michael. You’re on the inside and we’re on the outside.”
He picked up his pencil and twirled it between his fingers. “Did you take the job here at MEEG because you felt you were entitled to it as his daughter?”
“That was part of it. Abraham presented it to me as my birthright and I agreed with him. Does that make you feel threatened?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. My mom feels that way—that you’re taking something from us.”
“She’s right. What was originally to be given to one child is now being shared with three. You’re getting two-thirds less than what you would have received had we never showed up. That has to make you feel something.”
Isaac closed his eyes, opened them quickly. “Right now, I can’t go there. I’m still dealing with the fact that my half brother has ruined a relationship that I thought would last a lifetime. I probably hate Michael as much as he hates me. Maybe more.”
“He’s my brother, Isaac, so I have to stand with him.”
“I’m your brother, too,” he said, “your half brother.”
The words were a jolt to her system. He was her brother. “To be honest, it’s not real for me. I don’t even know you.”
“You don’t really know Abraham but you’ve accepted him as your father. Or, you’ve accepted his largesse.”
Deborah tried not to be insulted by Isaac’s words but she found it difficult. “To answer the question that you haven’t asked, I don’t love Abraham like a father but I wish I did. It’s going to be a long road for both of us. There’s a lot of mistrust and hurt between us, mostly on my side.”
“So do you think Abraham’s plan will work?”
She shrugged. “I want it to. It’s in my best interests that it does. What about you?”
“Honestly?”
She nodded.
“My life would be a lot less complicated if Michael were not in it.”
“Well, that leaves us at a stalemate because I’m not going anywhere and neither is Michael. If I have anything to say about it, he’ll be given a position here at MEEG in the same way that you and I were given one.”
Isaac nodded. “I guess we’d better get back to the stated purpose of this meeting. What do you have to tell me about Running Brook?”
Deborah handed Isaac the folder of materials she had prepared for him. She outlined the projects she wanted to keep and why, as well as the ones she wanted to discontinue. He listened intently and asked pertinent questions. When she left, she was more determined than ever to see that Michael’s interests were protected. She also had a greater respect for her half brother.