Expensive Mistakes

Boyd

My meeting with Henry keeps replaying in my mind. How he was so convinced that a female at the helm of his beloved company would ensure its failure. Any business-minded person—scratch that, any reasonable person—knows that’s not true. A CEO’s gender has no bearing on the success of a company. It also makes me furious for Sophie, because she’s dedicating her life to a company where her work may never pay off. The more I think about it, the angrier I get. That anger is seeping into my current job, which causes me to snap off the steam pipe on our expensive espresso machine, creating an unmistakable hissing sound.

“Dammit.” I scramble to unplug the machine behind all the other equipment on the counter. After a few seconds, the steam slows and stops.

“Whoops,” Tessa comments from behind me. “I’m glad that was you and not me.”

That’s less than helpful. This machine cost nearly six thousand dollars. Not to mention, it’s required for a lot of our orders. The only saving grace is that it’s almost closing time, so espresso isn’t popular right now.

I turn around to face the customer who was waiting for the Americano I can’t deliver. At least, not without busting out the French press and taking at least fifteen minutes to heat the water and brew the espresso. The woman is disappointed, but seems understanding after seeing the near disaster.

The good news is, I have a friend who does small appliance repair, so I send him a quick text, hoping for a rapid reply. We’ll need this machine in the morning.

“Excuse me,” a soft voice calls from the pickup counter. “Are you Boyd?”

I study the elderly woman for a moment, finding nothing familiar about her. “I am. Can I help you?”

Her kind smile reassures me she’s not here to complain about a past order, but also leaves me wondering why she is here, asking for me.

“I’m a friend of Sophie’s. I was hoping you wouldn’t mind speaking with me for a moment. If you’re not too busy.”

This woman couldn’t be more opposite to Ashlyn, but mention of being friends with Sophie piques my interest. I glance over at the lack of a lineup and gesture to Tessa that I’m taking a few minutes.

I turn back to Sophie’s friend. “Sure. Can I get you anything first? An Earl Grey or peppermint tea? Anything other than espresso.”

“Oh, thank you, darling. A tea would be lovely. Whichever you suggest. I’ll find a seat over here.”

I quickly make a peppermint tea for the woman whose name I still don’t know and stroll over to where she’s seated in the back corner of the café, farthest from the door. I drop into the seat across from her and set her drink on the table.

“Thank you for seeing me. I’m sure you’re busy. And thank you for the tea.” She smiles, but her face turns sombre. “Oh, where are my manners? I’m Celeste Miles.”

“Boyd Edwards. Nice to meet you, Celeste. You came at a good time, actually. I was in need of a break.”

“Yes, I’ve heard you’re a hard worker.”

That surprises me. Not that she’s heard I’m a hard worker, but that she’s heard of me at all. I assume if she was Sophie’s grandmother, she wouldn’t have introduced herself as a friend. Her characterization of herself has me curious. “How do you know Sophie?”

“Oh, she’s my neighbour, but we’ve become good friends. My husband died two years ago, not long after Sophie moved next door, and she was my saving grace. When she’s at work, I dog-sit for her, and she comes over for dinner a few nights a week.”

So much of that surprises me, too. Sophie’s claim that she barely had time for a social life seems to be true. I never would have guessed she spends most of her evenings with an elderly widow. Looks like we’ve both made assumptions that were wrong. “I’m sorry to hear about your husband. It’s nice you have Wilson to keep you company.”

Her forlorn expression disappears in an instant. “Oh, have you met my dear Wilson? He’s just the sweetest thing. Sophie doesn’t know I know this, but she got that dog to keep me company because she knew I couldn’t handle one on my own all the time. She’s an angel, that girl.”

More surprises.

“I don’t know a lot about dogs, but my few minutes around Wilson, I’m sure he’s the friendliest one around.”

Celeste’s smile fades as she takes the spoon out of her cup, setting it on the saucer. “I came to speak with you about Sophie. I’m quite worried about her, and I wasn’t sure who to turn to. Her brother is difficult to get a hold of.”

For some unknown reason, a pit forms in my stomach. Whatever Celeste is going to say is not good, because she looks genuinely distressed.

“I’m not sure how I can help, but I’ll try.”

“Thank you. I understand you met with her father on Friday.”

I nod.

“After speaking with you, Henry called Sophie into his office and made some disgraceful comments to that poor, sweet girl. She came home on the verge of tears. I had half a mind to march down to his office and confront him, but I don’t want to make things worse.”

The pit in my stomach turns into a churning crater. “What disgraceful comments?”

Celeste takes a sip of her tea, delaying her answer. “I don’t know how much to tell you, because I don’t want to upset Sophie.” She exhales a deep breath, and each ticking second is amplifying my level of concern.

As Celeste continues to fill me in on the vitriol Henry McNamara spewed at his own daughter, I come to two conclusions. One, I was right not taking that job. Two, Celeste might not want to walk into his office to confront him, but I do.

It was easy to make my way into the building again by contacting Joel and asking if I could see Henry for a few moments. After the way he treated his own daughter, I hope he doesn’t lash out at his assistant for allowing me in, but I’ll be sure to take the full brunt of his anger.

The elevator doors open on the eleventh floor, and I turn right toward Henry’s office. Intention is evident in the tempo of my steps as I march down the corridor. That tempo is disrupted when I see Sophie ten feet ahead, walking with her head down.

“Sophie?” I step to the left so I can block her path, forcing her to look up at me.

She’s not crying, but she looks like she’s fighting not to. “What are you doing here again?”

I’m not about to admit Celeste came to talk to me because I won’t rat out an old lady. “What’s wrong?”

She sniffles and straightens her posture. “Nothing. You didn’t answer my question.”

I scan the area and see a few gawkers looking at us. “Not here. Can we go to your office?”

She leads me to the opposite end of the corridor, where we pass an exuberant Andy and walk into her office. She calls out, “Hold my calls a bit longer, please, Andy,” as she closes the door behind her. “Okay, why are you here?”

I’m farther inside her office than I was last time, and it feels weird having her closer to the exit. This is her space, but from this viewpoint, she looks like the visitor. I wait until she rounds her desk before I speak. “Something your father said on Friday really bothered me. I was coming to give him a piece of my mind.”

“Ha! Don’t be ridiculous. People don’t give Henry McNamara a piece of their mind. A piece of their business, their real estate holdings, their first-born child, sure. Never their mind.” She stares at me for a long pause.

I don’t flinch under her gaze. “Maybe that’s why he is how he is. Because no one does.”

“No, people give in to him because he’s ruthless. Why do you think you’ve never heard of anyone who has gone toe to toe with him, hmm? Anyone who has, has been buried. Punted straight into a life of obscurity, lucky to find a job as a septic tank scrubber.” There’s not a hint of doubt in her words. She’s had a front-row seat to Henry’s dealings her entire life. I don’t doubt she’s witnessed that exact thing happen.

“Why do you stay here? Keep this job?”

“It’s my legacy. There are people here counting on me to run this company one day.” There’s a lot less conviction in those words.

I war with myself, whether I should tell her what he told me. It’s possible he’ll change his mind down the road and everything she’s hoping for will be handed to her. It’s also possible he’ll string her along for the next decade and she’ll lose the opportunity to achieve her full potential. I may not know her well, but I can tell she has the ability to succeed. So, what I was convinced was not my place to share, I feel compelled to now, because I don’t like being strung along, either. “He told me he’s not going to pass down the business to you.”

Sophie doesn’t look the least bit surprised. “I know.”