Chapter 13 You Don't Steal From Family
There’s an awkwardness between us but I do my best to ignore it as I explain my team’s current list of projects to her.
“You won’t have to be involved in any of the actual design work,” I tell her, “but you’ll need to know the details of each project.”
She is nodding her head vigorously as if that will prove that she’s paying attention. It’s almost endearing. Although not quite, because it also looks like her head could completely fall off.
“Er, if you have any questions about any of them, you can ask me or the team members associated with the project,” I say, passing her several project folders over the desk.
“No problem, Mr Grisham.”
“I mean it,” I tell her. “It’s better to ask questions than do something wrong.”
I sound stern but I don’t intend it that way. I’m trying my best to be patient. It’s not one of my strengths but if it means I don’t have to keep training new assistants, I’m willing to give it a shot.
Sighing, I say, “let’s go. I’ll show you around.”
“Holly gave me a tour yesterday,” Eden tells me.
Her eyes go wide as she realises her mistake. I wonder if I should explain why I want her to keep Miss Sinclair at a distance but I’m pretty sure I made it clear yesterday. We might be treating today as a fresh start but neither one of us has amnesia and if the look on her face is anything to go by, she clearly remembers our argument.
I climb to my feet.
“I bet Holly didn’t show you where we keep the best coffee,” I tell her, my tone more relaxed than I feel.
“There’s decent coffee? I’ve only managed to find that horrible instant stuff,” she says, her eyes lighting up. She likes coffee, I note to myself.
We’re quiet as we leave my office. The department is now bustling with life; a gentle chatter mingled with the sound of pencil on paper. She hesitates, taking it all in.
“Sir, can I ask you something?” she asks, turning to face me.
“Yes.” Obviously. I’m pretty sure I just told you that, I think to myself.
“You said that Clancy’s Comforts is a family legacy,” she practically whispers.
“Mhmm.”
“Then why do the design teams try to steal from each other?”
I don’t understand the question. I would have thought the answer was obvious. Competition. Pride. Money. There are any number of reasons but they all amount to the same thing, greed.
“I guess it’s easier than putting in the work themselves,” I say with a shrug of my shoulders.
“But isn’t there a sense of family?” She asks it as if it actually pains her to hear that some people behave badly. It can hardly be a surprise. The world is full of people who act selfishly, hurt one another, break the law even.
“Are you really that naïve?” I ask before I can stop myself, chuckling lightly.
She doesn’t reply. Instead she just stands there, looking at me earnestly waiting for me to continue.
“People are greedy.”
“You don’t steal from family,” she says, her eyes cold.
I want to tell her that you shouldn’t steal period but there’s no point. It’s not like she doesn’t already know that.
“No, but not everyone you think of as family will treat you that way.”
She still doesn’t look convinced.
“But Eliza Clancy treats everyone as family,” she says with conviction.
Where does she get that? How we she know how Mrs Clancy treats her employees? She’s not wrong but still…
With a sigh, I cross my hands over my chest.
“Do you have a sister?” I ask.
“No.”
“Brother?”
She shakes her head.
“Parents?” I try again.
“No,” she says calmly. I try to ignore the way her eyes appear to sadden.
She’s an orphan? Instinctively, I move to reach out to her, placing my hand on her shoulder in comfort but she jumps back as if shocked, leaving me to wonder if I should apologise.
“Do you have any family?” I shouldn’t ask. I probably just sound nosey. But if I don’t ask, I’ll struggle to answer her question.
“I have a grandma,” she admits.
“Okay. So, let’s say something happens to her.”
“What?” Her eyes widen with panic.
“Let’s say… she’s sick and she needs specialised doctors that cost the earth.”
She nods her head, frowning slightly.
“Mrs Clancy would pay the medical bills for you,” I tell her without hesitation.
“How do you know that?”
Because she did it for my dad, I almost tell her.
“It’s just who she is,” I say instead. “She looks after her employees.”
“That’s…” Her voice dies off and I wonder what she wants to say.
“It’s amazing, right? But now imagine, the same thing in reverse. This time, it’s her granddaughter. Would you do the same?”
“Of course, I would,” she says and for a second I almost believe her.
Except people aren’t that generous.
“Okay, maybe you would,” I say, choosing not to pick a fight with her, “but most people wouldn’t. In fact, most of the people who work in this building, wouldn’t even pay her prescription fee for cold medicine.”
“Are you really so jaded?” she asks me, her eyes curious.
“I’m jaded and you’re naïve,” I say with a smirk. “We’re a great combination.”
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