Ray knocked on my door early Wednesday morning. I’d been at the office for a couple hours already. I was busy working on my notes for the day. Sean and I were going to discuss a few things about public speaking. Not wanting to forget a thing, I had been jotting down notes all morning.
“How did it go with Sean yesterday?” Ray asked as he walked inside and took a seat across from me.
“It was good,” I said, nodding. I set my pen down and turned to face Ray. “A lot better than I expected, honestly. He didn’t have any problems following directions. He didn’t even complain about the clothes. Not too much, anyway.”
“Did the photographers get some good material?” he asked.
I nodded. “I think so. They’ll be sending the shots over by Friday, so we’ll see how they turned out. I’m confident, though. It looked great. Real. Honest. This is going to work, Ray. I’m sure of it.”
“That’s great.” Ray smiled, but he still looked concerned. “What do you have planned for today?”
“Sean’s coming in to go over a few things,” I said. “That attitude of his needs some serious work. I don’t see how we can let him speak until we deal with that. He’s not big on the idea of public speaking.”
“No,” Ray said. “I don’t imagine he would be.”
“He put up a fight about it yesterday,” I said with an understanding nod. “But I would have been surprised if he hadn’t. I made it clear that he didn’t have a choice in the matter. It’s in his contract, which he signed before the photoshoot. He’ll do it, or he’ll lose out. He understands that.”
“I’m sure he does,” Ray nodded.
“Now, all that’s left is to work on his demeanor before his first public speaking event,” I said. “I want to get him poised before we put him up there. Otherwise, all the advertisements will mean nothing.”
“Sounds good,” Ray said. “Just take it easy on him, okay?”
Ray’s words took me by surprise. My train of thought derailed. I’d been moving full steam ahead with my plans, but Ray stopped me short. Take it easy on him. What did he mean by that?
“Sean can be…” Ray continued slowly. “Well, he can be difficult, I know. But don’t be too hard on him.”
“Okay.” I nodded, more confused than ever. “I won’t.”
Ray smiled and left my office without another word. I watched him go, still frowning. I didn’t know where that came from. Sean treated everyone horribly. He acted like his brother didn’t even exist and like Ray was scum. He had yet to show me any real respect, and I couldn’t imagine he behaved any differently around other people. To me, he seemed like exactly the type of person you should be hard on.
It didn’t make sense for Ray to make such an odd request. The impression I got was that Ray wasn’t the best father in the world to Sean. Why, then, was he all of a sudden worried about the way I treated his younger son?
Just take it easy on him, okay? He can be difficult, I know. But don’t be too hard on him.
For a moment, I remembered Sean explaining his lack of opinions at the photoshoot. He said his brother and father weren’t around. Was it possible that Sean’s behavior was centered around them? That he wasn’t usually so hard to work with? That, maybe his family just brought out the worst in him?
I thought about the photoshoot. He was surly at the beginning, but it was nothing compared to the way he’d been in Ray’s office. That morning, he was hostile and angry. His very being radiated with rage. Yesterday, though…
It didn’t make sense. Nothing between the Yates family made sense to me anymore, but I shook my head and decided not to worry about it. I would obey Ray’s wishes, but I wouldn’t put up with Sean’s attitude. If he lashed out, I would speak up. He needed to get himself under control if we were going to launch a successful ad campaign. Nothing else mattered.
***
I sat in the conference room for almost an hour before Sean finally showed up. He walked in slowly, his jacket thrown casually over his shoulder. Without his jacket on, I could see his biceps bulging through his shirt sleeves. I’d never noticed before, but he was more muscular than I thought. His t-shirt fit tightly over his chest, and I had to force my eyes back up to this face. Luckily, he didn’t seem to notice, but when I met his gaze, I felt my face flush slightly.
He sat down across from me without a word. His blue eyes found mine, and he shook his hair out of his face. It was shaggier than normal, more unkempt, but it looked good. Better than good. I found myself wishing I could reach over and run my fingers through it. I shook myself and remembered where I was.
“You’re late,” I said simply.
He shrugged. “Just a little.”
“An hour,” I corrected. “You’re an hour late.”
“Okay,” Sean said. He didn’t bother to offer an apology. He looked at me with mild amusement and leaned back in his chair.
“Look,” I said. I leaned forward and glared at him. “There are a few things I won’t put up with. Being late is just one of them. If it happens again, you’re gone. Is that clear?”
“I’m gone?” Sean raised his eyebrows. It was a challenge. “What does that mean?”
“Yes, gone,” I said firmly. “You can slink back off to your other life. We’ll find someone else.”
“And here I thought you picked me for a reason,” Sean said. “I didn’t realize you had bikers lining up at the door for the gig.”
I wanted to argue, but we were at a standstill. He knew we needed him, and I knew he needed us. The only thing I didn’t know was why he needed us. The money was good, better than good, but if he hated his father as much as he seemed to… it didn’t make sense. I glared at him and tried to figure out what his motives were.
No amount of empty threats could change anything, though. I wasn’t going to fire him, and he wasn’t going to walk. We stared at each other, both wishing we had more leverage to argue with. When I finally realized I couldn’t win, I sat back and exhaled loudly. There were a million things I wanted to say, a million petty jabs I wanted to make, but I didn’t. I stayed just as silent as he did.
Finally, I broke the silence and cleared my throat. I adjusted the papers in front of me and slid a sheet over to him. He grabbed it and looked it over without interest.
“This is a breakdown of our talking points,” I said. “I’d like to go through them one by one, so we can perfect your delivery of each. It’s vital that you don’t deviate from these points. If you do, things could get complicated. Before we go over them, though, there are few things you need to take note of.”