I nodded, swallowed, and went back in for another piece.
I could see where Lisa was coming from. However, I had concerns of my own.
Lisa could be a forceful person. On more than one occasion, she’d pushed things too far and I could see the beginnings of one of those situations forming in an invisible thought bubble above her head.
“What did you have in mind exactly?” I asked.
Lisa pulled her chair up closer to the table and smiled. “I was waiting for you to ask me that.”
Here we go.
Lisa gripped the edges of the table. “I have a plan that I think will motivate Lukas to see things my way. I’ve already made contact with a journalist who often writes about CEOs and social-justice issues. I’m in the works of setting up an interview between her and Lukas. A series of interviews actually. My hope is that these interviews will form a sort of blueprint of how a tech CEO can become a philanthropist. I’ll document Lukas’ first forays into philanthropy, and in the process, we’ll humanize him and show the world, or at least Seattle, how good of a guy he is beneath all the ones, zeroes, and techy code.”
I scratched my chin. “It sounds like it would make a good article. Is Lukas on board with the idea?”
Lisa winked. “That’s what you’re here for. To hook him into giving.”
I grimaced. “No pressure.”
“Once he gets the charity bug, he’s bound to open up. You just have to find a way to make it interesting. That’s all.”
“Interesting?”
“Yeah, you know. Something to hook him and draw him in. Maybe a way to distract him from the fact that he’s doing charity.”
I frowned. “I don’t know, Lisa. Charity work to me is interesting and fun. But I don’t know if I can swing it to be that appealing to a billionaire.”
“I have confidence in you. You’re a professional and so is he. I’m sure you’ll find common ground sooner than you’d expect. Besides, you grew up with Lukas. You know what he’s like. How he thinks. If anyone can convince him to make a change for the better, it’s you. I’m sure of it.”
I appreciated my friend’s confidence in me. I truly did. But I couldn’t help but feel that she was overestimating my skills as well as her brother’s willingness to try something new.
The Lukas I used to know was not the same man I’d sat across from in that conference room. That man was someone else. Someone hollow and materialistic. Lukas had always been a hard worker, sure, but a selfish or greedy one? No. He hadn’t been either of those things.
The task before me was daunting. Part of me wished I’d never agreed to help out with this. I didn’t like to mix work and personal life for a reason. Things like this easily became unnecessarily complicated.
What if I failed? What if I couldn’t get Lukas to step up the way his sister needed him to?
Would she blame me? Would he resent me for pushing too hard? Would his image in the public eye worsen if he dipped his toes in the pool of charity and then got cold feet and bailed before any real progress was made?
The stakes were high.
“Should we order more mules?” Lisa asked, nodding at our empty copper cups.
I had an early start in the morning and should have said no, but my nerves were getting the best of me, and another drink sounded like the perfect way to ease the swells of anxiety in my belly.
I nodded. “Sounds like a good idea to me. Good luck flagging that waitress down, though.”
Lisa twisted around in her chair. “She’s gotta be around here somewhere.”
While Lisa scoured the restaurant for our server, my mind wandered back to Lukas in his dashing suit and tie. His cool stare was burned into my memory and I began to wonder what the best way to get through to him would be.
Maybe all he needed was a gentle touch. Maybe being told what to do and how everything he was doing was wrong wasn’t the way to go. Maybe he just needed someone to take his hand and show him how to be softer. How to care.
That would be my game plan. Kindness first, action second. It worked in my day job. There was no reason to think it wouldn’t work for Lukas, too.
Chapter 7
Lukas
I’d had a headache since I got up that morning. Perhaps I’d indulged in one too many glasses of whiskey upon getting home after visiting my mother yesterday. Or perhaps it was just the usual stress of daily life catching up with me. Two coffees, aspirin, four glasses of water, and a hearty breakfast hadn’t helped.
The intercom on the old-school phone on my desk buzzed. A little green light blinked and my assistant’s voice filled the speaker.
“Mr. Holt? There’s someone here to see you. She says she has an appointment.”
I held the button down beneath the green light. “What’s her name?”
“Rebecca Mills, sir.”
That name didn’t ring any bells. “I don’t know who that is.”
“She has an appointment, sir. It looks like Lisa set it up. She’s here with her and—”
My sister’s voice filled the line. “Let us in, Lukas. Do you ever check your agenda? What’s the point in making appointments if the guy you’re making an appointment with never refers to his schedule?”
My headache doubled in intensity. This is just what I need this morning.
“We’re coming in, Lukas,” Lisa said cheerfully.
Well, that was that. I closed my laptop, leaned back in my seat, and listened for the telltale sound of high-heeled shoes coming down the hallway toward me. I didn’t have to wait long to hear them. Maybe twenty seconds tops.
Another ten seconds later and my office door swung open. Lisa walked in wearing a lavender pant suit that I might have told her looked pretty on her if she hadn’t already gotten on my nerves this
