Alternatively, no one knew that if those factors weren’t in place, the role of President and CEO was still coming to me. I was on a first-name basis with most of the board members and had been for years. My father ensured that he positioned me to work closely with them in other capacities in the industries I was trained in. Except for two of the board members, they all wanted me in the role of President and CEO.
After five years, or upon my father’s passing, which I hoped didn’t occur, I would assume ownership of the company in tandem with Russell.
My father had never shared the details of the upcoming merger between Sheffield Technologies and Darden Innovative Solutions with most of the staff.
No one knew the intimate details about Russell and me, nor that our pairing led to the merger that would be happening.
That had only come about in the last five years. Discussions had turned into concepts, which had turned into research that led to proposals, and now it seemed as if we were on the brink of making it official within the next two years.
No one knew that both he and I would be in parallel leadership positions to ensure both companies' interests while making it a powerful conglomeration. Yet, I would have authority over Russell.
I, of course, was just fine with leaving those details out of the public spotlight.
The last thing that I wanted was for anyone to comb through my private life or assuming that I couldn’t find a man of my own. Or worse yet, realizing how greedy I was to gain the reins of this company even at the sacrifice of my personal life.
After I’d given the updates about the board changes, I looked around the room expectantly to see if anyone had questions.
A red-head male sitting at the opposite end of the table warily raised his hand. Andrew Letteral was the managing director of supply chain management.
“Yes, Andrew,” I said, refusing to call him Andy as he’d frequently asked.
He needed to understand that we were in two unique roles, and just because I wasn’t my father didn’t mean that I wouldn’t command the same level of respect. It didn’t matter if Andrew was two years older than I was or not. I was still the incumbent CEO, and he needed to respect that.
Too often, he’d tried to get on familiar terms with me, commenting on my attire, asking why didn’t I sit in the cafeteria with the rest of the staff and just a general lack of respect entirely.
“Excuse me, Miss Sheffield, but if you don’t mind me asking...is the reason they’re retiring because they have a problem with your leadership skills.”
A smirk crossed my lips as I leaned forward in my chair with my hands clasped together. I refused to be the bitch I wanted to be and cut his ass down. Especially while my father was watching, but that didn’t mean that I wasn’t about to hand his ass to him on a plate.
“I’m not sure where you received your information from, Andrew, and I’m not in the business of entertaining rumors. We have a seven-hundred-sixty billion-dollar corporation here. We don’t make our decisions lightly, and they aren’t based on who’s in popular demand. While I will be more than happy to take this discussion offline and into more depth after this meeting, I won’t allow it to derail this meeting. And perhaps the most valuable takeaway for you, Andrew, is that if people choose to retire based on that interest alone...then perhaps, they never had the allegiance to their positions required, nor the best interests of the company at heart after all.”
I reveled in the fact that he’d turned extremely red under my mild tongue-lashing, but I didn’t show it outwardly. Instead, I looked around and asked, “Will there be any more questions?”
Eyes shifted around the room, and there were only two gazes that remained on me, my father’s and Elaine White, his secretary of six years. She gave me a proud wink and smile before shifting her gaze to her iPad.
I couldn’t quite get a read on my father’s look and decided not to think about it too long. Instead, I focused on wrapping up the meeting as tidy as I could.
Once everyone had gathered their items and left the room after having one-on-one discussions with me, I grabbed my things and prepared to go, as well.
A slow, loud handclap stopped me. Turning around from where I’d just removed my charging cord from the wall, I saw that my father still occupied his seat at the other end of the table.
“Sugar Pop, you’re doing me proud.”
I wasn’t sure whether to smile, laugh, or cry. Gaurav Sheffield barely administered praise.
“Thank you, Daddy.”
Pushing back from his seat, he met me at the other side of the table as we stopped at the doorway.
“The entire time you ran this meeting, I visualized you and Russell. The places that you two will take this company and what you will do with it brings me great joy like nothing else. I cannot express to you how anxious I am to see the two of you married off.”
I shifted my gaze away from his and smiled nervously.
“Honey, are you okay?” he asked as I grabbed the doorknob to the conference room.
“Yes, Father. I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, just a little hungry. I didn’t eat breakfast this morning. After this long meeting, I’ve just got a bit of a headache. Nothing a little food won’t cure,” I said with a weak smile.
“Hmm. Well, why don’t you have lunch with me?” he suggested.
Any other time that would have been a perfect idea, but I didn’t think my stomach could handle one more word about Russell. And I was sure that’s what would happen at lunch; I’d hear all about the praises my father reserved only for Russell.
Damn, I didn’t even
