Chương 6
She was not simple enough to hate cleanly.
Nathan hated that too.
At one in the morning he opened Sam’s downside model.
The numbers were worse than he expected.
Vale Meridian moved time-sensitive medical and industrial freight through a network of regional aviation operators. The company had grown too fast in the last eighteen months, and Nathan had approved the Chicago expansion before the prior financing round was fully closed.
Sam had argued against it.
Nathan had pushed.
He had believed Arden Capital’s commitment was effectively done.
Celeste had told him it was.
Their personal relationship had begun two months after the first term sheet.
Nathan had convinced himself those facts were unrelated.
Now the spreadsheet on his kitchen counter looked like a document describing his arrogance.
Without Arden’s bridge, they had choices.
None of them were good.
Freeze Chicago and lose the equipment deposit.
Renegotiate the lease.
Delay hires.
Seek emergency capital at worse terms.
Cut executive compensation.
Sell part of the fleet-services subsidiary.
Possibly all of those things.
Nathan leaned over the island and pressed both palms against the stone.
He heard bare feet in the hallway.
Emma stood there in her pajamas.
Her shirt was backward again.
Nathan blinked.
“Hey.”
She rubbed one eye.
“You promised.”
“I’m here.”
“I know.”
She came into the kitchen.
“What are you doing?”
“Work.”
She glanced at the laptop.
“Is it bad work?”
Nathan almost said no.
He stopped himself.
“It’s difficult work.”
“Because of the lady?”
His shoulders tightened.
“Some of it.”
Emma climbed onto a stool.
Nathan closed the spreadsheet.
“Can’t sleep?”
She shook her head.
“Want warm milk?”
“That’s disgusting.”
“You used to like it.”
“I was five.”
He smiled faintly.
“Right. Ancient history.”
Emma looked toward the refrigerator.
“Can I have cereal?”
“It’s one-thirty.”
“That’s not no.”
Nathan got a bowl.
She chose the cereal with tiny cinnamon squares and poured far too much.
He started to tell her to stop, then did not.
Milk sloshed onto the counter.
Emma froze.
Nathan froze too.
Her eyes went immediately to his face.
It was almost nothing.
A tablespoon of milk.
But Nathan saw the calculation happen.
His stomach turned.
He took a dish towel and laid it over the spill.
“That’s why counters exist.”
Emma kept watching him.
“Celeste got mad because I spilled.”
Nathan sat opposite her.
“Celeste got mad because Celeste chose to get mad.”
“But the water got on her shoe.”
“It did.”
“She said they were really expensive.”
“They probably were.”
Emma looked confused.
Nathan rubbed a hand across his jaw.
“Things can be expensive and still not be more important than people.”
“You say I have to be careful with my violin.”
“Your violin cost a lot of money.”
“So.”
“So if you drop your violin, I might be upset.”
“How upset?”
“Not kick-a-tray-at-you upset.”
Emma’s mouth twitched.
Nathan continued.
“I might say, ‘Emma, please be careful.’ I might make a face.”
“What face?”
“You know the face.”
She did know.
Her small smile disappeared.
“She called me a servant.”
Nathan looked down at the cereal between them.
“I heard.”
“What is that?”
He chose his words.
“A servant is an old word for someone whose job is taking care of things for other people.”
“Like Maya?”
“Not exactly.”
“Was she saying I work there?”
“I think she was trying to make you feel small.”
Emma stirred her cereal.
“Why?”
Nathan looked at her.
“I don’t know.”
That answer was true.
It was also incomplete.
Emma seemed to accept it.
After a minute she said, “I don’t like her.”
“You don’t have to.”
“Do you?”
Nathan swallowed.
“No.”
“But you did.”
“Yes.”
She ate three bites.
Then she said, “Did you love her?”
Nathan stared at her.
Seven-year-olds were supposed to ask impossible questions about death, dinosaurs, space, and whether dogs could understand birthdays.
This felt worse.
“I cared about her.”
“That means yes.”
“Not always.”
Emma frowned.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“No.”
He looked at the dark window over the sink.
“It doesn’t.”
Emma kept eating.
At some point, Nathan realized that was the first useful thing he had said all night.
At eight the next morning, he joined the Arden Capital call from his home office wearing yesterday’s white shirt and no tie.
Sam appeared on-screen from the office.
Two Vale Meridian board members joined.
Three Arden representatives appeared.
Celeste did not.
Her absence bothered Nathan more than her presence would have.
The senior Arden partner, Martin Feld, spoke first.
“We understand there was a personal incident last night.”
Nathan watched the small squares of faces.
“An incident involving my daughter and Celeste Arden.”
Martin nodded without committing to the wording.
“We’re not here to adjudicate personal conduct.”
“Then don’t.”
Sam glanced toward his camera.
Martin’s jaw moved.
“We are here because Ms. Arden is the relationship partner on this transaction, and there is now a material breakdown in that relationship.”
Nathan almost admired the sentence.
A woman humiliates a child.
A father witnesses the aftermath.
By morning, the problem becomes a breakdown in a relationship.
“What are you proposing?” Nathan asked.
Martin folded his hands.
“We pause the Zurich signing.”
“How long?”
“Until we determine whether the transaction remains workable.”
One board member, Helen Price, interrupted.
“Martin, the equipment deposit is Friday.”
“We’re aware.”
“This pause kills Chicago.”
“That is not our intention.”
“It’s the effect.”
Martin looked irritated.
“We cannot deploy forty million dollars into a company whose CEO is in an escalating personal dispute with the lead partner.”
Nathan leaned closer to the screen.
“Then replace the lead partner.”
Silence.
Martin said, “That is not a decision we make on a call like this.”
“Why not?”
“Because Celeste originated the transaction.”
“She also kicked a tray out of my daughter’s hands.”
Sam closed his eyes briefly.
Martin’s expression remained neutral.
“Again, we are not adjudicating—”
“I am.”
Helen said, “Nathan.”
He ignored her.
May you like
Martin continued.
“If you want a formal process, our counsel can speak to yours. But if you want to preserve the financing, I suggest everyone reduce the temperature.”
