Chasing Aurora

After work, I went to my dad’s office. The head honcho himself, Hubert Jennings. He was known for his ruthless approach to business but to me, he was dad. The man who loves singing in the car and is totally okay with making a fool of himself. We kept our relationship fairly professional at work and I tried to refer to him as Mr. Jennings when there were other people around. He never gave me special treatment at work either. He was usually tougher on me since he knew I would take over his business one day.

“Piper! Good, we need to go over the game plan for tonight.” My dad’s booming voice filled the office. He was a large man in every sense of the world. Standing well over six feet tall with a strong athletic build despite him being in his fifties. He was a boxer in his day and he’s the one who encouraged me to get into fighting in the first place.

“Yes... dinner tonight.” I closed the door behind me and went to sit on one of the chairs opposite him. “What are the chances that I could skip this dinner?”

“None. This meeting could change the face of our company forever. You know this. What could have come up that could be more important than this?”

“It’s my fight this weekend.” I sighed, “The girl I was supposed to fight backed out and now I’m fighting this new chick. No one knows anything about her so I’m going in blind. I need to work twice as hard if I have any hope of winning.”

“Pip, you’ll win because you’re good.” His steel eyes bore into me, “You have an excellent instinct in the ring. Listen to your instinct and don’t make any dumb decisions and you’ll win. Now can I get you in a clear head for tonight?”

“Yes Dad.” I nodded. I was glad to have the pep talk. He knew exactly what to say to stop me from panicking. He just had this serene calmness to him that I envied. I was much more of the hot-headed type. “I’m going to go home and change for tonight. Are we meeting at the usual place?”

“Of course. Before you leave, I need to remind you that Mr. Dubois and his wife are close friends of mine. They have a daughter around your age and if they bring her, I need you to keep yourself professional. She is off the table you hear. I do not need Mr. Dubois pulling out of this deal because you hooked up with his daughter.”

I couldn’t resist rolling my eyes, “Come on Dad, I know how to keep things professional. On that note, I had to write up my secretary today for being extremely late and she tried to seduce me to get out of it. So yeah, I’m probably going to need a new secretary.”

“I told you that Ms. Mercier was a bad choice.”

“I know, but now I know better.” I pushed myself off my chair and walked out the door, “See ya later Pop!”

“You’re an idiot Pip!” He called out after me. I laughed as I left his office feeling better than I did before I walked in. I collected my things and headed home.

When I got home, Samson greeted me at the door with his tail wagging. I closed the door and knelt on the floor giving him a good scratch. “Hi boy. Did you miss me?” I kissed him on the top of his head before I stood up. “Alright, let’s get you some dinner cause mama has to go out.” Samson happily followed me into the kitchen. Once I gave him his dinner, I was able to get ready for my night.

I went to my washroom and began to style my hair for tonight. As I ran my hands through my short locks, I couldn’t help but smile. When I was younger, I hated how my mom made me wear my hair long. I didn’t like how people were pulling my hair and it was always getting in my eyes. I had complained to Aurora in a dream when I was about six. She could be a troublemaker for someone who looked so innocent and sweet. With her help, we came up with a plan.

The next morning when I woke up, I took my scissors to my hair and cut it even shorter than it is now. My mom was so mad at me but my dad just laughed. They did end up taking me to get it fixed. I haven’t had hair longer than my jawline since. Anytime my mom tried to make me to grow out, I would just cut it again. Eventually, she gave up, but I definitely made things difficult for her.

I finished up my hair and went to get dressed for the night. A pair of black dress pants and a black silk tank. I’d throw on one of my favourite blazers on top before I left. For now, I threw on my leather jacket so I could take Samson on a walk before I left for the night. We just did a quick circle of the block before coming back home. He happily went straight over to the couch and curled up in a ball.

I put on my blazer and quickly ran a lint brush over my pants to get rid of the dog hair. I gave Samson a quick pet before I left for dinner. I had ordered a car instead of driving since I know the parking situation at the restaurant would be terrible.

When I walked into the restaurant I was instantly greeted by name. My dad and I spent a lot of time here as this was his favourite place to conduct meetings outside work. As he explained it, you needed a restaurant that was expensive enough to be impressive but not so expensive that he’d have to take out a second mortgage to pay for it. His words, not mine.

The host took me back to our usual table where my parents were already waiting. “Pip! There you are. I was worried you were going to be late.” My mom scolded me as she stood to give me a hug. She was a slender elegant woman. I took after her in many ways, the same brown hair, eyes and height. I was much more muscular than her and she was much more feminine, but we still looked more similar than different.

“Sorry, I had to walk Samson before I left.” I went to go sit beside my dad who nodded at me as I got myself seated.

“How is the old boy?” Dad asked.

“Oh, you know Samson, I don’t think anything could get him down.” I was distracted for a moment by a waitress asking what I’d like to drink. Once I ordered my parents and I chatted for a few minutes about nothing in particular. We had a really good relationship. I did cause my mom many stress headaches over the years, but nothing out of the ordinary.

“Hugh!” A tall slender man approached the table with who I assume is his wife beside him.

As I stood to greet them, I found myself analyzing them. I already knew they had to be around my dad’s age but there was something youthful about their appearances. The man’s hair and goatee were a dark black with only a touch of grey. His skin was just starting to show signs of his age. The woman appeared even younger with her blonde hair cascading in gentle waves around her youthful features that appeared untouched by fillers or botox. She was the kind of woman who just aged beautifully.

“Stefan, Leah, how are you?” My dad said as he took Stefan’s hand.

“Oh, you know, keeping busy.” Stefan smiled before turning to my mom, “Drew you look as beautiful as ever.” My mom thanked him before she turned to Leah. Stefan turned to me, “Piper! Look at you all grown up. The last time I saw you, you couldn’t have been older than one.”

“Well, since I don’t remember that it is nice to meet you.” I took his hand in a strong handshake.

“A strong grip. Just like your old man.” He smiled

“She’s just like her father.” My mom bragged with a proud smile, “She is smart, stubborn and has a killer right hook.”

Everyone laughed and we settled into an easy light conversation as everyone decided what they were going to order. Once our food was ordered, it was time to turn towards business. The Dubois had made some incredible leaps in the field of robotics. With their company, we could put out some of the most cutting-edge technology on the market. It was exactly the direction we needed to go if we wanted to continue expanding.

“I don’t know if I’m ready to sell yet.” Stefan sighed, “This company has been in my family for generations. My daughter doesn’t seem to have an interest in technology now, but in the future, I can’t be sure. My priority is making sure that she is taken care of and that she can have a job when she wants one. Then there are all my employees who have worked with me for decades. I have so many people that I look after.”

My dad started to speak but I just had to cut in, “Stefan, we completely understand. We’re a family business as well. I will be taking over from my dad one day, just like he took over from his dad. We are not here to come in and gut your entire business. That is not what we are after. We want to work with you and your employees to create something even better. Your employees are assets in this, and we want them working for us. While there will be some restructuring, the goal is to prevent as many job losses as possible. We can also write into the contract that should your daughter want to work for us, she will get a job that is suited to her talents.”

I kept my eyes on Stefan and his wife. They turned to each other in silent conversation as I held my breath. I really hoped this worked. This would be huge in proving my place at the company if I could secure this. I was careful with my words, not promising anything that we couldn’t provide. In regard to their daughter, I was sure not to promise her a job that would be too damaging to us if she turned to be completely incompetent.

“Alright, I need to talk this over with the board but if I were to sell to anyone, it would be you. I can see my company would be in good hands for years to come.” Stefan’s eyes met mine in a gentle smile. It took everything in me not to celebrate out loud. Instead, I kept my cool. I nodded with a large smile plastered on my face that I was sure wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon.

I felt my dad’s hand clap on my shoulder. I turned to see him beaming with pride as he gave my shoulder a squeeze. “Piper has a brilliant future ahead of her. She is a born leader and has excellent instincts. I have a feeling that she is going to give us all a run for our money one day.”

I felt my heart constrict with emotion. My dad didn’t tend to compliment people often, so it made every compliment that much sweeter. When I looked to my mom, I could see the same pride painted across her face that was decorating my dad’s. At that moment, everything just made sense.

If only things could stay like this forever.