"Don't worry baby, you'll fix it somehow. You're brilliant. I know you'll figure it out. I believe in you."
"I don't know if I can do it this time Ashton. I have to though. I have to try. I can't let everyone down. All those people. Everyone at the company. I have to figure out something."
"You will baby. You will."
Poor Jason. All I could do was offer him some comfort. I rubbed his back as he sat at his desk and wrung his fingers through his hair. My husband was incredible. He had the kindest heart of anyone I knew. Everything he has become has come through hard work and dedication. He has never sacrificed his morals for goals either. He does what is right and does it with intense passion. You see, Jason grew up in a very entitled family. They were richer than rich. They were elite. His father came from lots of money. He'd inherited an oil fortune and he was one of wealthiest men this side of the United States. He'd turn his good fortune into an even bigger empire. His company was one of the biggest conglomerates in the whole world. He had his hands in the auto industry, sports franchises, soda beverages, alcohol, real estate development, weapons systems and even electronics. If Jason ever had the chance to think he was entitled his father gave it to him. Jason never let it affect him though. He was the most unintitled person I knew. Fortunately, for me and everyone important in his life, he treated people with the utmost respect. He is a humble minded man and extremely generous. On his own, without any help from his father, Jason started a water company that was a huge success. This allowed him to be hugely generous, to the poor and needy throughout the rest of the globe. He donated almost more than he sold. He was that kind of man. Always giving back and always thinking of others. His business, Pure Fresh Flow, was a trendy beverage company that he created and built from the ground up. He employed about 200 people and Jason knew everyone of them.
I guess his father, Charles, didn't agree with his ethics. He loathed his son. He never gave him anything. Not a dime and Jason never asked for anything either. Not once. He wanted to make it himself and he wanted to make it on his own ethics and merit. Charles didn't understand why Jason was so charitable. Charles would never do that. He never gave back and his employees were just robots in his eyes. They were there to work for him, break their backs for him if they had to. The only thing Charles ever did for Jason was to purchase our home. It was very elegant, large and expensive. I had thought he did it as a wedding present. Like, maybe he took the opportunity to finally do something kind for his son and I but Jason corrected me. The only reason he did that was to serve his own ego. To maintain his lifestyle and to make it seem to everyone else that he was a success in everything, even family life, he made sure his son had a home that would be admired by most everyone. How sad and disgusting was Charles. He hated me too. I came from a normal, middle class, blue collar family; we didn't have every toy but we had everything we needed.
Charles treated me like Jason's trophy wife. Sometimes he didn't even acknowledge me by name. He'd said on a couple of occasions, "Move out the way, sugar tits", or "Nice to see you Apple ass." I'd get livid anytime he called me legs though. It was so objectionable. Jason would always remind me that his father was a bastard to everyone and not to take it personally. I did my best but most of the time I'd make sure I didn't have to be in the same room as him. I was extremely happy with Jason, and the life we'd built together, and I wasn't going to let Charles ruin it for anything.
As my thoughts drifted, Jason shouted,
"Ashton, what if I take a loan out again? I can save the company if I can get another loan or another investor. What do you think? Do you think it's a possibility?"
I had no idea. We were already in debt but our company was on the upswing. We just couldn't keep up with the demand, we needed money to expand, before we lost all our new clients. There is so much momentum in this market that we didn't, and couldn't, take a chance of tarnishing our legitimacy. We needed to keep our company growing and expanding.
"I have no idea Jason. You would know best. I mean, isn't there like a consultant friend or something. Someone you know you can chat with?"
"I have." He just shook his head in frustration. "Everyone else has told me the same thing. They keep telling me to sell or to downsize if we can't handle the demand."
I rubbed his shoulders, hoping it would make him feel better. My poor husband. What was a girl to do.
Later that week things got worse. I heard from one of Jason's friends that we lost a large investor and some of his clients had gone with a competitor. We were about to lose most of our client base. Jason was so stressed out that I had no idea what to do. He wasn't able to secure a loan and there weren't any investors who were serious enough at the moment. Jason needed action now. Someone who could invest so he could expand the business immediately and meet all of our potential customer's demands.
That night, we were in the bedroom, getting ready for bed when I had an epiphany. It was ludicrous but I thought it would work.
"Jason, I have an idea, but you have to promise not to blow your top okay."
He just laughed and turned towards me as he crossed his arms and waited for my pitch.
"Go ahead Ashton. Let me have it. What's this idea?."
As he stood there smiling, I winced and sputtered out, "What if I got your father to loan us the money?"
Jason got bright red. I didn't know if he was mad or if he was about to laugh his head off. He turned away and walked into the closet without saying anything.
"Jason what are you thinking? Should I? I'm sure I can do it."
Jason just laughed, so much so that he almost fell over. He walked over to me and gave me a massive bear hug. I felt him kiss my cheek, as he walked off and climbed into bed.
"Jason come on. It's not a bad idea. He has more money than he knows what to do with. It would be nothing. We've never asked him for anything before."
"That's because he's an old, nasty miser. There's no chance Ashton."
I crossed my arms and stood there as he flicked the light off. I thought it would work but Jason seemed to think it would be impossible. As I climbed in bed and snuggled up next to him, he rubbed my head and told me not to worry. That he would think of something. That he wouldn't let his company tank. I knew he was worried though. I knew the holiday season was coming up and if we lost any more investors or customers, we'd have to down size a bit. Jason would die if that happened. The was last thing he wanted to have happen, to lose any of his valuable and loyal employees before the new year. I knew he was stressed. I knew I had to figure something out for him.
The next day, Jason had gone to work and I just finished my workout with my trainer. I don't work so I mostly keep the house, work on my body and try and be as fit and attractive for my husband as I can. I handle all our finances at home but for the most part I am a homemaker. I'm not your typical housewife though. We don't have kids so most of my activities are fitness based. I've done every marathon known to man. I train at our local crossfit and I run a fitness group in our neighborhood. Normally, I'd be consumed in all of that but I had another set of things on my mind this week. I was determined to talk with Charles about Jason's company. If anyone had the means to help, it was Charles.
Right after lunchtime, at about 1 o'clock, I found myself in the lobby of Dechtronics. It was one of the company's Charles owned and one he always had his hand in. I knew he would be there, so I came right over without making an appointment. I took the elevator up to the thirtieth floor and walked into his personal office suite, which just so happened to be an entire floor at the top of the building.
"Hi Sandra. I'm Jason's wife. I'm here to see his father, Mr. Charles Cunningham. I don't have an appointment but I was hoping to meet with him. It's kind of an emergency."
His secretary was really sweet and buzzed me through his door into his personal office. Charles was on a telephone call and facing out towards his massive office windows. The suite was huge. His office alone was more than 3 quarters of the entire floor. You could almost see 360 degrees around the building. It overlooked the whole city of Los Angeles and Charles seemed like a villainous kingpin or something. Since I knew better than to bother him on a call, I just took a seat in front of his desk and waited patiently. I was so nervous. I had no idea how he would react. Since he is such a chauvinistic pig, I did my best to dress conservatively. I wore my most capable blouse and a gray houndstooth pencil skirt, with black stiletto heels and three quarter stockings. I had my eyeglasses on for added prestige, even though I only needed them really for reading in the dark. He didn't know that though. As Charles finished his call, he slammed his phone on his desk. It knocked a pen off the side, which rolled down toward where I was sitting. Charles hadn't even notice me as he bent down and let out a curse word.
"Shit! This darn back is going to be the death of me!"
He suddenly noticed someone was sitting there, which startled him. It looked like he was going to slug me for a second. Then he hesitated when as he was eye level with my thighs. I jumped out of my seat when he shouted, "Damn, those are some sexy stems if I ever saw them. Who is this vixen in my office?" Charles didn't realize it was me at first. As he stood up with a smile across his wicked face, he said, "Oh damn, if it isn't my twit of a daughter in law! Who the hell let you in here?"
His words frustrated me. Everything he said was harsh and every time he spoke he used such an arrogant, abrasive tone. It was like he was eternally pissed off. I'd liken him to a bear with a splinter in its paw.
It my sweetest and meekest tone, I said,
"Hello Charles. I spoke with Sandra and she let me in."
"What in the world did she do that for?"
I was frightened now. He scared me to death and he was looking at me like he wanted to kill me. His hands curled into fists and he punched them into his waist as he stood there waiting for a response.
"Charles, I needed to speak with you urgently. It's about Jason, your son."
"Oh great. What happened now? Did my whining, sniveling, poor, little, coward of a son hurt himself?"
"No it's nothing like that Charles. It's about his company, our company really."
"By company, do you mean, that hole in the wall water bottling plant? Who the hell needs bottled water anyway. Hasn't anyone ever heard of a glass of water?"
I offered him a small giggle, hoping it would soften his dense mind. It didn't though. Charles walked back over to his chair and sat down as he flipped his phone on. He always had it with him. He never took his eyes off of it. It was like his lifeline.
"You have two minutes sister. You can tell me what you want now, or you can leave in two minutes, shaking that little ass of yours out my door. Either way, get to it!"
"Well Charles we, or I, was hoping you would be interesting in investing in our company. We could offer you a quarter of the shares."
He just laughed at my remark. "What the hell would I want that for. I have all the money I need. Why would I want to steal your lunch money, kid? I should just open my own water bottling company and drive yours out of business. Then I'll take over Jason's property and piss in all of his hippy bottles."
I shook my head in frustration and pushed my eyeglasses back up my nose.
"I understand Charles. I thought you'd say something like that. The other option is you could maybe just give your son a loan, out the kindness of your heart?"
This angered him. He stood up, slammed his fists down and said, "I don't give money away. Especially to that pint sized, sniveling little brat. He's gotten plenty from me. If he wants to be a hippy and run his company like one, then he can suffer like one. He isn't getting a dime from me!"
I sat in his chair defeated. I had no idea he was going to be this terrible to me. I swear he hated his son. As I sat with my head down, Charles just checked his phone, most likely looking at his clock. Waiting for the moment he could usher me out of his office, and get on with his miserable life. I was desperate. I had no idea what to do but I had to do something. I couldn't go back home a failure. I couldn't let Jason down and all of his employees down. We all needed Charles to help. He was practically our last chance at success. As Charles counted down from ten I quickly blurted out,
"Please Charles. I'll do anything. Anything you want. Just name it!"
One of his eyebrows lifted. He loved my desperation. He loved power. He lived for it and it consumed him. He wanted to own everything and everyone. He wanted control and he knew I was just begging like a pauper in front of him now. He sat up slowly and walked over to my chair and gripped the handles on it.
"I've never liked you Ashton. If anything, you made Jason even worse off. Look at you. A poor common girl trying to move into our elite family. You and your ways of thinking and your involvement in his stupid granola ways. He's such a liberal piece of shit now. I'm sure that's your doing."
I lifted my head. Tears welled up in my eyes but I stood my ground. No one was going to make me feel less than perfect. He smiled when he saw my resilience. A smirk sprung up on his face as he looked down at my neck, then down to my blouse and over to one of my thighs, and the slip that was poking out from under my skirt.
"What do you do all day Ashton, work out?"
"What do you mean Charles?" I waited for his response, as I wiped a tear from my eye.
