Karen & Alexa Ch. 03

"People more my age," Alexa stated.

"For the most part, barring Ripley," Alistair concurred before shaking his head. "That boy, if he fails to become a billionaire, will end up in a mental institution. And it'll be his father who drove him to it."

"No sympathy from me just yet," Alexa said plainly. "Maybe after I've brought everyone around about Alex and myself."

"Enough eyes on us that they'll assume we're trying to convert one another," her uncle mumbled, making sure only she could hear him. "They'll assume I won, since they can't conceive of you convincing me of something so drastic. Play that visual to your strength for now. If the need comes up in the boardroom, I'll give my vocal support to you."

"Thank you," she said quietly. "I'll go sit by myself for a bit, then, make it look like I'm distressed. I"ll see you upstairs."

She rose and walked away solemnly from the seat, heading over to another table in a remote corner, while Alistair watched her the whole way, sipping quietly at his whiskey.

***

"Is this actually about my husband putting you in your place thirty years ago?" Karen asked, close to fed up with Rodney's aggression. "It seems to have had a really negative effect on you."

"This has nothing to do with your goon of a husband, Karen!" Rodney hissed through clenched teeth, his eyes flashing. Ripley stood beside him, trying to look indignant and equally assertive, but failing miserably. He still had a red mark on his cheek from where Alexa had struck him almost two days earlier. "It has everything to do with you not belonging on this board at all, forget being its chair and our CEO! I've always been the smarter and more business-savvy of the two of us! You --"

His phone started buzzing. He glanced at it in annoyance and then let it ring until it went to voice mail while he continued his rant. "You have no place! Your misfit mutt of a son from those overgrown mountain folk you married into has no place here! And your deviant trollop of a sister certainly has no --"

The phone was ringing again and he answered, trying to rein in his annoyance. "Mom, this isn't a good time right now to --"

There was a sudden explosion of yelling into his ear and Rodney jerked the phone away in shock and fright, immediately going pale. The yelling continued from the other end of the call and he just stared at his handset in disbelief. He finally, tentatively brought the phone up to his ear to speak again.

"Mom, you don't understand," he insisted, still pale and clearly unnerved. Even Ripley seemed unsettled. "Mom, it's ... this is about ... mom, I'm doing important things here, and ... mom, please stop yelling at me!"

He actually winced as he held the phone away again, and the person yelling on the end, his mother, could be heard quite clearly. Karen just watched impassively.

"Mom!" he almost pleaded. "No! You don't understand! She -- but Karen, she -- how do you know about her sister and Alex?!"

More yelling ensued, and Rodney was clearly on the verge of panic. Karen heard her name come up more than once, along with Alex, Alexa, and even her husband. Her cousin's face was now cycling quickly between white fear and red embarrassment. He reminded her of the lights on a mechanical reindeer during the Santa Claus parade.

"Disgraceful!" Karen heard shouted in to the other end of the line, along with 'ill-mannered,' 'inconsiderate,' 'selfish' and various other words that made her cousin wince each time.

"Put your square-headed son on the phone!" she heard Rodney's mother yell.

Trembling and pale, Rodney looked at his son and held the phone out to him. Ripley took it reluctantly, going as pale as his father when he held it up to his ear. "G-grandma?"

Ripley almost jumped out of his skin as his grandmother began yelling at him. Rodney was still so disconcerted that he made no move at all to rescue his son from his plight. Plainly he knew better. Ripley looked like he was ready to start crying. Karen simply looked on, not at all fazed by the proceedings.

"Disgraceful ... don't you dare ... like your imbecile father ..."

The rant continued for almost a minute before he handed the device back to his father. Without a word, Rodney put the phone to his ear. He was so resigned to his fate that he didn't even hold the phone away when she got going again. He just winced occasionally.

"... speakerphone!"

Barely able to control his hand, Rodney held the device out and tapped the speakerphone icon.

"Karen?"

"Yes, I'm here, Grace," Karen said coolly.

"If these two give you or your lovely sister any grief whatsoever, they both know what's going to happen to them. They will not oppose your remaining on as chair and CEO, and they will not cause any difficulties for Alexandra either. If they do, you tell me immediately, please."

"Happily, Grace. And thank you."

"The pleasure was all mine, sweetheart. You were always my favourite niece, you know."

"Just wait 'til you meet Alli, then," Karen laughed. "I'll talk to you when this idiocy is over."

The line went dead. Silence hung in the room. Rodney was no longer red or pale, he was ashen grey. He looked at his cousin in utter disbelief.

"You called my mother?" he said in a tone that matched his expression.

"You made it necessary, Rodney," Karen replied shrugging. "She came to Toronto a few weeks ago, and I explained the situation and what was likely to happen. She was fully appraised, and told me all I had to do was message her if you were being difficult. Even if you opposed me remaining on as CEO and chair, the notion of using my sister and son against me meant all bets were off."

"Do you have any idea what she threatened to do?" he breathed, now that the immediate danger was past. "Since my father passed, she still has a fail-safe clause in our family's funds that ... if she ever thought ..."

"That you were being a selfish idiot, she could immediately invoke your father's protocol in his will, strip all your funds and wealth, except for a tiny stipend, to make sure you didn't embarrass the Stockton-Blackwells? Sounds like just about the most Blackwell thing ever."

"You had no right ..." he almost hissed.

"You gave me no choice, Roddy," Karen stated, not at all moved.

She then moved closer to him, and her amber eyes hardened, taking on a dire aspect that made her cousin and his son involuntarily take a step back.

"And let me explain something to you, cousin," she said, her voice quiet, but harder and darker than iron. "I love my family. This family. I am part of its legacy. I want it to thrive. But if this family ever threatened the happiness of my son, I would destroy it so thoroughly that even the untouchables on the streets of Calcutta would look on you all with pity."

Rodney gulped. Ripley looked ready to faint.

"When we go back into that boardroom," she said evenly, her eyes still flashing, "you will fully support my staying on as chair and CEO, never to contest it again, unless I am in demonstrably ill mental health. You will vocally withdraw any objection to my son and sister's connubial arrangements, and never raise the matter ever again. One slip, even one, and I will tell Grace immediately."

She leaned in even closer. "And just so you know, she's willing to make me the next executor of your father's will, unless you smarten up in her estimation. Do we understand one another?"

Rodney wiped at the sweat on the back of his neck and nodded.

"Full support, Rodney," she warned. "Not sullen silence or reluctant support."

He nodded again, still grey, his eyes dull with defeat.

"And liver-lips here stays away from the table," she said, turning her glare on Ripley, who whimpered. "Alexa will once again assume his seat. As deference to your seniority, she will not take your spot. Agreed?"

"Thank you, Karen ..." he breathed.

"Now get out of my office. Both of you," Karen growled, her eyes flashing.

Rodney and Ripley turned on their heels and exited, trying to show no fear. Silence followed as Karen looked at the empty door and the hallway beyond. She leaned back against the ancient desk, and put a hand over her mouth.

A shudder in her breath and her eyes glistening for a moment before she blinked the stinging tears away were the only signs of her letting down her guard, before she stood tall and straightened out her jacket. She took a deep breath and strode out of the room. The important battle was won; the war continued.

She needed to find a stiff drink and her little sister.

***

The boardroom was quiet as Karen sat in her chair, gazing at them all. On one side, to her left, Rodney sat, trying to not look utterly crushed. On her right, Alexa sat impassively, but she gave her sister a knowing wink. As instructed, Ripley stood by the back wall. She might have instructed him to leave the room entirely, but she was not so forgiving of Rodney's impudence that she didn't want his son to see his father's capitulation.

Down the table, Ken and Greg both seemed similarly subdued, both having taken considerable financial poundings over the past few days. Karen almost felt bad for having orchestrated it all, but there were no lengths she would not go to in order to protect her son. Her uncle Alistair observed her keenly, along with cousin Ainsley. Near the end of the table, her aunt Florence continued to sit stiffly and do her best to look offended.

"So then," she began, her tone carrying a note of finality. "Shall we discuss the matter of my remaining on as chair and chief executive for the time being, per my father's wishes?"

"I support it," Alistair said, nodding. "You're the right person for the job, Karen. Not just the right woman, but the right person. Your father groomed you well, and he was the best of us."

Florence sniffed at the end of the table, but said nothing. Karen ignored it. There was no sense in picking a fight with her aunt, since she was essentially impotent in this matter, no matter how piqued she insisted on being.

Karen shot a sidelong glance at Rodney, who nodded and sat up straight. "I fully support Karen's place at the head of the table," he announced. "Her shares are voluntarily small, which just proves that in sitting in that chair, she has our family's best interests at heart, possibly more than anyone who's ever sat there before."

Murmurs spread around the table, but nobody seemed terribly shocked or outraged. Without Rodney at the helm, the ship of rebellion sank quickly. Nobody had the stomach for a fight against Karen at this point. They all knew better.

Ken nodded. "Count me in," he said. "She's offered her support and that of Central, to help me recoup my losses. Other people might've left me to swing in the wind."

"Me too," Greg agreed. "I fought with her, and she's still got my back. I'm just fine with her in the chair."

The ripple of assent went around the table, and Karen felt a weight lifted off her shoulders. One ogre was slain, and now it was on to the other matter. She rose from her chair as she addressed the room, holding everyone's gaze with those unnerving golden eyes of hers.

"I intend to lead us into a new era," she announced, her fingers on the table as she leaned forward for emphasis. "While we look to the future, we will not forget our past, that of our family, and the legacy it has given us."

"Each of us is gifted, of course, as a Blackwell, with many stellar traits, be it business, industry, or some other brilliance," she continued. "Those traditions and exceptions that hold us back, we will do away with. The ones that made us strong, we will all acknowledge and keep close to our hearts. And this family is strong ..."

She looked around the room. "We need to accept the basic truth that this entire empire we run was created with the exclusive purpose of making sure every Blackwell was taken care of. Not just the most talented, not just the most savvy, or the most ruthless, but all of us. No one left behind."

She felt, rather than saw, her uncle Alistair nod. She pressed on, holding back from rebuking them, much as she wanted to. What was the point? Alexa watched quietly, but she could tell that her little sister was getting excited. Patience, Alli. Patience.

"The world changes, of course, and we'll adapt," Karen said. "Rights denied to many are now becoming the norm. This is the way it should be. And we will be a forward-thinking company that supports these changes. And if you cannot support them for moral reasons, then support them for your financial gain, because it will look good for your pocketbook."

"There's no need to be crass, Karen!" Florence finally hissed, unable to contain herself any longer. Everyone stared at her. "You're so eager to insist that the bottom line or peak profits are not the be-all and end-all we should be striving for, and yet when one of us objects to making money by surrendering to these morally dubious assertions of yours, suddenly we're the ones with no perspective or ethical centers to be heeded. Is that it? I must make money by supporting some nasty liberal agenda? Miranda Gordon's ways have no place in these halls, young lady!"

Karen was about to say something, when she saw Alexa slowly rise to her feet, looking at their aunt. Karen allowed her sister to take over and waited quietly.

"I understand, auntie, that this is perhaps new for you," Alexa said levelly, her sapphire blue eyes fixed on Florence's. "But my sister is trying to keep you from being swept away by the tides of history and left behind in irrelevance. Yes, she is talking about my relationship with my nephew, her son. There are countries we do business with, such as France, where avunculate marriage is allowed and common."

Florence looked like she was ready to say something, but Alexa cut her off. "Did you know that the company in Lyon that you personally do business with, Sur la Grenouille, the owner and CEO is married to his niece? You've sunk tens of millions of dollars into his product and investment, and you've never been so upset by this horrific marriage as to withdraw that support."

"It ... it is of no consequence to me how people in other countries live their lives, no matter how deviant their proclivities!" Florence snapped.

"As long as their money's green, clearly you can overlook anything," Alexa replied, smirking. "There will be a new law soon, aunt, and I somehow doubt that you want to be on the wrong side of it. Sooner or later, your shares and your profits will dry up, and Karen will have to rescue you from oblivion. Because that's where your companies will be -- dead, just like your dinosaur proprieties."

"I've never been so insulted in all my life!" Florence huffed indignantly.

"Just wait, you're young yet," Alexa said, shrugging.

There were some chuckles around the table and Florence huffed again and looked at the ceiling, soon forgotten by everyone else. Irrelevant, as Karen predicted.

"Yes," Alexa continued. "I'm marrying Alex. There will be a law, of course, to allow it. I believe in the rule of law as much as the next person, but if the laws are wrong, we change them. This family will not be impacted by this event, unless you choose to make it a crisis. And if you do, it's your own pocketbooks you're hurting, not mine."

"Do you intend to find a place for yourself at this table?" Ainsley asked, looking at her.

"Hell no," Alexa replied, wrinkling her nose. "Definitely not right now, in any event. I don't have schooling in business, I know comparatively little about stocks, and I've got a marriage to plan, thank you. One day, maybe I'll revisit the idea. But for now, I trust my sister to do right by me."

"Truer words have never been spoken," Karen agreed as Alexa sat back down. "Make no mistake, ma famille, I am not taking this job on as brevet; I intend to sit in this chair and guide our ship until my wits or ability fail me. I will continue to act as executor of Central, to make sure none of you do anything stupid. My own shares are more than adequate to my needs. But since you all made it clear that I assert my dominance, then I'll tell you right now ..."

She leaned in again and looked around the room. "I'll be moving my family into my father and mother's estate on the Bridle Path early in the new year."

Even Alistair seemed taken by surprise at this announcement. They all gaped at her.

"Were you expecting me to simply keep it as some sterile and cold mausoleum in memory of my father?" she asked, trying to keep her voice from getting raw. "I grew up there. It is part of me. And I am reclaiming it. I do not care what image of power or authority it conjures for the rest of you, it is becoming the domicile of the DeBourne family. You'd best accept that fact before you leave this room."

The air in the room hung heavily. No one spoke for several seconds. She wanted it that way. No one was willing to object. They would all see it in one another. She'd won, utterly. It was done.

"When did we lose ourselves?" she asked quietly, looking around the room again. "Perhaps we've always been somewhat fractious, but never like this! When did monetary gain become the only good we sought? We support fewer and fewer charities, even if we get to claim a tax break. Isn't that just mean-spirited?"

"Where's our pioneering spirit?" she demanded. "We used to commission warships for the Empire, at our own expense! On the wall in my office, you've all seen the model of the HMS Thunderhawk! That ship fought beside Nelson at the Nile and Trafalgar. We built it! We shipped pelts and timber from the New World to England, unafraid of France, the Spanish, or the Americans ..."

"But more than any of that," Karen pressed, trying to control the rasp in her voice as she got emotional. "We've deprived ourselves of the urge to look after ourselves as a family. We compete with one another as fiercely as we do with any other company. Ken, Greg, you were the best of friends when you were kids. I remember, because I wanted to play with you ..."

Ken and Greg just looked at the table, saying nothing.

"And now, just this week, you tried to sink one another, just for the sheer one-upmanship and enjoyment of it!" she said almost angrily. "Can you imagine what my father would say if he found out?"

There was only dead silence.

"We cannot continue to see one another as adversaries," she said, worried that she almost sounded like she was pleading with them. "I don't want to use Central to tie everyone's endeavours together as insurance that you won't try to tank one another. How absurd does that sound? If we cannot be decent toward one another, what hope do we have?"

She stood tall. "This will not be the generation where the Blackwell family name crumbles and goes under. Not on my watch. I know who conspired against my father five years ago. And like him, I'll let it go, for now. But we are now changing and adapting, people. Those who refuse to will be removed from this room for those who see the advantage in it. This is my promise and my warning to you. Wilgeest aet se eftwyrd, min cnosles ..."

Alistair began clapping slowly, joined soon by Ainsley and then Ken. The others followed, until even Florence was clapping dully. Alexa smiled, gazing at her sister, who looked down upon her kin so regally, a monarch who had set her house in order. Perhaps a new day really was dawning for the Blackwells.

Only time would tell.

***

The sisters walked into Karen's office and collapsed side-by-side on the huge chesterfield that dominated one side of the room. They sunk so deeply into it that they both wondered if they'd ever escape alive. Thankfully, Alexa had remembered to close the door behind her.