“You know what I mean.” I furrow my brows at him.
“Oh, Annabelle, you are full of surprises. Do you want to know why I hired you?” His large brown eyes meet mine.
“Yes. I want to know why you didn’t hire an executive with decades of experience, or a hotshot Harvard MBA who knows way more about running a business than I ever will,” I pout.
Kalin takes a deep breath. “There are several reasons that I hired you. Which reason would you like?”
“The real one,” I say glancing up at him.
“Okay. The truth. The real reason…” he adds, tilting his head toward me, “that I hired you is because I trust you. I can teach you this business, Annabelle. I can teach you how to gain clients, and I can teach you the secrets to great advertising. I can teach you how to take over markets. I can teach you how to be successful. But I cannot teach you integrity, or virtue, or trustworthiness.”
Kalin pulls his eyes away from mine, and takes a few steps away from me. He moves his fingers over his jaw.
“When my fiancée was diagnosed with cancer, I took several months off from my position to try and find a treatment. From the moment she was diagnosed, we knew she didn’t have much time. I wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. I didn’t want to be bothered with my company, or work, or anything else. I was entirely focused on two things: getting her the best treatment, and spending as much time with her as possible.”
Kalin suddenly turns his head and swipes at tears welling up in the corners of his eyes, now moist and red.
I straighten toward him on the sofa. “You don’t need to talk about this, Kalin.”
“It’s the only way I can get you to understand why I hired you.” He gives me a sidelong glance and peers out the window toward the water. “The board of directors felt that I was taking too much time off from the company. They felt my personal life was overwhelming my attention to the company, and voted to oust me from my position.”
My face tightens with disgust. “What? But your fiancée was dying?”
“They wanted me out of the company. They wanted more control of the company. So they voted me out, and during that time they voted for increased executive pay, including cash bonuses for executive meetings, and higher salaries. Keep in mind some of these guys work about twenty hours a month on the board, and are paid several million dollars, in addition to pension benefits after termination.”
I shake my head in disbelief and look down. “That’s horrible.”
“I had neither the time nor the desire to deal with them. I was focused on getting my fiancée cured, and helping her cope. It was a sacred moment for me, really. Wanting to be with her. Wanting her to get better.”
Kalin turns to me, his eyes misty and sad. “And then, this…goddamn distraction. They knew I wouldn’t have any interest in disputing their claims. Not with everything that was happening. So they took full advantage of my extended time off, and voted to replace me with someone who was friendlier to the board members’ wishes. Of course, they sold this to the shareholders as something that was good for the company, when quite the opposite was true.”
Kalin takes a deep breath and glances down. “She died shortly after all of this transpired. Since I didn’t have my position as chairman and CEO anymore, I took some time to travel. I visited some of the places we had traveled as a couple. Parts of Europe, the Greek Isles. I just took some time to think and to grieve. I probably wasn’t able to keep my mind on business anyway.” His eyes dash to mine. “They were probably right about that part.” He steps away again. “But that wasn’t their motive. As chairman, I made sure executive pay was linked to company performance. I also made sure executives weren’t given tenure as part of their contract.”
His eyes find mine again. “I wouldn’t hesitate to fire them.” He exhales a small snicker. “I made a few enemies. Meanwhile, as I was traveling, and taking some time off to just get myself together, the company’s profits and reputation were dwindling. What made this company strong was missing. You see, Annabelle, it’s not about us. It’s about the company, the employees, the clients. We can pay ourselves exorbitant amounts of cash,” he says with a bemused smile and hands outstretched. “As long as we earn it.” His eyes bore into mine. “They didn’t earn it. And they know I would have fired them.”
“That is just horrible. I can’t believe it.” I knit my brows and look straight ahead.
“Many of the shareholders demanded that I be reinstated as the CEO and chairman. The board quickly voted to bring me back. Since that time, the company’s earnings and profits have recovered. In fact, we had a record year.”