The Puppetmasters (2 page)

His eyebrows lifted, and he seemed to hold his breath. Kendall suddenly felt sick to her stomach. She quickly knew she didn’t want to hear what was coming.

He patted her hand, gave her a huge grin, nodded his head in affirmation, and said, “As a matter of fact, I have some pretty serious news. I think you’ll be excited for me.”

That was an odd statement. It sounded so one-sided and final, like the news related only to him. The smile on her face slowly faded. She grabbed the side of the table and steadied herself. Again, with the artificial perky voice, “Well, what is it? Did you get a new client, or maybe a big case?”

“Sort of.”

He sat back in his chair and took a large swallow from his glass.

“My mother has decided that I need to relocate to Florida to run the family business.”

There, it was out. Now he only needed to explain the rest of it.

The family owned a chain of savings and loan associations throughout Florida. While it had not been forced to receive any federal bailout money to keep afloat after the 2008 financial crisis, the profits were way down. The banks clearly needed careful management.

Jeremy was not only a respected business attorney, but he had a Master’s in Economics from Harvard and was generally considered an expert in financial management. He was, in fact, the perfect person—and the only one, in his mother’s eyes—to turn around the financial outlook of the banks. Given the current economic climate, the banks could limp along for a few more years, but there would be no growth. As his mother saw it, if Jeremy took over as president and director, he would be able to show solid growth and a tidy profit within a year.

Kendall gave a dismissive wave of her hand. “Is that all? You told them no, of course. You love your life in Seattle.”

Jeremy put up both of his hands to stop the nervous babble and shook his head.

“No, Kendall, I am moving to Florida. It’s been decided.”

She was stunned into silence at the finality of his tone and couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She couldn’t begin to process the information, because he seemed so unconcerned with the implication on her life. She wasn’t in any position to move to Florida.

She had worked her way up the corporate ladder at Orion Premier Net Services for the past ten years and had recently been promoted to director of operations. She was serving as the primary liaison between divisions and was often asked to be a corporate witness for various high-level lawsuits and governmental inquiries. No, there was no way she would up give all of that up. Something didn’t make sense.

It suddenly occurred to her that she hadn’t actually received any vibes that she was even part of his relocation plans. She contemplated that thought when the waiter came back to take their dinner order. By now, Kendall had completely lost her appetite and simply ordered the soup special. She was again taken aback when Jeremy ordered an appetizer and the seafood special. He looked as if he had a new lease on life. It dawned on her that he was relieved.

She tried to keep the accusatory, hurt tone out of her voice as she inquired in measured tones, “And where do I fit in this plan?”

He had the decency to squirm a bit in his chair and look away.

“Kendall, I’m moving to Palm Beach, Florida, by myself. It’s time I got on with my life and put down roots. You know that I love you, but we just don’t have a future together.”

Yeah, yeah, the Jewish roots thing again! I refuse to buy it.

“How can you just make this kind of decision? How can you give up on us just like that?”

She was nearly in tears, but was not about to let him see her distress. She grabbed on to her anger when he responded with, “In truth, there’s more to it than you can possibly understand. There’s the cultural differences and financial consideration.”

“I have no idea what you are talking about! What cultural differences and what financial consideration? We’ve always gotten along so well. I thought we had a future together!”
Careful, there, girl! You don’t want to sound pathetic.

Jeremy meticulously brushed a speck of lint from the sleeve of his tailored suit.

“I have an image and reputation to uphold in the Jewish community. There are certain expectations of one in my position. I thought you knew that.”

She shook her head as if to shake the nightmare free. “No, we never had any
discussions about there being no future for us. In fact, you brought up the subject of our living together a few weeks ago. Something changed. What was it?”

She angrily brushed some errant strands of hair out of her eyes.

“You know how close I am to my mother. I respect her business acumen and the decisions she makes.”

Oh, here we go!
Kendall steeled herself for more of the onslaught.

“Go on.”

“My mother sacrificed a lot for me. She carefully planned my future and sent me to the best boarding school in Switzerland.”

Obviously, there was more. “And?”

“She tolerated my moving to Seattle, so that I could learn about other businesses and cultures, work my way up the partnership ladder, and hone my financial expertise. But she always expected me to someday repay her by moving back to Florida to run the family business.”

How
nebbish
of him, she uncharitably allowed herself to think. Kendall was puzzled. She was missing something. “I still don’t get it. Why now?”

“We’ve been having this discussion for some time now. Frankly, this morning, my mother sweetened the deal.”

I knew there was a carrot in there somewhere.
“What did she do?”

“She released my trust fund in its entirety.”

Jeremy’s tone was way too formal. He sounded like he was negotiating a deal rather than delicately and sensitively letting her down easy. But his love for money and all the power that it brought had unfortunately colored his feelings. He had simply discarded the emotional and embraced the practical and logical. The result was an insensitive, hurried explanation.

He realized he had just screwed up the whole revelation. He told himself that it wasn’t like he was practiced at this type of speech, so it was probably better that she heard it in plain-speak, anyway.

Kendall was not about to ask for the details of his trust fund. That was none of her business. She certainly had nothing to offer him that would sway his apparent resolve to alter his life in such a drastic way.

She raised her chin and asked when he planned to pick up and move. He responded that he had already informed his partners and had begun transitioning his clients.

“I will be in Seattle for another three weeks. There’s no reason why we can’t still see each other until my last day. I have no hard feelings, and I certainly hope you would want the best for me. I want the best for you.”

Manipulative, self-centered, insensitive bastard!
With tears in her eyes, she
rose from the table. “Actually, Jeremy, it would be best if we just ended it now. Since there is no future for us, there is no reason to prolong this. I’m disappointed that you let your mother—and her money—choose your life and affect your happiness. That you could push me out of your life just like that says a lot about your ability and capacity for love and commitment … and more importantly, your honor and integrity. You’ve lost my respect.”

She paused and then concluded with, “I wish you the best.”

With all the dignity she could muster and with eyes swimming in tears, Kendall turned toward the exit. Her hip bumped the table as she stumbled away. She missed the last scene, as Jeremy’s water goblet, from which he had just nervously taken a sip, teetered furiously and then fell over, spilling its contents in his lap. The commotion turned more than few heads towards Jeremy’s table. He smiled grimly, figuring he had that coming.

Kendall managed to get home before the dam broke. She got undressed, wrapped herself in her favorite fluffy fleece throw, and poured herself a generous glass of brandy. She sat on the couch staring out the window of her condominium in tony Belltown, which overlooked Puget Sound, and let the tears stream down her face. She was a pragmatist, and not one given to a lot of emotional outbursts … certainly never in public. She told herself that she would allow these few minutes of unchecked grief and then would pull herself together. After all, she had weathered disappointment and heartache before and knew that the trick was to keep busy.

Just push it down, and it’ll go away. It always does.

Soon, events would pull her into a whirlwind of drama that would leave her broken heart far behind.

T
HE RARE SPRING SUN MADE
an appearance through Kendall’s bedroom window when she awoke. She didn’t even notice. Her heart was heavy, and her body didn’t want to move. She went through her morning routine in a fog but managed to maintain her usual schedule. She had to check twice to make sure she had matching shoes on.

Get going, girl! Move it! Shake it off!
She stopped for her usual morning light mocha and a multi-grain bagel and forced herself to assume a cheerful exterior. She had an important position, overseeing general operation of the company, and could not get bogged down with a lot of emotion. Because she was a woman, she also had to take care not to be seen as emotionally unstable or falling apart in any way.

She pulled into the company parking garage, taking care to wave at the security guard as she passed by. Kendall had no idea how she got into the building, but found herself walking into her spacious office.

She sat in front of her terminal and zoned out. After thirty minutes, she finally realized she hadn’t even turned on her computer. She hit the power button and gave a big sigh.
Keep going! You’re doing great!
She sat there staring at the unopened emails. The phone rang, startling her.
God, what if it’s Jeremy? Damn! It’s not.

“Kendall Radcliffe,” she said in a clipped, businesslike tone.

“Whoa! You sound intense.”

“Oh, hi, Gwen. Just in the middle of my morning emails.”

It was Kendall’s friend and the senior vice president of the legal department, Gwen Albertson. She was a feisty red-headed corporate executive who specialized in intellectual property litigation. Since the company was constantly being sued for some perceived trademark, copyright, or patent infringement, she was very much in demand. The law was her passion, and she was loyal to a fault. She defended the company with all the vigor and enthusiasm of a pit bull. After hours, though, she was the life of the party.

This morning she had received some particularly bad news. The company was being investigated by the Federal Trade Commission for possible violations of the Consumer Protection Act.

“Kendall, I need you to go to DC as soon as possible. Today, if you can. You need to meet with outside counsel to review the anticipated charges and start formulating our defense.”

Kendall’s wheels were already turning. There was nothing like a good legal fight to take her mind off personal matters.

“What’s the issue?”

“I don’t have all the details. But it sounds like claims of unfair business practices. From what I understand, this is only an investigation at this juncture. We’ve agreed to meet with the FTC in an effort to assuage their concerns. If anyone can halt the investigation, you can. I need you to work your magic and talk the FTC through our business strategy.”

Perfect! Get me out of the fucking office!

Kendall was psyched. “Let me finish my emails and make a few calls. I have an 11:00 a.m. conference that will take about an hour. I can probably catch an early evening flight and commit to a morning meeting.”

They exchanged the DC meeting details, and Kendall finished her work to go home and pack. Her admin was able to secure a reservation on a non-stop flight leaving at 7:15 p.m. She would not arrive in DC until the wee hours of the morning. She fervently hoped she would be able to sleep on the plane.

She wove through the congested Seattle traffic on her way to the airport and made excellent time. As her seat in the first class section was called for boarding, her cell phone rang. Caller ID flashed Jeremy’s name. She stabbed the power button shutting it down.
Wow, that felt good! Now who’s in control?
Or so she thought.

K
ENDALL AWOKE WITH A START.
She blinked as the dazzling east coast morning rays lit up her river-view hotel room. Her brain was momentarily confused and foggy from the lack of sleep, cross-country travel, and the overly soft mattress of the king-sized bed she had slept in.

She groaned, sat up, and then caught the time on the bedside clock. “Oh, shit!”

She flew out of bed, took a quick shower, dressed in a slightly rumpled suit, and dashed into the luxury hotel coffee shop for a muffin and coffee to go.

Kendall sweet-talked her way into the front of the hotel’s taxi line and settled in for the fifteen minute ride to the office of the company’s outside counsel and follow-up meetings with the FTC. As she nibbled on her muffin, she enjoyed the gentle swaying of the cherry blossoms that lined the streets as they made their way into the heart of the city. Springtime was Kendall’s favorite time of year to visit DC, and today put a rubber stamp on it.

As a burst of anger and flood of tears simmered just below the surface, threatening to make an appearance, Kendall acknowledged them and then boot-kicked the emotions right out of her mind. She wasn’t about to give into a sudden display of sorrow and ruin a most spectacular ride. She concentrated on the thought that she was so fortunate to be able to enjoy the sight of the city’s more than 3,000 cherry blossom trees in full bloom. She chose, instead, to view the sweet landscape as a personal gift to her.
I accept.
She smiled as the taxi pulled up to her destination.

Kendall had two very busy days of meetings, including with the FTC, video conferences, and rushed, late dinners. At the end of each day, she arrived back at her hotel only to make a couple phone calls back to the office on the West Coast, check her emails, maybe catch a headline or two of the evening news, and then flop into bed for a restless night of sleep. Even though she traveled quite a bit, she never got used to a new bed until about the third night.