New York. Lyndon Tower. 27/11/2012. 16:45.
"So you already got all the necessary authorization to start the renovation of the bomb shelter underneath this tower." Robert Lyndon said, looking at his grandson with attention.
"Seems so, yes." He replied non commitaly. He knew his grandfather was fishing for information and one of Nathaniel favorite pastimes was to not give him what he wanted.
"How did you achieve that exactly? The paperwork alone could have taken at least six month and without even knowing if that was accepted. Especially when you refused to bribe anyone like you do. It's been only two weeks and you already have the necessary authorization, this is way too fast."
"What can I say? I can be pretty charming when I want to." Nathaniel said, smiling silly.
"Why are you always making things difficult for me?" Robert sighed.
"Because I can and because someone needs to to keep you on your toes. Plus, I'm not obligated to tell you everything grandpa. We already talked about this." Nathaniel sighed back.
"This is my tower I remind you!" He shouted, outraged.
"This is our family company tower." Nathaniel corrected. "And this is why I show you the blueprint of the shelter. For the rest, you don't need to know grandpa."
"You are such a pain in the ass, what did I do to deserve a grandson like that?" He grumbled.
"Depending on who you ask, I'm sure a lot of people would say that you are a lucky bastard to have a grandson like me." Nathaniel smirk.
"You know, you should talk to me with more respect. I carry the Lyndon name for much longer than you."
"I have been wearing the Lyndon name for longer than I have a grandfather." Nathaniel pointed out, no longer smiling.
That made his grandfather shut his mouth with a clap. Nathaniel was referring to the fact that his grandparents not appreciating the fact that his mother was lesbian and had cut bridge with her and Nathaniel by extension. That had caused some serious heartache to Mary and Nathaniel had watched the sadness in his mother's eyes each time a discussion about his grandparents was occurring.
"That was a low blow." Robert finally said.
"One that you had coming. Listen grandpa, we are too much alike to get along great but we are family and I love you. You need to stop pushing because the more you push, the less I will tell you. You should follow grandma exemple, she's way smarter than you after all. She's more sneaky in her approach to get me to trust her."
"You noticed?" His grandfather asked, surprised. His wife had never been found out by someone before.
"Of course I did. She was smart and sneaky to the extreme, too bad I'm too. What you did not take into consideration was that I will be very guarded against you two from the beginning. You thought I would be too dazzled with your opulence and gift so that you could gain my trust easily but you were wrong. I don't give my trust easily, especially when I noticed how much grandma was observing me, testing me."
"Please don't resent your grandmother, you know how much she loves you. She was just…" His grandfather starts to say but Nathaniel chooses to stop him.
"Listen, I'm maybe sixteen but I'm not stupid alright? I know what is at stake here. You want the company to stay in the family and I'm the only male successor, that much is obvious. It was fair of you two to keep your eyes on me to determine if I have what it takes to handle an enormous company like ours. I did not and will not resent you for that, don't worry."
"I'm glad to hear that honestly. We were a little afraid you would be pissed off if you were to know." His grandfather said, visibly relieved.
"I had fun too, I noticed that grandma was noting down which book I was reading so I made a game to use the title of these books to form a message to her. She never picked up on that, she thought I was only picking them randomly." Nathaniel laughed.
"Wow, this is the first time I see someone pull one over your grandmother, I'm thrilled to tell her about it." He said gleefully.
"Too bad I would not be here to see the look on her face." Nathaniel smiled. "By the way, I saw Jean on the way up, he told me you were planning a long trip to Europe soon?"
"Yes, I want to know if we can open stations in the UK, Germany, France, Italia and what I can extract from the local government in terms of incentives. It's a risky venture, yes but I believe a very profitive one."
"Good to hear, when are you leaving?" Nathaniel asks.
"In a week, after your birthday of course. No one would pardon me if I were to miss it and like you pointed out early, I missed all of them so far so I can't afford to miss this one. Any suggestions on what you want as a birthday present maybe?"
"If you have a serious construction business available who do not cut corners on material and who can start the opening of the bomb shelter and the renovation work soon, it would be very useful to me. Even if I have to pay more, it does not matter, I want a quality job more than quantity one." Nathaniel finally said once thinking about it for a moment.
"I have a few names in mind, I will reduce them down and make the one I choose call you before the week is over." Robert said before being interrupted by the phone.
Making a hand motion to wait, he picked it up and started talking in it.
"There is a Scott McCornaig in the lobby. He said you were expecting him. Do you know who he is?" Robert asks with a questioning look.
"Yes, I do. Finally some good news." Nathaniel said with a smile.