More and more people were coming in and out of Tequila Corporation every week.
At first, Selena had thought nothing of it. Her father liked his privacy, liked to handle some matters himself and she didn't step in his way. He let her make the decisions for the company as she saw fit, a trust she had earned in the way she had run the business and she let him take charge of his matters and consult her when necessary.
But when those grim-faced suited men started to come to visit her father at home too, she knew something was wrong. The shareholder meetings held without her, the worry lines wearing down her father's face, and the way he traveled for days on end now proved it.
A sense of Deja Vu washed over her. Patricia had mentioned something at the birthday party about the company being in trouble and she had dismissed it as one of her nonsense talks. Now she wondered; had it been true?
When the last suited man left her father's office, Selena marched into it. She stopped short when she saw her father massage his temple furiously. Jon Tequila who always looked ready to charge into the world looked like the very world had weighed on his shoulders.
"What's going on Dad?" She asked him. "What's with those men that just left here?"
He lowered his hands and looked at his computer screen. "It's just a routine check."
"Really?" Selena folded her arms. "Routine check yet you don't involve me?"
"You don't involve me in all the decisions you make, do you?" Her father said.
"Dad, I'm not a child. Don't try to protect me, what's going on?" Selena pressed on. "I won't leave here until you tell me."
Jon, tired, smiled at his daughter. "You're just like me."
"Exactly why you chose me to run this business," Selena walked over to his desk and sat opposite him. "Now, talk to me."
Her father gave a heavy-bellied sigh and leaned back in his chair. He watched his daughter, his face grave, hers unyielding and determined.
"I made mention of BrewCorp before, yes?" Her father succumbed.
Selena racked her brain, and the recollection came. "Yes, I think I do. We faced some legal issues with them some years back, before I started working as CEO. What's up with them?"
"Well," Jon rubbed his eyes. "They were a small company back then, so the case was easily shut. But we're currently facing another lawsuit from them, with extra backing from the last one."
Selena's brows knotted together. "Dad, I need you to give me facts."
Jon's fingers tapped on the table before he returned to sitting back up.
"Hop Goodness, our latest beer release has been the issue. They claimed it's similar to their craft brewery, Hop Haven," Her father explained. "We brushed off concerns about the similarity. Turns out BrewCorp felt threatened, and they decided to take legal action against us for trademark infringement. We thought it's something we could handle, but now, we're getting court summons."
"But…but we didn't!" Selena tried to argue. "We didn't right?"
"We did snatch one of their head operators to work here," Jon said. "So that's another leverage for them."
Selena's heart began to beat fast. "This is bad, Dad. Really bad for our business."
"I know, dear," He resumed massaging his temple. "We tried to settle it out of court, but they wouldn't."
"I'm trying to recall if I know the owner…" Selena squinted her eyes.
"It's a Liam Jones," Oscar supplied. "He's a private man."
Selena scoffed. "Not private enough to have this whole affair blow out in the media." Selena twirled her hair in thought, and silence reigned between father and daughter. The wheels were spinning in her head, but no solution was being conjured. The damage would have not gone too far if only her father had involved her before.
Yet, there was this niggling feeling that was not all there was to the matter. The men she saw were different almost every day, were they all from BrewCorp, was it going to be that bad?
"How much do they intend to sue?" She asked, realizing she missed that piece of information.
"Twenty million dollars."
Selena's eyes widened. "Dad!"
"I know, it's bad," another heavy-bellied sigh.
"And you're just thinking of telling me?"
"I'm handling it."
"Sure you are."
"Selena," Jon's voice was stern.
Selena closed her eyes. Suing meant BrewCorp was likely to win, and the repercussions would be a damaged brand name and financial issues for Tequila Corporations would arise. She needed to think of a solution, and fast.
Selena rose to her feet and walked over to the door.
"Where are you going?" Her father asked.
"To clean up this mess."
●
Nancy sat opposite Selena, studying her friend for any sign of unseriousness. When she had called and asked her to meet for coffee just outside her office on Main Street in Los Altos Hills, she knew there was some "real" business for her best friend to come over during work hours, but she wasn't expecting to hear what she had to say.
"You want to fight him with dirt to his name?" Nancy asked. "You pride yourself on not fighting dirty."
"No, I pride myself on winning. No matter what it takes."
"The ethical way," Nancy said. "But you are thinking of digging up dirt or framing him? Since when did you think of the cowardly way out?"
Selena scowled and sipped from her cup of hot chocolate and marshmallows. Nancy had always told her she looked witchy when she made that expression, so she eased her face to save her future self from early wrinkles. She looked over to her phone and swiped through it.
"Just go talk to him," Nancy advised. "Tell him it's important."
"He communicates through his lawyers."
"Hmm," Nancy mused. She stared out the glass, looking at the zooming cars on the street. It was a cool afternoon, the sun slumbering behind the clouds.
"Have you figured out who his friends are?" Nancy asked.
Selena scrunched her nose. "I should reach him through his friends? I don't think so. I have a successful record of being able to convince the…"
"Yes, I know. You have a successful record of convincing the most stubborn of businesspeople to make deals with you. Set your pride and ego away for a second." Nancy said. "We're going to get to him through a friend, and hopefully, that works."
Nancy began the search online, hoping to see any picture with someone she recognized in it. Selena's phone rang with an unknown number and when she picked it up, the voice on the other end set her heart at a quick pace.
"Why are you calling me?" She asked. Nancy stopped scrolling and looked up at her at that, a question in her eyes.
"You know why I'm calling you."
"No, I don't, Valentin," the mention of his name made Nancy's eyes almost pop out. She made a rapid slicing motion with her hand, indicating for Selena to cut the call.
"Can we talk?" He asked. "Somewhere comfortable? Like my place or yours?"
Selena bit down on her lip. She hated to feel emotional pain, so tried to convert it to a physical one. But there was no amount of pain she could inflict on herself that could run as deep as the one Valentin had inflicted on her.
"Please don't call my number again," Selena said. Nancy nodded vigorously at that and gave her a thumbs up.
Valentin gave a small chuckle. "You can't get rid of me that easily, fiery princess," he used one of the familiar nicknames that brought back memories she didn't want to remember. "I'll call again, and I'll be hoping your answer will be different."
Selena cut the call first. She pressed the balls of her hands into her eyes and kept them like that. A touch on her arm made her raise her head, and Nancy was looking at her with soft eyes.
"What did he want?" She asked.
"To meet up and talk," Selena stared at her hot chocolate, no longer interested in it.
"That bastard," Nancy seethed. "First he comes back into the country, gets with Patricia and now he wants to "talk?"
"What do you think he wants to talk about?" Selena asked her instead.
Nancy gaped. "Oh my God, Selena! Of course, you don't want to know! That's if he even wants to talk! He's sly, he's cunning, and he's playing you because he knows how to!"
Selena frowned. "He doesn't, and that's because I'm not dumb."
"Yes, he does know," Nancy threw a hand and leaned back into her chair, exasperated. She huffed out a breath of air and kept looking at her friend.
"He knew how much you loved him, and he only wants to resurrect that again. But don't you see what he's doing? Don't you see he's repeating history with you?" Nancy asked. "He's currently with Patricia, yet he wants to meet up."
Selena shrugged. "A public place could make him behave."
"I can't believe…did he suggest your place before?" When Selena didn't reply, Nancy was enraged. "I hate that man with every fiber of my being. If you dare meet up with him…you know what? Never mind, I will message the girls to keep watch on you. Tie you on a leash if they have to."
Nancy typed away on her phone furiously, and when she was done, Selena heard the ping of her message on the girls' group chat, the girls being Tamika, Reema, Selena, and Nancy. More messages pinged, and Selena looked at them. Tamika and Reema were not happy at all.
"Now that we have that out of the way," Nancy slid the phone toward Selena. "I've got a couple of pictures where this guy has shown up more than once."
Selena looked at the picture of Liam Jones. He was probably in his early thirties and didn't have anything strikingly handsome about his features, other than the fact that he oozed a certain masculine charm, sort of like the kind of charm Alexander possessed. She looked at the man next to him, and a smile curved on her lips.
"Oh, I didn't think I'd meet him so soon."