Too many clothes

The Request

I still don’t understand why my father insists so much on buying small companies riddled with debt.

Even though he eventually turns them profitable and they yield great returns, I don’t think it makes up for the time and money we invest in them.

At least, not in the short term. He should focus our efforts on the ones already in our portfolio so they can grow and increase our profit margins, but my job isn’t to question his plans—it’s to carry them out.

I’ve been preparing for years for this and I’m proving to him that I’m worth more than any of his lawyers.

Even those with years of seniority over me.

I’m not saying this out of arrogance, but because in the two years I’ve been handling these companies, we’ve achieved more successes than in the previous ten.

There’s a reason they call me relentless, though not in the way others are—the kind who don’t mind trampling over people to win.

I take a more human approach with potential clients, and I believe that’s my greatest strength.

Besides, when I lock onto a target, I don’t stop until I reach it.

It’s one of the first lessons my father taught me: never give up.

I also don’t let my own convictions influence my work.

Whatever I may think about what needs to be done, I do it.

To the very end. That’s something they teach you in law school because not everyone will have the privilege of choosing their cases.

Some will have to defend the indefensible or go against their own principles.

I knew I would work for my father when I entered law school, but I prepared as if my future were far less certain.

I’m fierce when it comes to practicing my profession; there’s no better way to describe it, though I never seek to intimidate anyone. My strength comes from perseverance and persistence. I know what to do and what to say to make the proposal I’m offering seem so irresistible they can’t say no.

I’m beginning to carve out a place among the top players after a lot of hard work, since most of my colleagues believe I’m here because my father is the company’s president and that I haven’t earned it.

But I’ve received several offers from the most prestigious law firms in the country, and there are even companies as powerful as my father’s that want me on their team; so I can throw it in their faces that I’m not just riding my father’s coattails, that I deserve this position for what I’m worth and not for who I am.

As for those offers, however tempting they may be, I’m loyal to my family and I’ll work for my father for as long as he’ll have me.

“He’s waiting for you in your office,” my secretary says, somewhat nervously.

My father tends to have that effect on people at first sight, though once you get to know him, you discover he’s a wonderful person. Not at work, of course—here he’s serious and rigorous, hence the respect people have for him. Some even feel a certain degree of fear around him.

“He’s early,” I remark, glancing at my watch.

On the other hand, it doesn’t surprise me. He hates tardiness, so he’s always the first to arrive anywhere. I’ve inherited that from him too.

“Should I have told him to wait outside?”

It’s not the first time he’s come to see me, but it is the first time he hasn’t found me already at my desk.

“No, Rebecca, you did the right thing letting him in.” I turn toward her before going in. “Please make sure no one disturbs us.”

“Of course.”

When Rebecca first came to me, looking like a Barbie doll with her delicate stride, I was ready to dismiss her without even an interview.

I’m demanding with anyone who works for me and I doubted she could live up to my expectations.

Five minutes of conversation with her were enough to show me how wrong I was.

We shouldn’t judge others by their appearance, and she’s living proof of that.

I’ll never find anyone more efficient. Lesson learned.

I walk into the office and stride purposefully to the desk to set down my briefcase. I also take off my coat and hang it on the coat rack in the corner before speaking:

“Good morning, Dad. Always punctual,” I greet him, walking over to kiss his cheek.

“Time is money, sweetheart.”

That’s his favorite saying. And once again I think that if that’s what he believes, he shouldn’t waste it on the companies he’s been buying lately.

From the moment we take them over until they start turning a profit, too much valuable time passes—time we could be spending on expanding the ones that are already generating income.

Let’s be clear, I like helping people and that’s what we’re doing, but I also have to look out for this company, and we’d earn more with a different strategy and a different goal.

“I’m all ears.”

I lean against the desk, arms and legs crossed, and wait for him to tell me what’s so urgent that he had to say it in person.

Ever since I moved into the apartment I bought last year and finished renovating a few months ago, we see each other more at company meetings than as father and daughter.

I intend to change that as soon as I can, but I have so much work—which he himself assigns me—that I don’t have time to spare for him outside of here.

“Carson is negotiating the purchase of a textile company in—”

“Seriously, Dad?” This time I can’t hold my tongue. “Now we’re going to make clothes too? What’s next? Our own farm? I think you’re straying from our core objective.”

“And what is this supposed objective, sweetheart? Who decides that?” He doesn’t let me answer and continues: “I’m the president and owner of this company, in case you’ve forgotten. If I want to sell clothes, I will.”

“And I’m one of your lawyers, Dad, and my duty is to remind you that the corporation won’t grow quickly if we keep focusing on companies so small that we’ll have to invest too much before seeing any returns. We should—”

“Help that textile company,” he interrupts me. “Debra, I know you don’t always agree with my decisions, and I’m not asking you to, but trust me when I tell you we can make this work. If it weren’t a safe bet, I wouldn’t even bother wasting time on it.”

“Yes, I know every new company you buy will turn a profit sooner or later, Dad.” I take his hands in mine.

“The problem is you seem obsessed with rescuing everyone, and as much as I love that side of you, we can’t take on such a diversity of businesses.

We should focus on a single field and dominate it.

That’s how you make money and how a company grows. ”

“No, sweetheart, that’s where you’re wrong.

When I conceived this corporation, I wasn’t thinking about having a monopoly on a single product.

My intention was always, as you rightly say, to rescue small companies and improve them.

In the beginning, I may have had to focus on the strong ones to generate profits more quickly, but I never lost sight of the original plan.

Now, after forty years in business, I’m finally doing what I want and not what I must.”

“You’ve never told me about this.”

I sit down beside him, not only because bending down in a pencil skirt isn’t easy, but because his confession has moved me.

“I didn’t think it was necessary. Until now, you hadn’t expressed your disagreement with my plans,” he explains. “I thought you understood my reasons.”

“I was just doing my job,” I deny.

“An excellent job.” He pats my hand before returning to the matter that brought him here. “You see, the owner isn’t making it easy for Carson, despite the fact that he’s struggling to make ends meet. And his son is an even tougher nut to crack. They don’t understand that I only want to help them.”

“Well, it’s not the same thing to be the owner of your own business as it is to work for someone else in a company you built from nothing,” I remind him.

“Most of the people I’ve dealt with are afraid of making the wrong decision.

They’ve worked for years to achieve success and have ended up feeling that their businesses are their lives.

For them, failure means losing a part of themselves.

That’s why it’s hard for them to admit they need outside help and why they reject it at first.”

“I’m sure you’ll be able to convince them, as you always do. Will you help me?”

“Have I ever denied you anything?” I smile at him. I couldn’t, even if it goes against what I consider most advisable; but now, after his confession, I’ll do it gladly. “Where do I need to go?”

“That’s the spirit.” He smiles and seems to shed ten years.

My father was a very handsome man in his youth.

He still is, truth be told. They say I inherited his features and his character, but the hair and eyes are clearly my mother’s.

She was also a beautiful woman. My father used to tell me he’d had to fight for her against many other suitors, though I think he only said it to make me smile.

I barely remember her; she died when I was four, but I know every story my father told me about her.

I suppose many of them are his inventions, but I treasure them dearly.

They’re all I have of her. That and a letter she wrote me when she learned she was dying, filled with advice about life.

Advice I still follow and that has helped me in my day-to-day.

If I am who I am, it’s not only thanks to my father.

She, wherever she may be, has watched over me too.

“I’ll have the reports sent to you throughout the morning.” He stands up and I stop thinking about my mother, returning to reality. “The town isn’t far—you can drive there.”

“Hallelujah!” I exclaim, laughing.

I hate flying and, unfortunately, most of the time I have to resort to a plane to get to the companies my father is acquiring across the country.

“If you’d rather stay there instead of making the trip every day, let me know so I can book a room at the only inn in town. Nothing luxurious this time, I’m afraid.”