Before leaving the hospital, Lawrence made a few phone calls and headed to the office. If they were going to keep this company from going under, they had to act quickly.
When he arrived at the office, Hector was already there waiting.
Hector stared silently with narrowed eyes. He was absolutely furious.
Lawrence noticed, but he said nothing about it. "Is anyone here yet?"
"I can't believe old man Townsend left you in charge," Hector ranted, ignoring his question. "What did you have to do convince him of that idea?"
"That's exactly what I was wondering," Andrew said as he and Amanda entered the building.
Lawrence frowned, but remained silent as Hector took a step back and Andrew took his place.
"It makes no sense. You haven't been here as long and you don't have as much experience. What was Mr. Townsend thinking?"
"I don't know why he chose me, but he did," Lawrence said calmly, but in a firm tone. "It shouldn't matter who's in charge and who isn't. It's going to take all of our efforts to save this company from going under."
As Andrew and Hector looked skeptical, Lawrence glanced towards the doorway at R.J. who had just come in. "It looks like everyone's here except for Ms. Burroughs and Mr. Keller. We'll give them a few minutes to get here before we start."
As the group reluctantly followed Lawrence into the boardroom, R.J. pulled Hector aside. He waited until the others were safely out of earshot before speaking. "Have you given any thought to the idea I mentioned?"
"Not really . . .I've been more concerned with other things, lately."
"Well, you'd better think quick, because I need your answer now. This place is history and I'm not going to stick around and watch it die when I should be getting my own company started. The time to strike is now."
Hector nodded thoughtfully.
"Look, the only reason I'm even here right now is to ask you this. Are you in or are you out?"
The seconds seemed to tick by slowly in the boardroom as everyone waited. Jerry and Reese had arrived, but Hector and R.J. hadn't made it to the boardroom yet.
"Does anyone know where Hector and R.J. are?" Lawrence asked. The others looked at him blankly and shrugged. "Amanda, would you go look for them, please? We need to get started."
"Of course," Amanda replied as she rose from her seat.
"We'll start without them. Jerry -" Lawrence started, but he paused when the boardroom door opened.
"Sorry to keep you waiting," Hector said with an unapologetic smirk.
"Where's R.J.?" Lawrence asked.
"He's not coming. R.J. has decided to leave the company and start his own business elsewhere."
As Andrew and Amanda exchanged surprised looks, Lawrence eyed Hector critically.
"And you?"
Hector pulled out an empty chair and sat down heavily. "I'm here, aren't I?" He gritted his teeth, turned to Lawrence, and asked in a voice that was strained with bitterness. "So where do we start, boss?"
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