"Lucy, look outside," Craig called out. He had been on his way to meet his lawyer, but hadn't made it past the front door.
"What is it?" Lucy asked, joining him at the window. She gasped when she saw camera crews and reporters gathered on the sidewalk in front of the house.
"They must have heard we were coming home from our honeymoon," Craig deduced. "They're probably doing a story on the lawsuit and want me to comment."
Lucy just stared speechlessly as Craig glared out the window. She wasn't so sure that was the story they were after.
"I'll try to sneak out the back way," Craig said, pausing to kiss Lucy goodbye as he went. "See ya this afternoon, babe."
Lucy watched out the front door as Craig drove out of the garage, maneuvered past the reporters, and disappeared down the street.
"Maybe I should have told him," she thought, but she couldn't bring herself to talk about her father's scandal. It was silly, considering the whole world already knew about it, but she hated the thought of even one more person knowing, even if that person was her husband.
No one was supposed to find out at all. Arthur had promised to help her without telling anyone her secret. Now that it was out, she felt so betrayed. She needed to know what had gone wrong.
When she called the Townsend's number, there was no answer, so she tried the hospital. The receptionist who answered informed her that Arthur had been released the night before. That news struck Lucy as odd. If Arthur wasn't at home, where would he be the morning after being released from the hospital?
"Hector, do you have those reports ready?" Lawrence asked.
"I'm working on them," Hector said lightly, without looking up from his work.
"They needed to be finished this morning."
Hector set his work aside and turned to Lawrence. Glaring, he snapped, "I'll have them done soon."
"See that you do," Lawrence replied before walking away.
Hector grumbled as he turned back to his computer screen. He took his frustration out on the keyboard, tapping harder on the keys than necessary. He couldn't believe he was taking orders from Lawrence. "It's not fair."
He sighed and stared at the screen in front of him. There was nothing to do about it for now, except go along with it and hope that this arrangement was only temporary.
"Mr. Townsend. Welcome back!" Amanda greeted Arthur as he and Veronica entered the office. "How are you feeling?"
"Fine, fine," he replied tersely. "Would you call everyone into the boardroom, Amanda? I'd like to have a meeting."
"Of course," Amanda nodded, before going to notify the others.
"Now, Arthur, you're going to keep this meeting short, right? I don't want you -"
"Overdoing it? Yes, I know," he sighed. "I'll try to keep it brief."
"Good," she said leaning down to give him a kiss. "While you're having your meeting, I'm going to run down to the drugstore. I'll be back in a bit."
After gathering in the boardroom and welcoming their boss back from the hospital, the staff waited anxiously in silence as Arthur looked over the records made during his absence. Finally he set them aside and leaned back.
"I have to say, I'm impressed. I was afraid this company had seen its last days, but it looks like you were all able to pull together when it counted and keep us afloat. You've all done an excellent job and I'm very proud of all of you. I'm only sorry that I let you down."
The others opened their mouths to protest, but Arthur motioned for them to remain silent. "No, it's true. We might have avoided this mess if I had made better choices. So I think it's best for the company if I resign."
A stunned silence filled the room. No one was quite sure what to say. The same question was on everyone's mind, but no one wanted to ask it for fear of appearing overeager.
Finally Amanda dared to ask, "But who would take over after your gone?"
"That still has to be decided. I will arrange a meeting with the board of directors to conduct interviews with any interested candidates and we'll decide from there. In the meantime, carry on as you have been. Again, I'm very proud of how well all of you have stepped up. And Mr. Vanderburg, Chad, welcome to the company."
Hector lingered behind as the others filed out of the boardroom. After they had left, Arthur asked, "Is there something you want to discuss with me, Hector?"
"Yes," Hector frowned. "Why are you doing it this way, going through the board to determine your successor? You're the majority shareholder, so it's your decision. Wouldn't it be easier just to name someone yourself, considering you already know all of us?"
"I'm sticking with my decision," Arthur said firmly, obviously not wanting to discuss it.
Hector half-nodded, half-shrugged. He started to move towards the door, but hesitated. "You know, Lawrence has done a great job, but with the situation being what it is, you should know that we've all been chipping in to help him out, for the good of the company. I don't want to sound like I'm trying to put him down, but when things go back to normal, I don't know if he'll be able to handle it on his own. I'm just saying, if he's the one who gets the job, I don't want to see him get in over his head."
Arthur eyed Hector suspiciously. "I'm sure Lawrence appreciates your concern. But we'll let the board decide."
"How's it going, Martin?" Chad said to Andrew as they left the boardroom. He had wanted to have a word with Andrew since he first recognized him, but since he started working at the company, he had kept too busy to socialize.
"Not bad," Andrew said shortly and quickened his step. He recognized Chad as well and had done his best to avoid him.
"You know, you and I should go out after work and have a drink or two."
As Andrew hesitated, Amanda spoke up. "You can't tonight. We're going to have dinner at my sister's, remember?"
"That's right. Sorry," Andrew said and started to walk away.
"It will only be a quick drink. I'm sure I'll get you to your dinner on time," Chad grinned brightly. He was having too much fun with this. "Don't forget, I owe you one."
When Hector returned to the front of the office, Lawrence was waiting for him. "Hector, those reports."
"Relax, Laurie, they're coming," Hector grumbled as he continued towards his desk.
"Don't call me that," Lawrence cringed. He had always hated that nickname, especially coming from Hector. "It's Lawrence . . .unless you'd prefer Mr. Arrendale."
Hector stopped in his tracks. This was too much. "You know, you could remember that I'm the reason you got this job in the first place!"
"As long as you remember how much I've kept quiet about up to this point," Lawrence replied in a low, even voice. "If you decide to cause problems here I could not only have you fired, but see that you go to prison for a very long time."
Hector eyed Lawrence closely, "So why haven't you, already?" When Lawrence seemed at loss for a quick reply, the answer suddenly came to Hector. "Eileen . . .Eileen won't let you," he grinned just slightly. "I'll just go get those reports for you, Lawrence."
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