25. The Reality Check

25

THE REALITY CHECK

“ C ome in,” Phoenix said, opening his door the next day a little before ten. “Hope the flight was good.”

“It’s always good in West’s jet,” Laken said. She moved in to hug him. “It’s so nice to see you again.”

“You too,” he said, returning the hug. He shook West and Braylon’s hands. He had to remind himself these were his first cousins and not just here for a professional business trip.

“This is a nice area,” Laken said. “Quiet. We don’t know the meaning of quiet in Manhattan. Not unless we go to the Hamptons and stay with West.”

He knew his cousin had multiple houses in the US. “It is nice and quiet here. A good place to raise a family.”

“How is that going?” Braylon asked. “Adjusting well?”

“As well as can be,” he said. “With the help of Crystal.”

“The nanny?” West asked. “My mother. She fills us in.”

“Yes, Crystal. Thankfully this house had somewhat of a private suite over the garage and I have her living there. It’s easier than someone coming and going. I lucked out finding her. She’s out running errands this morning.”

Lucked out in more ways than one, but since his parents didn’t even know about his relationship with Crystal, the last thing he was going to do was tell his cousins that he hadn’t seen in close to twenty years.

Crystal had offered to not be in the house and he told her she didn’t have to do that. But this morning she’d said she’d get groceries and pick up some food to have here for his cousins for lunch.

Something he hadn’t thought about and was glad she had.

He asked if she could just pick up some food at an Italian place not that far away on her way back and they’d heat it.

“It makes me wonder how our mothers did it with all of us,” Laken said. “I have no clue.”

“It’s not like they were alone,” West said. “I changed my fair share of diapers just like you both did. You too, Phoenix.”

“Don’t remind me,” he said. “Guess it helped when Elsie was born. I knew how to change a diaper before and better than Maryn did.”

His cousins laughed over that. “We all have to learn somehow.”

“Why don’t we go into the formal living room,” he said. “There is more space there. My father is in court right now or he would have called in, but he’ll check in later. I’m not sure what is going on.”

Braylon grinned. “West likes to keep people guessing that way. I’ll be the one dealing with your father if we can come to an agreement. Laken, she’s going to be spending time talking to you or others and being here for a bit.”

Already he wasn’t sure he liked the sounds of this. “As I told West, I was kind of hoping for some advice and not an investor. Though, as you know, I need cash for this big order, so I’ve got a lot going on and to think about.”

“Here is the deal,” West said. “I’m not going to sugarcoat anything. It’s not how I operate, even if you’re my cousin.”

Time for the reality check. “Go on.”

“The bags you’re producing—they are great. They can be successful and all. Laken can help with that and we’ve got a marketing team too. There are a lot of things you could be doing better for sure and we’ve got the resources to guide you. But that isn’t what I’m interested in.”

He frowned. “Then what?”

“You have no idea the gold mine you’re sitting on,” West said. “Your patents and technology to turn recycled plastics into useable materials. I’m not sure why you’re not selling that material to other businesses for their products.”

“They’d be competing with me,” he said.

“Is this really about bags?” Braylon asked. “That’s why you’ve got so much invested in the material?”

He wasn’t sure why he never thought of it this way. “I wanted science to be fun. To be exciting. For people to realize that you don’t have to throw something away and forget about it. It can be repurposed for something completely different.”

“You’re doing that,” Laken said. “Extremely successfully. We’ve got a few of your bags.”

“You do?” he asked.

“I went out and bought one a few months ago,” West said. “I wanted to see what you were doing.”

“I picked one up too,” Braylon said. “We gave one to Rowan. He’s the outdoor guy and he said it’s almost indestructible. He’s got it at the beach all the time.”

“That’s great to hear,” Phoenix said. “I’ve tested it so much to get to this point.”

“That’s right,” West said. “So why keep it in a bag only? Or sure, keep making your bags and building a brand. We can help with that. But if you want to hit it big, you’ll start selling the materials you’re making. Sell to companies not competing with bags. You can make shoes, jackets, and hunting gear. All sorts of things. And if you could do this with this plastic, why not other resources? Why not make something other than material for bags or clothing? Make another form of plastic for parts? For a product?”

“I’ve never been able to think that big,” he said.

“We can,” Laken said. “West can. That is what this is about. But you have to be open to that. It’s going to mean a lot of changes. It’s going to mean an overhaul of your manufacturing plant. You’ll need to expand. Do you have the space for it? Do you need something new?”

His head was spinning. This was not what he had thought was going to happen. “I’ve got space to expand, but I doubt it’s what you’re talking about.”

“I think the first step is doing what you know. What you need. Cash for this big deal. We’ve got more contacts than you,” Laken said. “I’ve got a list of manufacturers that we use that we can touch base with. I’m sure we could get things set up for this order to be filled and any others that you might need.”

“Okay,” he said. “That’s a good first step. I have no idea what the cost of anything you’re talking about is going to be. I know what I’ve got invested in the company. I know what the worth is.”

“The worth is your patents,” West said. “We aren’t asking you to sell them to us, but without them, you wouldn’t be getting this offer. Let me ask you, do you miss being in the lab?”

“Shit yeah,” he said.

His cousins all looked at each other. “What would you say about going back to that and doing your thing? We can find someone to help run the business. A Director of Operations. It will allow you to do what you love to do and keep your hand at being the CEO. You’re going to need the help anyway.”

“Just when I think things are slowing down and getting under control. I feel as if I went from one headache to a migraine but not in a bad way.”

“It’s overwhelming,” Braylon said. “We know.” He pulled out an envelope. “I can send this to your father to look over too and I’ll explain it all. For now, it’s an agreement for the cash and the order filled to get you moving on that. Laken will have more details. The second group of papers is the starting point of negotiations on everything else West lined up, the money he’d be willing to invest, the work it’d take, and then the percentage of the company he’d own.”

Phoenix took a deep breath. He never wanted to give up much of his company, but it was still going to family.

“I need time to process this. How long before you need answers to that?”

“We’ve got time,” West said. “We’ll agree, I’m positive, but I don’t expect you to just take the first offer.”

West was grinning. “So you’re being greedy with the first one?” Phoenix said.

Braylon laughed. “Not greedy at all, but this is your baby and you’re entitled to fight for it. He’s only telling you that because you are family.”

“Got it,” he said. “Can I get you guys something to drink while I look these over?”

“I’ve got it,” Laken said. “You look like you need some water. Kitchen in the back?”

“Yes,” he said. “Help yourself. Crystal is bringing back food for lunch too.”

He pulled out the first sheet and glanced it over quickly. It was pretty cut and dry and his father would help him through that. It was the money for the big order. He was going to take his cousin at his word that they’d get the order filled in time.

“I can’t believe how much juice you’ve got in the fridge,” Laken said, coming back with four bottles of water and handing them out. “And cookies. Oh my. Do you have yourself a grandmother living upstairs and caring for Elsie? These are awesome.”

Laken was munching on a monster chocolate chip cookie that Crystal had baked yesterday afternoon to have here for his cousins.

“Hardly a grandmother,” he said, laughing. His cousins would see for themselves soon enough, though he doubted they’d be as shocked as he was just now with the news he’d been given.

Rather than being relieved, he wondered how much stress he was going to feel not to let them down.

Then he reminded himself being in the lab was where he was the most confident. Where he wanted to be.

Maybe it was time to step back and let someone else do the things he was struggling with and focus on what he knew best.

Just like Crystal was better with running the house and Elsie than he was at times and he had to accept that he couldn’t be great at everything.

That he couldn’t do it all alone either.