Contractual Obligation: The Trilogy (14 page)

Natalie’s pregnancy seemed to be moving along quicker now. In reality, time didn’t move any faster, but it sure felt like it did. Michael felt more pressure than he had in years. The operations were coming together, and they’d started to move on production. Until they could get their own plant up and running, they’d manufacture through a private label and slap their names on it. It was a fast answer, but cost them money they didn’t want to spend. It was such a unique product; it took time to find a company that could even do it. Now that they’d have a temporary solution going, they’d work on getting their own specs together.

It took some finagling, but they were finally able to work a deal and get access to a plant that would work, and the special machinery they needed. Once they had things up and running, there was another hurdle to get over. Building trust and brand recognition was a big bridge they still had to cross. Michael was a natural salesman, but he was also Kent Davidson’s son. Would he be forgiven for being part of Bowman Industries? He wasn’t named in any of the law suits, so at least he had that on his side. Turns out his dad kept his name off of most of the documents that would burn him and send him to jail. At least he did something to protect his son – it was all he had left to offer.

Once things got started, Michael wasn’t quite himself. He was mumbling, sitting at the table, his eyes weary. He looked lost in thought, and his face gave away his stress.

“Why don’t you join me in bed?” It was late and he was still working.

“I need to work on these calculations,” he said while scratching numbers out on a pad. He didn’t even have his laptop open. He was just repeating things under his breath, jotting words and numbers down, scratching them out, and doing it again. “This isn’t going to work.
It’s not right.”

“What are you talking about? Is everything okay?”

Michael looked to his wife, beaten down from his own stress. “I didn’t want to do it this way. I don’t get the final say, but this wasn’t how I wanted to run the company.”

Natalie sat beside him, rubbing her eyes. “What are you talking about?”

Michael was ashamed to speak the truth. He cut corners, bent the rules, knowing they used toxic chemicals to get the product out sooner and faster. By forcing the liability to the companies and off of his plate, he was putting out a product that could harm employees of companies that slid that fact under the table. They’d be up and running in their own factory soon. Another few weeks and there’d be no going back.

Michael took a deep breath and exhaled in a long, exaggerated sigh. “I’m having creative differences with our big investor.”

“Marcus?”

“Yeah,” he said, not sure he could get the actual words out.

“I’m sure you’ll work it out.”

“It’s not that easy. There’s an ethical dilemma, and I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place.”

“What’s got you so worked up?”

Michael shook his head. “I don’t want to follow the same path my father took.”

“Michael, what are you talking about?”

He took another deep breath, and let out another exaggerated sigh. “Marcus wants to use the toxic chemical to keep costs down.”

“What? Didn’t he see what happened?”

“That’s the thing.
He found a work around. If we push the liability to the companies, having them sign off that they know about the ingredients, it clears us, but it still puts their employees in harm’s way. A fucking loophole, he found a loophole, but I don’t like it. It’s a cheaper product this way, and a lot of those companies are looking at their bottom line, not what’s best for their workers.”

“Wow.” The gravity of it hit her.

“Right. Marcus pushed for it, even though I was against it. Because he’s the lead investor with the final say, he has the bigger vote. It was a bargaining chip when we started working together.”

“Oh Michael, I’m sorry. What are you going to do? You can’t get tangled up in a mess like that. Look what happened to Bowman Industries, and your father.”

“The clause, the liability… it would fall onto the companies, not on us.”

“That doesn’t make it right.”

“I know.” His heart was heavy. He wanted to be in business, but not like this. Not dealing with shady practices, not trying to cover his tracks from the get go. He wanted his name associated with a company that stood behind their product, a company that made ethical choices and that you could trust. Instead, he felt like an underhanded dealer that would meet companies in some back alley, trying to pass of what he knew was wrong.

“Maybe this isn’t the way to restart your business. Maybe you should consider working for someone else for a while until you can afford to do it the right way.”

Reeling out of frustration, he vented. “You don’t get it. I have a family to provide for. I can be in charge again, make some serious money, not have to worry about buying diapers and stupid stuff, like do I have enough money to pay the electric bill. This isn’t the life I was supposed to live. I was successful, wealthy, and was in control of my own life. I don’t like being at this level, and I’ll do whatever it takes to get my family back on top.”

“I don’t care about all of that. All I care about is that you’re a good father and husband. We’ll figure it out.”

Michael shook his head, and stood to pace. “Natalie, I know you don’t understand, but I’m already involved, and it’s not stopping now. I just have to make peace with it.”

Natalie looked down, unhappy that he was willing to follow this path. It wasn’t going to help anyone in the long run. Hanging her head, she got up and walked back to the bedroom, not saying anything. Her heart hurt for him, but she was more afraid than anything. Would he end up in prison just like his father? This wasn’t the life she asked for, wasn’t the one she planned, but somehow
it was the one she was dealt.

No, that’s not true. She walked into a life with Michael knowing exactly what she was getting. It all started with that damn contract. She knew all the crap that went on with the company at the end, and still she ended up in bed with him, marrying him for life. She loved him, but he was surrounded in drama and it grew tiresome. Was this what life would be like, always another problem?

She had nobody to blame but herself. She could have walked away and said no to the contract, lived her own life, or even gone back home; but no, that would have been too easy, too smart. Now she was trapped in a marriage with King Drama himself. It’s not that he was flailing about with drama. It’s just that it seemed to follow him around. She should have realized and run in the other direction, but no, foolish girl that she was, she ran right into his arms and his bed. She loved Michael, but this isn’t how she wanted to spend her life, always worrying what was coming next.

So now her husband was willing to risk their future because he wanted to be in charge.
Great, just great
. He wanted to run his own company, be his own boss, and all the while knowing it could screw him in the long run. He had a family to think about, and this selfish attitude was getting old. It was time for him to man up and think about another way to get by, because the path he was on was no good and wouldn’t end well. Of course, he wouldn’t listen to Natalie; she wasn’t a business person and wouldn’t
get it
. Oh, she got it alright. He was willing to risk them all for his own damn needs. What else did she need to know?

Disgusted, she left him at the table and climbed into bed. Pulling the covers up, she curled to her side and rested her hand on her belly. The baby’s kicks were stronger, and what had started as tiny butterfly flutters had becomes nudges and pokes. She’d have to tell her folks she was pregnant eventually. The baby would be here soon, and she’d conveniently left out that one little detail, just telling them that due to business they rushed up their wedding and married earlier than they’d planned, sorry about that.

She just didn’t want to listen to her mother rattling on about things moving too quickly. She wouldn’t be one of those women that would be thrilled to be a grandmother. She’d be a mother that pointed out that Natalie made a heck of a lot of errors, and getting pregnant so soon was one of them.

She wanted to tell her brother, but she knew he’d tell their mom. She was suddenly feeling very alone, wondering if she’d made the right decision to get married and have a child. She apologized quietly to her baby. “I didn’t mean that. I’m happy you’re coming,” she whispered. “We both are. I’m just a little overwhelmed right now.” Her hand stroked across her belly, soothing herself and her child. They settled in, and soon she was sleeping. She didn’t know what time Michael made it to bed, and quite frankly, she didn’t care.

Michael couldn’t get a good night of sleep. As they inched closer to production in their own plant, he had trouble making peace with their decision to move ahead using a toxic chemical. There was just no way he could agree to it, even if it meant his backer would roar loudly and flap his wings at him. He had to stand his ground and fight back for what he believed in. If he couldn’t’ do it right, he wouldn’t do it at all. It was a difficult decision, but when it came down to it, he was going to be a father. He wanted to have his integrity intact and not start their lives on a lie.

It didn’t go well. Marcus was all over him, tearing him a new one. How dare he threaten this change at the last minute, when he willingly agreed? Does he realize how much this will set them back with time and money? Michael stood his ground. Marcus either agrees with him, or he’d find another investor and break their deal, threatening to expose the want to use the toxic chemical.

Marcus growled, “You ungrateful prick. You’re going to blackmail me after I saved your ass and gave you the chance at building your own company?”

Michael didn’t flinch. “I can’t do it, Marcus. I won’t follow my father’s path of lies.”

Marcus shook his head and seethed, staring at the man before him. “Fine, but when we’re earning profit, you’ll pay me back every freaking penny it cost above and beyond to do it this way.”

Michael agreed. It would hurt him financially in the beginning, but he’d have kept his morals intact. He had to do it the right way. There was no going back on that decision.

Relief washed through Natalie when he told her what he’d done. It was one less thing to worry about. She was proud of him, standing up to get his voice heard, and even prouder than he got Marcus to agree. At seven months pregnant, she just didn’t have the energy for the craziness of his business right now, so if things went smoothly, it was better for all of them.

It was hard to believe how much time had passed. There was no hiding the fact she was pregnant. She seemed to have popped somewhere between six and seven months, and felt like a house. Natalie could hardly believe she still had more time to go. With a slight waddle, she walked to the mirror to look at her changing body. Her fingers ran across her belly, and she stared at her puffy breasts. She felt rounder than she’d ever felt in her life.

She knew her belly button might push out at some point, but it hadn’t yet. Though fascinated by the changes, she worried her body wouldn’t go back to what it once was. Grabbing a bottle of cocoa butter from the dresser, she slathered her belly, dreading the stretch marks that might mark her soon. Holy cow, Michael married a model, but what would he end up with? She wished she didn’t focus on her appearance so much, but it was such an important part of her life before Michael.

Natalie finally found the nerve to tell her parents they’d be grandparents. Her mother was horrified she hadn’t told her sooner. When Natalie admitted why, they had a good heart to heart talk. For the first time in ages she felt like her mom was on her side. It was nice to not feel judged for a change, and to know that while her choices wouldn’t have been their own for her life’s path, they were happy she’d found someone she cared about and would love to be a part of their grandchild’s life.

Her brother was surprised to hear the news, but rolled seamlessly into endless parenting tips, telling her she’d be fine. He passed the phone to her sister-in-law, who went through her labor stories all over again. Natalie almost wished she’d shared the news sooner.

On hearing the labor stories, Natalie cringed. She most definitively wanted an epidural, anything to help with the pain. Truth be told, she was terrified. She had no idea how she’d get through it, but told herself other women do it every day. The closer it got, the edgier she felt. She still had time. She was torn between wanting to hold off and wanting to get it over with. Only, she didn’t get to decide on the actual date. It amazed her how different her life had become.

Her modeling days felt so long ago. She almost forgot what it felt like to be in front of the camera. So what if she did catalog shots more than magazine ad; it still made her money and she got to experience the modeling world a bit. Okay, so it wasn’t quite what she came to
New York for. She wanted those magazine ads, but other than Fusendyner Retro’s offer, she’d never had the opportunity. She was in holiday catalogs, department store catalogs, and spent the other part of her time serving appetizers at open houses for disgustingly expensive homes. People would hire a group of sexy women to play the part of server, so the wealthy people were surrounded by beautiful people as they scouted the new homes.

Usually it was the women who wandered through them, deciding whether it was worth their husband’s time to check out the home. It was a weird thing to watch the women who were married to these men that could afford homes like that. Would that have been her
if Bowman Industries didn’t crash? Is that what she actually wanted in the past, to be one of those women? She wrinkled her nose, realizing how shallow it seemed. Life had changed a lot this last year, and what she wanted today was something completely different than she wanted a year ago.