Frank stepped closer to the stage.
"Doug, I think we need to look at this carefully."
Doug turned toward him.
"Not now, Frank."
"With respect, this is already a company matter."
The room seemed to grow even quieter.
I recognized Frank as one of the senior managers.
He had been with Lanning Fabrication for a long time.
His expression was serious.
He looked at the photocopy.
Then at me.
"Mrs. Margaret, would you mind letting us make a copy of that document?"
I considered his request.
"I'll provide a copy through the proper channels."
Frank nodded.
"Of course."
Doug looked irritated.
"Why are we making this into such a big thing?"
Frank didn't immediately answer.
Instead, he looked toward Jeremy.
"Jeremy, did Doug actually tell you that you were fired?"
Jeremy nodded.
"Yes."
"In front of everyone?"
"Yes."
Frank glanced toward the audience.
A few people looked down.
Then Mike stood.
I recognized him from earlier.
He was a broad-shouldered man with gray hair and a tired face.
"I heard it," he said.
Doug looked at him.
"Mike, sit down."
Mike didn't move.
"Jeremy didn't do anything wrong."
The words were simple.
But I saw what they cost him.
He had spent years working under Doug.
He had a family to support.
And now he was standing in front of the owner, disagreeing with him.
Denise stood next.
"I agree."
Doug's expression hardened.
"This isn't a vote."
"No," Denise replied. "But we all saw what happened."
I watched the people around the room.
Some were still seated.
Others were slowly standing.
Nobody was cheering.
Nobody was making speeches.
They were simply no longer pretending that Doug's behavior had been acceptable.
I felt something shift.
Not because I had suddenly become powerful.
But because people were beginning to say what they had been thinking.
Jeremy looked uncomfortable.
He leaned toward me.
"Mom, I don't want everyone fighting over this."
I touched his hand.
"I know."
He looked toward Mike.
Then toward Denise.
"I just wanted to come to dinner."
I understood.
He hadn't wanted a public argument.
He hadn't wanted a scene.
He had wanted one ordinary evening with his mother.
I wished I could give him that.
Frank asked Doug to step away from the stage.
Doug refused.
"First, I want to know what this document means."
I nodded.
"That's reasonable."
I reached for the photocopy.
Doug hesitated before handing it back.
I placed it on the nearest table.
Then I took my reading glasses from my purse.
The lenses were scratched slightly.
I unfolded them and put them on.
I wanted to be certain everyone understood that I wasn't making claims from memory.
I was referring to a written agreement.
"The original financing was arranged in 1998," I explained. "Your father had already been turned down several times."
Frank listened carefully.
I continued.
"He had very little collateral. I worked at the bank handling his application. I knew the risks, but I also knew his business plan."
I looked toward Doug.
"He needed someone willing to guarantee the financing."
Doug nodded slowly.
"Yes."
"I agreed to put my home behind the loan."
A few people whispered.
I continued.
"That house was where I raised my children. It was not an investment property. It was our family home."
Jeremy looked at me.
I could tell he was hearing this for the first time.
I hadn't told him because I didn't want him worrying about something that had happened decades earlier.
But now there was no reason to hide it.
"Your father understood the risk," I said. "He also understood that the company might become valuable if it succeeded."
Doug looked at the agreement again.
"That's why he wrote this?"
"Yes."
Frank asked a question.
"Did the company ever formally acknowledge your contribution?"
I shook my head.
"Not in any public way."
"Did Ray ever tell the family?"
"I don't know what he told you."
Doug looked uncomfortable.
"My father didn't talk much about business at home."
I believed that.
Ray had been private.
He didn't enjoy showing off.
He was the kind of man who would rather repair a broken machine himself than hire someone to do it.
I remembered him sitting at my desk with a pencil behind his ear.
I remembered his gratitude.
And I remembered the promise he made when he handed me the agreement.
He had told me that if the business ever became something substantial, I would never be forgotten in the arrangement.
I had believed him.
I still did.
Frank studied the document.
"Mrs. Margaret, I think this should be reviewed by an attorney."
"I agree."
Doug nodded quickly.
"Yes. We'll get our lawyer involved."
I looked at him.
"That would be sensible."
Then I pointed toward Jeremy.
"But the employment decision is a separate matter."
Doug looked at my son.
I continued.
"Whatever this agreement means financially, Jeremy's nine years of work should be judged on their own merits."
Frank nodded.
"He's right."
Doug looked at him sharply.
Frank corrected himself.
"She's right. We should review his employment record before making any decision."
Jeremy lowered his eyes.
He was tired.
I could see it.
He had spent the evening trying to hold himself together.
Now he was standing beside his seventy-one-year-old mother while people discussed his job as though he weren't there.
I wanted to take him home.
But there was something else I needed to hear first.
I looked at Doug.
"Will you withdraw what you said tonight?"
He didn't answer immediately.
His eyes moved toward the document.
Then toward the eighty people watching him.
For the first time, he seemed to understand that this wasn't going away simply because he wanted it to.
Click here to continue reading: PART 8: Before the Christmas Dinner Ended, I Asked Doug to Separate His Father’s Promise From the Cruel Decision He Had Made About My Son
My Son Asked Me to Attend His Christmas Party Because He Couldn’t Bear Another Holiday Sitting Alone
Part 7 of 20
