thankful you’re not going to jail. And beyond that, be glad you don’t have to wear an ankle bracelet.”
Leesa stammered, “Thanks, but—well—you were at the reading of the will. I need to get a grip. Where should I report to begin the community service? Two hundred hours would be— what?”
Mr. Stern gathered up the signed papers and put them in his file. “Five weeks, full time. If you don’t have a job, it might be good to start out full time. They can assign you anywhere for any amount of time. Let me go find out where they want you to start. I’ll be right back.”
He closed the door on his way out.
Leesa held her head in her hands. How did I get here?
If only I hadn’t been so angry. Father, how could you leave everything to Levi? A tiny baby. You disowned Lyza, and she named her baby after you and Grandfather. Unreal.
You forgot about me. How could you have forgotten about me? I stood by you, even when you disowned Lyza. Do you think it was easy to turn on my best friend, on my twin sister? She felt tears spilling through her fingers. She raised her head and dug through her purse for a tissue.
Mr. Stern returned as she wiped her eyes. “Check in at this address Monday morning. I want to prepare you. The first week, you’ll be picking up trash along the highway. Dress accordingly: moderately and comfortably. It’s a dirty job, but go in with the right attitude, do a good job, get a good report, and you might get something better the second week.”
Leesa wrinkled her nose. “Picking up trash along the highway?”
Mr. Stern held the door open for her. “That’s right. You’re going to do it, and you’re going to be happy about it, because you’ll get to go home when you’re finished and not back to a jail cell. Understand?”
Chapter Three
Lyza entered the L. L. Lane Unlimited building. It feels weird coming back here, as though I’ve been gone a hundred years instead of just one. She stepped off the crowded elevator and approached the receptionist’s desk. “Good morning, Faith.”
Faith smiled cheerfully. “Good morning, Miss Lane.”
Lyza stopped in front of the desk. “Please, call me Lyza. Is Bill in?”
Faith searched the computer screen in front of her. “He’s here. Would you like me to page him?”
Lyza took a seat in the waiting area. “Just call and tell him I’m in the lobby.”
Bill appeared in the lobby within seconds. He reached out and enveloped Lyza in a hug. “Lyza, so good to see you. I’m so sorry about your father. I know you’re going to miss him.”
Lyza quickly hugged him and stepped back. “I miss him already. I’m still in shock at what he did. Did Aaron Stern contact you regarding the situation?”
Bill smiled. “He did, and I want you to know that I’m ecstatic that you’re back. Your father’s old office is available.”
She followed him to her father’s oversized office. One end offered a view of the Los Angeles skyline, with a large desk in front of the window. In the middle of the room sat a round table, with six matching cherrywood chairs circling it. A sofa, loveseat with matching chairs, and recliner with a large coffee table in the center completed the other side of the room. On the wall behind the love seat, a three-by-four-foot portrait displayed Lawrence’s commanding pose as founder of the conglomerate.
Lyza stood under the portrait, back to the wall, and surveyed the spacious office. She turned and looked up at the portrait. “The portrait will go in the main lobby. The artist did a wonderful job. It looks like Father on a good day.”
Bill studied the portrait. “It will be moved today.” He turned to Lyza. “Do you want me to call the interior designer to redecorate?”
Lyza surveyed the room again. “It’s fine. I have to deal with bigger fires. Rumors say the business is losing money left and right. Is that true?”
Bill took in a deep breath. “It’s not as bad as rumored. It’s not throughout the entire business structure. Some areas need patching. And yes, those areas are hemorrhaging money.”
Lyza slowly took the chair her father used to occupy behind the enormous desk. “How can we stop it? You were Father’s right-hand man. I need your advice. Who do we need to talk to?”
Bill stood across from her and arched his fingertips on the edge of the desk. “We can call a meeting of the board of directors of each troubled division. Some of the world’s leading financial advisors knew your father. I’m sure they would be glad to consult until we can get a grip on the situation.”
She turned on the computer in front of her. “That’s what I want to do, then. Contact them. Set up a meeting. But before you do that, have a seat. I want to know what happened. Don’t sugarcoat it. This is Leesa’s doing, isn’t it?”
Bill took a seat in a leather chair. “I think she tried too hard. She felt abandoned when your father kicked you out. Then she got a taste of power and went a little crazy. You father took ill, and suddenly she couldn’t wait to take over. She wasn’t ready, but no one could tell her anything. She was going to take over and have everything her way.”
Lyza looked him directly in the eyes. “What do we need to do to get the company back to what it was before Leesa took over?”
Bill leaned back and folded his arms across his chest. “You could let the employees know you’re back, give them a reason to stop looking for jobs. We’ve had a fifteen percent loss of employees since Leesa took over. What can we do to change that?”
Lyza hesitated. “Instead of telling them of yet another change, let’s tell them I’m working to restore the business to what it used to be. We need them, and I don’t want to beg them to hang in there to find out if I’m sincere. I’d like to announce an increase in salary as a goodwill gesture.”
Bill’s jaw dropped open. “What? A salary increase in this economy? I don’t how that will go over with the directors.”
Lyza held up her hand. “I don’t want to usurp the directors, but let’s look at how much a five percent increase will affect the business.”
Bill’s eyes widened. “Five percent across the board?” He backed toward the door. “I’ll go crunch the numbers. You’ll probably want to talk to legal.”
Lyza pushed away from the desk. “I’ll go to their offices. I presume they’re still upstairs?”
***
The head of the legal department, Morris Banks, waited in front of the elevator, and as the doors opened, he stepped back to allow Lyza to enter first. “Hello. I heard you were coming today.”
She faced him. “You’re just the person I’m looking for. You’re still head of legal, aren’t you?”
He shrugged with an ‘I could care less’ attitude. “So far. How can I help you?”
They exited at legal. He opened the department’s glass doors. “Do you want to sit here in the lobby or come to my office?”
