Hands That Steer A Fleeting Ship
August 29th, 2027
On Concrete Shelves | Revisited
005 - PART ONE
Scene One; Stone Creek
Sage Gardens; Thurlow Home
Last week she met with her step-mother, Caitlyn.
That meeting felt like an ambush, however — which didn’t give Marina too much time to think about what Caitlyn had offered. The last few days rehashing the many conversations she has had about the offered seat on the founder's council has given Marina more insight. It has also left her with more questions. Questions she is unable to answer for herself. So she gathered her — and Henry’s things, and gave Caitlyn a call.
Within minutes she pulls up to her father’s home. A home which once her own growing up, familiarity of the cottage gives her some relief. The mumbling toddler in the backseat gives her the drive to move forward and climb out of the car.
Henry’s eyes light up and he takes her hand. “Let’s go raid the kitchen.”
“Not too many,” Marina warns, following the two on their heist, “we still didn’t have a proper breakfast this morning!”
“I’m sure I can whip something up if you’d like!” Caitlyn suggests from the kitchen — which is a whole ten feet from where Marina is. She finally moves into the kitchen with her purse in one hand; his diaper bag and stuffed teddy in the other.
Marina smiles as Caitlyn hoists the toddler into his highchair. “I suppose we can stay for breakfast. It’s even better if I’m relieved of cooking it today. God knows I need to sit down a little more after this morning.”
“What happened this morning?” Caitlyn inquires, she opens the fridge to grab a few necessities.
There’s a little more weight to the question than Marina anticipated. So she gives herself a minute to think of how to reply. “I guess I just let time get the better of me.” Marina lies. It’s something that she hasn’t done to Caitlyn since she was a teenager.
They share a beat.
Marina uses this time to unload the diaper bag and teddy onto two of the chairs that are tucked into the kitchen island. She then places her purse on the island itself. “It’s just nice to not have to run around a kitchen making breakfast, is all.”
“Well, you’re welcome here anytime,” Caitlyn replies, “James is usually out of the house before I’m able to process a single thought. Most mornings I just make myself a bowl of cereal — let’s keep that between the two of us.” Caitlyn says with a grin.
“The three of us.” Marina points to her son who is making do with the gold fish he was promised.
Caitlyn chuckles, “Right! It’s so good to have company today, Especially since it was so unexpected! Can I ask if there was anything particular that you wanted to talk about? Maybe ease my mind a little about the offer to join the founder's council?”
“I do have some questions pertaining to that, Caitlyn.”
Caitlyn brims. “Please tell.”
Marina moves around the island and closer to Caitlyn; a frying pan in her hand, she quickly moves it over to the stove and fiddles with the gas-range.
Caitlyn turns to her. “If that’s how you felt, I do apologize. I had lunch scheduled with the girls since last week and I figured it’s been awhile since they had seen Henry. I didn’t put much thought into it. So I am sorry it had such an effect on the question.”
The words sit more surface level than Marina had hoped. She takes this time to continue with her questioning, “I also need to know exactly why you offered the seat on the council to me — especially since those seats are few and far between. I feel like you could have anyone you’d want sit on the council.”
“Oh, gosh,” Caitlyn says, maneuvering between the stove and focusing on Marina, “I guess I just felt that maybe you would feel a little more at ease having something so impactful as the founder's council in your life?”
“So you’re worried about me?”
“It’s not that, Marina,” Caitlyn draws.
Marina cuts in, “then what is it about?”
Caitlyn cracks an egg into the pan. The sizzling of the egg replaces the otherwise silence in the kitchen. “I think it would be better if we had this conversation after I finished making breakfast for the three of us. That way we won’t have any distractions.”
“Is it that serious.” Marina slumps.
Caitlyn sighs and rewords the answer. “I just think it’s better if we don’t have any unnecessary distractions.”
Our Love. Our Fights. Our Friendships.
On Concrete Shelves.
Forever, They Shall Be Remembered.
Scene Two; Stone Creek
Now Town; Thurlow Industries
Especially with the weather constantly under a magnifying glass this time of year.
Getting back into the merger with SRQ gives her more hesitation, however, since she is dealing with two people who aren’t the owners of the company; Avi and Castro.
“James,” Vinessa says, she pulls the man to the side nearest Grace’s desk, “I was looking for you earlier but Grace and said you were in a meeting with your mother. If it’s information about the merger, I wouldn’t mind a briefing on how I can help you out.”
He looks past Vinessa and at Grace who nods curtly. “I can hold all your calls, Mr. Thurlow.”
“Thank you, Grace,” James says, he then turns back to Vinessa, “I was going to reach out as soon as you stepped back in town. I assume that those SRQ suits have finally given us an answer as to what we discussed in the meeting last week?”
Vinessa raises her brow. “You would assume right.”
Stepping into James’ office, she looks around at the place as he finds his way to his desk — a spot that doesn’t suit the man. Vinessa has seen many CEOs over the years who fit the stuffy, out-of-touch persona filled with arrogance and greed — the softer, transparent nature of James Thurlow is a fresh breath of air; secretly, she roots for him. Professionally, she sides with him to close the deal as favorable as he can.
The leather briefcase she carriers in her right hand is starting to feel heavier as she hoists it onto his desk and proceeds to open it up. “The goods news is that they want to get the merger done as quickly as possible and without any incident. That’s the same thing that we all want. Especially before the winter months come in — better profits for everyone involved.”
“That works for me.” James replies.
Vinessa looks up at him. She pulls out the contract that everyone looked over last week and then followed by a secondary contract in which she flips through and then hands over to James. “The bad news is that they have one condition that stands in the way of signing the official contracts for the merger.”
“I thought we talked about everything that we needed to talk about.”
She watches him scan through the contract. “That’s the thing. Apparently after the meeting with Avi and Castro they were bale to get in contact with their CEO, Malinger. He agreed to the terms and thinks that you’re an honorable man, looking out for your employees. Says he wants to do the same for his own.”
Vinessa locks eyes with James, a solemn look in her eye that she tries to hide. “So Malinger added one more condition that we have to agree to in order to get our end of the negotiations approved.”
“Are we negotiating or are we being forced into a contract?”
“He asked the same of you.” Vinessa watches as his face falters. “Malinger wants one less Thurlow on the board of trustees; Anita or Shannon, your choice. He thinks that if you’re both going to be in-charge after the merger than he wants a more even playing field on the board. It’s not the most unreasonable.”
Vinessa shrugs. “I would say have Anita step down; she’s much older and probably will be stepping down from the board in a few years anyhow. At least this gives you less blood on your hands and your mother can retire and do whatever it is that she’d like to do away from the family business.”
“My mother helped build this company.”
“So she also understands how much it means to your family,” Vinessa replies. “Look, I’m not saying that this is the most ethical response to a contract negotiation I’ve been a collaborator on but it’s far from the worst I’ve seen.”
Vinessa watches as James processes the information. She gives him a beat and then moves forward. “The good news to this is that we now know where their moral line is. Once we sign the contracts you can move accordingly.”
“If this were your family's business,” James asks, “what would you do Vinessa?”
She closes her eyes, if only briefly; questions like this give her uncomfortable pause — which is why she tries to steer clear of giving off too much information about herself. “With all due respect, I am not allowed to advise you from a personal perspective for a reason, James.” Vinessa can tell he won’t take that as an answer, she clears her throat. “James, I just have to give you the facts.”
“What facts?” A voice questions from the office doorway.
Shannon Thurlow stands before the two occupants; her hair pinned back in a tight bun, blue satin short-sleeved blouse and tight cinched slacks. Her arms folded over her chest. “Vinessa, why are you holding a meeting without me?”
Scene Three; Stone Creek
Boulestridge Mountains; The Lakeside Inn
A few guests and staff move around the busy lobby. The woman behind the reception desk smiles sweetly at Gillian but gets distracted by a couple with luggage looking to check into the resort. Gillian decides waiting isn’t in her character and moves down the hall, studying everyone that walks by.
Gillian is amused by his hesitation.
There was a time when Damien Crenshaw was a nefarious man to many people — especially here in Stone Creek. Though she found that more mysterious and attractive than how apprehensive he is these days. Sometimes — when she’s alone, she closes her eyes and thinks back to the man that he once was.
“Hey, watch it!” A man shouts after she bumps into him.
Gillian shakes herself out of her daydream and stares down the older tourist before he moves off and out of the way. A chuckle from her right causes her much distain; Taylor, her brother’s butler — as she refers to him as, stands nearest a set of sofa’s that look out at the lake.
She tilts her head. “Not who I was looking for, but I’m glad you found that amusing.”
“You nearly pummeled that man. It looked like he was going to start swinging on you.” Taylor Kern Thurlow says. He awkwardly stands up near Gillian. “Then he saw the look on your face and decided to knock himself out of the competition instead.”
“It’s always so nice to see you, Taylor,” Gillian draws. They’ve never been that close, but Taylor and Aidan have both helped her brother see his dream of restoring the resort to it’s former glory and in that she at least sees them in a good light. “Have you seen my brother, by chance?”
He looks down at his boots for a second, which causes Gillian to look down at his disgusting boots and then back up where they lock-eyes. This causes Gillian to look away disturbed but the interaction.
“I recall him talking about taking a boat out on the lake this morning.” Taylor eyes her.
“Damn.” Gillian groans. “I can’t believe he picked today of all days to take a boat out on the fucking lake. Do you know when he will be back?”
Taylor shakes his head. “I do not.”
She thinks back to yesterday morning when she last spoke with Charlie. He had said something about his wife, which usually gets Gillian to tune out — but nothing about a boat day. It is possible that he had mentioned it though.
Gillian looks at Taylor. He holds a look of worry upon his face. It’s not unlike hospitality workers to hold this look. Though it looks a bit odd upon his face so she contemplates prying in-case it’s something boring.
“What’s going on with you?” Gillian asks.
He turns to her. “What do you mean?”
“There’s a weird look on your face. You seem stressed about something and I know it’s not something to do with the resort. This place looks impeccable.” Gillian snips.
This does sound boring. Gillian thinks. “When I get the privilege to spend time alone, I don’t look like you with that expression on my face.”
“Aidan hasn’t exactly been keeping in communication with me about everything. I guess I just wish that he would spend a little more time trying to help keep the communication going between the two of us. Even if it’s just a response to any of my text messages.”
Gillian shakes her head. “I’m going to stop you there. When my husband is away on business meetings and I am stuck at home with my twin dirt devils I don’t hear from him for days. It’s just what happens in relationships between adults, bonehead. You need to just develop tougher skin before you end up ruining your marriage obsessing over his every move.”
“It sucks all the oxygen out of the room!” Gillian quips.
Taylor goes to open his mouth but she holds up her hand. Instead she folds her arms. “We aren’t continuing this conversation any further. I have to go find my brother.” Gillian says, then moves away from the man and towards the lobby and out the door.
Scene Four; Stone Creek
Now Town; Thurlow Industries
“I messaged her my schedule.” Shannon chuckles.
Vinessa perks her head. “Sisyphean’s… weren’t you in a meeting there last week?”
There’s a slight prickling feeling to Vinessa’s words that cause some friction in the room. But as soon as things begin to calm once again, Shannon sighs. “Yeah, yeah. I had a meeting there last week over a few marketing details going forward.” She lies.
“However, this morning I wasn’t at a meeting… I went to Sisyphean’s with Jon.” Shannon says, testing the waters. It has been an entire week since he showed up on her doorstep talking about quitting his job and staying close to her.
James perks. “It’s nice to have Jon back in town.”
“How are things going between the two of you?” Vinessa inquires.
“We are figuring things out right now. Which is a good thing. A little tiresome if I can admit openly to the two of you.” Shannon shares. “He’s decided to retire early and move back to Stone Creek. So there’s a lot of adjustments and conversations that we need to have before I can feel absolutely on-track.”
“Things will work out.” James comforts.
Vinessa shrugs. “Things could be worse between the two of you. He could be halfway across the world right now on another undercover mission with no contact like he has been the last three years.”
“Part of me feels it’s a little selfish to let him retire.” Shannon says.
It’s a question that has been on the tip of her tongue ever since Jon showed up. But she hasn’t found the right person, or group of people, to admit it to. Not that she completely trusts Vinessa to the fullest. But Vinessa had been her best friend for years before she joined the merger so it feels easy to say what’s on her mind.
Then she remembers exactly what she overheard the moment she stepped into her brother’s office. “Wait. Back to the topic at hand. We can talk about my relationship another time. What is exactly going on in here without me present?”
“Nobody was stepping over bounds.” Vinessa replies.
James clears his throat. “Actually, it’s a good thing that you’re here now. If there’s anyone else who should be a part of this conversation from the beginning it should be you.”
“So why did it seem like I stepped into a very private conversation to begin with?”
“To be truthful, if anyone else had walked into this conversation it wouldn’t have been a very pleasant response from the two of us.” Vinessa admits, her arms folded. “However, it is probably best that I just come out with what I came to James about. SRQ came back with the contracts and approved everything up until the dotted line… they do, however, have one stipulation.”
The words tug sharply. “That can’t be good.”
“Not at all.” James says.
Suddenly the worries about her relationship with Jon are tucked deep into her being. “So what exactly are we going to have to do in order to get this merger to finalize?”
Vinessa goes to speak but James steps forward. “They want a Thurlow to step away from the board of trustees. Since I am the CEO of the company and I can’t be removed from my seat unless there’s a vote for it… the only other two options are —.”
“Myself or our mother.” Shannon concludes. “That’s definitely not good news.”
Shannon knew that there would be some upset. Especially after the back-and-forth meeting they had last week. Still, it felt that they had left on equal stepping so hearing this news now feels a little shady.
“So,” Shannon starts, she waves a hand in the air and directs it at her friend, Vinessa, “what do we do now? Are we able to counter their offer and stand our ground on this like we did last week or can we try and find another company with the same financial stability?”
Vinessa moves forward. “Finding another company would take months. Especially since Thurlow Industries is so family driven. Finding another company willing to work with a room full of Thurlow’s — as caring and understanding as y’all are, is going to be tricky. I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this but Malinger is looking for more even footing here and he doesn’t seem like he wants to budge on it.”
Shannon nods. “So then I guess I can step away if I need to… but I really don’t want to do that. Especially now that I have accomplished so much in the marketing department. I feel like I’m finally finding my place after Mathias.”
“Well I wouldn’t want you to step away, either.” Vinessa says.
“I guess now would be the best time to make good on his promise.”
“The only obstacle right now is that Anita has been extremely hands on with Thurlow-Jurado Overseas. If we bring this to her right now can we confirm that she won’t go on a rampage on the way back here from Paris?”
James turns to Vinessa. “Mother’s not like that.”
Shannon winces. “Do you remember when Marina went into false labor with Henry because the stress she was under — she practically barred Helen from the entire hospital? Mother is understanding but she also has her limits. Do I think she would be willing to step down from her position in a few months from now… potentially, but I don’t think we can bring this up to her during the merger.”
“This is the only way the merger is going to go forward.” Vinessa advises.
Her brother speaks up. “I wish we just had a better hand on all of this. It’s like whatever good will that was in this merger to begin with is now fleeting.”
“Okay, okay,” Shannon says, the wheels turning, “I think there’s a way that we can spin this entire thing. We know that daddy wanted them both to retire at some point before he had died. That’s a fact. Aidan has been doing a really good job helping her with things in Paris. Maybe we just take that approach to things? We can call her back to the states for more urgent business. We can explain that maybe it is better for Aidan to handle things overseas… she seemed more tired than usual last time we spoke.”
“So we just cloak and dagger her?” Vinessa questions.
Shannon shakes her head. “No. It’s more about making her see that Aidan is finally able to run things so that she can focus on something else.”
“And that is?”
“I think we should just tell the truth right from the start.” James suggests. “You said it yourself, mother has her limits and I don’t think lying to her and then manipulating her is going to go over well.”
Vinessa nods. “He has a point."
Shannon nibbles at her lip. “Look, you said it yourself, if we don’t give them what they want they won’t give us what we want. This seems like a very straight forward situation. Small white lies for the greater good can’t be that bad… especially for something that will be able to provide for more than just our family.”
“Right?”
Scene Five; Stone Creek
Now Town; Sutton Enterprises
It takes him too long to arrive at her door, strike one for the day.
“What can I get you today, boss lady?” He asks.
This gets a groan from the older, tense woman. “Please, call me by my actual name while you’re working for me, Karl. See,” she points out, “just like I did to you. It’s not that hard if you take a minute to think about it.”
This gets an uneasy frown from the man. Though he hardly passes for anything other than a frat boy in his tired men’s warehouse attire. “You do know how to think, don’t you?”
“Of course, I do.” Karl replies. “What can I get for you… Kimberly.”
She scoots forward in her chair, places her elbows on her desk and her head rests between the fists of her hands. Pondering for no longer than a minute, she opens, “Maybe you can get me the coffee that I asked for an hour ago.”
“You didn’t ask for coffee..”
Kimberly challenges him. “Did you read the email I sent you an hour ago? Obviously not. Since I still have yet to receive the shipping contracts I attached to the email. They needed to be printed and stapled together for tomorrow’s conference.”
“I-” Karl goes to turn, but then switches back to face Kimberly. Strike three for the day. She can see the lights dimming in his mind as he sorts through the information. “I should go get all of that then.”
“That would be ideal.”
Nodding viciously, he turns on his heel and runs right into Kimberly’s nephew, Peter Sutton, Jr., who smiles dashingly. “We should watch where we are going, sport.” Peter smirks, then locks eyes with his aunt. “Can we have a minute?”
“I’m still in the room.” Karl announces before leaving the two to go fetch the coffee order and the contracts.
Now with it being the two of them alone, Kimberly lifts herself up off her chair and leans forward — her knuckles against the desk as she rests her body onto them. “Thank god he is out of the room. I just get a weird feeling about him. I could’ve sworn I was getting along great with my last assistant.”
“HR says otherwise.” Peter snips. “You might want to be a little nicer to him, though,” he looks over his shoulder and then back at his aunt, “I don’t know how many more assistants you can go through until you’ve gained a reputation.”
“I’m seriously not trying to gain anything other than a competent assistant. Honestly.” Kimberly sucks her teeth while deep in thought. “I wanted to have the shipping contracts sorted and stapled together before I ran into you next. Obviously after what you just ran into that isn’t going to be happening. So maybe we just go over the synopsis I still have in my head and you tell me if anything pops out?”
“Actually.” Peter shuffles closer to her. “That’s the reason why I came to see you. Apparently there was a small meeting this morning that we weren’t apart of. But Connie in Advertising let it slip over coffee —.”
Kimberly put her hands on her hips. “You slept with Connie, didn't you?”
He nods assuredly. “Of course I did. How else would I be able to get her to spy on things for me? Lindy used our conference rooms for a small meeting with legal. From what I understand there may be a new issue with the shipping company we’ve been using for the last three years.”
“What kind of issue?”
Peter tightens his teeth. “It’s a pretty serious financial issue. Apparently this new contract you made —.”
She scoffs. “We made!”
“You are the one who fired the Albright brother’s and lost us our original contracts to begin with. Which — either way — that doesn’t matter! What matters right now is that the very person who was only supposed to be a side player in this scheme to take Sutton Industries away from uncle Patrick is holding meetings about S.I. without us…”
Kimberly shakes her head. “You’re right. That shouldn’t be the case. So what do you suppose that we do? The last time we spoke with Lindy she wanted us to accept an offer that didn’t feel right for the company.”
“Then we don’t accept.” Peter stands up straight.
She locks eyes with her nephew. “I don’t know if I have it in me to be as cutthroat as my brother or my father. If this was just basic commercial bullshit I could handle it. But what Lindy is offering is just another mirage.”
“Patrick needed to be taken down a peg or two.”
Peter tilts his head. “So does Lindy.”
“What are you saying?” Kimberly asks, “I’m confused, Peter. I thought you wanted to figure out how to get Lindy out of our contracts?”
“I’m saying what if we treat her just like we did Patrick... Go along with her plans and enjoy the spoils from each victory and once we are finally full — cut her from the company before she can do it to us.”
“How do we best a woman like Lindy Llewellyn Yu? She has eyes and ears everywhere.”
Peter leans back. “Then we have to be her eyes and ears.”
On Concrete Shelves
Revisited
Next Time, On Concrete Shelves...
- Caitlyn Lavern Thurlow confesses to Marina the true reason as to why she wants her step-daughter to join the founder's council and what it would mean for Marina's future if she does.
- Waiting for her brother, Charlie, at the Lakeside in Gillian Sutton Crenshaw has a few moments to reflect on how she was ousted from Sutton Industries. She also gets an answer from her brother on where he stands.
- Iris Galloway Thurlow and her husband, Emmet, meet with Dr. Roberts to finally learn the gender of their child, however, she has unexpected news that could jeopardize the pregnancy altogether...
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