Amnesia and Realizations. And Maple-Glazed Turkey. Chapter 5
Title: Amnesia and Realizations. And Maple-Glazed Turkey.
Author: nancygrew
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Characters belong to ATWT
Notes: Takes place late November 2015. You don't have to read my other fic in order to understand this one. Originally written for Noah_Who but decided to bring it over here with the rest of my fic so that I could play with tags.
Summary: Noah wakes up in Oakdale Memorial Hospital
CHAPTER FIVE: WEDNESDAY MORNING AT GRIMALDI SHIPPING
Noah and Luke arrived at Grimaldi Shipping shortly before eight a.m. Luke gave Noah what he referred to as the nickel tour of Grimaldi. Luke pointed out the docks, warehouses, employee gym, employee cafeteria. Luke greeted everyone he passed and they in turn swooned with delight at having attention paid to them by their young, hot boss. Or so it seemed to Noah. Luke led Noah to his office. Luke let Noah settle in on the leather sofa in the corner of the office to read while he sat behind his mahogany desk working on his computer. They passed a few hours in silence.
Suddenly the door to the office slammed open. An irate, middle aged man stormed into the office.
“Is it true?” the red-faced man screeched. “Are you taking me off of the Vancouver project?”
Luke leaned back in his chair. “Yes. The meeting I have scheduled with you for this afternoon is about the project. I am assigning it to someone else. I regret that you found out about the reorganization from someone else.”
“How dare you give the project to someone else! I earned this project.”
“You failed miserable with this project,” replied Luke coolly. “I requested that you develop a plan to halt the decrease in revenues for the Vancouver office. You responded with the suggestion of firing half of the Vancouver office. You offered no alternate options. I am incredibly interested in why, exactly, you feel that you didn’t handle this project with complete incompetence.”
“The office is losing money,” yelled the man. “Laying off the dead wood will save Grimaldi Shipping hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.”
“Pffft,” replied Luke. “The Vancouver office is NOT losing money. It’s making less profit than it used to make. You were supposed to develop a business plan on how to reorganize the office to turn it around. You didn’t offer me any alternatives to your option of laying off half of the staff. You didn’t offer options about repurposing the office or offering staff the opportunity to relocate to one of our other offices or anything useful at all. I am incredibly disappointed in you, Mitchell.”
“You’re a bleeding heart brat who doesn’t seem to understand that you are running a business and not a charity,” sneered Mitchell.
“First of all, I don’t believe I ever suggested that we not correct the problem of the office not making as big of a profit as it should be making. But what you seem to fail to understand is that if we don’t show our employees any loyalty, how can we expect loyalty from them? Also, if we start laying people off then our competitors will see that as a weakness. We really don’t need to have other shipping companies circling us like sharks scenting yummy blood.”
“You don’t have a clue about what you’re doing, little boy,” Mitchell snarled at Luke. “The company was just handed to you because your daddy knocked up your mommy.” Noah noticed that a large, burly security guard had come up to the office and entered behind Mitchell. Someone must have called Security when they heard Mitchell screaming. Luke made a subtle hand gesture to the security guard who stopped in the doorway.
“Is there a reason you think that I’m going to let you talk to me in a disrespectful manner?” asked Luke with seemingly genuine curiosity. Luke stood up from his desk and approached Mitchell. “Because I may be relatively inexperienced but you are a lazy idiot whose business ideas are all about twenty years out of date. You have not made any innovative, or even useful, suggestions during the years I’ve been president of Grimaldi Shipping.”
“How dare you--”
“Stop,” Luke interrupted Mitchell. “My decision is made and I don’t really care about your whining complaints. You can either shut up and keep your job or you can start looking for other gainful employment. I’m good with either choice you make.”
“I’m going to kick your girly ass!” yelled Mitchell. He swung a fist at Luke but it didn’t connect. The security guard had leapt at Mitchell and tackled him to the ground. It wasn’t a gentle tackle by any means. It was a tackle that would have made some NFL quarterbacks cry. Luke sighed.
“Max, please let Mitchell up,” said Luke. “Mitchell, do you need to be taken to the emergency room?”
“I’m fine,” Mitchell gasped. “I shouldn’t be surprised that a little sissy like you had to have your security guard protect you.”
“I’m glad that you’re not hurt,” replied Luke. “Mitchell, you’re a danger to others so I’m going to have HR call you to conduct your exit interview over the phone.”
“You’re firing me?” asked a shocked Mitchell. “I’ve worked for this company---”
“Max, please escort Mitchell from the premises and have his security accesses revoked. Do not let him leave with his Grimaldi laptop or cell phone,” said Luke. “Have his personal effects reviewed and then forwarded to him."” Mitchell was led away by a grinning Max.
“Louise, please come into my office,” said Luke.
Luke’s administrative assistant entered Luke’s office and shut the door. She was teary eyed as she stood quivering before Luke.
“How did Mitchell learn about my plans for the Vancouver project?” asked Luke sternly.
“I’m best friends with his administrative assistant and I told her about it but I told her not to tell anyone,” cried Louise.
Luke sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Is there a reason that you felt that your loyalty to your boss was less important than gossiping with your friend?”
“I wanted to warn her so that she could start looking for another job,” said Louise. “I’m so sorry. Please don’t fire me.”
“I believe that your mistake, and it was a very serious mistake, was not due to maliciousness. But I do need to be able to trust my administrative assistant one hundred percent. Can you handle the responsibilities of your job and can you offer me your loyalty and discretion?”
“Yes,” sobbed Louise.
“Fine,” replied Luke. “You won’t be fired for this incident but I’m going to need you to learn to be more professional.”
Louise thanked Luke profusely and left his office. Luke sighed heavily. Estimates would put the weight of the sigh at a metric ton.
“That was pretty horrible,” said Noah.
“Yes, it was,” agreed Luke while he got himself a bottle of water from the refrigerator.
“You really humiliated the guy,” Noah continued. “If he’s been working here for a long time then it was wrong of you to fire him just because he didn’t handle some business project the way you felt it should be handled. It was especially cruel to fire the man right before Thanksgiving.”
Noah was startled by the amused gaze that Luke shot him.
“Have you been secretly attending business management classes?” asked Luke.
“Of course not,” replied Noah. “I’m going to be a filmmaker.”
‘Then why would you think I would care about your opinion on how I should handle Grimaldi Shipping business?” questioned Luke.
“Seeing you treat someone with so much meanness really bothered me,” said Noah.
“Funny. It would have aroused Reid. Seeing me fire an incompetent minion would have made him hard as a rock,” said Luke offhandedly as he sat back down behind his desk.
“I can’t believe you would say that to me,” hissed Noah.
“I can’t believe that you would take the side of a man who wanted to fire a dozen people because he was too lazy and stupid to come up with a better idea,” replied Luke with a shrug. “Of course, your default setting has always been to side with anyone else over me. I take that back. One time you and I were kidnapped by a pair of psychotic lovers and you actually did take my side over theirs. Of course, one of them did shoot you.”
Noah was stunned that Luke thought that Noah didn’t automatically take Luke’s side on issues. The only times that Noah ever sided against Luke was when Luke was wrong, wrong, wrong, dead wrong. Luke shouldn’t have expected Noah to take his side when Luke was in the wrong. And someone had shot him?
A pretty woman in her early thirties rushed into the room. Noah figured she must be about thirteen months pregnant. She was huge. She was so huge that her belly probably affected the tides of the oceans and the orbit of the moon.
“Are you okay?” the woman asked worriedly as she rushed towards Luke.
“I’m fine,” said Luke as the woman fussed over Luke. “Max prevented Mitchell from hitting me. I think Max might have enjoyed tackling Mitchell far too much. Hopefully, Mitchell won’t try to sue us for physical damages.”
“Well, enough people heard him threaten you that even if he does try to sue us, he’ll lose,” replied the woman.
“Noah, this is my big sister Abigail Williams Ward,” introduced Luke. “Abigail, this is Noah Mayer. He has amnesia and has no memories after December 2008.”
Abigail appeared startled. “Does he know that . . .”
Luke smiled gently at his sister. “Yes. He knows that we broke up a long time ago. Karen Haines feels that his amnesia is going to be of short-term duration but right now he’s hanging out with me because I’m safe and familiar.”
“Well, it’s . . . nice to meet you Noah,” said Abigail gamely as she offered her hand in greeting.
“We’ve never met before?” asked Noah as he shook Abigail’s hand. “Before I got amneisa?”
“No, I didn’t move back to Oakdale until after you and Luke broke up so we never had the opportunity to meet,” answered Abigail with a slight frown. “I came back for my father’s . . .I came back for a visit when you and Luke were still together but you were out of town. Luke, I have a meeting with the director making our new cruise ship commercial in about ten minutes. Do you want me to cancel it so that I can drive you home?”
“Don’t be silly,” replied Luke. “I’m not exactly traumatized by firing Mitchell. Go be brilliant at your meeting. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
“You’re okay with the fact that Gregory and I are having Thanksgiving dinner with his family and then coming over to your place for dessert, right?” asked Abigail.
“Of course,” said Luke. “I don’t begrudge you having in-laws that love and adore you and want to spend time with you. I’m happy that Reid and I get to have you two for part of the day. And you’re not the only ones spending part of the day at more than one place tomorrow. Mom and Adam and Dad and Lien are having dinner at our place but dessert at the Hughes house. I think Maddie and Lowell plan on having dinner with the Wards, dessert at our place and a second dessert with the Coleman/Munson/Ryan family.”
“Going house to house for food on Thanksgiving, aka the Autumnal Harvest, is sort of the grown-up version of Halloween,” said Abigail.
Luke shivered. “I just had a vision of Reid going door to door for turkey sandwiches on Friday.”
Abigail giggled and kissed Luke on his cheek. She said goodbye to Noah and coolly offered her wishes for a speedy recovery.
“Luke, why didn’t I meet Abigail after I moved back to Oakdale?” asked Noah worriedly. “Did you ask your family to cut me out of their lives after we broke up?”
Luke looked pissed. “Actually, you were the one who didn’t want to be friends after we broke up. Since we weren’t friends, you decided it would be easier for you if you didn’t have any contact with my family. My mom was really hurt that you didn’t keep in touch after you moved to LA. We didn’t hear from you for years. No one is holding a grudge against you, or anything, but you never really tried to restore your relationships with the members of my family. You and I are friendly now but it’s not like you normally spend holidays with my family any more.”
Noah was saddened by the loss of having a family. He suspected that Luke wasn’t being completely truthful about how he ended up estranged from the Snyders. He had loved the Luke’s family. And they had loved him. He suspected that they had been grateful to him for how well he handled Luke.
An incredibly handsome middle aged man entered the room.
“Noah, this is Damian Grimaldi. My father.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” said Noah hesitantly holding out his hand in greeting. He wasn’t sure how Luke’s life had changed enough that he now was involved with the Grimaldi family. Damian looked at Noah in disgust.
“He has amnesia,” explained Luke to Damian. “He doesn’t remember anything after early December 2008.”
“So he has no memory of how your professor tried to seduce you away from him and Noah got angry and reported the professor to the dean for inappropriate conduct with his student?” asked Damian. “He doesn’t remember how betrayed you felt when his interference caused problems with your senior project?”
Luke shook his head. “Damian--”
Noah interrupted whatever excuse Luke was going to make.
“If a professor was trying to seduce Luke, then I was right to report him!” defended Noah angrily. “I can’t believe that Luke would try to take advantage of some gross pervert’s attraction to him just to get school credit. That kind of entitlement is horrible and the Luke I fell in love with would have been above that.”
Noah was surprised by Damian’s laughter.
Luke sighed at his biological father. “Damian, I’m pretty sure that we’re not supposed to look at Noah’s brain injury as an opportunity to amuse ourselves.”
“I’m an old man, Luke,” replied Damian somberly. “I must take my pleasures while I can.”
Luke huffed a laugh. “Old? All of a sudden, you’ve become Wilford Brimley? Are you still boxing a couple days a week to keep in shape?”
Damian shrugged. “I’m fifty now. I’ve decided that that’s old enough to take my pleasures while I can. Of course when I was twenty I decided that that was old enough to take my pleasures while I could. And yes, I am still boxing a couple days a week. I have an amazing body for a fifty year old. Your aunt Iva can’t keep her hands off of me.”
“I don’t get the joke,” said Noah petulantly.
Damian ignored Noah. “Luciano, unless you need me for something today, I thought that I’d spend the rest of the day working on Kingsley Malta business from Iva’s place.”
“That’s fine with me. How long are you staying in Oakdale for this visit?”
“I’ll be flying back to Malta the day after Thanksgiving but I’ll be back in a month or two. Iva and I are both looking forward to the Autumnal Harvest Feast at your place tomorrow. Are you sure that there’s nothing that we could bring?”
“Absolutely positive.”
“You were right to fire Mitchell, you know,” said Damian. Noah was surprised at how quickly news traveled through the Grimaldi Shipping offices. “His work has been shoddy for quite a while and his blatant disregard for your authority was troubling.”
“Agreed,” said Luke.
“But you should know that I would have fired your administrative assistant for her indiscretion and his administrative assistant for her loyalty to Mitchell instead of to you.”
“Luckily for Louise and Thelma, I’m in charge here,” said Luke coolly with a raised eyebrow. Damian huffed a laugh and nodded in agreement.
Damian left the room without saying anything further to Noah.
Noah frowned at Luke. “I demand to know what was so funny about one of your professors trying to use his position to try to steal you from me.”
Luke rolled his eyes. Noah hated it whenever Luke got all eyeroll-y and bitch-y. Sometimes Noah felt that Luke was way too gay. “Damian was having a little fun at your expense. It was actually your professor who had the hots for you. I vented to Damian about it and he’s the one who reported the professor to the dean and gave him a video of the professor kissing you. The professor got fired before your senior project was completed and you blamed me. Damian always thought it was hypocritical of you to insist that it was ‘right’ to turn me in and get me expelled from school when I behaved unethically but that it was ‘wrong’ to turn in your professor when he behaved unethically.”
Noah wasn’t sure what to say. He was sure that there must be more to the story than what Luke was telling him. It would be just like Luke to only tell part of the story.
Luke sighed. “Look, it’s all in the past so there’s no need for us to get into it. Especially since you don’t remember any of it.”
Louise buzzed Luke’s office to let him know that his aunt had arrived for their lunch appointment. Luke advised Louise to send Carly in.
“Noah, you remember Carly,” said Luke. “She and my Uncle Jack are remarried. She, Grandma Emma and I opened up a barbecue restaurant slash blues club together and Carly’s now running it. We meet every Wednesday for lunch to discuss the business.”
Carly appeared puzzled.
“Carly, Noah has retrograde amnesia and doesn’t remember anything after December 2008.”
Carly appeared unconcerned by the trauma of Noah having brain damage. The three of them sat down at a round table in Luke’s office. Luke unpacked the lunch that Ms. Crichton had packed. There was more than enough for Luke, Noah and Carly.
Noah was annoyed that Carly and Luke immediately started discussing their business. Noah would never want to be a big baby about a having a medical condition but brain damage was a pretty big deal and he thought that it might actually be worth more than an offhand comment. It’s not like Carly was a complete stranger to him. They were both Snyders. Sort of.
After speaking briefly about the current state of The Juke Joint, Luke moved to another topic. And this topic wasn’t about Noah’s amnesia, either. “Maddie is doing a great job with Calliope’s Cinema and Café. She’s great at getting publicity for the different film festivals and she’s created some great quirky internet ads for the place. She has book clubs and film discussion groups meeting in the café which has really increased traffic.”
“Are you trying to get me to feel competitive with Maddie?” asked an amused Carly. “Am I supposed to make a solemn vow to be a better manager than her?”
Luke huffed a laugh. “No. But I wanted to make it very clear how pleased I am with the job that Maddie is doing before I put forth a proposition to you.”
“What’s the proposition?” asked Carly as she crossed her shapely legs. “Whatever it is, it may be the first completely non-sexual proposition I’ve ever received from a man.”
“I think that The Juke Joint has expanded as much as it should for right now. The restaurant/club is thriving; it’s almost always busy. The sauces are selling even better than anticipated. I think now is a good time for you to put Jenny Wendell in charge of the restaurant/blues club and put Pete Wendell in charge of the barbecue sauce factory and distribution center.”
“Why would I do that?” asked Carly. “I’m way too young to retire. Plus, there’s still plenty of bank to be made.”
“I feel that there could be a wider market for some of the vegetarian soups that Grandma Emma has created for Calliope’s. Maddie’s degree is in liberal arts not business. I think that if you and Maddie are willing to work together, we can put something pretty amazing together. I’ve created a preliminary marketing plan that I’d like to discuss with you and get your feedback on before I bring it up with Maddie.”
Noah interrupted the conversation. “Don’t you think you should be discussing this with Maddie?”
“I will be discussing it with Maddie and she and Grandma Emma will have veto power if they don’t like the idea,” said Luke. “But if Carly isn’t even interested in the proposition then there’s no point in getting Maddie excited about the possibility of marketing the soup on a wider scale.”
“You should have talked to Maddie first. Did marrying that jerk make you forget how to be loyal to your friends?” asked Noah with righteous indignation.
“Luke is the most loyal guy on the planet. He’s loyal to his friends, his family, his employees. Also, Luke was loyal enough to not marry someone else while he was still dating you,” snipped Carly.
“Are you referring to me marrying Ameera?” asked an upset Noah. “Because I was trying to save her life.”
“Don’t be so disingenuous, sweetie,” cooed Carly. “You dove back into the closet so fast it would have made Liberace’s head spin. You married a complete stranger fully knowing that it would break your sweet boyfriend’s heart. You chose a stranger over a man who wanted to spend his life with you. A stranger who you knew had some sort of relationship with your psychopathic daddy. It was a dick move on your part.”
“What is your preferred treatment for obstructive hydrocephalus?” Luke asked Carly.
“Pardon?” answered Carly.
“Sorry, I just assumed you must be channeling Reid,” answered Luke with a grin. Carly flashed an engaging smile at Luke.
“I don’t think you’re being fair,” said Noah to Carly.
“Look, it’s all matrimony under the bridge,” said Luke. “This all happened years ago and it’s completely irrelevant to our current lives.”
Suddenly, Casey Hughes bounded into the room. Noah almost didn’t recognize him as Casey was dressed like a grown up. Casey Hughes in a suit. Strange days, indeed. Maybe the end-times were approaching. Noah wasn’t as surprised as he should have been that Casey, with his less-than-strict morality, was now working at Grimaldi Shipping.
“Luke, I just heard that Mitchell tried to kill you. Are you okay, man?” asked Casey with concern. Carly looked at Luke with worry.
“He didn’t try to kill me,” said Luke. “He tried to hit me. Max, with much joie de vivre, tackled him. I fired Mitchell. Not a big deal.”
“I’m glad you’re alright. Hi, Carly,” said Casey who looked startled when he noticed Noah. Casey shot Luke a questioning look.
“Noah hit his head. He doesn’t remember anything after 2008. I suspect he’s getting a little stir-crazy in here. Are you free to take him out and hang out a little with him?” Luke asked Casey.
Casey seemed to hesitate. He raised an eyebrow in question to Luke. Luke raised an eyebrow back at him. Casey raised his other eyebrow. Luke raised his other eyebrow. Noah had no idea what the meaning behind the Eyebrow Summit was, but he was glad that Casey decided that he was free to hang out with Noah.
“Hey, man,” said Casey to Noah. “Do you want to go visit Maddie? She’s the manager of a movie house slash vegetarian cafe. She co-owns it with Emma and Luke. It’s a pretty happening place. I think you’ll really like it.”
“That sounds nice,” said Noah. Casey and Noah said goodbye to Luke and Carly. Luke told them to have fun. Carly waved a hand carelessly in their direction as she started to peruse the business plan that Luke had printed out for her.
Author: nancygrew
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Characters belong to ATWT
Notes: Takes place late November 2015. You don't have to read my other fic in order to understand this one. Originally written for Noah_Who but decided to bring it over here with the rest of my fic so that I could play with tags.
Summary: Noah wakes up in Oakdale Memorial Hospital
CHAPTER FIVE: WEDNESDAY MORNING AT GRIMALDI SHIPPING
Noah and Luke arrived at Grimaldi Shipping shortly before eight a.m. Luke gave Noah what he referred to as the nickel tour of Grimaldi. Luke pointed out the docks, warehouses, employee gym, employee cafeteria. Luke greeted everyone he passed and they in turn swooned with delight at having attention paid to them by their young, hot boss. Or so it seemed to Noah. Luke led Noah to his office. Luke let Noah settle in on the leather sofa in the corner of the office to read while he sat behind his mahogany desk working on his computer. They passed a few hours in silence.
Suddenly the door to the office slammed open. An irate, middle aged man stormed into the office.
“Is it true?” the red-faced man screeched. “Are you taking me off of the Vancouver project?”
Luke leaned back in his chair. “Yes. The meeting I have scheduled with you for this afternoon is about the project. I am assigning it to someone else. I regret that you found out about the reorganization from someone else.”
“How dare you give the project to someone else! I earned this project.”
“You failed miserable with this project,” replied Luke coolly. “I requested that you develop a plan to halt the decrease in revenues for the Vancouver office. You responded with the suggestion of firing half of the Vancouver office. You offered no alternate options. I am incredibly interested in why, exactly, you feel that you didn’t handle this project with complete incompetence.”
“The office is losing money,” yelled the man. “Laying off the dead wood will save Grimaldi Shipping hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.”
“Pffft,” replied Luke. “The Vancouver office is NOT losing money. It’s making less profit than it used to make. You were supposed to develop a business plan on how to reorganize the office to turn it around. You didn’t offer me any alternatives to your option of laying off half of the staff. You didn’t offer options about repurposing the office or offering staff the opportunity to relocate to one of our other offices or anything useful at all. I am incredibly disappointed in you, Mitchell.”
“You’re a bleeding heart brat who doesn’t seem to understand that you are running a business and not a charity,” sneered Mitchell.
“First of all, I don’t believe I ever suggested that we not correct the problem of the office not making as big of a profit as it should be making. But what you seem to fail to understand is that if we don’t show our employees any loyalty, how can we expect loyalty from them? Also, if we start laying people off then our competitors will see that as a weakness. We really don’t need to have other shipping companies circling us like sharks scenting yummy blood.”
“You don’t have a clue about what you’re doing, little boy,” Mitchell snarled at Luke. “The company was just handed to you because your daddy knocked up your mommy.” Noah noticed that a large, burly security guard had come up to the office and entered behind Mitchell. Someone must have called Security when they heard Mitchell screaming. Luke made a subtle hand gesture to the security guard who stopped in the doorway.
“Is there a reason you think that I’m going to let you talk to me in a disrespectful manner?” asked Luke with seemingly genuine curiosity. Luke stood up from his desk and approached Mitchell. “Because I may be relatively inexperienced but you are a lazy idiot whose business ideas are all about twenty years out of date. You have not made any innovative, or even useful, suggestions during the years I’ve been president of Grimaldi Shipping.”
“How dare you--”
“Stop,” Luke interrupted Mitchell. “My decision is made and I don’t really care about your whining complaints. You can either shut up and keep your job or you can start looking for other gainful employment. I’m good with either choice you make.”
“I’m going to kick your girly ass!” yelled Mitchell. He swung a fist at Luke but it didn’t connect. The security guard had leapt at Mitchell and tackled him to the ground. It wasn’t a gentle tackle by any means. It was a tackle that would have made some NFL quarterbacks cry. Luke sighed.
“Max, please let Mitchell up,” said Luke. “Mitchell, do you need to be taken to the emergency room?”
“I’m fine,” Mitchell gasped. “I shouldn’t be surprised that a little sissy like you had to have your security guard protect you.”
“I’m glad that you’re not hurt,” replied Luke. “Mitchell, you’re a danger to others so I’m going to have HR call you to conduct your exit interview over the phone.”
“You’re firing me?” asked a shocked Mitchell. “I’ve worked for this company---”
“Max, please escort Mitchell from the premises and have his security accesses revoked. Do not let him leave with his Grimaldi laptop or cell phone,” said Luke. “Have his personal effects reviewed and then forwarded to him."” Mitchell was led away by a grinning Max.
“Louise, please come into my office,” said Luke.
Luke’s administrative assistant entered Luke’s office and shut the door. She was teary eyed as she stood quivering before Luke.
“How did Mitchell learn about my plans for the Vancouver project?” asked Luke sternly.
“I’m best friends with his administrative assistant and I told her about it but I told her not to tell anyone,” cried Louise.
Luke sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Is there a reason that you felt that your loyalty to your boss was less important than gossiping with your friend?”
“I wanted to warn her so that she could start looking for another job,” said Louise. “I’m so sorry. Please don’t fire me.”
“I believe that your mistake, and it was a very serious mistake, was not due to maliciousness. But I do need to be able to trust my administrative assistant one hundred percent. Can you handle the responsibilities of your job and can you offer me your loyalty and discretion?”
“Yes,” sobbed Louise.
“Fine,” replied Luke. “You won’t be fired for this incident but I’m going to need you to learn to be more professional.”
Louise thanked Luke profusely and left his office. Luke sighed heavily. Estimates would put the weight of the sigh at a metric ton.
“That was pretty horrible,” said Noah.
“Yes, it was,” agreed Luke while he got himself a bottle of water from the refrigerator.
“You really humiliated the guy,” Noah continued. “If he’s been working here for a long time then it was wrong of you to fire him just because he didn’t handle some business project the way you felt it should be handled. It was especially cruel to fire the man right before Thanksgiving.”
Noah was startled by the amused gaze that Luke shot him.
“Have you been secretly attending business management classes?” asked Luke.
“Of course not,” replied Noah. “I’m going to be a filmmaker.”
‘Then why would you think I would care about your opinion on how I should handle Grimaldi Shipping business?” questioned Luke.
“Seeing you treat someone with so much meanness really bothered me,” said Noah.
“Funny. It would have aroused Reid. Seeing me fire an incompetent minion would have made him hard as a rock,” said Luke offhandedly as he sat back down behind his desk.
“I can’t believe you would say that to me,” hissed Noah.
“I can’t believe that you would take the side of a man who wanted to fire a dozen people because he was too lazy and stupid to come up with a better idea,” replied Luke with a shrug. “Of course, your default setting has always been to side with anyone else over me. I take that back. One time you and I were kidnapped by a pair of psychotic lovers and you actually did take my side over theirs. Of course, one of them did shoot you.”
Noah was stunned that Luke thought that Noah didn’t automatically take Luke’s side on issues. The only times that Noah ever sided against Luke was when Luke was wrong, wrong, wrong, dead wrong. Luke shouldn’t have expected Noah to take his side when Luke was in the wrong. And someone had shot him?
A pretty woman in her early thirties rushed into the room. Noah figured she must be about thirteen months pregnant. She was huge. She was so huge that her belly probably affected the tides of the oceans and the orbit of the moon.
“Are you okay?” the woman asked worriedly as she rushed towards Luke.
“I’m fine,” said Luke as the woman fussed over Luke. “Max prevented Mitchell from hitting me. I think Max might have enjoyed tackling Mitchell far too much. Hopefully, Mitchell won’t try to sue us for physical damages.”
“Well, enough people heard him threaten you that even if he does try to sue us, he’ll lose,” replied the woman.
“Noah, this is my big sister Abigail Williams Ward,” introduced Luke. “Abigail, this is Noah Mayer. He has amnesia and has no memories after December 2008.”
Abigail appeared startled. “Does he know that . . .”
Luke smiled gently at his sister. “Yes. He knows that we broke up a long time ago. Karen Haines feels that his amnesia is going to be of short-term duration but right now he’s hanging out with me because I’m safe and familiar.”
“Well, it’s . . . nice to meet you Noah,” said Abigail gamely as she offered her hand in greeting.
“We’ve never met before?” asked Noah as he shook Abigail’s hand. “Before I got amneisa?”
“No, I didn’t move back to Oakdale until after you and Luke broke up so we never had the opportunity to meet,” answered Abigail with a slight frown. “I came back for my father’s . . .I came back for a visit when you and Luke were still together but you were out of town. Luke, I have a meeting with the director making our new cruise ship commercial in about ten minutes. Do you want me to cancel it so that I can drive you home?”
“Don’t be silly,” replied Luke. “I’m not exactly traumatized by firing Mitchell. Go be brilliant at your meeting. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”
“You’re okay with the fact that Gregory and I are having Thanksgiving dinner with his family and then coming over to your place for dessert, right?” asked Abigail.
“Of course,” said Luke. “I don’t begrudge you having in-laws that love and adore you and want to spend time with you. I’m happy that Reid and I get to have you two for part of the day. And you’re not the only ones spending part of the day at more than one place tomorrow. Mom and Adam and Dad and Lien are having dinner at our place but dessert at the Hughes house. I think Maddie and Lowell plan on having dinner with the Wards, dessert at our place and a second dessert with the Coleman/Munson/Ryan family.”
“Going house to house for food on Thanksgiving, aka the Autumnal Harvest, is sort of the grown-up version of Halloween,” said Abigail.
Luke shivered. “I just had a vision of Reid going door to door for turkey sandwiches on Friday.”
Abigail giggled and kissed Luke on his cheek. She said goodbye to Noah and coolly offered her wishes for a speedy recovery.
“Luke, why didn’t I meet Abigail after I moved back to Oakdale?” asked Noah worriedly. “Did you ask your family to cut me out of their lives after we broke up?”
Luke looked pissed. “Actually, you were the one who didn’t want to be friends after we broke up. Since we weren’t friends, you decided it would be easier for you if you didn’t have any contact with my family. My mom was really hurt that you didn’t keep in touch after you moved to LA. We didn’t hear from you for years. No one is holding a grudge against you, or anything, but you never really tried to restore your relationships with the members of my family. You and I are friendly now but it’s not like you normally spend holidays with my family any more.”
Noah was saddened by the loss of having a family. He suspected that Luke wasn’t being completely truthful about how he ended up estranged from the Snyders. He had loved the Luke’s family. And they had loved him. He suspected that they had been grateful to him for how well he handled Luke.
An incredibly handsome middle aged man entered the room.
“Noah, this is Damian Grimaldi. My father.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” said Noah hesitantly holding out his hand in greeting. He wasn’t sure how Luke’s life had changed enough that he now was involved with the Grimaldi family. Damian looked at Noah in disgust.
“He has amnesia,” explained Luke to Damian. “He doesn’t remember anything after early December 2008.”
“So he has no memory of how your professor tried to seduce you away from him and Noah got angry and reported the professor to the dean for inappropriate conduct with his student?” asked Damian. “He doesn’t remember how betrayed you felt when his interference caused problems with your senior project?”
Luke shook his head. “Damian--”
Noah interrupted whatever excuse Luke was going to make.
“If a professor was trying to seduce Luke, then I was right to report him!” defended Noah angrily. “I can’t believe that Luke would try to take advantage of some gross pervert’s attraction to him just to get school credit. That kind of entitlement is horrible and the Luke I fell in love with would have been above that.”
Noah was surprised by Damian’s laughter.
Luke sighed at his biological father. “Damian, I’m pretty sure that we’re not supposed to look at Noah’s brain injury as an opportunity to amuse ourselves.”
“I’m an old man, Luke,” replied Damian somberly. “I must take my pleasures while I can.”
Luke huffed a laugh. “Old? All of a sudden, you’ve become Wilford Brimley? Are you still boxing a couple days a week to keep in shape?”
Damian shrugged. “I’m fifty now. I’ve decided that that’s old enough to take my pleasures while I can. Of course when I was twenty I decided that that was old enough to take my pleasures while I could. And yes, I am still boxing a couple days a week. I have an amazing body for a fifty year old. Your aunt Iva can’t keep her hands off of me.”
“I don’t get the joke,” said Noah petulantly.
Damian ignored Noah. “Luciano, unless you need me for something today, I thought that I’d spend the rest of the day working on Kingsley Malta business from Iva’s place.”
“That’s fine with me. How long are you staying in Oakdale for this visit?”
“I’ll be flying back to Malta the day after Thanksgiving but I’ll be back in a month or two. Iva and I are both looking forward to the Autumnal Harvest Feast at your place tomorrow. Are you sure that there’s nothing that we could bring?”
“Absolutely positive.”
“You were right to fire Mitchell, you know,” said Damian. Noah was surprised at how quickly news traveled through the Grimaldi Shipping offices. “His work has been shoddy for quite a while and his blatant disregard for your authority was troubling.”
“Agreed,” said Luke.
“But you should know that I would have fired your administrative assistant for her indiscretion and his administrative assistant for her loyalty to Mitchell instead of to you.”
“Luckily for Louise and Thelma, I’m in charge here,” said Luke coolly with a raised eyebrow. Damian huffed a laugh and nodded in agreement.
Damian left the room without saying anything further to Noah.
Noah frowned at Luke. “I demand to know what was so funny about one of your professors trying to use his position to try to steal you from me.”
Luke rolled his eyes. Noah hated it whenever Luke got all eyeroll-y and bitch-y. Sometimes Noah felt that Luke was way too gay. “Damian was having a little fun at your expense. It was actually your professor who had the hots for you. I vented to Damian about it and he’s the one who reported the professor to the dean and gave him a video of the professor kissing you. The professor got fired before your senior project was completed and you blamed me. Damian always thought it was hypocritical of you to insist that it was ‘right’ to turn me in and get me expelled from school when I behaved unethically but that it was ‘wrong’ to turn in your professor when he behaved unethically.”
Noah wasn’t sure what to say. He was sure that there must be more to the story than what Luke was telling him. It would be just like Luke to only tell part of the story.
Luke sighed. “Look, it’s all in the past so there’s no need for us to get into it. Especially since you don’t remember any of it.”
Louise buzzed Luke’s office to let him know that his aunt had arrived for their lunch appointment. Luke advised Louise to send Carly in.
“Noah, you remember Carly,” said Luke. “She and my Uncle Jack are remarried. She, Grandma Emma and I opened up a barbecue restaurant slash blues club together and Carly’s now running it. We meet every Wednesday for lunch to discuss the business.”
Carly appeared puzzled.
“Carly, Noah has retrograde amnesia and doesn’t remember anything after December 2008.”
Carly appeared unconcerned by the trauma of Noah having brain damage. The three of them sat down at a round table in Luke’s office. Luke unpacked the lunch that Ms. Crichton had packed. There was more than enough for Luke, Noah and Carly.
Noah was annoyed that Carly and Luke immediately started discussing their business. Noah would never want to be a big baby about a having a medical condition but brain damage was a pretty big deal and he thought that it might actually be worth more than an offhand comment. It’s not like Carly was a complete stranger to him. They were both Snyders. Sort of.
After speaking briefly about the current state of The Juke Joint, Luke moved to another topic. And this topic wasn’t about Noah’s amnesia, either. “Maddie is doing a great job with Calliope’s Cinema and Café. She’s great at getting publicity for the different film festivals and she’s created some great quirky internet ads for the place. She has book clubs and film discussion groups meeting in the café which has really increased traffic.”
“Are you trying to get me to feel competitive with Maddie?” asked an amused Carly. “Am I supposed to make a solemn vow to be a better manager than her?”
Luke huffed a laugh. “No. But I wanted to make it very clear how pleased I am with the job that Maddie is doing before I put forth a proposition to you.”
“What’s the proposition?” asked Carly as she crossed her shapely legs. “Whatever it is, it may be the first completely non-sexual proposition I’ve ever received from a man.”
“I think that The Juke Joint has expanded as much as it should for right now. The restaurant/club is thriving; it’s almost always busy. The sauces are selling even better than anticipated. I think now is a good time for you to put Jenny Wendell in charge of the restaurant/blues club and put Pete Wendell in charge of the barbecue sauce factory and distribution center.”
“Why would I do that?” asked Carly. “I’m way too young to retire. Plus, there’s still plenty of bank to be made.”
“I feel that there could be a wider market for some of the vegetarian soups that Grandma Emma has created for Calliope’s. Maddie’s degree is in liberal arts not business. I think that if you and Maddie are willing to work together, we can put something pretty amazing together. I’ve created a preliminary marketing plan that I’d like to discuss with you and get your feedback on before I bring it up with Maddie.”
Noah interrupted the conversation. “Don’t you think you should be discussing this with Maddie?”
“I will be discussing it with Maddie and she and Grandma Emma will have veto power if they don’t like the idea,” said Luke. “But if Carly isn’t even interested in the proposition then there’s no point in getting Maddie excited about the possibility of marketing the soup on a wider scale.”
“You should have talked to Maddie first. Did marrying that jerk make you forget how to be loyal to your friends?” asked Noah with righteous indignation.
“Luke is the most loyal guy on the planet. He’s loyal to his friends, his family, his employees. Also, Luke was loyal enough to not marry someone else while he was still dating you,” snipped Carly.
“Are you referring to me marrying Ameera?” asked an upset Noah. “Because I was trying to save her life.”
“Don’t be so disingenuous, sweetie,” cooed Carly. “You dove back into the closet so fast it would have made Liberace’s head spin. You married a complete stranger fully knowing that it would break your sweet boyfriend’s heart. You chose a stranger over a man who wanted to spend his life with you. A stranger who you knew had some sort of relationship with your psychopathic daddy. It was a dick move on your part.”
“What is your preferred treatment for obstructive hydrocephalus?” Luke asked Carly.
“Pardon?” answered Carly.
“Sorry, I just assumed you must be channeling Reid,” answered Luke with a grin. Carly flashed an engaging smile at Luke.
“I don’t think you’re being fair,” said Noah to Carly.
“Look, it’s all matrimony under the bridge,” said Luke. “This all happened years ago and it’s completely irrelevant to our current lives.”
Suddenly, Casey Hughes bounded into the room. Noah almost didn’t recognize him as Casey was dressed like a grown up. Casey Hughes in a suit. Strange days, indeed. Maybe the end-times were approaching. Noah wasn’t as surprised as he should have been that Casey, with his less-than-strict morality, was now working at Grimaldi Shipping.
“Luke, I just heard that Mitchell tried to kill you. Are you okay, man?” asked Casey with concern. Carly looked at Luke with worry.
“He didn’t try to kill me,” said Luke. “He tried to hit me. Max, with much joie de vivre, tackled him. I fired Mitchell. Not a big deal.”
“I’m glad you’re alright. Hi, Carly,” said Casey who looked startled when he noticed Noah. Casey shot Luke a questioning look.
“Noah hit his head. He doesn’t remember anything after 2008. I suspect he’s getting a little stir-crazy in here. Are you free to take him out and hang out a little with him?” Luke asked Casey.
Casey seemed to hesitate. He raised an eyebrow in question to Luke. Luke raised an eyebrow back at him. Casey raised his other eyebrow. Luke raised his other eyebrow. Noah had no idea what the meaning behind the Eyebrow Summit was, but he was glad that Casey decided that he was free to hang out with Noah.
“Hey, man,” said Casey to Noah. “Do you want to go visit Maddie? She’s the manager of a movie house slash vegetarian cafe. She co-owns it with Emma and Luke. It’s a pretty happening place. I think you’ll really like it.”
“That sounds nice,” said Noah. Casey and Noah said goodbye to Luke and Carly. Luke told them to have fun. Carly waved a hand carelessly in their direction as she started to peruse the business plan that Luke had printed out for her.