Sacrifices of the Soul, Chapter 95
by SIPort
Sheridan was sitting at her desk when Chad came in.
“ Chad! You’re back!” Sheridan got up from her desk and hugged Chad.
“ Hey Sheridan.”, Chad replied sheepishly, still getting used to the outward
displays of affection from his new family.
“ So, how’s Simone?”
“ She’s doing well – physically. But, emotionally, she’s still shut down.
But, now she’s home.”
“ Thanks to you.”
“ I did what any brother would do.”
“ Oh, I don’t think so. You’re special, Chad. Simone is so lucky to have
you. Every girl needs a big brother like you.”
“ You’re talking about yourself.”
“ I guess I am. Julian and I weren’t close at all. It’s only been recently
that Julian and I have started to have a real relationship.”
“ Why is that?”
“ Honestly? You and your mother. The two of you in Julian’s life has changed
him. Made him more vulnerable.”
“ Julian Crane? Vulnerable?”
“ I know it’s hard for you to believe, but it’s true. He loves you, Chad.”
“ And my mother?”
“ I don’t think it’s what you want to hear, but yes, I believe Julian still
loves Eve – deeply.”
Chad sighed hard. “ He hurt her.”
“ And, she’s forgiven him. Will you, Chad?”
“ Me? What do I have to forgive?”
“ Julian -his weaknesses.”
“ I thought I’ve been doing a good job at it.”
“ You have…but, not really, Chad. I think we’ve all been walking on eggshells
around you. So that we don’t offend you, because we really don’t know what
you want in a family. How you expect a family to be towards you, and
then add into it that we’re an odd family all the way around. Then, there
was that awful incident at Ethan’s dinner.”
“ Incident?”
“ Yes, incident. That’s the polite, WASP, uppercrust way to describe what
happened. It doesn’t minimize how it made you feel, Chad. It’s just the
way we’d describe it. And, you DO know that it wasn’t Ethan’s fault.”
“ Yes, I do know it wasn’t his fault. And, I told him so.”
“ Good. So, getting back to you – we’ve been very careful around you, Chad,
but you know what? I don’t think you’ve been as careful around us. Not in
the same way. I don’t see you putting yourself out there for us. You went
into New York City, and wound up in jail for Simone…would you do the same
for one of us on the other side of your family?”
“ To be honest? Nope.”
“ That’s honest. But, I wish you would get to know us, Chad. I was so excited
about you being in the family.”
“ Why?”
“ Why?”
“ Yeah, why. Why is this so important to you?”
“ You grew up on the streets. I grew up alone among a mansion full of servants.
I only had my dreams of family, which didn’t exist. A father who was cruel,
mean, spiteful. A brother who was distant. A mother who loved me, but was
sick most of the time that I remember about her, and died much too soon.
I’m not comparing our situations, Chad; I’m just trying to get you to understand
that this is the first time I’ve had a real family either. Do you get that?”
“ Yes.”
“ So, you want to get down to business? Did you get my emails?”
“ I did. And, you got my work?”
“ Yes, I loved every idea. You and I…we’re working well together, right?”
“ Yep. I can’t believe everything is coming together with all our plans.
I mean, we’ve turned this place around in a short amount of time.”
“ It’s the Crane touch.”, Sheridan teased.
Chad rolled his eyes. “ Maybe, but I’m proud of what we’ve done here. I…I
had doubts..”
“ You aren’t the only one. I think we were both on trial here.”
“ Both trying to prove ourselves.”
“ Yes.”
“ Sheridan, why did you want this?”
“ I wanted to DO something with my life, Chad. I had been petted on the
head by every man that I know. Even Luis. I know he loves me, but I don’t
think even he understands what it means to me to be a success in this. And,
to see it come together. An actual BUSINESS success. I…it means a lot.”
“ I know. I have a lot to learn, which is why I’m enjoying my classes.
Crane or not, I want people to know that I’m competent when I walk into
the room. “
“ I understand. But, in order for us to continue, I thought we could talk
about the station in Castleton.”
“ A station in Castleton? What is this? Sheridan Crane – media mogul in
training?”
Sheridan swatted him with the file folder. “ Just read the proposal and
tell me what you think.”
Julian was sitting at his desk, thinking of his time with Eve, when Ethan
came in.
“ Hello, Son. How are you?”
“ Fine, Father. You seem to be in a good mood?”
“ I do?”
“ Yes.”
“ Well, it’s a good day.”
“ Ok, I know you well enough to know when you won’t tell me anything. I
spoke with Chad earlier today.”
“ You did?”
“ Yes. He came by to thank me for all that we did on this end for Simone.
I told him it was no problem.”
“ Thank you, Ethan.”
“ And, I asked him his opinion on the Owens proposal.”
“ You did?”
“ He’s a Crane. Isn’t the plan for him to be working WITH us someday?”
“ Yes.”
“ So, I asked his opinion.”
“ And?”
“ He had one or two suggestions that I hadn’t thought of, which surprised
me.”
“ Surprised me?”
“ I guess I sometimes underestimate Chad. After all, we had Harvard MBA’s
working on the proposal..”
“ Your brother has another skillset, Ethan.”, Julian said, in a warning
tone.
“ I know that, Father. I was reminded of that again.”
“ I don’t want you to think of Chad as your competition, Ethan. I can’t
have that. I won’t tolerate that. THAT is your mother talking, and I won’t
have it coming from you. He’s your BROTHER, and I want you to make your way
TOWARDS one another. I blew it with Sheridan – you two aren’t allowed to do
the same. Understood?”
“ Understood.”