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Kaison nods, his eyes lighting up. “And some of them can be trained to use your system.”
“Exactly.”
“You know, for someone who develops software, you seem to know an awful lot about how to run a company,” Kaison says.
“My uncle is an executive at a big company in Atlanta. He and I exchange work stories from time to time. Also, looking at the financials for Keith Enterprises,” I say, “there’s no reason to make cutbacks. Organize things in a smarter way, yes. But there’s no reason why people should have to lose their jobs.”
“But some of them might want to walk away when they realize their jobs will be changing,” Kaison says.
“Maybe. But that’s up to them.”
It’s nice, discussing the financial state of the company with Kaison. Some people might consider our conversation a snoozefest, but that’s not the case for me. I’m on fire. I want to fix this broken system, and Kaison is surprisingly turning out to be an easy person to work alongside.
I could get used to this.
12
KAISON
“Kaison!” I look up to see my brothers Langston and Weston in the doorway.
“Hey, guys!”
Ariana stands up from her place at the conference table where we’ve been working for the past hour.
“How’s Mom doing?” Langston asks.
“She’s awake if you want to go see her,” I say.
Langston looks over at Ariana and stretches out his hand. “Hi, I’m Langston. I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Kaison’s second oldest brother.”
She shakes his hand.
“Oh, sorry, guys,” I say. “This is Ariana. She’s the software developer we brought on to the financial department to help straighten things out.”
Weston shakes her hand next and introduces himself. “I’m the oldest. It’s nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too, Weston.”
“Well, we won’t interrupt you for too much longer. We’re just going to see Mom.”
“She’s in her room,” I tell them.
“Thanks,” Weston says.
“They both look like you,” Ariana says. “You were right. You guys do take after your dad a lot.”
“Where do you fall in the order of the brothers?” she asks.
“I’m the youngest.”
“Oh, the baby.” She smiles. “Does that mean you were the spoiled one?”
“We were all very blessed growing up. I don’t think I was that much more spoiled than my older brothers, but they’d all tell you I was.”
Ariana laughs, her voice a sweet tinkling sound. I can’t help but smile. Her mirth is contagious.
We get back to work, and before we know it, the sunlight has dwindled outside, and the air is filled with the smell of garlic and cooking chicken. Weston and Langston appear back in the conference room.