Page 196 of Broken Brothers

Given that I had on gym shorts, a hoodie, and sandals, the contrast could not be any larger.

“Jesus, did you just roll out of bed?” Morgan asked as he took his seat with his latte.

“Don’t hate just because my bed clothes and my work clothes are the same,” I said, even having already asked him over precisely because I had no need for work clothes.

“I do have to admit, I think one of the first things I do when I take over Hunt Industries is to institute casual Fridays,” he said. “Edwin has fought against that idea for so long, I don’t think anyone at the company has ever thought it was possible.”

“You mean to tell me the old fart can’t change with the times? I’m shocked. Fucking shocked, I tell you.”

“Hey now,” Morgan interjected. “The old man is still my father. He may have done a lot of shitty things and screwed up in a lot of ways, but he’s still my Dad.”

I bit my tongue. I could never hope to understand Morgan’s admittedly complicated relationship with his father, and so when he made comments like this, I just kept quiet and didn’t say anything else.

“Anyways, what’s up? Sounds like you want to come work at Hunt Industries. I can make you my CFO.”

“Hah, we’re trying to give you Hunt Industries, not make you burn to death by taking it on,” I said. “No, I just… I don’t think you and I have talked big picture much, you know?”

“We’re two guys who have a habit of being closed off,” Morgan said with a chuckle, though he was completely accurate. “I try and keep plans and things close to the vest, you throw yourself into projects or women aggressively so you don’t have to ask those questions. Other people might pull it out of us, but we’re terrible for each other.”

“Are you saying you’ll have to break up with me?” I said with a smirk. “But seriously. We’re both going to be enormously wealthy soon, if not already. When your father does die—sorry, but it seems like it’s closer than further out—then we’re both going to be billionaires. Not only will neither of us have to work, neither of us will have to have our kids or our grandkids worry about working. And… I fucking hate it!”

I laughed as I saw Morgan recoil at the strength of my words, but damnit, I meant it!

“I thought that being able to sit on my ass and watch cartoon reruns all day would be fine, but it’s just so damn unfulfilling. I don’t know what I want to do, and I know that this is like the ultimate in first world problems. I know that so many people would kill to be in my position. But, fuck man, I don’t know who else to talk to. I’m just curious for your thoughts.”

Morgan didn’t sigh, look exasperated, or lean back. Instead, he looked very contemplative and very serious.

“You’re dealing with the same thing, huh?” I said.

“Not really, to be honest,” Morgan said. “I’m going to be the next CEO of the company when Edwin steps down. I suppose I’ve kind of thought about it when I considered not taking the role of CEO, but I don’t think there’s anyone who better understands what aspects of my father are good for the business and what aren’t than me.”

You mean very little and almost all of it?

“I dunno, man, working for me isn’t about the money, it’s about the value,” he said.

That’s nice to hear from a Hunt.

“What’s the value I supply to others, you know? That’s something that’s become really apparent with everything going on recently.”

“Tell me about it,” I said. “Fucking Ed… sorry.”

Morgan didn’t say anything about it.

“I wish I could give you some profound advice to tell you what to do right now,” Morgan said. “I really do. It sounds like you’re starting to go a little stir crazy. You could find more companies to invest MCH in?”

“Yeah, I could,” I said. “But the thing I’ve realized with MCH? I did that as a direct fuck you to Edwin. I did that in the hopes that MCH would outgrow Hunt Industries, never thinking I’d get a spot on the board or see Edwin retire at the age he is now. And now that I’ve accomplished that? Well, MCH is your baby too, so you could do something, but—”

“I can’t, actually,” Morgan said. “The board won’t let me be CEO if I’m also running MCH. I have to agree to sell it to you.”

“Shit, really?”

“Yeah, just pay for my coffee one day and it’ll be fine,” Morgan said with a shrug.

“But—”

“It’ll be less of a headache if you do that than if we try and evaluate it fairly,” Morgan said. “Especially since I’ll be CEO real soon. I’d rather just get rid of that than try and extract some thousands of bucks from you.”

Holy shit, Morgan…