***
After the door closed behind Lisa and Janet, Jon Bostoff threw an irate glance at his brother. “Paul, do you mind explaining why no one bothered to consult with me before hiring that broad?”
“Now, Jon.” Hank Bostoff interjected. “There’s no need for this kind of language. I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation.”
“I’m sorry, Dad.” Jon Bostoff shook his head. “Paul, do you mind telling me why was I not consulted about the decision to hire that remarkable young lady?”
“I didn’t think it would be an issue, Jon,” Paul replied with an obnoxiousness that made Jon seethe. “As the COO of this company, Dad has given me the authority to hire staff within certain salary limits. Janet Maple’s hire was within that bracket. Furthermore, the hire is within the legal department, which falls under the COO’s office, so I did not see how it would concern you.”
Dad has given me the authority. Jon fumed. How many times had he told his brother not to use the word “Dad” at the office? Hank Bostoff was the owner of the company, and even if he was losing his grip on reality, Hank was still their boss, and at work he was to be addressed as such. “Would you listen to this, Hank! Why do we need two people in Legal when Tom Wyman is doing a perfectly good job? First, Paul hires his girlfriend, so I let that one slide, but then she brings over her friend. What are we – a charity factory?”
“Now, Jon, you can call me ‘Dad’ when it’s just the three of us, and I do think that Paul’s idea is a pretty good one. Fred Rossingram and the junior fella who worked for him used to do all the work for us for a fraction of what Wyman is charging us. Perhaps we should reconsider our approach.”
Reconsider our approach. Jon Bostoff loved his father, but he could not help wishing that the old man would retire already. Fred Rossingram had been Bostoff’s general counsel before Jon became president. Old Rossingram had the risk tolerance of a turtle, and Jon Bostoff did not need a lawyer telling him what he could not do; he needed a lawyer who would tell him what he could do within the bounds of the law. If he just so happened to tread on the border now and then, occasionally stepping over, that was no biggie either, as long as matters were kept under wraps, and Tom Wyman was just the man for the job.
“Rossingram was too conservative,” Jon chose his words carefully. “His views put Bostoff at a disadvantage compared to our more aggressive competitors.”
“I hope you’re right, son, but sometimes, the turtle wins the race,” Hank Bostoff chuckled.
Jon restrained himself from sighing at his father’s penchant for Aesop’s fables. This time he had a comeback that would be a real kicker. “Personally, I prefer Lord Dunsany’s take on the famous fable: after the tortoise had been hailed the victor, a fire took place in the forest, but very few of the animals survived.” Jon paused for impact. “It turned out that several of the animals, including the tortoise, saw the fire starting while standing atop of a hill. They called a meeting to decide whom to select as the messenger to alert the other animals and they chose to send the turtle.”
Hank Bostoff shook his head. For a moment, Jon Bostoff worried that he might have overdone it, but when he heard his father’s laughter, he knew he was all right.
“Well done, son, well done. I sure hope you’re right.”
“I am right, Dad. Tom Wyman is a partner at Ridley Simpson, which is a leading law firm that handles affairs for New York’s top financial institutions and has excellent contacts with regulators and politicians. Tom knows which way is up, and if he costs a bit more than Rossingram did, well, that’s the price of doing business. And besides, Rossingram had been with the company for years, which brought his salary below market levels. If we were to hire someone of Tom Wyman’s caliber in-house, we’d have to pay a pretty high salary.”
“But do we really need someone of Tom Wyman’s caliber, Jon?” In uncharacteristic defiance of Jon’s authority, Paul interrupted his brother. “Lisa is a Harvard Law graduate. Surely, she could handle our affairs, and now she has Janet to help her…”
“That’s exactly my point, Paul,” Jon Bostoff snapped. “You should have talked to me first before hiring that Janet Maple character. I can understand hiring your girlfriend, but what do we know about her friend? She used to work for the DA, for Christ’s sake! For all we know, she could turn out to be a whistleblower.”
“Now, son, we’ve got nothing to hide,” Hank cut in, “Bostoff is an honest name.”
Honesty never filled anyone’s bank account, Jon thought, but out loud he said, “Yes, Dad, but as you know, in the hands of a malicious person even the most innocent circumstances could be twisted. And in today’s environment, where regulators are paying people for snitching on their employers, you can’t be too careful. Do you know that most of the cases brought by the SEC resulted from whistleblowing?”
“Lisa wouldn’t bring in a snitch!” Paul’s face was red with indignation.
“I’m sure she wouldn’t do that deliberately, but it is always better to be safe than sorry. I for one wouldn’t hire anyone who spent four years at the DA’s office.”
“So what do you suggest? That we fire her?” Paul glowered at his brother.
“No, I didn’t say that; we wouldn’t want to get hit with an employment lawsuit either, but let’s keep a close eye on her, okay? And next time you want to hire someone in Legal, talk to me first, Paul, all right?”
“Fair enough.” Hank Bostoff rose from his seat. “Now I hope that you gentlemen will agree with me that we’ve sufficiently beaten this dead horse. Unless there are any other items to discuss, I’d like to call this meeting adjourned.”
Jon nodded in curt acquiescence as he watched Paul rise from his seat, wishing his Vassar-educated brother would keep his nose out of the business affairs altogether. Left to his own devices, Jon might actually be able to squeeze some much-needed revenue out of Bostoff Securities after all. Of course, his father had no idea about any of this. The old man was under the impression that you could still run the business as though it were the eighties and nineties. Well, things had changed since then. Bostoff Securities was generating a fraction of the revenues that it used to bring in. Other firms had adjusted to the changing landscape, but Hank Bostoff liked doing things the sure way, which made Bostoff Securities a dinosaur among its competitors. The firm desperately needed new clients. Now that Hank was finally ready to retire, Jon was determined to make up for all the missed opportunities.
Chapter 6