Power Games

Driving to work with Danny, there is an awkward silence between us neither of us really talking, Danny not sure what to say to make this situation any better and me not really in the mood to talk about what is potentially going to happen this afternoon.

At work, everyone is being surprisingly nice to me, the word has obviously gotten out that the visitors are coming and there might be a few people who want to cause trouble but seems like they’ve been deliberately kept out of my way.

Sitting in my office, I don’t really get much work done with my mind thinking back to my dream last night where I started to get angry and lashing out at my brother and then father with violence and I definitely don’t want that to happen. As I sit in the office, Danny comes in and checks on me a few times before word gets out that they will be turning up at the mine at some point in the next half hour after the announcement at the McGarrett-Williams Highway upgrades.

My stomach drops and I feel more nervous than I have ever felt in my life, this could be such a make or break day for me and in a way the proving day. I barely get any work done, I try and concentrate on all the paperwork that comes through the office early in the week that needs to be sent off for approval by the various regulatory bodies.

I pace around the room, just telling myself that it will be ok when there is a knock on the door and I see Mr. Howell one of the directors standing there “Mr. Keppel and several of his visitors will need to sign safety disclosures and the Health and Safety forms and I believe they are in here?” he says as I nod to the folder that was left on the other desk with all the forms.

Mr. Howell tells me that he’ll send a few people in a few minutes and just to be ready for them. Crossing my fingers and toes, I hope that none of the people are going to be family although I know that they are all probably going to be familiar faces so I’m going to have to deal with it. I quickly run down to the break room and grab a bottle of juice, wishing that I had something stronger to drink to help me deal with this all.

About two minutes after I sit back down and there is a knock on the door “Come in” I take a swig of Juice as they walk in, thankfully at first, it’s just a couple of media crew that is following my father around, they quickly sign their forms and head back out waiting for the photo ops with Mr. Keppel.

I leave the door open as people come and go, until about 20 minutes later I hear somebody yabbering on their phone “Yes, we’ll be back for the Afternoon Tea with the Ladies Guild at 3:30 and then the Police Remembrance Fund dinner at 6” the voice slowly gets louder as I hear the footsteps “Look, Sarah, I’ll call you after I check in with the admin chick and sign these forms” he says as he walks up to the door.

“I’m no fucking admin chick alright” Brendan walks through the door and starts laughing hard. “Fucking hell, they had to stick you behind the desk because you couldn’t hack it doing the tough work,” he says closing the door and leaning up against the wall as he looks at me. I just get out the folder and pull out a form for Brendan to sign “Read the two pages clearly, sign the pages with the date, and that you understand all the protocols that you need to follow when you have your publicity stunt.

Brendan doesn’t sign anything but instead stands and looks at me “What are you actually doing the right thing today so that you look good in front of us so that we think that you can go back that your apartment now?”. Not saying anything, I just push the file forward on the desk so that Brendan signs it, and goes away.

He looks at me “Wow you’re being such a good little boy aren’t you Isaac, playing the whole goodie-two-shoes act right now aren’t you” he signs the forms as he continues to try and bait me. “So why did they put you in here, because you couldn’t handle the mines like you’re on your final warning or something already”.

“Actually, he’s employee of the month through all the extra hours and works that he puts in to make sure everything is done around here whilst at the same time as getting through all his coursework in record time” Danny walks into the office and looks at Brendan.

“You must be his arsehole brother” Danny sits down at his desk and looks at the computer as Brendan’s smug look drops off his face but he can’t accept the fact that I actually do well at my job.

“Who does his work for him? Guessing that must be you?” Brendan says looking at Danny as he stands in the doorway as Danny just waves him off before we just go back to work “I organised with Adam to use the school for the fundraiser to raise money for Kevin’s family with everything”. Brendan still standing by the door clearly listening in as Danny “You’re doing some amazing work with this Sac, I know you didn’t know Kev but it’s fantastic that you came up with this idea”.

I smile as Brendan has left the office clearly with his tail between his legs hopefully admitting defeat at this point. A few more people go through the office to sign the paperwork as Danny looks at me “You seemed to handle that really well for the moment” he says to me as I wait for my father to come and sign the forms.

Focussing back on my coursework, Mr. Howell wanders in and picks up a couple of forms to take out, I wish that he came into my office to sign them but it’s probably best that he doesn’t come in because it means that I don’t have to deal with the situation.

Working through a bit in the afternoon, I take a break as I head outside to get some fresh air and I see Brendan standing there on his phone. “Sup bro,” I say as he glares at me “Isaac” is all I get in response. “So how long has Sarah been working for the campaign?” I ask as Brendan looks across at me and sighs.

“She’s always been on Team Keppel same as everyone in the family well almost everyone is,” he says snidely to me as he is trying to make out that I’ve never cared about the family. “Brendan, it’s a genuine question because I haven’t heard a single word from you or anyone in the weeks that I’ve moved out here”.

I watch him sigh but just shrug his shoulders “So what now you want us to care about you that you’re all remorseful and realising how hard things are in the normal fucking world” he says putting his phone in his pocket. “At least a how are you going would’ve been nice because you had no idea what I was doing or how my life was going… oh wait you fucking did because you set this all up so that I could be a massive failure here so you could continue looking like the golden child”.

Brendan turns to me but just walks off not answering “You sent me the properties in Yellow Peak, you knew the history of our family name here in town because of everything that Charles did selling the Farms and that the Keppel name was the most hated thing in town” I say as he turns back and looks at me.

“Yeah, I know all about that situation and the shit that he did to these poor people but you just wanted me here to create more tension and get myself into fucking trouble that then you could properly wash your hands of me,” I say looking furious at him and getting upset. “You were never trying to be my caring big brother; you were being the clean-up merchant trying to get rid of me weren’t you”.

He scoffs and walks away from the buildings, no idea where he is going but any direction is away from me at the moment. I quickly run after Brendan and grab his shoulders “Bro, I wouldn’t go down that way if I was you, it’s a dead-end but there’s usually snakes living in the piping so I’d head the other way”. Just for a moment I see the caring side of my brother in his eyes but quickly it’s gone and he doesn’t say anything as he walks in the other directions back to where the cars are parked.

I head back inside, just so frustrated and upset by the fact that my brother is genuinely annoyed that I am making things work in Yellow Peak when I had some delusion of the fact that he might be proud of me doing that. Slamming my door to the office, wasn’t probably the best look while the guests were still wandering around but I was just in that sort of mood.

Danny comes in rather quickly following me “Bro, you alright I heard the door slam” he says coming and sitting on the desk. “Fantastically fine, I went outside to get some air and my brother was out there so I thought it’d be nice to talk to him and see how things are”.

I see Danny’s face screw up “Yeah that’s how it went, like a fucking train-wreck out there” I vent slamming my fists on the desk as I just get so frustrated right at that moment. Danny takes me back outside as I see Brendan driving off at great speed, which takes me by surprise given the fact that he was supposed to be driving Dad back home.

“Well that’s fucking weird,” I say to Danny, watching Brendan speed off down the road; “He got on his phone, rushed to the car, and then now has sped off”. Danny looks at me “Is there anything that you said or did that could’ve made him go anywhere?”, I think about it for a minute “What if he’s at my place doing something?” panicked that he could be ransacking my place or doing something worse.

Danny grabs hold of me “I’ll ring Adam and see if he’s home but your brother has probably just gone back to Grantham for something”. Danny puts Adam on speakerphone so that we can both talk to him “Hey Adz, look no time for chit chat, are you home yet?” he asks as my nerves are jangled.

“Yeah been here about 10 minutes, why what’s up?” he says not sensing the situation or how desperate I am to make sure everything is fine. “It’s me, is there anybody parked outside my house or hanging around there right now”.

Adam tells us to hang on for a moment, “Nah it’s pretty quiet really, the only people about are Upton’s across the road from you and she’s gardening and he’s out on the porch having a cuppa; What’s the matter is everything ok?” he says clearly worried now by my tone.

“Nothing major, I’ll fill you in this afternoon when we get home alright,” I say as we hang up the call somewhat relieved by the situation until Danny’s phone rings back. “Shit, is it Adam?” I ask now panicked again and he just shakes his head to me “Just Tash, nothing important”.

“Hey babe, what’s up?” he says down the phone, “Yeah I can pick up the kids, is everything alright?” he says, I try to listen in when it suddenly hits me that Brendan wasn’t speeding away to my place to do anything, he was speeding away to go and see Tash.

My mind races on whether I should tell Danny anything but before I can make my mind up, Mr. Howell is standing there with my father and the media starting to disperse. I wander over to them and nervously start to speak “Mr. Howell, good afternoon” I say as he greets me back politely.

“Brian, this is Isaac one of our newest recruits and he has made an impact on our team already,” he says surprisingly oblivious to our connection which stuns me but given Mr. Howell doesn’t spend any time at the mine it’s not a shock. Danny stands there and looks at my father as Mr. Howell also re-introduces Danny.

“Hello again Danny, Isaac it’s very good to see you, young man,” my father says smiling, not sure whether he meant it genuinely or just as polite conversation. “That’s very odd, my ride back into Grantham seems to have left for now,” my father says. Mr. Howell looks across “How very odd, maybe Mr. Keppel could wait in your office whilst we wait for information on your driver,” he says as the media crews and the rest of the campaign staff leave.

I cringe for a moment but accept the idea and my father does as well, there is an awkward silence as the four of us walk back to the office, Mr. Howell giving his farewells before heading off himself. “If you could excuse us for a moment,” I say to my father and Mr. Howell to talk to Danny.

“Everything ok with Tash?” I ask, now certain Brendan has gone to see her rather than do anything to my place. “Yeah fine, she just wanted to know if I could leave early and pick up the kids, she’s been called in to cover at the District Hospital because they’re short-staffed”. I nod as he grabs his stuff “I’ll come back and get you at about 4ish after I drop the kids off with Adam” he says rushing out.

Now it’s time for me to take the toughest moment in a very long time, I take a deep breath and open the door about to spend an unknown amount of time with my father, just the two of us.