SHOW UP OR SHIP OUT

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Lily Roy drummed her fingers on the cool granite countertop. She watched the texts come in― first a barrage from Roman, then a handful from Frank and Gerri. It was 11:56 A.M., and they all knew that Logan started on time no matter the circumstances. Four minutes. Four minutes until the end of the world.

Roman, 11:56 A.M.

Where are you???

Answer??? Please???

Lily

Lilyyyyy

If you don't get here we are FUCKED

Ken isn't here either Lily could you please get here

Like right now

????

I see you reading these fucking texts

Lily Roy shut her phone off, set it face down on the counter, and put on a smile as a groggy Emilio wandered into the kitchen for brunch.

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Roman checked his watch for the third time in the past minute. Then he checked his phone. His last message to Lily was marked as "seen," and the clock read 11:59. He shoved his phone back into his pocket and snagged Gerri as she passed him.

"Hey, Ger," he murmured. "Do you know where Lily is?"

"Lily?" Gerri frowned. "No."

"Okay, well, she's not fucking here." He glanced at his watch again. "So, like, that's a big deal."

"Fuck." She brought a hand up to rub her temples. "I've already asked Frank to stall. She could be stuck in traffic with Kendall. That's all I know."

Gerri looked like she would have said more, but she caught a glimpse of Logan coming down the hall and hurried to her seat. Roman did the same. Once the pleasantries were out of the way, Frank cleared his throat.

"I just got word," he said. "I think Kendall will be a few minutes late... Request for a late start?"

"No!" Logan said, as if Frank had just asked to sell the company for five bucks on the market. "He can catch up. Fuck that! Where is he?"

"Stuck in traffic, that's all I know," he said.

Logan took another glance around the room. "And where's Lillian?"

"No clue, Dad," Roman mumbled.

"Okay, well, come on. Let's go."

Frank nodded. "Well, it's 12:00 noon, and I'd like to call the meeting of Waystar-Royco to order."

He began a roll call, which Logan protested, but Frank insisted on it anyway. A deafening silence followed the names "Kendall Roy" and "Lillian Roy." Roman checked his phone again underneath the table. Nothing.

Oddly enough, Michael Sinclair had decided to come to this meeting. He had been a member of the board for years, so they had written him off early into planning the vote. His loyalties lay with Logan, no doubt. Roman wondered if he would make a pit stop after the meeting and harass Dorothy.

Ewan's arrival at least gave Logan pause. The last time they'd spoken had been Thanksgiving, when Ewan stormed out after a harsh exchange with his brother. Roman's phone buzzed and he answered as fast as he could― Kendall had called him.

"Kendall. Hey, where are you?" He asked. "We've already started, man. We've started."

Kendall sounded out-of-breath on the other end of the call. "Tell Jess to put me through the polycom, yeah?"

This was it. They had reached the segment of the meeting that Kendall had designated to be the vote, and it started out fine enough. Or as fine as a project led by Kendall could be.

"Look, I love my father," Kendall began. "Okay? My father is a legend. I worship the ground he walks on. Nothing will ever detract from what he's built and what he's done. But he is currently unfit to run this company."

Logan frowned and leaned forwards. "Speak up, I can't hear―"

Kendall cut across him with, "Not only because of his refusal to take the time to recover from serious health issues, but because every day he refuses to retire, he is one day closer to destroying his own legacy."

Roman caught Gerri's eye from across the table. He didn't quite want to look at Logan yet, for fear of what he'd see in his father's eyes.

"He took on levels of debt that threatened the very existence of our firm, he is lining up dead-weight acquisitions in a sector that he has a historic regard for, but which is a non-growth area. We face existential battles in scale, and he is facing precisely the wrong direction. He is making decisions for a future that he no longer understands, and we don't have time for missteps."

The empty chair next to Roman should have been Lily's. They could have had this thing over and done with if they just had her. He checked his phone a third time. Nothing.

"What used to take ten― two, three years. Our entire ice cap will melt. He is gambling our last dollars at the track on a horse that's ready for the glue factory, and I am calling for a vote of no confidence in him, as CEO and chairman."

And now Roman risked a glance at his father. He had that look on his face― the are you fucking kidding me look. The do you want to push your luck look. The when we get home you're gonna get it look. The look he knew all too well. The look that made his cheek sting from a blow that didn't exist. He shrunk down a little further in his seat.

"Bullshit, no," Logan declared.

"I'm afraid, since you're the subject of the vote, you need to recuse yourself, Logan.'' Frank said.

"Oh, Jesus Christ. Fuckin' amateur hour at the fuckin' circus."

"You don't get to vote and you don't get to comment― that's the situation. You really should leave the room."

"Okay, fine. Fine. Vote."

Frank gestured for him to leave. "...Would you mind?"

Kendall came on the polycom again. "Guys. Is he there? Is he still in the room?"

"I'm sick, I can't move," Logan snapped. "Fuck that. Vote."

"He can't be in the room. Okay? ...Guys."

Frank glanced around the room. "Let the minutes reflect that Logan Roy was asked to recuse himself."

Logan scoffed and said, "Let the minutes reflect that Logan Roy shoved his boot up Frank's ass."

His gaze lingering on the empty chairs in the room, Frank added, "All in favor of the vote of no confidence in Logan Roy?"

Silence. Logan still had that look on his face. Roman made a point to stare at the table in front of him, at Gerri, at Ewan― anyone but his father.

"Me," Kendall said. "My hand is raised. More in sorrow than in anger."

"Oh, no shit, Judas," Logan shot back.

Frank raised his hand. Then Asha. Stewy abstained. Ilona voted in favor over the phone. Ewan, Karl, Dewi, and Datu were for Logan. Lawrence abstained. Michael Sinclair voted for Logan. A complete and utter sense of dread settled in the pit of Roman's stomach.

"Lily," Kendall said. "Lily? Are you there? Rome― get Lily on the line."

"Uh, yeah, man..." Roman leaned closer to the polycom and said, "Lily's not here."

"What?"

"She, uh, she didn't show."

"Smart girl," Logan remarked. "Smarter than whoever organized this fuckin' thing."

A hint of desperation entered Kendall's voice. "C'mon, man. Put― put your hand up."

Roman winced. "Sorry, Ken, you're kinda― you're cutting out. I can't, uh, hear you."

That was all a lie, but he could feel the eyes of everyone in the room on him as he leaned back in his seat... Particularly his father's.

"He's off the line, son," Logan finally said. "Come on."

Frank nodded. "Roman..."

Slowly, Roman raised his hand.

"You'd better be smelling your fucking armpit, Romulus."

And then he was seven again. The bite in his father's voice was still there, like he had ordered something too expensive at a restaurant and he knew he'd pay for it later. Or he'd whined about not wanting to go to whatever sports lesson he'd been signed up for. Or he'd been caught playing dolls with Shiv. Or any number of little infractions that always ended in the same punishment.

"Against," he mumbled. His cheek hurt again.

Frank tried valiantly to argue that Roman had technically voted for Logan's removal by raising his hand, but once again, Logan had the last word.

"Count him out if you want. It's still 5-4. I'm chairman," he said, just as Kendall rushed into the room. "Casting vote. I win. It's fucking over!"

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Lily spent the night at Dorothy's place. Julián didn't know what had happened and didn't want to know, other than the fact that they were going to camp out in the living room. Lily looked understandably shaken when she turned up― and for good reason.

"Jesus." Dorothy had watched the messages from Roman and Kendall pop up on her phone for a good minute without pause. Lily then got a call from Roman, and Dorothy quickly pressed the button to ignore it.

"What was that for?" Lily asked. "He's gonna think I did that."

"Tell him it was me, I really don't care," she said. "Want to explain yourself?"

"...I didn't go."

"Yeah, I kind of guessed that from all the texts Roman sent me."

Lily made a face. "Sorry?"

"Well, it's done now," Dorothy said. Her own phone buzzed with a text from Roman, and she huffed. "Fuck it. Let's have a no-phones night."

"I guess the only good thing is that I'm not fired."

"Yeah, except your dad is going to be pissed at you."

That didn't make Lily feel any better, and Dorothy took it back almost instantly. She managed a smile, grabbed the bottle of wine sitting in her fridge, and said, "I've been looking for a reason to finish this."

"Oh, great," Lily said, and laughed. "Celebrating the death of my career."

"Were you fired?" She replied. "No. Now, stop worrying for the next three hours and come watch Ten Things I Hate About You with me."

Later that night, Dorothy broke the no-phone rule they'd set. Extracting herself from the tangle of blankets, she padded down the hall and checked the messages she'd received. A few from Kendall, maybe one or two unrelated business texts... And over a dozen from Roman. It surprised her that he didn't try to show up at her place to talk to Lily.

Roman, 11:39 P.M.

Do you realize what happened today?

Like actually

Lily fucked us over and you two are having a girls' night

You're like harboring a criminal right now

Dorothy, 12:16 A.M.

sorry, lily and i just got out of this crazy sex party in soho

stop stalking her bc you and kendall wanted to kick your dad out of waystar

Dorothy took a moment to look over at Lily, curled up on the couch, fast asleep underneath a mountain of blankets and wearing a spare set of her pajamas. She felt bad― she knew that Lily had fucked up by leaving her brothers high and dry. Logan might not have been fit to run Waystar after all. Maybe the company needed a younger CEO. But if Logan wasn't in charge, she couldn't guarantee that she'd have a job, so... In the end, she had to side with Lily.

Roman, 12:17 A.M.

It's not my fault if she keeps her Find My Iphone on

Can't I be worried for my baby sister?

Dorothy, 12:19 A.M.

i don't even want to get into this

fuck you and goodnight

Dorothy changed Roman's screen name to morally bankrupt fuckhead

morally bankrupt fuckhead changed Dorothy's screen name to Cunt

morally bankrupt fuckhead, 12:23 A.M.

Listen Dad just wants to talk to her

Can you do that? Like can you get her to talk to him?

Cunt, 12:24 A.M.

sure. if you grovel a little bit for me first

morally bankrupt fuckhead, 12:25 A.M.

Groveling? Hot.

Unless you mean garden-variety groveling, like coffee runs at your request and shit.

Are you talking coffee runs or are you talking me getting you off? Either way, it's a good thing we work in close proximity

Talking to Roman gave her a stress headache after too long, and Dorothy could feel one coming on. She set her phone down and curled up on the couch again, smiling as Lily shifted, the side of her face squished against the arm of the couch. Her eyes opened, and she frowned.

"Are you watching me sleep?" She mumbled.

"No. Just thinking," Dorothy said, and stood up. "Do you care if I go and sleep in my room?"

"No," Lily said. "You'd better kiss Julián as a thank-you for letting me stay over."

She just smiled, ruffled Lily's hair, and headed for her bedroom. She didn't bother explaining the situation to Julián― it was too complicated of a subject for half-past midnight.

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Dorothy had never been happier to be uninvited from a Roy family event. She'd received an email from Logan, detailing some kind of family therapy at Connor and Willa's ranch in New Mexico. Then Shiv had let her know not to bother, and no one ever pressed the issue.

Lily admitted that she had talked to her dad about therapy― Roman had apparently told Logan that Dorothy discussed the vote with Lily, which was why she had been emailed. But Lily got Dorothy out of it, saying that it was the least she could do. And thank God for that.

There had been a buzz of gossip in the office since the vote of no confidence. Kendall Roy had been escorted off of Waystar properties, for one. Fired immediately. No severance pay. The same with Frank and a few other members of the board.

Some things had gone back to normal, though. Lily reluctantly returned to her apartment the morning after their sleepover, and she kept her job at Waystar. Dorothy changed Roman's name in her phone back to "Roman" for professional purposes. And other than Kendall's absence, nothing much changed at work.

Of course, Lily updated her on family therapy over the weekend. She had a very choice statement to make after the first session, presumably with Logan and all of her siblings. They texted some more, but Lily stopped answering later that night. Not unusual, but slightly worrying.

Dorothy was home alone that night. Julián had gone out with friends, and he'd texted her saying he was spending the night with one of them. She didn't mind. It meant she could binge watch House M.D. and get a little drunk.

Her phone buzzed on the coffee table, and she reluctantly picked it up to see Roman had called her. Even more reluctantly, she answered.

"So. What are you wearing?" He asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know," she replied, and grinned to herself. "How's the family therapy going?"

"Oh, it's great. We're making a lot of progress over here― you should try it."

"Mmm. Well, my dad would rather drop dead than go to therapy."

"So would mine, you're not special."

Dorothy paused her show and added, "What's actually happening?"

"Well, therapy was a waste of time, the guy smashed his fuckin' face in when we were swimming, and Ken is fucked up," Roman said.

"Fucked up?" She frowned. "Like, the therapist said so? Did he finally get that autism diagnosis?"

"You wish." She heard a hint of laughter in his voice as he said, "He's high as balls right now."

"Oh. Fuck."

"Yeah. He kind of spiraled after Dad fired him."

"No kidding... And Lily?"

"Still being a bitch," he said. "You taught her well."

"Yeah?" Dorothy grinned. "Well, I saw you changed my name on your phone back from cunt. I can't be that bad."

Roman scoffed. "Yeah, well, you are."

"Are you still keeping your promise to do a bit of groveling? I got Lily to talk to your dad, you know."

"Uh, no. She did that of her own volition."

She shrugged. "You were the one who said groveling was hot."

"Yeah, you wish I'd grovel for you," he replied.

"We'll see about that," she replied, and smiled. "I'm expecting a coffee run on Monday, though. Your treat. I don't think you're up for anything but garden-variety groveling."

"Uh, yeah I am. I'm like, a pro at the other stuff. I'm the fuckin'... Michael Phelps of workplace affairs."

"Sure, Roman. Whatever helps you sleep at night."

Dorothy shamelessly hung up on him after another minute of conversation. Lily had texted, and from the snippet that her pop-up notifications showed her, it didn't look good. Smiling after her little spat with Roman, she resumed her show and let Lily fill her in on family therapy while Dr. House committed medical malpractice so boldly it would give Gerri an aneurysm.

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Roman never did go on that coffee run― not that Dorothy expected it from him. As the months passed, she began to care less about what he got himself into and more about Shiv's upcoming wedding. She had been asked to be a bridesmaid, and that entailed lots of preparation.

Dorothy had been in full work mode, hoping to churn out a few more advertising pitches before her lunch break, when she caught a glimpse of Lily's bleached-blonde hair in the break room. She had been talking to Tom and Greg, but she stepped away when she saw Dorothy in the doorway.

"Hey," Dorothy said, and smiled at Tom. "Sorry. I have to snag her. Confidential wedding stuff."

"Actually, I need to talk to you," Lily said. "My dad sent you an email and he's been harassing me about it all morning."

"Oh, shit. I'm sorry, Lily, I didn't see it. I've been busy."

"It's fine! What's the wedding stuff you wanted to talk about?"

"It's confidential, remember?" Dorothy led her into the hall and said, "Not really. I just wanted to know if you wanted to go dress shopping this weekend."

Lily bit her lip. "I don't know."

"What? Why?"

"Well, if you checked your email... My dad wants to schedule dinner with you."

Dorothy pulled out her phone and checked her email, and sure enough, Logan had asked to meet her at some restaurant on Saturday. Somehow, that one email stressed her out more than being pulled into his office did.

"We can dress-shop on Sunday, then," she said, and smiled. "It could be a pick-me-up in case I get fired on Saturday."

She joked about it, but for the next two days, she couldn't stop thinking about that dinner... And Julián deserved the world for putting up with her panicked ramblings the afternoon of.

"Do I look alright?" Dorothy asked, smoothing her dress down. "Like, this isn't too formal?"

"Are you kidding?" Julián laughed. "You're meeting Logan Roy for dinner. Better safe than sorry."

"Yeah... Do you think he's going to fire me?"

"Absolutely not. He could fire you whenever he wanted. Why take you to dinner first?"

Dorothy smiled faintly and reached for the jewelry box on the vanity. "Trust me, there's always an ulterior motive when Logan talks to you."

"Mm." Julián kissed her cheek and stepped out of the bathroom. "I'm still listening."

"Like, Shiv's grad party? He invited all of his work buddies to discuss stocks. Shiv only invited, like, five or ten people."

"Wow."

"He didn't even tell them that it was Shiv's party."

Dorothy took another glance at herself in the mirror. Frowning, she reached for her makeup bag and began to apply more eyeshadow. "Did you get clearance from your boss to come to Shiv's wedding?"

"Yeah," Julián called. "Did you?"

"Um, yes," she said, and laughed. "I'm Logan's goddaughter. I think he'd give me time off to go to the wedding."

"Just checking."

"I hope you're excited. But as a heads-up, their mom is kind of a bitch."

"I thought they didn't see her?"

She grinned. "Sometimes they'd spend a week or so with her in England. I went a couple of times, too. Do not recommend going for a whole summer."

"I'd love to hear more," he said, "but I think you have a dinner to go to."

Dorothy shrugged. "It's Logan. I know I was just freaking out, but... If I'm late, he won't kill me."

Still, she grabbed her purse, kissed him once on the cheek, and headed for the door. She did have a reputation to upkeep, especially one as important as hers. Logan Roy didn't appreciate being kept waiting.

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Logan smiled when he saw her and said, "Dottie."

Dottie. That was a nickname she hadn't heard in years. How old had she been the last time he'd called her that? Twelve? Fourteen? It made her heart hurt. Back then, he hadn't been anything more than a family friend. Not her boss, not a monster, and certainly not the man who dangled the keys to the castle in front of her face.

"Logan." Dorothy returned his smile and slipped into the seat across from him. "How was New Mexico?"

"It was all bullshit," he replied. "I'm sure you've heard about the vote."

There it was. The one thing she feared he knew― that she had been aware of the vote and hadn't warned him before it happened.

"I have," she said after a moment's pause.

"Oh, don't bullshit me," Logan said, and waved his hand. "Lily told me how she roped you into it."

"So that's not why I'm here?"

"What? No."

Dorothy paused. "So... Why am I here, Logan?"

"I'll tell you soon enough," he replied. "Now, tell me about that idea you had for the parks."

A marketing pitch hadn't been what she'd expected from this dinner, but she went along with it. She tried to be as objective as possible― of course, she put a positive spin on her idea, but she did keep her pitch concise.

Logan was smiling when she finished. "Good. Now forget all of that."

"What?" Dorothy frowned. "So― so this isn't about the parks?"

"Fuck no," he said. "It's about making you my next CMO. That was to make sure I picked the right one for the job."

CMO. Chief Marketing Officer. Dorothy took a moment to let that sink in. She had taken a management position when Logan brought her on, but not like this. This would put her up there with Kendall, Roman― fuck it, she'd be up there with Logan himself.

"So?" Logan asked. "What'll it be, Dottie?"

"I'll have to think about that," she replied, but her smile gave her away. "When would I start?"

He smiled. "Monday."

Her phone buzzed, and she apologized as she checked it. To her dismay, Roman had texted her.

Roman, 6:31 P.M.

You're wining and dining my fucking dad?

Are you taking him back to your place after this or what?

Dorothy, 6:32 P.M.

idk, might fuck him at his place for the thrill. think of risk if marcia catches us!

and say hello to your new CMO, rome