On the surface of it, there was no reason to be, not as he sat in his living room in one of the best neighborhoods in Atlanta, in a chair beside the love seat where his wife and daughter were curled up, sipping hot chocolate. But he was worried.
"It's an awful mess," said Rosalie Hayles frankly, sighing. She and Jessica shared the same narrow little face and brown eyes, but Rosalie had been so diligent about keeping her hair dyed dark auburn that Arthur was not entirely sure he remembered its true color. He had not seen it, after all, since she had been pregnant with Jessica, nearly twelve years ago now, and he had far more serious things to think on most days than his wife's hair. "I don't know how Miller even found out who I am, much less thought to use that against your uncle Jason...."
"It's not exactly a secret how much money I've given Jason's campaign, Ros," said Arthur.
"What's wrong with being you, Mommy?" asked Jessica, visibly offended by Miller's audacity.
"It's not me, baby," said Rosalie. "It's the company. In one commercial he's talking about Jason having support from outsiders in New York, and on the other, he's got this awful woman's voice talking about painting a pig."
"Legal says he kept the designs on the products just far enough away from ours that we can't sue him for infringement," grumbled Arthur, still irritated by that. Hours of research and development went into designing Arvale products' packaging. The whole scheme was to suggest classic luxury, not any form of livestock. Livestock! It would have been one thing if they had been one of those organics lines, the all-natural crowd, but where in the pits of hell had Miller gotten livestock?
"We've been headquartered in Atlanta for - like - forty years!" protested Jessica.
"And before that, your grandpa was a damn Yankee," said Rosalie, stroking Jessica's hair. "They think that Granddaddy made some kind of deal with your grandpa when Granddaddy was governor, now they're trying to paint the whole family as corrupt."
"Though I don't think they'll have much luck with that, Princess," said Arthur quickly. "Everyone loves Governor Groves."
"Well, close enough," murmured Rosalie.
"Do you think Uncle Jason can still get in the Assembly?" asked Jessica.
Rosalie nodded, and began explaining why her brother's connections to the old governor were probably more important than his connections to a formerly northern cosmetics brand. Arthur, familiar with all those arguments, went back to worrying.
He could not stop thinking about the meltdown Jessica had had at Carmela's, at least not for long. He had seen her throw fits before, of course - but not for a long time. Not like that. She knew better, now - or so he had thought. Her outburst at Mara had been bad enough, but worst had been the total breakdown she had had after that. The outburst had been childishness, just as Mara's had been. The hysterical apologizing....
Jessica knew she could not have fits anymore. That a businesswoman always had to be calm and composed, in control of her emotions - tough. There was no use in a girl her size crying over nothing, or apologizing. If she didn't like the criticism of her behavior, she should have kept herself together and then just not done what he had criticized again - should have remembered being ashamed of herself and checked herself the next time she was inclined to repeat the behavior.
He had worried for years that Jessica did not have what it took to be an executive. She was too emotional, too pliant - if anything, too well-behaved. It was a cliche, but well-behaved women really didn't make much in the way of history, no more than hysterical ones did. Mara had her rough edges, plus she was only able to attend public school, but she, at least, had spirit, and he had often thought idly even before all this that it was a shame that it could only be Jessica who inherited at least fifty-one percent of the company, Jessica who he sent to business school and brought into the company. Mara and Lola would be provided for, of course - he had used the excuse of Jessica's being sent away to give Carmela a bundle of shares in thanks for her service as a nanny, and the girls would inherit those from their mother even if circumstances somehow prevented him from providing them anything directly when they each turned eighteen - but he had always betted on being able to shape and mold Jessica into someone who could keep control of the company in Hayles hands.
That hope, however, was fading. He had barely been able to ascertain that Jessica was alive from day to day for the past several months, much less oversee her, and contrary to what they had been promised, she did not seem much like she was getting better. If anything, in every way he had been able to ascertain in the admittedly limited time she had been home, she seemed worse off than she had been.
He could not give up on her yet, though. It had taken most of the hour and a half-long trip through Atlanta to their house for her to do so completely, but she had, finally, composed herself before they had pulled through the gates, and she had smiled into her hand mirror for several seconds before getting out of the Range Rover, rushing into the house as enthusiastically as she had rushed into Carmela's, and throwing herself into Rosalie's arms with the same exclamation - I missed you so, so much!.