Three weeks before Rose was to return to the estate, Jack Harkness was in a snit. He angrily crumpled the tabloid in his hand. How on Earth did they have this story already? It had happened two days ago and he hadn't told anyone yet. She, Christina, had asked him, so there was no ring purchase that could have tipped anyone off. The elevator dinged open and Jack stomped out.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Jack, but Mr. Harkness and Mrs. Noble are in a meeting. You can't just walk in. You'll have to make an appointment. He's free at 15:00," Tish, his brother's PA, said as he tried to pry open John's office door.
"Either you push the little button to open those doors or I will tear them off the hinges myself." Jack's voice was low and deadly. Tish swallowed hard and pressed the button to open the doors. "Thank you." Jack flashed her a dazzling smile before storming towards his destination.
John was sitting at the head of a long boardroom table, Donna on his right side. "Jack," John said without looking up from the stack of papers in front of him. "It's wonderful that you actually decided to come to work today but your office is on the 26th floor." He looked up and gestured around him. "This is the 27th. I can see how your finger might have slipped on the elevator button." Now John stood up and leaned forward on his steepled fingers. "Now if you'll excuse us, we have important business to do here.
"I need to talk to you." Jack refused to back down and threw the paper down in front of his brother.
"Then make an appointment with Tish," John said, sitting down. Gingerly he picked tabloid and handed it to Donna. The redhead smirked.
Jack didn't budge. "No, I need to talk to you now."
The brothers locked eyes and John sighed. "Ladies and gentlemen, can you please give us ten minutes." The executives around the table nodded and collected their things. They knew full well a Jack Harkness rampage would take more than just a few minutes.
Once the last of them had left, Jack rounded on his siblings. "Do you know anything about this?"
"Sarah Jane showed me the paper this morning." Donna shrugged. "Is it true? Are you getting married? You didn't even bother to tell your family." Her voice was cold.
"Well, yes," Jack stammered. "Christina proposed two days ago and I said yes."
John stood again and headed towards the kitchenette. "Good, Christina is a good match for you. She comes from a good family. She's a vice president in her family's company and from the rumors I've heard she's a wildcat." He wiggled his eyebrows at the innuendo.
"You're okay with this? You've never even met her and you're giving me your blessing. If I remember correctly the last two times I've gotten married you've threatened to cut off my allowance." Jack relaxed a bit. Not that he would ever admit it, but he had been worried about telling his family about his upcoming marriage.
John mixed a few drinks and handed Donna one. "Well, we have met her. De Souza International contacted us three weeks ago to talk about a possible merger." He leaned against the table, sipping his cocktail, content to watch the fireworks show that was about to start.
"What? Why?" Jack was shocked.
"Take a look at this." John indicated a sheet of what looked like Plexiglas on a stand. "This is newest creation from our labs. We call it Glassose. Yes, the name is a bit rubbish, but we'll leave that to marketing."
"This is nothing new." Jack walked over to it and rapped it with his knuckles.
John ignored him. "Cheap, lightweight and virtually indestructible. Donna, if you please."
"My pleasure." Donna grinned and picked up a crowbar. Wielding it, she took a few steps in Jacks direction, a manic grin on her face.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Jack held up his hands and took a few steps back. Donna raised the crowbar above her head. Reflexively, Jack ducked and covered his head with his arms. There was a resounding crack as the crowbar made contact. However Jack didn't feel the blow. With great trepidation he stood up and saw his siblings laughing.
"I hit the Glassose, you idiot," Donna sniggered. "See, not a scratch on it."
"Let's not forget my favorite demonstration." John almost skipped over to a large sheet of the Glassose that's ends were resting on two ottomans. "Look at the kind of stress it can take." He jumped up on the plastic-like substance and started bouncing on it like a trampoline.
Jack laughed. It had been a long time since he had seen John smile that brightly. Not since before their parents had died. "Ok, so it's impressive. What does this have with the de Souza merger?"
"Everything," John said as he jumped off. "This stuff is very environmentally friendly, made mostly from sugar. De Souza International is one of the largest of sugar cane producers in the world. Our formula plus their product equals happy consumers and lots of money."
"So you supporting my marriage comes down to money?" Jack crossed his arms over his chest. "You already have plenty of money."
"Yes we do," Donna agreed. "But it's so much more than that. If this deal goes through, it means new factories, thousands of jobs, families that were previously struggling now are bringing home steady pay checks."
"Deserving people getting a hand up, that's what this merger means." John smiled. "And you will not muck it up by treating Christina like any of your other paramours. You made a commitment to that woman and it's time that you learned to live up to your responsibilities." John pointed a finger in Jack's face.
Jack batted John's hand away. "I am plenty responsible."
"Really?" Donna raised an eyebrow. "When was the last time you put in a full day at the office?"
"Well," Jack hesitated.
"How about a half day then?" John asked. Jack's mouth opened and closed but no words came out. "Alright, when was the last time you set foot in your office?"
"It's on the 26th floor," Jack said lamely. "Okay, so maybe I've been a little busy and I haven't been able to put in the hours that I've needed to."
"Bollocks," Donna yelled. "You can't be bothered to do anything that you don't see as fun. That's why John and I have taken the liberty of having this drawn up." She pulled a thick packet of papers out of the stack on John's desk.
"What's this?" Jack asked, taking the papers from Donna.
John cleared his throat. "This is us helping you to grow up." Jack looked questioningly at him so John continued. "As you know, according to the terms of the family trust, none of us gain full control over our company stock or inheritance until our 35th birthday. Right now the trustee maintains final say in all of our affairs and must follow Mother and Father's wishes to a tee. But in two weeks on our birthday, Donna and I then gain full rights as majority stock holders as well as become co–trustees over your trust fund."
"Wait, I thought that you two already ran things." Jack opened the packet of papers and scanned them.
Donna laughed. "Pay up, Spaceman." She held out a hand to John. "I told you there was no way he read the terms of the trust."
With a scowl, John pulled a hundred pound note out of his money clip and handed it over. "That had better go to charity and not to buying you a new hat."
"Excuse me," Jack said, bringing their attention back on him. "Can you please explain how you two are not currently in charge of Harkness Enterprises?"
"Well, we do run the day to day operations." John started to explain. "With me as CEO and Donna as COO, most decisions are in our hands. But there are a few things, well, two things really, that we can't control until after our birthday and they both have to do with you."
"What things?" Jack sounded scared.
"Under the terms of Mother and Father's will," Donna started to explain. "Each of the three of us is guaranteed a healthy allowance from our trust fund and an executive position here until John and I turn 35, at which point John and I gain full rights to everything left to us."
"Which is in two weeks," John reminded them.
"Yes, thank you." Donna rolled her eyes. "On our birthday, your allowances and the position here at the company fall to the discretion of John, since he is the oldest. And when you turn 35, you get your portion, free and clear. The thought behind it was to give the three of us time to learn to work together as a team. "
"Unfortunately, you have spent the last five years running through every penny of your allowance and salary and costing the family millions more." John began to sound angry.
"It's not like we can't afford it," Jack scoffed.
"That's not the point, Jack," John growled. "In the past year alone, your exploits have cost us over a million pounds. You have crashed three cars due to speeding and two of those involved other people that you could have killed. Then there were the harassment claims from the catering staff at the Christmas party."
"Hey, I thought she was into me," Jack said, trying to defend himself.
"Then there was the sex tape that you made after seducing Lucy Saxon. You know what a ruthless man Harold is and he would have put her in the hospital if he found out about that. You're lucky we were able to help her get far away from him."
"So I've made a few mistakes and now you're going to leave me destitute?" Jack asked, unable to believe that John and Donna would be so cruel.
John shook his head. "No, we are not cutting you off. We are lowering your allowance to 1000£ per month. Before you protest, that is plenty of money to live on if you're thrifty. It's more than most people get. And your salary will now be predicated upon you actually coming into work." Taking Jack by the shoulders, John looked him squarely in the eyes. "Time to grow up, little brother, and start making something of your life."
"What, like the two of you? Make work the center of my life? Well, maybe not Donna, she's at least got Lee. But if responsibility means that I have to be a stuffed shirt, lonely, unhappy man like you, John, then I don't want any part of it." Jack turned on his heel and stomped out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
John collapsed into the chair behind his desk, his head in his hands. Donna walked over and patted his shoulder. "That could have gone better. Not that I thought it would, but still." Donna gave a shaky laugh. "I wonder who leaked the engagement to the papers."
"My guess," John said, letting out a slow breath. "Christina or her father."
'Do you think that she's using Jack to help push the merger through?"
"No, it's a good deal. I'd still go through with it either way." John shook his head. "I don't think it's about her wanting Jack's money either. She'd loaded and there would be an iron clad pre-nup coming from both sides. Maybe Christina's just afraid of losing him. Maybe they're afraid that we'll back out. Maybe someone else overheard the whole thing and sold it to the papers."
"Could be," Donna said, walking towards the door. "I'd better call the board members back in."
"Donna," John called out. "Do you think I'm pathetic and lonely?"
Turning, she gave her brother a sad smile. "I don't think you're pathetic but I do think you're lonely. Maybe, just maybe, it's time to open up your heart, skinny boy. You never know, the girl for you could be just about anyone."
John gave himself a moment to laugh at himself before clicking his business persona back into place. In the back of his head, he began to wonder if the only persona he had anymore was this one.