Daniel leaned back.
“Bigger isn’t always better.”
Richard laughed.
“That’s why you’re retiring and I’m taking over.”
Daniel laughed too.
Later, he would remember that moment differently.
At the time, Richard was joking.
Probably.
For the first year, Daniel kept his promise not to interfere.
He visited occasionally.
He attended shareholder briefings.
He answered questions when asked.
He stopped wandering through the warehouse every week because he did not want employees comparing every new decision with how Daniel would have done it.
He understood that successors needed space.
Mercer Industrial grew.
Revenue climbed.
Two competitors were acquired.
The headquarters expanded.
New departments appeared.
Strategy.
Transformation.
Enterprise analytics.
Daniel did not know exactly what half of them did, which he accepted as evidence the company had moved beyond him.
The old coffee machine disappeared.
In its place appeared a sleek automated unit requiring an employee badge to access certain functions.
Daniel tried it once.
The screen asked him to choose between seven milk options.
He walked away.
Consultants arrived.
PowerPoint presentations multiplied.
The employee handbook doubled in size.
Parking spaces near the front became reserved for executives.
The warehouse break room received new furniture, but employees started eating there less often because shifts had become tighter.
Daniel noticed changes.
He said nothing.
He had promised.
Then Evelyn called.
It was a Tuesday afternoon in October.
Daniel was raking leaves from his backyard when his phone rang.