The Return $ Succession

S1E06. You're too much

Early morning. Jonathan entered Waystar offices, and he immediately headed to Gerri's office.

"So you wanted to talk?" he seems annoyed.

And there was Gerri, sitting at her desk, sipping from her coffee mug, staring out the window. "Sit down, Jonathan."

Jonathan sat himself down and rolled his eyes. "Here we go..."

"Look, Jonathan, I think you and I need to lay some cards on the table... because you sure as hell seem to have a whole deck with you."

"Unfortunately for me, I'm all ears when it comes to you, Gerri."

Gerri takes another sip from her coffee mug. "I want the truth, Jonathan. All the truth. So let's start with this board business. What's the angle?"

"Oh, come on Gerri, I'm on the board, Tom is ok with that. It's over."

She sighs "Jonathan, dear, I know how you ended up on the board. I want to know why. Why did you convince Tom you should be on the board? What do you gain by working with him?"

"I gain control, you gain control, and that's it."

She snorts, "and you're not even gonna pretend to make it less obvious? You think that you can gain control over Waystar Royco through Tom?"

"No, Gerri, I don't want control of the whole fucking firm! Also, don't forget that we are now owned by GoJo. I just want to control Tom, that's all."

"Now we're getting somewhere. Tell me exactly what you want to do with Tom."

"I don't want him do be reckless, and yes, I know that he is not, although he is too close to Matsson."

Gerri raises an eyebrow, "so you want to keep Tom... in check?"

"For God's shake Gerri! Why can't we communicate today?!" Jonathan is now frustrated.

"Because you have the subtlety of an ox, Jonathan. Maybe if you started talking straight and stopped playing games, we would communicate better."

"I'm not playing games, Gerri, I'm not," he says in his calm and soothing voice.

She sighs, "I would love to believe you. Tell me why you suddenly have this new-found interest in controlling Tom?"

"I don't know, maybe because he can fuck up?"

Gerri smirks at him, "come on, Jonathan. That's not it." She leans in closer, "tell me the truth."

"Look, I didn't want the GoJo deal, I don't want it now, even if it's over. We are now owned by GoJo and I don't like it."

She sits back up, drinking her coffee again, "why don't you like the GoJo deal?"

"Oh come on Gerri, it's 9 in the morning and I don't want to make this talk! Do you like the deal? Then you tell me what's to like!" Jonathan raised his voice.

She doesn't bat an eye at the sudden raise in his voice and stares him down. "No. I don't. I've made it very clear that I don't. Are you asking why I don't like the GoJo deal?"

"Yes, now tell me! Is it because the Roys lost everything to Matsson and Matsson placed Tom as the CEO? Cause this is my problem!"

She laughs softly. "Don't be so dramatic. If you must know, this deal is bad for Waystar Royco simply because the company should be separate. The shareholders should be in control. We are way too powerful to be part of a conglomerate like GoJo. However you feel about Matsson and his deal, it's done, the sale has gone through and there's nothing we can do about that. The only way to fix this is from the inside. So, that leads me to ask you again - what are you planning to do about Tom?"