What If...

2: Fond Memories

After breakfast, I dropped my boys at their campus, Montrose School. This is also where I studied when I was their age. I believe that I won’t reach success at this point without the foundations I gained here.

I have been dropping and picking them for two weeks already. It might be unusual why I personally do this instead of having a driver. I have a number of reasons.

First, my driver for 10 years asked for a month-long leave. Before, he never requested to avail of his leave despite me offering this to him, and as it is also mandated by law. Instead, he monetized his leave credits, which he gives to his family. This time, he requested to avail of his vacation to take care of his sick daughter. Aside from his wages, he also received extra money for the medications of his daughter. Replacing him is not an  option for he’s the only driver I can  trust for my personal errands and travels.

Second, I want to spend more time with Tristan and Casper. Driving them to school and back home gives us time to bond and catch up with them. It is during these times that I get to know them more and they are more open to me. They can even share and ask things to me without worrying about their mom knowing compared to having our conversations during mealtime. Sometimes, I don’t even have time to converse with them at home, especially at times when  I need to spend extra hours at the office.

Third, this gives me the opportunity to visit my alma mater. I have been reminiscing of my days during high school, and being able to be there helps me refresh my memories during those times. There are times that I’m able to roam around the campus when I arrive there ahead of their dismissal. But refreshing my memories by being there, however, makes me feel melancholic as I begin to question my past actions and if I was right with my decisions in life. I’m not supposed to say this because I have a loving wife and two wonderful children, but I still have this feeling of emptiness which may be filled by reliving my memories in school.

There are two other reasons why I drive my children to school, but I will mention them later.

After dropping my kids to school, I head to my office. I actually have a diverse portfolio of investments and companies, most of which I inherited from my father. Because of these diverse investments, I spent most of my time attending various  board meetings and other corporate activities.

But what I consider as my “baby" is the Public Relations firm that I established when I had Casper. My involvement with the various companies expanded my networks and connections, which are instrumental in the expansion of my investments. It is through meeting these people that I get to learn about my gift, and that is to help uplift their public images. My clients, composed of business partners, politicians, celebrities and other personalities, come to my PR firm to improve either their personal or corporate identities. With me is a team that helps me get things done from events coordination, marketing strategies, media relations, social media management and other favors such as swaying public opinion, damage control and propaganda tactics.

Aside from the wider scope of influence that I reach, what I enjoy the most is the constant flow of inside information, which I can use mostly for my benefit and my clients. Using the right information at the right time is key to making our projects a success. The unique working environment, the risks involved and the thrill of getting the job done exhilarates me. And the firm is generously rewarded through substantial fees (with bonuses on top of that) and personal favors given by clients.

Work at the firm today was typical, with monitoring the current status of our particular projects, most of which are product launches and press conferences. One particular project I have to look into was this speech to be delivered by this business executive after their company's stocks plummeted due to issues of mismanagement. We have to make use of careful play of words and appeal to the people to give its stockholders and its patrons a sense of assurance and that they will recover from this mess. Come to think of it, I don’t think sugar-coating words would be enough to relieve doubts of its anxious clientele,  but to restructure the company and ensure that the management be accountable with their actions. However, we were only tasked with making the speech; so we will just stick with that.