Chapter 14
The Founder’s Chair became three small benches.
Arthur insisted on three.
“Why three?”
He shrugged.
“Wood was expensive.”
Practical symbolism.
We placed one in the garden.
One outside the main dining room.
One at the family cemetery.
No plaque.
No founder inscription.
Just benches.
At the next family dinner, no one knew where the head seat was.
That caused more confusion than I expected.
People waited.
I sat halfway down the table.
Arthur sat opposite me in his wheelchair.
Luca arrived last and took an empty chair near the kitchen door.
No one died.
Amazing.
An old capo complained:
“How do we know who starts?”
Arthur picked up his fork.
“When food arrives.”
I laughed.
The hierarchy did not disappear.
I was still head.
Orders still had structure.
But ceremonial dominance stopped confusing relatives into thinking proximity to a chair meant authority.
Luca noticed the difference most.
After dinner he told me:
“When Grandfather sat at the head, I always watched who sat beside him.”
“So did everyone.”
“Now I actually listened to the conversation.”
Imagine.
Camille did not attend.
Still no family access.
Luca met her occasionally elsewhere.
I knew because he told me.
That mattered.
No secrets.
One day he asked:
“If I decide to try again with her, does that mean she comes back here?”
“No.”
He frowned.
“You can date someone without giving them organizational access.”
He stared.
Apparently revolutionary.
“Marriage too?”
“Especially marriage.”
I had learned slowly.
Love is not a security clearance.
He laughed.
“Put that on a wall.”
“No text on screen.”
He looked confused.
May you like
I smiled to myself.
Some jokes belong only to the storyteller.
