VM List window (aka Control Center) does not appear on launch [solved]

Posting this here since I didn't find a solution by searching the forums, but just poked around long enough to find a workaround.
The issue is that upon launch of Parallel Desktop for Mac (v20.2.0), the window with the list of VM did not appear and only the "Parallels Desktop" and "Help" menus appeared. None of the options in there were of any use.
The workaround for this issue is:
* Launch Parallels Desktop - note the appearance of the task bar icon.
* In Finder, go to the folder that holds your VMs - typically this is in a "Parallels" folder off of your user folder. (cmd+shift+G, "~/Parallels", enter).
* Double click the file that corresponds to the VM you wish to launch.
* You should see the VM start - once it does, right click the VM's task bar icon (not the Parallels Desktop task bar icon) and select "Control Center".
You should now see the VM list window and it should appear next time you run Parallels.
Hopefully this works for you.