Page 77 of Without Apology

CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

Simon

I left Peyton’s house and headed for my place, giving myself enough time to shower and dress before heading into the office. I also packed an overnight bag and some casual clothes to change into for the barbeque. The look on her face when I’d said I’d be there—Yeah, it was clear this meant a lot to her.

What was the use of being the man in charge if I couldn’t leave the office by a reasonable time in order to meet her? I could balance my professional and personal obligations. It was simply a matter of priorities. Right?

Eight hours later, however, I was convinced I was in a fresh hell. I’d spent the entire day cooped up in the office conference room downtown with Tom and Emma. The billable staff review had been easy as we were keeping everyone for now at Maddox Consulting. These were our fee earners, so unless they stopped earning, they stayed.

But on the non-billable, back office side, we went through the people one by one, painstakingly reviewing each of them. We had five people over sixty who would most likely opt to take the early retirement package.

Another three employees would need to be terminated based on bad performance reviews and other issues that hadn’t been dealt with. Thankfully, none had been in the accounting department.

But for the last half hour, Tom and I had been arguing about Megan, Peyton’s accounting manager. Tom was convinced, due to Jeff’s comments, that she needed to go.

“Aside from Peyton’s recommendation, do you have a reason to keep her?” Tom’s condescending tone put me on edge. If I wasn’t careful, I’d reveal too much.

“She left Jeff’s group for a reason and has had nothing but glowing reviews ever since.”

“But before that, she was on a performance improvement plan.”

“Almost three years ago. Clearly, the combination of her with Jeff didn’t work.”

I was thankful when Emma spoke up. “I, for one, think Jeff was the problem. He has the highest turnover in the entire back office and doesn’t care who stays on his team. Evidently, he is trying to sabotage other teams, as well.”

“Agreed. She stays. That’s final.”

Tom didn’t argue. But of course he couldn’t let it go. “Don’t tell me the Ice Man has gone soft because the woman is pregnant.”

I gave him the type of glare which had earned me the Ice Man reputation. “Don’t bloody push me on this. Being professional doesn’t mean you need to be a prick. Nor does it mean you open up the company to discrimination lawsuits. Simply mentioning she’s pregnant right now could be used later to prove it had some bearing on our decision to keep her or not. I think you forget about details like that sometimes.”

He shrugged, clearly not caring.

It was pushing five o’clock, and I was starting to sweat I’d be later than I’d promised for the barbecue, but because my day just had to get even worse, my boss rang me on my mobile.

“Hello, Phillip,” I answered on the first ring.

“Hello, Simon. How’s it coming along with the employee vetting?”

“I estimate we’ll be able to keep ninety percent.”

“Good to hear. And if the accounting director, Peyton Waters, doesn’t get CFO, will she stay?”

I swallowed hard and took the phone into my office. I didn’t want Tom observing me as we talked about Peyton. “Hard to say.” Then because I couldn’t help myself, I had to share it. “If it’s her colleague, Jeff who gets the position, then I’m certain she won’t stay. If it’s someone from the outside, maybe.”

“George speaks very highly of her.”

“She’s very capable.” And kind and smart and loyal. All of which I couldn’t divulge, but I hoped a fraction of all that had been captured in the interview with the board members.

“He seemed to think the only downside was she wouldn’t travel.”

I had to be careful not to lie. “She went to New York for the interview.”

“Indeed. In any case, the board liked her the best. I believe they’ve decided to extend the job offer to her. It’ll be official on Monday.”

If I’d been the type of man who celebrated, I would have fist-bumped the air. Instead, I responded calmly, forcing the happiness from my voice. “I think it’ll be the best decision for the company.”

“Good. Tom tells me there’s one last anomaly in the accounting he’s having Lyle look into and then we’re clear for the purchase. Hopefully by Tuesday, the money will be transferred, and we’ll have a done deal.”

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