Page 32 of Rich and Bossy

“Just dealing with a little uncertainty right now.”

“Is that something new? I’d think there’s always uncertainty, with a company as large as yours.” He straightens up, wiping his greasy hands on an equally greasy rag. “I know we don’t talk a lot, but I’m always here. What’s up?”

Shit. Can I really do this? Will it help? “Unsure of some of my recent decisions. There’s a situation brewing. It’s small right now, containable. Worried that may not be the case for long.” I’m careful with what I tell him about Hazel. I leave out the parts involving how ridiculously attracted I am to her, how I can’t stop thinking about her. He doesn’t need to know how I got her to have a drink with me either.

I lay out all the work problems and leave out the personal stuff.

He listens intently to the whole thing but doesn’t say a word. I find myself a little upset, though. When I only talk about the work part, it makes Hazel out to be a troublemaker. A grumpy employee out for blood.

That’s not what she is, though. I try to paint her in the best light I can.

“I need to crush this, right? I just don’t think the way she’s handling it is the right way to go about it.”

“Right way for you? Or right way for her and the people at the warehouses?”

Fuck me.

“When you’re trying to solve a problem, you have to consider all points of view, even the ones you don’t agree with. Your momand I don’t always agree, and sometimes I think she’s out of her damn mind, but I still have to look at things through her eyes the best I can. That’s the only way to get a real resolution to anything.”

“I don’t know, Dad. I just want the problem to go away.”

“Well, you’re the boss, and it doesn’t sound like that’s gonna just happen without some heads butting.”

“Yeah.”

“I think you know what you need to do. You just don’t want to do it.”

“Won’t that make me look like the bad guy? If I stop what she’s trying to do?”

“Everyone who knows you, knows what kind of person you are. You make mistakes, but you’re a good man. You have a responsibility I couldn’t even dream of having on my shoulders.. Every decision you make affects a hundred thousand people. You have to look at all of them, and make the best choice as a whole, not what one employee wants.”

Fuck. I know he’s right. I know if I didn’t like Hazel, I’d have crushed this little rebellion she’s trying to foment before it ever started. If people are unhappy, they need to go to HR, file complaints, fill out the surveys, then let it get to the appropriate levels, where people can evaluate those grievances and make some changes if they’re needed.

Maybe operations has gotten overzealous with how hard they’re pushing workers. But you don’t ambush me in an elevator then start organizing a union without going through those steps first. I get that the world should react the minute you want something when you’re a twenty-one-year-old idealist, but the real world doesn’t work that way. Especially a company the size of mine. It just doesn’t.

He hits me with a hard look, the look he used to give me when I tried to get out of doing chores or finishing my homework. “Ithink you already made up your mind, you just want it validated. I’m not the one for that, son. I don’t have all the details. Not trying to shirk my duties as a father, but that’s a discussion you need to have with John.”

I know he’s right. But still…

“I can’t ignore what’s going on in the warehouse, though. The way she made it sound, there are some serious violations going on.”

“Then roll some heads and fix things. Make it right. I know you aren’t one of those greedy assholes on Wall Street who would risk his employees’ safety to make money. But the way you’re making it sound, this is going to cause far more trouble, riling everyone up before you’ve had a chance to fix anything.”

“I know.”

“Son.” He waits until I meet his gaze. “I know you’ll do what’s right. Like I said, the burden you have… No man should have that. But if anyone can handle it, I know it’s you. I’ve known you since you took your first breath. You were built for this kind of pressure and these kinds of stakes. Whether it’s football or a company.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

I don’t feel nearly as confident in myself as he does.

I don’t want Hazel to hate me.

She’s going to, though. When I do what I need to do.

CHAPTER 8

Hazel

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