Page 27 of An Engagement for Erica

GETTING TO HER

“Tell me how much I screwed up,” Tucker said on Tuesday morning.

Erica pursed her lips. “I don’t know that I’d go that far.”

“Don’t play with me,” he said. “I know it. I was trying to do one thing and I’m positive you got an earful on setting off something else.”

“We can go over what your middle management interviews disclosed.”

“Let me guess,” he said, sighing. “Money. It’s all about money.”

She tilted her head in sympathy almost. She hardly ever showed any emotions when they talked. Last Monday when he got the summary of the upper management, she’d been pretty straight-laced in her conversation as she’d been months ago when he’d first met her.

He was trying to warm her up again and felt he had by the end of that meeting.

Which was why he started out trying to sound like he was the kid in the principal’s office ready to get detention handed over when they started this meeting.

“Money is normally the number one complaint among employees,” she said. “Do you want to start there and talk about that or get everything all at once?”

“Let’s start with the money,” he said. “I’ll tell you what has made its way back to me and you can confirm or deny it’s the big issue. If it’s not, then I’ve got more than one problem on my hands.”

“Go ahead,” she said. “I’m sure it’s the same.”

“I’m giving hiring bonuses to get people on the plant floor. If an employee recommends someone and they are hired, they get a bonus off the top, then two more tiers based on how long the person stays. I extended that to the whole business right away. But many are frustrated thinking it’s only on the plant floor.”

“That was brought up, and since I read the policy, I explained to the middle managers they should be stressing the policy to their staff.”

“Thank you for that. I said the same. But now staff that are volunteering to work rather than being mandated are getting bonuses. I needed it. We are behind and errors are being made. I have to get products out the door.”

“You don’t need to explain it to me,” she said. “I feel you did the right thing. But, now those in the offices, which are most of the middle managers that I interviewed this week, are upset that their staff are rebelling and calling in, being sarcastic and overall hard to deal with. Many said they are pulling more than their normal workweeks, not getting OT for it since they are salary and now no bonuses.”

He sighed. “I heard all about it. I’ve got HR working on something to appease them, but the truth is, there is a fine line between paying out to make people happy or letting them gowhile I bandage things together to have a business to keep them employed.”

Not that he thought the company was going to go belly up.

“All valid points,” she said. “Do you want me to move on to the rest?”

“Please,” he said. “My skin is getting thick. I know the further down the ladder you go, the harder the lashes are going to be from the whip.”

She looked up and blushed. It matched the color of her silky top.

Her light brown hair was down and past her shoulders almost in loose soft waves again.

He hadn’t meant his comment any other way than a statement, but the fact her mind might have gone down another path was slightly encouraging that he was getting to her.

That maybe they could get back to where they were before she felt she embarrassed herself in front of him.

She hadn’t.

Or if she hadn’t passed out, maybe he would have been the embarrassed one if she could have witnessed him toppling the chair to get to her, putting her on the floor when he thought she wasn’t breathing, and doing CPR.

She was right, she was breathing.

He hadn’t needed to do it.

He panicked for a man that never did before.

“I’m sure you can handle it,” she said.

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