Page 8 of The Boardroom: Jonathan
I smiled. “You’re right. It is.” I poured my wine into a stemless plastic glass from the galley. “But you, my friend, should enjoy having people in your life who like to bribe you with good food.”
Samantha let a laugh slip free. “Cheers to that, I guess.”
“Cheers,” I said, as our glasses collided with a clink that echoed out over the water.
I watched as Samantha unbuttoned her button-down work blouse and folded it in a square next to her, leaving her in a floral-patterned tank top. She had finally surrendered her battle with her hairpins and let her hair flow in loose waves behind her, the sun highlighting the fiery auburn streaks in her brunette hair that were usually hidden by her complicated updo. The afternoon sun highlighted the graceful curves of her neck, and I found myself wondering why she didn’t wear her hair down more often.
“Hey, you still didn’t tell me what your favorite movie was.” I pointed out with a smile.
“Hmmm.” Samantha said, leaning up towards the sun with her hands placed behind her. “Mary Poppins.”
“A true classic,” I agreed, my mouth half full of pasta. “Lots of really great…um…chimney sweeping.”
“Watch out there,” Samantha joked. “We don’t want a repetition of you and that doughnut yesterday.”
“True,” I agreed, and pulled over my briefcase. “We should probably get to the business meeting part of our boat trip, shall we?”
Samantha’s face hardened up in a split second as she quickly swallowed the remainder of the wine in her glass. “Very well.”
I had hardly removed the necessary files from my briefcase when Samantha was already on the defensive.
“Look, Johnathan, I appreciate…” she waved her hands around the boat. “Whatever this is…but don’t think it’ll be any easier to…”
“Look, Sam,”
“Samantha.”
I frowned and looked towards her pleadingly. “I really want this to work. For both of us. And none of these terms are final. Iamwilling to negotiate, and I’d appreciate your input.”
“Thank you,” Samantha said, sitting up a bit straighter. She still had the same amount of poise, even though she was barefoot with her hair down, and the effect was almost comical. I smiled to myself. This might actually work this time.
“A lot of this won’t be easy to hear,” I said as sympathetically as possible.
“I know,” Samantha said softly, tucking her hair behind her ear. I still wasn’t sure how much I believed her.
“Okay,” I sighed, opening up a file to my notes. “To be honest, we don’t need as many people as you currently have on staff to organize all of our clients. But luckily, this layoff process will probably be easier than most.”
Samantha scoffed. “How, exactly?”
I tried to word my findings in as gentle of a way as I could manage. “Well, I’ve been looking at your data sheets from the past twenty-four months, and to be honest, Samantha…there are some…liabilities there.”
“Liabilities?” Samantha’s eyes were suddenly more furious than I had ever seen them. “You did not just call my employees aliability.”
“It’s just—”
“That’s where I draw the line, Johnathan.” Samantha scolded, and I was suddenly terrified to be alone with her in the middle of the deserted water.
“Samantha, please…consider this from my point of view. We decided to acquire Wordsworth because it would benefit us. If we keep all these employees on payroll…well, it’s just not a benefit anymore.”
Samantha stared at me, waiting.
“I’m sorry.”
Samantha squished a macaron between her fingers and laughed. “It’s all about the money for you, isn’t it?”
I was taken aback. “Of course it isn’t,” I assured her. “Look, I’m sure your employees are all good people—”
“They’regreatpeople, Johnathan.”
