Page 54 of Isolated
I jerked my chin down the table toward Tanner, Warren, and Brett. “Nothing specific, but it’s been like that. Nobody wants to talk to me, and every time I walk by, all I get are disgusted looks and whispers right in front of my face. Nobody is even trying to hide that they have a problem with me right now.”
“I’m sorry, Iris.” Steph drove her fork into her salad and lifted it to her mouth. “Did you talk to Robert this morning?”
Sighing, I answered, “Yeah. And the best I can say is that it feels like I’m on some kind of probation.”
“What?!” Kasey’s eyes nearly popped out of her head.
I glanced around the room to see how many people had looked in our direction. There were several, but I couldn’t be sure if it was related to Kasey’s outburst, or if it was merely because I was here. “Relax, Kasey. He didn’t exactly use those words, but I can feel it. He intends to watch and see how things go over the next couple of weeks.”
“Well, that’s not so bad.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. There’s not much I can do about it at this point. All I can do is continue fulfilling my role as I always have and hope that everything was just a technical glitch that won’t ever happen again. Did anything happen while I was gone?”
“Not really,” Steph said at the same time Kasey answered, “So much.”
I squinted, my eyes darting between them. “Well, which is it?”
The pair looked at one another and exchanged awkward glances. When they returned their attention to me, Kasey looked apologetic while Steph’s features were marred by sympathy.
It was Steph who finally shed some light. “The interviews with Alan have continued, much as I suspect you already knew. He’s getting down to the final few departments, and tensions have been high.”
“Is that all?”
Steph pressed her lips together, and Kasey glanced down at her lap. Their reactions were enough for me toknow that there was something else, and neither of them wanted to share what it was.
“What is it?”
Kasey let out a long breath as she lifted her gaze to meet mine. “You probably already know about it, especially if you met with Robert.”
“I don’t think so. There’s nothing I discussed with him that would have you two looking at me like that.”
“Mono Mark was contacted last Thursday by Horizon Solutions, looking for a proposal.”
My eyes widened in shock. Horizon Solutions would be a huge account for us if they chose to work with us. “That’s excellent news.”
“It is. It’s just that…”
“What?”
Kasey bit her lip and shifted her attention to Steph. I grew uneasy at the exchange, and Steph leaned forward. “We’re not supposed to say anything to you. Nobody is.”
My stomach sank. “Are you serious?”
“I’m sorry, Iris.”
“I’m the marketing director. Why would I not be told about this?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know. I guess there are some concerns. And since we can all benefit from having such a huge client, who’s already had some discussions with our competition, Turnkey Strategies, I think they didn’t want to take any chances.”
Turnkey Strategies was the only competition we had, if you could call them that. More often than not, we got the big accounts because we had the talent at this agency that Turnkey Strategies lacked.
“Theydidn’t want to take any chances? Who is they?”
“Upper management.”
So much for being part of the crew that the rest of the colleagues had lumped me in with. I shook my head, feeling such disappointment. How had the handful of oversights in the past couple of weeks overshadowed the years of hard work I’d put in here?
“Don’t let it bug you, Iris,” Steph urged me. “I mean, I get why it’d upset you. But you know you’re phenomenal at what you do. Everybody does. This is probably a good opportunity for everyone else to showcase what they’re capable of, and I think that could be great for morale.”
