Page 92 of Love Is an Art
“No. No. Eso es terrible.That is not what Comidas en Canasta is supposed to be about. That ruins our reputation. Do you have the names of the vendors? I must reimburse them and apologize.”
We hand him the list we’ve compiled and then give Roberto the fake couch invoice.
“I can’t believe this of Pamela. Cameron recommended her.” He stares at the documents. “And Cameron didn’t catch it? That’s not acceptable. We’ve been friends since B-school in the US. I know he is dating Pamela, but I thought he believed in this.”
He stands and paces back and forth, running his hand through his thick, black hair.“Noes posible.”He faces us. “But how do you know he approved these?”
“Isn’t that his signature to process them?” I ask.
“And here’s the email exchange that was included in the packet that has Cameron requesting a location scouting memo,” Tessa says. “We can ask your IT vendor to confirm it’s real, but it looks real to us.”
Roberto takes the printout and reads it. His face falls.“Qué carajo! No entiendo.”
Tessa translates that Roberto said he didn’t understand, but I don’t need a translation. It’s obvious Roberto is angry and upset.
Both of us avert our eyes as he takes a moment to collect himself.
“If you have local employment counsel, this is more their jurisdiction than ours as to next steps,” Tessa says.
Roberto nods and emits a deep sigh. “Does anyone else know? How did you find these documents?” He sits back down at his desk. He’s pale but looks resolved.
We explain our process. He asks us for a recommendation for local employment counsel to avoid using the one hired by Pamela. Tessa emails her law firm and Brooke for suggestions and gives Roberto the name of the recommended firm.
There’s a knock on the door, and Cameron sticks his head in. “You guys are starting early. All going okay? I thought you might need me at some point today to review the disclosure language.”
I stand, blocking the view of Roberto. “We do. We were giving an update to Roberto.” I check my watch. “Are you available at 9:30? We have a few things to finish up here. Should we come to your office, or do you want to meet us in the conference room?”
“My office is good.” Cameron closes the door behind him.
“We do have disclosure to discuss with him,” I say.
Roberto nods. “Está bien.I’ll call the lawyers and let you know. They’ll probably want to speak directly with you as well. I’ll try to arrange that for lunchtime.”
We spend the morning reviewing the financial disclosure with Cameron. And then we discuss our findings and strategy at the offices of the local employment lawyer during the afternoon. We return to Comidas en Canasta with the local lawyer. While we’re sequestered in the conference room, finalizing the disclosure, Roberto and the local HR lawyer confront Pamela and Cameron separately, and fire them.
The office is eerily quiet.
“Should we have pushed harder to attend those meetings?” I ask. It feels so anticlimactic.
Tessa shakes her head. “No. I don’t like attending those meetings where people are fired. And this is the company’s internal business—to be conducted consistent with Mexican law.”
“You’re right.” I turn back to the midyear report. We reschedule our flight for late this evening, as we’re done here.
Later, Roberto joins us in the conference room to give us an update. He says, “Cameron asked for a second chance. He and Pamela had gambling debts and needed to tide themselves over. They were planning to reimburse the money. I said no.”
Roberto shakes his head. “How can he repair the damage to our reputation from what she did with the vendors? How could he? He wanted to know how you figured it out, so I told him discrepancies surfaced while you were doing your due diligence. I didn’t want him to know about Ana or Valeria. Valeria has been following up with restaurant vendors, and we’ve reimbursed the twenty who were required to pay this kickback.”
Roberto looks down at his desk.
“I’ve promoted Valeria as the new CFO, and she plans to rehire the woman who filed the first hotline report. I’ll use our new employment counsel for HR matters—at least for now. Ana and Valeria told me that they’d contacted Brooke. They’d felt more comfortable approaching her as a woman and trusted her integrity. They also left the envelope for you. I’ve thanked them both. I’m sorry they didn’t feel they could come to me directly, and I’ve asked them what I can do to make them trust me.”
“I think your actions now have probably given them that trust in you,” Tessa says.
Roberto smiles faintly. “That’s what they said.”
He looks tired but more hopeful than he had earlier.
“Muchas gracias.”He clasps both of our hands warmly. “You shouldn’t mix business and friendship. I know that. It’s my mistake too.”
