Page 101 of My Secret Snowflake
“I am deeply sorry,” Xavier says. “I’m sorry I didn’t believe you—and I’m sorry for how we treated you. Colby has resigned. I fired Kevin when Bob showed me the check and the hacking agreement.”
Kevin is out. A wave of relief flows through me—I’m thrilled that I don’t have to ever see Kevin again.
“I just couldn’t believe my brother would go that far and lie to me. It’s clear to me now that he wanted his mole—Kevin—to stay in the company. Maybe he couldn’t give it up or maybe for the misguided reason that he thinks he needs to protect me from myself. That I don’t have the head for finance or for political machinations. And maybe I don’t.”
His body sags against the chair, but then he straightens.
“Because I really couldn’t believe that he would lie to my face like that. But that’s neither here nor there. I’d like to offer you the position of CISO. I’ll hire a separate CIO, and you’ll both report directly to me.”
CISO! I’d be Chief Information Security Officer of Dream Company! At my age.
“I also expect you to pay my legal fees,” my lawyer says.
“That’s a given,” Xavier says.
“I’d be happy to accept,” I say.
“We’d be happy to negotiate the terms,” my lawyer says.
“Yes,” I say, “pending the negotiation of terms.”
“Great—welcome on board, CISO,” Xavier says.
Raphael arrives and explains how Priya called him, and he agreed with her that it seemed suspicious. But when he confronted Kevin, Kevin said Colby had authorized it. Still, Kevin offered him a severance package as long as he signed an NDA, noting they needed to cut costs to make their proposal competitive for France. It was a year’s salary, so he took it.
He hadn’t thought I would be framed for the hacking job. But he also wanted to make sure I had all the background on the hack so I could deter any future attempts. And leaving these clues didn’t violate the written text of the NDA, although maybe it was not quite consistent with the intended spirit. But then, Colby and Kevin didn’t want to involve lawyers in drafting his NDA, so the language was not as precise as it should have been.
There’s a round of handshaking and goodbyes. Bob and Xavier leave. It’s Raphael, Priya, my lawyer, and me.
And it all hits me.
At first, I can’t say anything because I’ll cry. But finally, I choke out, “Thank you so much. It really means the world to me that I have my reputation back.”
I duck my head. It’s embarrassing to be so unprofessional.
Priya pats me on the back as I wrestle to control my emotions.
“I’m sorry I left you to face that. I really didn’t think Kevin would frame you, but he’s crazy. Did you figure out all my clues?” Raphael asks.
I explain what I figured out. “How did you send me those presents?”
“I left them with my assistant and told her I was your Secret Snowflake and that I wanted to make sure you still received your gifts,” Raphael says. “So I asked her to send them via inter-office mail.”
“She didn’t say anything when I asked her,” I say.
“She definitely liked the secret mission aspect of it,” Raphael says.
“Raphael, where are you going to work?” I ask.
“I’m considering Shooting Stars,” Raphael says. “They’re a start-up, so I’d be coming in as CISO there. They’re building their information security team. I did enjoy the time off, though. I’m worried this will be twenty-four-seven, and that might be a problem with my mom’s care. As you know, I have to make sure she takes her medicine and gets to physical therapy. I explained that to the CEO. She said it’s about working smarter, and they want people to have outside lives.”
“I’m relieved you have an option.” I pack up my bag. “My brother’s friend works for Shooting Stars and is very happy there.”
I say thank you to my lawyer as she sees us to the elevator. She waves off my gratitude. And she promises to get me great terms for my new position.
“We should celebrate and catch up with dinner and drinks,” Raphael says. “How about La Bonne Soupe?”
“That sounds great. Let me just call my boyfriend,” I say. “You guys go ahead. I’ll catch up.”
