Page 45 of To Feel Like This Again
I am shocked, almost paralyzed.
With everything to lose, I call a meeting for 8:30am, a mere six hours away.
Right after I send out the meeting invite, Michael responds to my email, but that has to be placed on the back burner. Reporting a net loss, the nightmare of every CEO, is the least of my concerns at the moment.
I feel nauseous. I feel like I’ve been sucker-punched in my stomach.
Placing the phone on the nightstand, I lie back on the bed and stare at the ceiling.Shaking. Over the years I’ve had several sleepless, difficult nights, and in those moments, I’ve wished Alex would wrap his arms around me and tell me, “Everything’s going to be okay”. But this time, on one of the most difficult nights I’ve ever endured, I can’t hope for that. Either way, Alex is fast asleep on the other side of the bed.
I stare at the ceiling all night, my arms across my chest, unable to close my eyes yet alone fall asleep. My thoughts are racing. Tapping my watch face many times throughout the night, I check the time thinking hours have passed — each time, it’s more like fifteen minutes. Alone in the dark, the night moves slowly.
At 5:00am I turn off my alarm and return to staring at the ceiling. I skip exercise.Unthinkable.
Chapter 29
Lisa
I am in the meeting room fifteen minutes early, after having spent the last two hours going through the policy in detail. Fully locked into the document, I ignore the text messages from my chairman. And also ignore his four calls.I cannot deal with that now.
Already agitated, I am now annoyed at the chairman’s persistence and ponder reminding him that while he might be the chairman of State Foods, Inc., I am a top ten shareholder. And though I’m not the type to flex my muscles, let it be known that I run a company twice the size of the one he operates.I know what I’m doing.
When I open the door, three of my colleagues are already seated embroiled in an intense discussion. I listen as they condemn Justin, a 47-year-old senior manager, for sleeping with Lindsay, an analyst in his department, who is more than twenty years younger than him.
Madeline, General Counsel, savagely accuses him without knowing all the facts, “He’s a predator for abusing his power and sleeping with a recent college graduate. And one on her first real job! I’m sure he promised her a promotion — that sick bastard.”
This serves to fire up Sharon, Chief Information Officer, “Yes, he’s despicable. He walks around flirting with every young girl. No wonder his first wife divorced him.”
David Richards, Chief Risk Officer, who recently turned 52 and who has a two-year-old daughter with his 26-year-old girlfriend has no choice but to join in. “Yes, what Justin did was unethical. We need to have a zero-tolerance approach for these types of relationships in the workplace.”
The other executives arrive in time to call the meeting to order at 8:30am.
At 4:30pm, we are still in the meeting room, the meeting showing no signs of slowing down. The controversial topic has unearthed several underlying issues, and so the debate continues.
Five hours later, the team finally comes to a consensus which they believe, or for some of them pretend to believe, is fair and has taken into consideration the reality of the modern workplace.
The revised Code of Conduct is 615 pages long, with the hard-hitting point.
Effective, April 1, 2025. There shall be no sexual relationship between employees if one employee falls within the reporting structure of the other.
If any employee has been sexually involved with another employee who falls within their reporting structure, before April 1, 2025, it must be declared in writing to HR within 72 hours. Failure to do so, will result in immediate dismissal.
The management team unanimously agree to email this notification to staff, immediately. The email is circulated to all employees on March 31, 2025, at 9:45pm.
Epilogue
From: [email protected]
Bcc: [email protected]
Subject: Resignation
April 1, 2025, 10:03 AM
Hi Heidi,
