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Jonathan was in the conference room within minutes of the call. His face lit up with a knowing smile when I introduced Spence and Tony to him as the lawyers I had hired on behalf of myself and Fredericks Design Co. His eyes danced with undisguised glee when Bradley was introduced as my new partner, and Victor as his associate.
“Anna, please tell me this means what I think it means!” he chortled. “Please tell me that you are firing those three leeches.”
How could I not return his smile. This man was sharp. “Jonathan, first off, let me thank you for being the loyal, competent employee that you are. I really couldn’t run this business without you.” Jonathan flushed at my praise, pleased to recieve the accolades.
“I know how the gossip mill in any company works, so I am certain that you have heard all the rumors about Adam and his s**** exploits with several staff members. What you probably don’t know is that Adam coerced those three women into those ‘relationships‘ and Alan was aware of it, and encouraged it. Fiona is another issue. Her long standing affair with Adam aside, a year ago she started offering s**** favors to potential clients in an effort to secure contracts with their firms. Alan was aware of this, and totally disregarded client complaints.
Since I only knew about the complaint of six months ago, I revoked her authority directly with clients, and banned her from travel on behalf of the company.”
meet
“Adam, Fiona, and Alan are all being terminated with cause, as of today. They will be banned
from entering Fredericks Design Co. property, and arrested for trespassing should they
attempt to gain entrance to our property. And just to reassure you, I have ended my
engagement with Adam. His cheating on me rendered the partnership segment of our prenup
null and void. Adam gets nothing, other than his immediate dismissal. As for Alan and Fiona,
good riddance.”
Jonathan knew full well the story behind my dislike for Alan, Lydia, and Fiona. I often wondered how much my mother had confided in Jonathan before she died. She had shown a
level of trust in him that one didn’t often see.
“Anna, I am so relieved to hear that. Those three have done nothing to help the company’s growth. If anything, they have hindered it. Especially over the past year.” Jonathan’s voice was
filled with both relief and concern.
“After what I found out from HR today, I fully realize my frequent absences have negatively impacted the business. I do believe I have a solution for that. I need a Chief Operating Officer. Someone who knows the business, who also has a connection with the business, someone
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committed to the success of the business. Someone I can and do trust implicitly
He tilted his head to one side and studied my expression. “Did you need me to recommend someone? I know of several people that may be who you are looking for.”
“Hmmm. No, I know exactly who I want to fill the position of COO, as a matter of fact he is sitting here in this room.”
Jonathan swiveled his eyes towards Bradley and Victor, suspecting it might be one of them.
“Jonathan, you have been with the company the longest of any of our employees. You are loyal to the company, and to me as your employer. You know the business better than anyone else. I would like to offer you the position of Chief Operating Officer, effective immediately. We can discuss your new contract on Monday, but I wanted to offer you the position today.”
The shocked look on his face told me he had never expected this offer. Good. It confirms his dedication to the company wasn’t out of greed or what he could gain from it. This reiterated the wisdom of my decision to appointment him as COO.
“Anna, I am honored to accept the position. Your mother’s dream was to see this company grow and become the best respected interior design firm in the country. It will be my pleasure to help you fullfill that dream.”
I was thrilled with his acceptance. “Monday morning we will have a company wide staff meeting where I will announce your promotion, and also the termination of Alan, Adam, and Fiona. The staff needs to hear about that directly from me, as the CEO and owner of the company. They need to know that type of behavior won’t be tolerated in any way, shapte, or
form.”
“I agree completely, Anna, I do have one request as the new COO. I really hope you will grant it. The sly grin on his face was enough for me to know that I was going to like his request, and no doubt be more than happy to grant it.
“A request? What is it, Jonathan? If it’s at all possible and reasonable I will be happy to accommodate.” I responded.
“I want to sit in on your meetings with Alan, Adam, and Fiona. Call me mean, vindictive, or whatever you want, but I want to see the faces of those three when they realize they are finished here. Which will also mean finished in the industry when it becomes known they were terminated with cause. I want to do this for Iris. You know what they put her through on a personal level, but I had to watch for years the s**t they put her through professionally. I want to watch those bastards burn!” The vehemence in his voice spoke loudly of his utter hatred for
those three vipers.
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I looked at Spencer and Tony to get their input on this. I had to make sure everything I did regarding them today was legal and met labor board guidelines. Both lawyers nodded their heads, indicating this was doable. Spencer even chimed in. Jonathan, I think that is a brilliant idea. And as you can hear, Tony and I have completed their legal termination paperwork and it is currently printing. We even added a line where you are to sign as COO, right under where Anna signs as CEO. It will take a few minutes to coalate the multiple copies of each termination document, so we will be ready shortly.”
All this time, Bradley, Victor, and Alana were sitting back and taking everything in, but now all three of them shook hands with, and congratulated Jonathan on his promotion. Alana seemed very happy with this, as she told Jonathan that she couldn’t think of anyone more suited to the role. They may work in different departments, but they had a long standing work relationship that spanned fifteen years and one could see Alana was genuinely happy for Jonathan.
Spencer placed the completed termination document in front of me, allowing me to review it. The wording was clear, conscise, and left no room for argument. I loved that the document stated that all the allegations were backed up by security audio/video camera footage. They couldn’t even argue that point, as when I took over as owner, I had every employee sign a new
I
employment contract that clearly stated that any and all areas of the building, other than the
bathrooms, was under constant video surveillance.
HR had met with each employee individually, reviewed the new contract, and specifically pointed out that area of the contract. Then the employee was required to sign the contract in the presence of the HR rep, all of which was recorded for future reference. Only one employee
refused to sign, and was let go immediately, with references and recommendations.
Looking at my watch I was happy to see I had fifteen minutes before the first of the vipers was
to arrive for their appointment. I excused myself and went to the washroom. It had been a long
and somewhat stressful afternoon and about to get even more so. Better to relieve myself
now, instead of getting distracted halfway through a tense meeting!
Leaving the bathroom, I bumped into Bradley, who gave the impression he had been waiting
for me. I was glad the bathrooms were in a side corridor blocking the view of anyone who may
have been in the main corridor. Bradley wrapped me in his arms and placed a soft kiss on my
lips. “Hey, Red. I am so proud of the way you are handling all of this. Seeing all those videos.
had to have been hard for you. None of those three deserve to have you in their lives!”
“You are so right about that!” I stated emphatically. I couldn’t wait to get them out of my
business. “Let’s go get this over with so we can introduce Victor to Jenna.
“Are you sure you want Victor and I present when you deal with those three? I don’t want to
overstep Bradley’s real concern about overstepping boundaries was touching. But I hadn’t set
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a boundry regarding the business. He was my partner, and so perfectly entitled to be in on the meeting.
“Yes, I want you and Victor in the meeting. Not just as a business partner, but as some very impressive muscle. And I am the first to say I am very impressed by your muscles.” I giggled as I winked at him while running my hands over his chest.
“Now, come on and help me stomp on some vipers.”
