“I don’t need you to sell me the company. I just need to know what is in the pipeline.” Jason looked around the room at the people sitting there wondering what was going to happen to them. “I have studied the financial data at length and have to say that I am clearly flabbergasted at the amount of funds being channeled into easy living that has left the company limping.” His eyes zeroed in on the CFO who lowered his lashes swiftly. “The company is top heavy and the management of it leaves a lot to be desired.”
“I don’t think that it is fair to say something like that,” said as she stared at him directly.
“Have you looked at the books?” Jason challenged her. The others around the table were silent as if they did not want to draw attention to themselves.
“No, I have not, but I am sure it is not as bad as you make it out to be.”
“Ten million dollars in debt is not bad enough for you?” His voice was slightly sarcastic as he looked at her.
went rigid in shock as she stared at him.
“That’s all for now,” he told her with a brief nod indicating that she should take a seat.
The meeting went on another few minutes with Jason Collins doing most of the talking before it was dispersed. “Please stay,” he said softly as made to leave. She felt the other people’s eyes on her and forced a smile to her full lips.
He waited until they had left and closed the doors before he spoke. “Please, have a seat.”
sat on the edge of the chair she had just occupied and clasped her hands on the table, her eyes on him. He had taken off his dark blue pin striped jacket and had loosened his tie a little. “I have been reading up on your files and you have been doing a remarkable job of getting the products out there.”
“Thank you.” inclined her head, her heart tripping a little as she heard the ‘but’ in his voice.
“I am going to be spending a lot of time here revamping the company and I am asking you for your help.”
Her eyes flew to his in surprise. “By doing what exactly?”
“You know as much or more of the products offered than anyone else here and in order to get back the company back onto a solid footing we are going to have some pretty aggressive PR work.”
“So I get to stay?” she asked, raising her tapered brows.
“Obviously,” he said in amusement.
“What about the others?”
He stared at her before leaning back against the chair, his fingers twirling a pen he had picked up from the table. “What do you care?” he asked her softly.
“I care because they were the ones who offered me the job and we have always worked together as a team.”
“’Your team’ as you put it has been throwing away the company’s money for the past three and a half years or do you not care about that?”
stared at him not knowing what to say to that.
“I intend to put this company back on its feet with or without you. I am offering you an opportunity to be a part of the recovery process so it is up to you.” He got to his feet indicating that the conversation was over. “Please let me have your answer by the end of the day.” He gave a dismissive nod and she turned away and headed for the door. When she looked back he was already bent over the laptop he had in front of him.
stood outside in the corridor and took a deep breath. She had been working at the company for the past five years and had basically called the place home. The people were friendly well as much as she allowed them to be because she did not make friends easily. She had always been a loner preferring to bury her head in an interesting book whenever she was not working which was maybe a little too much. She had been forced to take a vacation the last few days because of the director’s insistence.
“, would you mind giving us a minute?” Lincoln Rosewater appeared before her suddenly causing her to jump a little.
“Of course, Lincoln,” she said, forcing a smile as she followed him towards the wide luxurious office that he occupied. She looked around at the other people who had been present at the meeting as they looked up at her.
“Please, have a seat.”
“I prefer to stand as I have some things to do.” She had a feeling that it was an ambush and she was not up for it.
“We gave you a chance all those years ago. Not that you did not come to us well qualified,” Lincoln rushed to clarify.
“You think I owe you some kind of loyalty,” said shrewdly.
“We are all being asked to step down from our positions,” Lucinda Logan spoke up. “We think that it is unfair for Collins to swoop in and take our jobs away from us.”
“From what I heard back there it seems to me that you were the ones who caused it,” said coolly. “Ten million dollars in debt?” She looked at Jacob, the CFO. “I am head of marketing and I came into that meeting looking like a fool.”
“We thought we were doing what’s best for the company,” Lincoln said in a huff. “When we hired that team of expert from the UK we got it on good authority that they were the best in telecommunications and would send our profits up by fifty percent.”
“And they did not deliver yet they stayed here for close to a year.”
“These things take time,” Lincoln said defensively.