May

As the two of them made their way across the employee hub, May did her best to ignore all the stares directed at her from other office workers. Some of them looked curious, others confused. May had never been comfortable with large groups of people or with crowds, but she also knew there was no place for personal fears in a business setting, so she kept her anxiety at bay. She even stopped to smile at some of the people she passed, letting them know she wasn’t someone who needed to be feared or disliked.

Eventually, Erik reached his office. He swung open the door and went inside to take a seat at his desk, not bothering to hold the door open for her or to formally invite her in. May followed him into the office and took a seat in the chair right across from his desk, giving both of them a clear view of the other. She couldn’t help but wonder why the whole room smelled of strong cologne and Chinese food.

May quickly shook such a strange thought out of her head. “So, where should we begin?”

“Why don’t we begin by discussing the reason my father chose to send yet another one of his dogs to frighten me?” he chuckled.

“Actually, your father hired the best consultant he could find to save a company that’s been floundering for months under its current management,” she corrected.

Erik paused to gaze up at her with a sour look. “Then tell me, if you’re the best, are you always this pleasant with your clients on your first day?”

May held back the urge to scowl. There was just something about men and their manipulation tactics that really got under her skin!

“You know, I never get tired of people like you trying to blame others for an unpleasant situation, even when it’s their fault it got to be that way.”

“Even if you feel that’s the case, there’s still no reason to be hostile,” he retorted.

“So, to point out the truth of a situation is considered hostile?”

“You’re not pointing out the truth, Miss Juniper. You’re clearly reacting to a minor miscommunication with an emotionally charged attack.”

Oh no he didn’t…

May slowly crossed her legs and folded her hands on her lap. “Mister Clayton, allow me to remind you that you were the one who brushed off a scheduled appointment with me this morning, then instructed your secretary to keep me waiting at the front desk for twenty minutes although you knew I had arrived even without your confirmation. And yes, I know you told her to do it, because Miss Brittany is not a very good actress, and I could tell she recognized me as soon as I walked through the door.”

To that, Erik lowered his gaze a little. However, May was far from finished. After doing this kind of job for about three years, she knew the only way to win against an unwilling opponent was to play fast and play hard.

“I should also remind you, Mister Clayton, that even after you invited me into your office you proceeded to refer to me as a ‘dog.’ That shows me that you have neither the inclination nor the intention of showing me any of the respect I deserve as the person coming in here to save not just your job, but the job of over three hundred other employees. And yet, you feel you have the right to complain when I do my job and point out the failings you alone are responsible for as the sole supervisor of this building?”

“Well, I…”

“You what, Mister Clayton? Thought there would be no consequences for completely ignoring a company your father entrusted to you?”

“I haven’t ignored it!” Erik snapped. “I know I’m not the best at what I do, but I’m trying my best.”

“Why would you think that was enough?”

He looked at her in astonishment. “Are you seriously trying to tell me you’re not being hostile right now?”

May took a moment to count to five before continuing. Part of her reputation as the best consultant in the biz was that she never got heated, no matter how tense a conversation got. But that didn’t mean it came naturally to her.

“Mister Clayton, I asked you a simple question. You may not know it, but as is the case for most people in the world: your best will never be enough, unless it also comes with results. Most businesses would not bother to keep a certain employee hired, if said employee could not properly perform their job. That doesn’t mean the employee is a bad person; they just aren’t a good employee. That’s simply the way it works.”

Erik sighed. “And I’m the bad employee about to be fired?”

“Not really,” she replied simply. “Because you have something that the employee in my example didn’t: a boss who is willing to give you one last chance to prove that you do indeed have what it takes to perform your job properly.”

He exhaled slowly. She could tell that he seemed torn by her words. On one hand, she had stirred in him the opportunity to gain a feeling of pride and accomplishment, something she assumed he wasn’t used to. But on the other hand, attaining a goal like that would take a lot more effort than he had been putting into the job until now.

May reached into her briefcase and pulled out a small stack of papers she had been prepping for this very moment. “Here.”

“What’s this?” Erik asked, eyeing her warily.

“It’s a game plan.”

He snickered. “You’re calling it a game plan?”

She ignored his comment. “In those pages, you’ll find a detailed report of your recent earnings, as well as the predicted earnings for next quarter. I also added some additional notes about popular trends in the market, as well as some observations about your father’s other companies, which all seem to be thriving.”

“And?” Erik asked with a shrug.

May stood up from her seat with a sense of satisfaction. “And I want you to read it all by tomorrow.”

He froze and looked back down at the stack. “But there’s like, forty pages here.”

She nodded. “Forty-five, to be exact. So, you should probably get started. I’ll be back here at the same time tomorrow morning to discuss the material.” She took her cell phone out of her pocket and headed for the door.

Erik rose from his own seat now, a look of indignation on his ever-handsome face. “Are you seriously giving me homework, like a schoolteacher?”

Erik’s desk phone began to ring, and he quickly answered it.

“Hello?” he answered.

May turned back around to face Erik and put her phone to her ear.

“See you at seven o’clock sharp, Mr. Clayton,” she replied, her voice echoing on Erik’s speaker phone.

For the first time that day, it seems he didn’t have a clever comeback. So, May turned and left without another word.