Fight to the Top

by S. L. Gape

  “Did you have a good week, sweetie?” Erika asked, looking into the rear-view mirror.

  “Uh huh, I love going to see Nonna and my cousins. Mommy, why don’t we live here too?”

  “Well, because mommy had a job offer that was very good, back when you hadn’t been born yet, and so I moved to Houston.”

  “Well, I kind of wish we lived here too, ya know?” she said seriously.

  “Okay, baby. I’ll bare that in mind.” She smiled to her daughter. Knowing that at least if she moved back home Dulcie would be okay.

  ***

  “Tay Tay.” Dulcie was hugging her nanny tightly. “I got you a gift. Where’s the gift Mommy? Mommy says I’m going to have a sleepover at your house tonight,” she said, wriggling in her arms, excitably.

  “You okay? You wanna come in for a coffee?” Taylor asked Erika seriously.

  “No, honestly, I need to go do this. I may pop by later. I’ll see how I feel. I need to get prepared for tomorrow too, and I also have a meeting with a big competitor. So, I need to get ready for that as well.”

  “An interview? You’re quitting your job?” Taylor said surprised.

  “Not an interview as such, no. And the job, well, I have a long conversation to be had with my boss tomorrow. My mom also thinks I should maybe try contacting this new woman…my new boss,” she said solemnly. “Which I feel pretty weird about, but I’ll see what Mike says tomorrow, and then I will let you know,” she said, kissing her daughter on the cheek. “Be good for Taylor okay, sweetie?” she said, kissing her daughter and leaving them there.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Erika pulled up to the restaurant, and managed to get a parking spot right outside. She sat there for a few moments collecting her thoughts, and trying to settle her nerves. God, she needed a hard drink. She pulled her phone out to text her mom, but decided against it. She’d call her after her meeting with Mike. She just needed to grow a pair and do this. She grabbed the two envelopes and rested her head against the headrest. Closing her eyes, she said a silent prayer. Then, taking a deep breath, she left the car.

  “Erika, Hi. How are you? Would you like a drink? I didn’t know if you wanted to eat, so I ordered some food. Bread and meat selections, some shrimp tacos and some wings,” he said.

  “Odd selection. Yes, I’ll have a martini with an olive,” she said pointedly.

  “How was your trip? Did Dulcie enjoy seeing her grandmother?” he asked shrinkingly.

  “Look Mike, I can’t deal with the small talk. I’m pissed, real pissed. And genuinely, I’m not going to lie to you, I won’t be giving you an answer this morning. Not until I go to a meeting I have planned this afternoon, which could potentially sway things for me.”

  “You’re gonna quit?” he asked concerned.

  “Potentially Mike; look I’m an Area Director, I know how this works. Additionally, I know that just because I shout or scream that the business will back down and give me what I want. I get that okay? But equally, I need to do what’s right for me and my family. Things aren’t so great at home, so Dulcie needs to be my priority over and above,” she said firmly.

  “Things aren’t so great with you and Dan?” he said genuinely, allowing the server to put the food down before them.

  Erika’s ‘feed up’ over the past week at her mothers, had clearly gotten her used to eating again. The aromas of the food wafted up before her, and awakened her senses. Italians loved to eat, and her mother was no different, more so on this trip, because she was convinced that Erika had not been eating, and had become ‘far too skinny’.

  “Not great, no. So, shoot, what exactly are the plans, and what exactly is expected of me? Am I being demoted? I’ve done some research and you can’t just do that or change my salary. What happens with this new woman? My new boss? Will I be transferred to Fort Worth? Has my senior team been communicated with, that they no longer have a boss? What?” she said, grabbing a shrimp and looking up to him seriously.

  “Look, Erika, I’m not going to insult you by saying that wasn’t what I told you at the meeting. Because, I get it was an awful lot of information to accept and take in. However, you have misunderstood completely. So, basically, nothing changes here. You are based here and you still have the office to run, your senior team still reports to you. You are not demoted; your salary will actually increase. Nor will your position change. Well, other than you are promoted as an interim so there will be more to do. Georgia will be coming over, well that’s what we hope, and she will be slightly more senior than you are. You will be the only one reporting to her; but I’ll caveat that with, it will be with a dotted line to me. Any issues come directly to me. From what I understand of Derek, Georgia’s well liked, her team respects her, and this is an opportunity for you both to develop and learn from each other. You know this office and the team, so she will need a lot of help, since the UK office runs things very differently. But she is not a permanent fixture, she is not walking into the job you were offered. That is still yours long term. When the Fort Worth office is opened, you will be going into that role, it’s yours and only yours. Georgia and yourself, will be working collaboratively with the same goal, you are not competing for the same job. You are going to work together to do the same as you have both been doing, to open the new flagship office. The plans are astonishingly unlike anything we’ve ever done before. Hence why Derek and I really thought that you two together would surmount the tremendous difficulties and dispositions that the business is endeavouring to succeed in. I know this was never the plan, and I know you aren’t happy about this, I do. Please don’t think for one minute I don’t. I have no doubt in my mind that this isn’t easily achievable though. And additionally, you and Georgia will complement each other. We want you both to take on so much and learn from each other, then you go back to pick up the promotions you both deservedly achieved in your respective offices,” he said seriously.

  “Okay, one question? If the promotion is guaranteed, why could I have not been given it as always discussed and do this in addition to it?” she questioned.

  “We aren’t in a position at this moment to do it. The company cannot facilitate it right now, but it will happen, Erika. If there’s anything you want as part of the package, I’m happy to negotiate where necessary, and issue if feasible,” he confirmed. “So, have you any further questions?”

  “I don’t think so, I will give you an answer by the end of the day,” she said seriously, taking stock of the lengthy conversation they’d had over lunch.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Georgia felt awful. She hated long flights, and no number of magazines that Julia and Paul had brought her would have gotten her through it. Luckily, the upgrade allowed her to at least sleep for a couple of hours, and enjoy the complimentary cocktails and three course meal.

  Georgia wasn’t particularly afraid of flying, but she got bored easily in situations like those. And whilst she loved travelling, she always tended to stay closer to home and enjoy villas to Greece or city breaks. Another reason this whole situation was pissing her off, but she shook off the negativity. “Come on you can’t be doing this again, it’s too late, you’re here,” she said to herself.

  Georgia made her way through George Bush intercontinental airport. It was huge of course, because everything was bigger in America. Following the arrows over to collect her luggage, she retrieved her two large suitcases, and made her way to the exit.

  Georgia was finding it very difficult to not be incredibly negative about the whole situation. But like her parents had said to her, try it and at least you will know either way. She set herself just one month to stay without shipping her belongings, and then she could return home, if that’s what she felt was best. At least that way she’d never have any regrets, and she liked that idea. It was a good outlook. Additionally, if she did stay, Julia’s sister was looking for a place to rent with her boyfriend. So, if by some miracle it worked out, Julia was going to rent her apar
tment so she could be closer to work for the twelve months, and her sister would rent Julia’s place. This would save a lot of stress for Georgia, too. Julia said she could come and visit with a friend, if she stayed. Her parents saying the same, as well as bringing the whole family out to see her.

  Georgia directed her trolley to the carousel and waited for it to start moving. She couldn’t believe how long it had taken to get through customs, and it still hadn’t started to go around yet. She sighed, leaning up against the trolley and amending her watch to the six hours behind time zone she was currently in. She was virtually ready for bed, but it was literally the middle of the afternoon to her now. Removing her biker jacket, she realised wearing a long-sleeved shirt and a jacket to a place where it was eighty degrees outside may not have been the best idea she’d ever had.

  ***

  Georgia made her way out, manoeuvring her trolley carefully around people who were just standing around. Ultimately, annoying her. She was tired and needed to get out of there, fast.

  When she got through, she noticed a tall and slender foreign-looking woman holding a sign with the word ‘Carson’. She knew she was being picked up, as Mike had emailed her so. But she was unsure if it would be an employee or someone from a specific company.

  “Hi, is that for Georgia Carson?” she said to the woman.

  “Well, unless there’s another Carson,” she said sarcastically.

  “I don’t know, it’s a very large airport and Carson is also a first name. So, simple question? Are you here to pick me up? Georgia Carson?”

  “Yes!” she snapped. “Are you ready? We need to go. I’ve been waiting for almost an hour, and the ticket will run out on the meter soon,” she said pointedly.

  Georgia sighed. Amazing start, she thought.

  “So, am I going to find out who you are? Or should I consult my crystal ball?” Georgia said aggressively.

  “I’m the one you stole the job from,” she said, storming off ahead.

  “Oh shit...and there was me thinking that they weren’t arrogant arseholes here,” she said to herself, trying to keep up with the woman she knew only to be Erika.

  “For the record, I actually didn’t steal your job. As I understood it, you were in exactly the same position I was; and was awaiting a promotion to Managing Director. Secondly, I don’t think it is too much to ask for simple manners and courtesy, since I was not informed who would be picking me up. So, an effortless ‘hi, my name is Erika,’ wouldn’t have been too difficult, surely?” she complained.

  “Oh, I’m sorry, my job wasn’t enough? Now you want me to be courteous to you? Sheesh, you Brits are arrogant,” she stormed, unlocking her car.

  Gobsmacked, Georgia stopped, taking in the car before her. Shit it was huge. Beautiful, but huge. As it turned out, the majority of them were. Bollox, I hope mine isn’t like this. She didn’t own a car any longer, and hadn’t actually driven one for over three years. She breathed in deeply. Chill out, it’s like riding a bike. What could possibly go wrong? she thought.

  Erika made no attempt to help her. She simply got in the car and was tapping stonily on her phone. Georgia lifted her suitcases into the boot, “bollox,” she cursed as she rubbed off the mark she had made on her white jeans. She shut the boot and walked around to the front of the car, realising she had walked to the driver side. Georgia tutted to herself and continued walking to the passenger side, or the driver’s side had she been back home. She noticed the child seat in the back. She was pissed off about how rude this woman was being, but she hated confrontation and didn’t want to be dealing with it. Please god, let it only be a ten-minute car journey, she thought.

  Awkward was quite possibly the understatement of the century. They had been in the car for twenty minutes and not uttered a word to each other. Georgia thought back to when they were kids and Alex and she stopped talking; she was a forty-year old Director and was being ignored, this couldn’t be a good start. More problematically, she was desperately in need of a drink. She had been drinking on the flight, against her mother’s advice. Something about making you more dehydrated. Great, yet again proven wrong by her mother. But there was not a chance she was going to ask her to stop for a water, she’d probably bloody leave her there.

  “How long will it take to get there, please?” Georgia asked sincerely, trying to stifle the dry cough.

  “You sound like my five-year-old,” she snapped, and pulled off the road hard. Erika drove into a gas station and looked at Georgia. “Around another thirty minutes, but I’m assuming it’s a rest break or drink, so here you go,” she said, without looking at her.

  Georgia went to speak and just decided to leave it. She ran over to the store and grabbed a couple of waters. She went to the till to pay, “shit,” she said to the assistant, realising she didn’t have her money on her, it was in the boot. “Sorry I…,” she started.

  “Keep the change,” she heard behind her, and looked up to see Erika handing over some notes to the assistant.

  “Thanks…” But it was too late. she had walked out, ignoring her, again.

  “Seriously, are you all this rude in this country?” she snapped at the assistant, who looked feared to death.

  “Thank you for that, I forgot to get my money out of the boot, in the rush. Ummm, I didn’t know whether you would want one,” she said, placing it in the driver’s holder.

  “You should know you are going to confuse people saying things like ‘boot’. It’s ‘trunk’ over here. And thanks for the water, but, I’m good. Maybe you should take it. I don’t know if your house will have anything in there, and the nearest store is a few miles away. You aren’t going to be able to drive; if you get pulled over by the cops, you’ll have a DUI before you have started work,” she said.

  Georgia had watched enough TV and movies to know that DUI meant ‘driving under the influence’. Amazing, now she thought her boss was an alky! For fucks sake, could this get any worse?

  Houston, USA

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  The whole journey was silent thereafter, and Georgia was tired, which was making her feel even worse. She suddenly realised how alone she was. They turned onto a long residential road lined either side with detached houses, but there was absolutely no consistency with them. Some were white, some were brick, some were wood, some were a mixture. Nothing like back home where they would all be virtually identical. Bar the difference in windows and doors. One thing that was similar with the majority of them, was virtually everyone had an American flag at the front of it.

  Erika pulled onto the drive of a big brick house, which was actually very pretty. Very suburban, which was completely new for her. Erika got out of the car and lifted the two suitcases out of the trunk. Throwing her bag over her shoulder, she grabbed one of the case handles and walked past Georgia up to the front of the house. She grabbed the envelope from her purse and retrieved the keys to open the door before walking in.

  Georgia stepped inside, absorbing the place. It was actually incredible, but ridiculously big. Especially for one person. However, great when people came to visit. If it got to that stage, which was pretty much looking unlikely. Georgia’s phone rang and she looked down at the photo of her nieces. Immediately, it hit her like a ton of bricks. She couldn’t speak to Alex, not tonight. She wouldn’t be able to cope, so she turned her phone over and put it on silent. Then, she looked up to Erika, who was stood staring at her.

  “Umm, here are the keys to the house. Make sure you lock it up at night, too. Don’t sweat it, this is a safe neighborhood. This street is like two miles long, but at the bottom there’s a small seven eleven…What are you smiling at?” she said seriously, stopping her sentence.

  “I’ve just not heard of seven elevens since I was a kid, and I didn’t realise they still existed. Yes, go on,” she said embarrassed.

  “So, that’s the nearest store, you will be able to get the basics until you are able to get to a proper grocery store. The n
earest one is just a couple blocks away. If you set your navigation system to Walmart, there’s a pretty big one nearby that it will take you to. Your car is in the garage, and in the envelope, are the directions and zip to the office. It takes approximately forty minutes, so I suggest you leave around 8am tomorrow morning.

  “What’s a zip, sorry?” Georgia stopped her.

  “A Zip Code? The address to take you to the office?” she said, like Georgia was stupid.

  “Ahh, a post code,” she sighed.

  Your phone is here, it’s all set up and ready to go. So if you just use Google you will be able to find a place that delivers for dinner tonight. I’m guessing that covers everything, here is my number. I know you haven’t met anyone yet, so if there is anything you need, I guess you will have to call me,” she said, walking out of the house, and shutting the door behind her.

  Georgia stood there quietly. This woman hated her. Which meant the staff was going to hate her. She was in suburbia, something she was completely not used to. She was expected to drive in another country when she hadn’t drove in three years, and she had just been left here. Just like that. If the situation was reversed, she’d never do that. She’d never just leave someone in a foreign country with nothing but a contact number and phone to search for takeaways. Georgia had always heard that Americans were kind, caring, compassionate human beings, but in fact that was incredibly incorrect! “What have you done George? What have you done?” she said, putting her head in her hands and allowing the tears to fall.