by Alicia Hope
‘Yeah, like his little boss lady at home. Bet she suits him nicely, too,’ Connell sneered, as he and Lewis walked past the other two men.
Royce straightened to his full height, with a face like thunder. He turned and snarled, ‘You want to know my strategy, Guy?’
The older man frowned at him with silent concern.
‘First I’m going to hit the next ball right down Connell’s throat, and then I’m going to stand by and watch while he chokes on it, and bites off Lewis’s helping hand in the process.’
Guy grasped his arm. ‘Don’t let ’em get to ya, Royce, they’re just tuggin’ ya chain, lookin’ for a reaction. Connell’s like that, the mangy mongrel, and Lewis is just his brainless disciple. They’re from the same useless litter as that Reardon bastard y’got at home.’ Guy could see his efforts to soothe his friend’s ragged temper were not being very successful. He decided to distract him with another subject.
Now this would be interesting....
‘Forget Connell,’ he ordered, ‘it’s Reardon ya should be worryin’ ’bout.’
‘Reardon?’ Royce gave a bemused frown. ‘What the hell’s he done now?’
‘John’s done nothin’ ... yet. It’s what he will do. When Verity fires ’im.’
‘She’s going to fire him? But—’
‘Lower ya voice, son, no need to shout. Connell’s testing Verity. He’s dropped the hot potato in her lap—Reardon’s dismissal—and, knowing Connell, won’t have given her the necessary documentary evidence. She hasn’t been in the job long enough to’ve gathered that sort of intel for herself. And without that, it’ll be next to impossible to follow the prescribed disciplinary procedure.’
Royce grunted. ‘Well, the first thing Reardon will do is sue the company for unfair dismissal.’
‘Of course.’ Guy noticed a growing menace in Royce’s dark countenance, so he said hurriedly, ‘Look, we all know Reardon won’t go without a fight, and a nasty one at that. Connell’s been crowing about “finding what sort of stuff the new CEO is made of”.’
Royce lowered his head to stare at the ground.
Guy carried on, ‘The way he and other members of the board see it, if she succeeds, we get rid of that pain-in-the-ass, Reardon.’
‘And if she doesn’t?’ Royce still didn’t look up.
‘She’s discredited, along with her champion, Brenda Sharpe. And we all know how Connell feels about that pushy bit—er, I mean, our erstwhile female colleague.’
Royce exhaled sharply and rolled his eyes. It was common knowledge Peter Connell had sworn he’d get square with Brenda Sharpe for vetoing, justifiably, a number of his proposals. He turned to Guy with a steely look, saying through tight lips, ‘So, they’ve set up Verity to face the wolves in the hope she’ll be devoured, and Sharpe along with her. But if she succeeds, it’s still a win for them, ’cos they get rid of that prick, Reardon.’ Royce shook his head and growled, ‘What a courageous plan, with a built-in sacrificial lamb. They can’t lose.’
His angry voice carried up the fairway, and the other two men glanced at them curiously. Guy pulled him aside, saying gruffly, ‘You’re actin’ like a guy who cares, Royce. I thought ya weren’t happy with the new situation?’
‘No-one deserves to be treated like that, Guy. They’re setting her up, and covering their own arses, of course. She’s new in the position. They aren’t giving her a fair chance.’
‘I think y’right, son. She’s not gettin’ a fair go, and not just from them.’
Royce looked away, shamefaced.
‘But,’ and Guy gave a deep sigh, ‘we all know that life ain’t meant to be easy, and office politics ain’t always fair....’
Royce knew he was overreacting, but couldn’t help feeling angry at the games they were playing with Verity. Unlike the rest of them, she wasn’t toying with anyone. She was only trying to do her job.
Oh yeah, whispered his snide inner voice, you feel REAL bad for her. What about your own attempt to undermine her? What does that make you? Connell’s other side-kick? A challenger for Lewis’ place as Crown Prince Crawler?
Oh, hell!
Royce’s mind was made up. Thrusting his iron into the golf bag, he barked, ‘I’ll have to be content with just nine holes today, Guy. I should get home. I have a project proposal to prepare for my CEO.’ He flashed the other man a rueful glance, but said in a tone that brooked no resistance, ‘I’ve finished what I came over here to do. I’m going to see if I can get onto the next flight back to Australia.’
Guy gave a smiling nod. ‘Well, alrightee then.’
‘Thanks, Guy ... for everything.’
The two men smiled and shook hands, and Royce turned on his heel and strode towards the club house.
‘You’re welcome, friend. Bon voyage,’ Guy murmured to his retreating back.
Chapter Ten
Claire knocked softly before entering the office, and Verity turned from where she’d been resting her forehead on the cool glass of the window.
‘Oh, Claire am I glad to see you! Could you shut the door behind you please?’ Verity sank onto a nearby settee and put her head in her hands.
A worried frown quickly replaced Claire’s smile. She closed the door and hurried over to join Verity on the settee.
‘I need to talk to someone I can trust,’ Verity mumbled through her hands. She raised her head. ‘Someone who isn’t trying to discredit me somehow.’
Claire grew more anxious. Her friend was normally so composed, so able to cope. ‘What’s happened?’
‘It’s not just one thing, it’s a whole bunch of things.’ Verity leaned back against the cushions and stared at the ceiling. ‘For starters, you would’ve heard I had to dismiss a department head?’
‘Oh yeah, Tony. He left in a bit of a hurry, I’m guessing because his travel misdemeanours finally caught up with him?’
Verity nodded. ‘Afraid so. I checked all the particulars and tried to find an alternative, but he hadn’t left me one.’ She glanced at her hands. ‘So all I could do was follow procedure, and now he and his family have an uncertain future.’
‘Sounds like he deserved it, flouting the company’s travel policy like that. It must’ve been intentional, ’cos I know he’d been warned. Even his secretary urged him to mind his Ps and Qs, after his first two gaffes. He brought this on himself and his family, not you.’ Claire’s brow creased again. ‘Anyway, what else has been going on?’
Verity sighed. ‘Well, I’ve come to the conclusion I’m being treated like an agony aunt by my managers, none of whom is performing satisfactorily in my estimation.’
Claire gave a wry grin. ‘And not just yours.’
‘And there’s pressure coming from other quarters. I’m reliably informed that RCL is expected to succeed in the corporate dragon boating challenge this year.’ Verity gave a half smile. ‘But our team can’t even keep the boat upright when the “oars-up” command is given.’
Claire swallowed a giggle. ‘Oh yeah, the captain yelled “oars-up” and everyone went arse-up!’
Verity chuckled and then quickly sobered. ‘But I’ve saved the worst ’til last.’ She paused. ‘You know Peter Connell, one of RCL’s directors?’
Claire nodded.
‘He contacted me yesterday to issue an instruction from the board. But I don’t know how I’m going to do what they ask.’
‘Which is? Or can’t you tell me because it’s strictly confidential? If you like, you can tell me then kill me.’ Claire’s light-hearted response lifted Verity’s spirits a little, but her eyes remained deeply troubled.
‘No, I have to tell someone, and you’re the only one I can trust.’ She looked down at her hands again, now twisting agitatedly in her lap. ‘I have to fire John Reardon.’
Claire gasped. She hadn’t expected that! Not that the board’s desire to be rid of Reardon was any surprise. In her opinion, as a human resource manager, Reardon made a perfect arse, and RCL would be way better off without the hot-headed sle
aze. His incompetence had resulted in a plethora of legal proceedings against the company, and his inability to keep his temper in check was legendary. And those were only two of his many vices....
Verity was speaking again. ‘It’s not having to sack a high level employee that’s bothering me. Issues like this come with the territory, I’m reconciled to that. And I doubt there’d be many who’d argue against it in this case.’ She threw Claire a significant look. ‘But I can’t understand why the board’s chosen now to lay this on me. While I’m still finding my feet.’ Her voice rose. ‘While I’m up to my ears in work. While I’m preparing for another big test, my first EC meeting.’
Claire didn’t say anything for a few moments. She was busy mulling over what Verity had told her. She felt the slow burn of an old anger in her belly. She still considered the board irresponsible for being too slow to act against Reardon. As one of his many victims, she felt justice should have been done well before this. But she didn’t want the satisfaction of seeing that finally happen if it came at too high a price.
She looked enquiringly at Verity. ‘Why didn’t they get Clyde to handle it, right before he retired? That would’ve been the perfect opportunity, he wouldn’t have had to put up with the fallout for long, and his leaving shortly afterwards might’ve proved to be something of a buffer. And why the big rush now to do what they should’ve done a long time ago?’
‘I don’t know, but I can’t help feeling like the timing’s been carefully chosen.’ Verity rose to her feet and paced the floor. ‘To be honest, it reeks of a set-up.’ She paused and shook her head. ‘If they want me to fail, why did the board make me CEO in the first place?’
‘Is failure such a certainly?’
‘It can’t end well.’ Verity shook her head ominously. ‘No matter how many scenarios I consider, they all lead to a nasty legal battle. And because I have to bypass the prescribed disciplinary procedure, I have no ammunition for that war.’
‘But why do you have to bypass the procedure?’
Verity went over to stand in front of the window again, close enough for her breath to condense on the glass in fleeting, hazy circles. ‘That’s another reason why this is so upsetting, Claire. The board can’t—or won’t—give me the necessary justification for Reardon to be summarily terminated.’ She spun around to face her friend. ‘I’m being hung out to dry. His lawyers are going to eat me for breakfast!’ A harsh edge crept into her voice as the words tumbled out. ‘I wasn’t consulted on this, or given any background, I was simply told to do it, and it’s blatantly obvious I’m going to be judged on the way I handle it. If it goes badly, and I don’t see it going any other way, I suspect it might be judgement day.’ She added gloomily, ‘And this is, of course, all highly confidential, so I know you’ll keep it to yourself.’
‘Oh yes, that goes without saying! But be careful nobody else hears about this, ’cos Reardon’s gonna explode when he finds out.’
Claire knew what it felt like to be on the receiving end of that famous short fuse. When she’d become a subject of his unwelcome advances, her hasty rejection had earned her a brief but frightening explosion, followed by a period of sulky displeasure. Now Reardon simply ignored her and she accepted that most cheerfully, thankful to be off his radar and able to put the bad-tasting incident behind her.
Others hadn’t been so fortunate.
Claire pulled a face, thinking of the young receptionist who’d been bullied into silence by Reardon, until an EEO officer heard about it and pursued the case. Not that it got very far. When it came down to the victim’s word against his, Reardon, the practiced liar with the support of some powerful colleagues, always had the upper hand. So the young woman cut her losses, found a position elsewhere, and RCL sacrificed yet another good employee to Reardon’s lechery.
Verity came over to flop beside her. ‘How the hell am I supposed to prepare for this? A confrontation with a man few would choose to displease, and fewer still would go head-to-head with?’ She raked her hands through her hair and sighed. She was quiet for a bit, and then turned to gaze at her friend. She said wonderingly, ‘You know what I did this morning?’
Claire shook her head.
‘I almost turned left at the crossroads.’
Claire gave an uncertain frown.
‘You know, the T junction on the edge of town, where we turn right to come out here or left to head to the coast. And we all promise ourselves that one day we’ll go left and never come back.’
Claire chuckled, ‘Oh yeah, I know the one. And I am SO doing that one day!’
Verity only managed a brief smile. ‘Well, this morning, with so much going round in my head about all this crap I have on at the moment, my hand actually hovered over the indicator. For a second I was tempted to do it. To drive away from RCL and all my responsibilities.’
‘But you’re here.’
‘Yes, but it was close for a while there.’
‘Close, shmose,’ Claire chided, ‘you came, that’s all that counts.’
‘Well,’ and Verity gave a resigned sigh, ‘I didn’t take this job just to throw it in the second things got a bit tough.’ She smiled grimly and muttered, ‘And I should be thankful for small mercies. At least Reardon doesn’t know what’s coming.’
Claire regarded her anxiously. ‘So you’re sure it’s a set-up?’ It was more a statement than a question.
‘Pretty sure.’
‘By anyone in particular?’
‘Oh ... I don’t know,’ Verity cried, throwing her hands in the air, ‘one of the directors, maybe even the whole board. Let’s make it easy. How about we list the people who wouldn’t like to see me crash and burn. That would take a lot less time.’
‘OK, calm down. So, who did you say told you to do it?’
‘Peter Connell. And he gave me the directive verbally, so there’s nothing in writing. But he made sure I knew it had come from the board.’
Claire grunted sourly. ‘That sounds like him, butt-coverer extraordinaire that he is. And, knowing his reputation and past battles with Miss Sharpe, I reckon he’s the main contender for Big Chief Trouble-maker. If you, her protégé, were to take a fall so early in the piece, it would make a nice bit of revenge, don’t you think?’
Verity sucked in a breath. ‘Very true. If I nose-dive, Brenda might be dragged down with me.’ She brooded for a moment before adding thoughtfully, ‘And if I succeed, it’s still a win for the board ’cos they get rid of Reardon. Regardless of the outcome, they stay safe from the flying debris. I’ll be their shield against the frontal assault.’ She frowned, her mouth a tight line. ‘Very clever. I wouldn’t have thought Connell had enough brains for a scheme like this.’
‘You’ll probably be surprised at just what some people can come up with.’ Something in Claire’s sombre tone and downcast eyes made Verity look at her sharply.
‘Claire, what was it you came to see me about, before I unloaded all my troubles on you?’
‘Verity, I....’ She shook her head. ‘No. Look, you’ve got enough to think about at the moment. This’ll keep, it’s not that important.’
‘Oh no, what now? I can tell it’s not good news.’ Verity sank into the chair, turned her face towards the ceiling, squeezed her eyes shut, and gave a long-suffering sigh. ‘Let me have it.’
Claire took in the lines of strain on her friend’s face, and grumbled, ‘You don’t need this right now.’ She paused before continuing more firmly, ‘But I think you should know that Royce has tried to go over your head, for approval on some new project he’s working on.’
Verity gasped and sat bolt upright. ‘He’s done what?’
Claire’s expression was pained as though the words tasted sour in her mouth. ‘Apparently he met with Guy Wallace and tried to get him to put a round robin approval to the board.’ She added quickly, ‘Wallace told him to go through the normal channels, that only you can put the proposal forward, at the EC meeting.’
Verity jumped to her feet and marched
over to her desk. Thrusting her hands onto her hips, she snarled, ‘Ooh, that...!’ and then thumped her desk with a fist. ‘I knew it! I knew there was something going on there.’ She fixed her gaze on Claire and raised a scornful eyebrow. ‘And there I was, foolishly beginning to consider him an ally. Now I see he never left the backstabbers’ ranks, despite his recent ... helpful,’ she spat, ‘attitude.’
She paced the room furiously. ‘Oh! I thought he was trying to fob me off about this project before he left for the US, but I never guessed he was going to pull a stunt like this. Damn him! Didn’t explain the project to me, didn’t give me the smallest chance to be involved....’ She almost choked on the words. They were rushing into her throat on an acrid wave of betrayal. She swallowed hard.
Come on, she admonished herself, you knew this would happen when you started to trust him. He’s a man, after all. Duplicity is what they’re good at, so why are you so surprised? He’s merely confirming your first opinion of him. A corporate nemesis. Always.
Claire reached up to grab Verity’s arm as she passed, and pulled her down beside her. ‘Hey, you knew things might be a bit tough for a while. But you’re just the woman to take ’em on.’
Verity managed a sad smile, and let her head slump back against the settee. ‘How did you hear about this, Claire?’
Claire looked awkward. ‘I overheard Kerry discussing it with Jim’s secretary.’ She hated having to admit to eavesdropping, but there was nothing else for it. She found herself wondering again why Kerry had been discussing this so openly, when it was well known how easily voices travelled around the open plan office. Was it possible she wanted the conversation overheard by all and sundry?
‘How would Kerry know about this when even I had to hear it third-hand?’ Verity’s brow puckered. ‘And why didn’t she come to me about it as soon as she found out?’
‘Well, I don’t know why she didn’t tell you herself, but from what I hear, Kerry has a network of secretarial associates. Apparently they keep each other well informed on all sorts of secrets, without their bosses’ knowledge of course.’ Claire pulled a face, feeling tainted for passing on office gossip, but Verity needed to know what was being said behind her back. ‘You’re not going to like this either, but I also heard her say something about you and Royce having, well, a “thing”.’
