by Robin Mahle
“Hey, Claire. Can I come in?”
“Sure.” That didn’t take long. She quickly shut down the files, having only had a chance to view one other account. But even so, the errors she’d discovered last night had simply vanished. “What’s up?”
“I ran into Charlie; he said I should come and talk to you.” Lucas sat down. Some of his earlier smugness had diminished.
Claire’s preoccupation with program errors and posting issues were beginning to lessen at Lucas’ shift in topic. The realization that she was being promoted based on performance, not because she’d come to the rescue of some supposed major flaw in the system, was starting to sink in. And, in any event, she would have greater control over the reports as a regional manager and would continue to keep an eye on things from there.
“He didn’t mention anything to you?” she asked.
“No. Just that you and he had a conversation and you needed to see me.”
“Well, okay. I don’t think it’s entirely official yet, but I guess Charlie thinks it’s okay to tell you. They’re adding another regional manager position and I’ve been recommended for the job.”
“Oh. Wow. That’s great, Claire. Congratulations.” Lucas shifted in his seat, suddenly looking very uncomfortable. “So are they bringing in someone to handle your accounts?”
This was the first time Claire could recollect Lucas appearing so nervous. He worked exceptionally hard at maintaining a cool demeanor; his feathers, seemingly never getting ruffled. But the man before her, whose legs were crossing and uncrossing, was not the sometimes arrogant, Wall Street-type wannabe, but a kid who was afraid he might be passed over for a promotion.
“I’m not sure exactly what they’re planning on doing, Lucas. I’m still reeling from the offer myself. I don’t think it has all been ironed out as of yet.”
“Well, this really is great news. I’m really happy for you. So, they didn’t run an internal job ad or anything?”
She knew what he was getting at, but didn’t say as much. The company was well known for promoting from within, but usually through an internal job posting process. It seemed they’d bypassed that particular protocol this time around. “I guess they felt that I’d been doing a good job and figured I was ready for the additional responsibility.”
“Of course. I didn’t mean to imply…”
Yes you did. “You know, the funny thing is, Mr. Winters personally recommended me. I guess maybe that was why there wasn’t an internal posting.” Yes, she was rubbing it in now, but sometimes a boy needed to be put in his place.
“Wow. You think you walk around here, completely unnoticed, then the President comes along and says you should be promoted.” Lucas pushed up from the chair. “Well, I’d better get back to work. Seriously though, Claire, I’m really happy for you. You deserve it.”
Okay, so he seemed sincere that time and now she felt a little guilty for the name-dropping. He wasn’t a bad guy; he just rubbed her the wrong way. She hoped that he would be the one to replace her. Maybe some additional responsibility would do him some good.
“Thank you, Lucas.”
***
Claire had begun the arduous task of setting up meetings with her clients to discuss the turnover. She had hoped her replacement would be named in the next few days and so would wait to meet with them until that time, opting to still schedule in advance. This would save her when the time came and she had to focus on the accounts within her region, which were still unknown at this time. She would be meeting with HR at nine a.m. tomorrow to finalize the deal.
The battle to forestall the urge to call or text Colin and share the good news was difficult. She wanted to surprise him with it tonight. Her plans were all laid out. Pick up his favorite Chinese take-out, grab a nice bottle of wine that would cost more than their usual ten dollars or less, and let him know that they could start climbing out of the hole they’d found themselves in over the past few years.
***
With all the excitement, time had passed much quicker than expected and it was approaching six o’clock. Claire scrambled to wrap everything up and go home. The smile she’d been wearing all day would find new life in the eyes of her husband as he listened to the news.
Claire now stood at the entrance of her office, bag and coat in hand, pausing to look around as if it would be the last time and, finally, followed the corridor to reception and back towards the elevators. Congratulatory remarks were imparted along the way by those who also put in the long hours. It seemed word had already spread along the fourth-floor grapevine.
Jim was now on shift, leaning back in his chair. “So, how’d it go today?”
Claire had almost forgotten how happy she’d been about her so-called discovery when she came in this morning. “Fantastic! Couldn’t have been better.”
“You saved the day, did you, Mrs. McKenna?”
“Not exactly, but somehow things seemed to work out anyway. Lucky, I guess. Have a good night, Jim.”
“I’m sure luck had nothing to do with it. You’re a bright lady! Good night and say hello to those kids of yours for me.”
“Will do, Jim. See you tomorrow.” She disappeared beyond the glass doors.
***
It was nearing seven o’clock and she’d texted Colin not to make dinner, although she was pretty confident he wouldn’t have anyway. When Claire opened the door into the kitchen, the predictability of her family didn’t disappoint. Everyone was in their usual places, the further inside she ventured. “I’ve got Chinese for dinner!” Her voice echoed through the house and up the stairs, eventually reaching the ears of two presumably hungry kids.
Colin emerged from the family room, a pleasant and unexpected smile on his face. “Ooh, Chinese. What’s the occasion?”
It was a rarity, going out for dinner or having take-out. They watched their pennies closely.
A moment later, the thumping on the stairs meant the kids were on their way down; the smell of the food was now wafting through the house.
Claire set the bags down on the kitchen table and retrieved the plates. “Well, come and have a seat and I’ll tell you the occasion.”
Colin pulled Claire towards him, kissing her tenderly. “Now you’ve got me guessing. What is it?”
“Just be patient. Let’s wait for everyone to dish up a plate and sit down.” She was reveling in the suspense now.
The kids had finally arrived and pulled out their chairs, scooping out a spoonful of each of their favorite dishes contained in the little white boxes.
“Okay, kids. Your mom has some news for us. Claire?”
She folded her arms across her lap and leaned back in her chair. “I was promoted to regional manager today.” Claire immediately looked to Colin for a response.
“That’s great, Mom! Congratulations!” Anna was the first to speak.
“Congrats, Mom. Does this mean you’ll get more money?” Robbie could generally be counted on to get right to the point.
Colin was still silent, but Claire hoped it was a good silent. “Colin?”
He stood up and walked to Claire, waiting for her to meet him. When she stood, Colin wrapped his arms around his wife. “I’m so proud of you, honey. This is wonderful news. Congratulations.”
“I don’t have all the details yet, but there will be a pay raise and, of course, additional responsibility. It may require me to travel, but since I don’t know what my accounts will be, I really can’t say what that will do to my schedule.”
“We’ll work around it, I’m sure,” Colin replied.
“I’m meeting with HR tomorrow morning to secure the offer.” Claire reached for Colin’s hand and looked into his eyes. “This is what we needed. Everything’s going to get better now.”
CHAPTER 3
THE USUAL MORNING routine seemed to be just a little less “routine” today. Claire had an extra skip in her step as it began to dawn on her just what this promotion would mean to the family. Colin could feel it as well. In fact,
last night brought about an extra special swing in his step that Claire wasn’t expecting on a Tuesday night. His spirits seemed high when he left this morning, for that matter.
And so Claire arrived for work in her usual fashion, the elevator ride to the fourth floor further building on the suspense of her impending meeting with HR at 9:00. When the doors opened, Beth appeared on the other side.
“Morning, Claire.”
“Hi, Beth. You heading down?” Claire placed her hand on one of the doors so they wouldn’t close.
“Yeah. I’ve got a meeting with accounting. Quarterlies.” She shrugged and stepped onto the elevator. “Oh, hey. I didn’t get a chance to see you yesterday, but congrats on the promotion!”
Claire stepped out beyond the threshold. “Thank you. But, does everyone know?” She still wasn’t confident that it should be common knowledge, at least, not until she met with HR this morning.
“You know how rumors spread around here, Claire. Wildfire!” Beth smiled as the doors closed in front of her.
“I guess so,” she mumbled, managing a brief smile at the receptionist. “Morning, Emily.”
***
The minutes between the hours of 8:00 and 9:00 seemed to be passing at a painfully sluggish pace. Her emails were answered, her meeting requests accepted. Claire watched the hands on the clock, now reaching 8:45. “Oh hell. I’m just going to leave now. It’ll take me a few minutes to get to the eighth floor anyway.” No, it wouldn’t, but that didn’t matter. She had to do something besides sit at her desk, tapping her fingers on her keyboard. She’d rather sit outside the HR office, waiting for Laura Coolidge, the director, to let her in.
It seemed as though she’d made it even quicker than expected. It was 8:50, but Claire approached the receptionist on the eighth floor and asked that she make Laura aware of her arrival.
“Hi, Laura, Claire McKenna is here. She says she has a nine a.m. meeting with you? Okay, thank you.” The receptionist ended the call with a push of a button, but kept her discrete headset on. Long gone were the days an operator actually had to pick up a receiver. It was all wireless technology now. “She said you can go on back.”
“Thank you.” Claire made her way through the all-too-familiar corridors. It was an exact replica of the layout on her floor. This floor, however, housed much of the internal staff; HR and IT, mainly. Those who helped the rest of the employees function – “internal customers,” they were coined.
When Claire finally reached Laura’s office, the door was open. But rather than Laura being the only one present, as she’d expected, Frank Winslow and, even more surprising, Evan Winters were also in attendance.
Claire was at a loss for words at this turn of events. Fortunately, Laura stood up. “Come on in, Claire. Nice to see you. Of course, you know Frank.”
Frank stood up to shake Claire’s hand. “Good morning, Claire.”
“And I don’t know if you’ve personally met Mr. Winters.”
“Please, call me Evan.” Evan Winters, the president and CEO, stood with his hand extended, waiting for Claire to greet him.
Of course, she’d seen him around the office and speaking at events, but this was the first time he’d spoken to her directly. A sudden self-consciousness came over her. Although she wasn’t prone to being awe-struck, she was, in fact, awe-struck at this very moment.
Evan seemed larger than life. This was a man who’d built Winters Financial from the ground up, making it one of the top consulting firms in the world. It was consistently ranked in Forbes 500. She admired him for what he’d accomplished at such a young age. Meaning that one would expect a man of his standing to be in his sixties, but here he was, a man not older than fifty, maybe even late forties.
He was handsome, in a silver-streaked, graceful sort of way. The lines in his face were well defined, but complemented his square jaw and deep-set brown eyes. Slightly thinning hair, styled in a modern and sophisticated manner. No question, he was a man who was well put together. The very expensive suit, Claire guessed, maybe six, seven thousand dollars, at least, finished off the embodiment of what a CEO should look like. Or rather, what a man who wanted for nothing looked like.
“Claire?” Evan repeated, looking just a little concerned now at her prolonged silence.
She was intimidated for sure, but was about to become one of the big dogs. Well, one of the smaller big dogs, and she’d better shake out of this and fast. “I’m sorry, Mr. Winters, I mean, Evan. It’s very nice to meet you.”
Frank remained standing so that Claire could take his seat. All of this seemed so very surreal. The promotion, meeting Evan Winters. She figured this must be what it was like when one was on her way up in life; very official and more than a little daunting.
Evan took the lead and began. “First of all, I’d like to thank you, Claire, for all the great work you’ve done for us. I, for one, have been extremely impressed by your attention to detail and I can tell you that our clients, in particular Sea-Tech, have indicated your importance to the company.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“As a result of your hard work, we would like to officially offer you the position of regional manager for our new territory. Now, the final lines haven’t yet been drawn; however, it’s likely you’ll keep Sea-Tech because of the relationship you have with them, but I believe you’ll also be in charge of Oregon, and parts of Northern California.”
Claire tried hard to contain her excitement. This was exactly as she would have hoped. Minimal traveling distance meant she wouldn’t likely be required to have many overnight trips; easier for the family, easier for her.
Laura pushed an envelope towards Claire. “Here is the official offer for your review.”
“I’ve got another meeting in a few minutes, so if you’ll excuse me, I’ll leave you in the capable hands of Frank and Laura to discuss further details.” Evan stood up and once again, extended his hand.
Claire took the cue and returned the gesture. “Thank you, Mr. Winters. I can’t tell you what your support and recognition mean to me.”
Evan held her gaze for a moment. A moment, she felt, was on the verge of becoming too long and then Claire felt the pressure of his hand. Not painful, but definitely noticeable.
“Glad to have you with us, Claire.” And with that, he released her hand and started to leave, but not before momentarily turning back, his eyes dropping to the top of Claire’s head as she remained seated.
She felt his eyes penetrating the back of her head and waited for the uncomfortable moment to pass. When it did, the door closed and the smile returned to her face as the meeting continued.
***
Evan Winters’ office was on the top floor and positioned such that it had a direct view of the harbor. The only other offices on that floor were those of his personal assistant, his assistant’s assistant, and the large conference room that hosted meetings with other corporate officers, board directors, or the more significant clients of the company.
Pulling his chair from beneath the enormous glass-topped desk, he reached for the intercom button on his phone. “Sheri, please arrange a lunch meeting this week with Claire McKenna in sales.”
“Of course. Any particular place you’d like to dine?” Sheri replied.
“Yes, actually. Let’s do the Metro.” He released the button before she could reply, knowing Sheri would make the arrangements. After working for him for seven years, she was well acquainted with his personality.
Evan leaned back in the executive chair, designed specifically for him, and laced his fingers behind his head. He conjured up the image of Claire’s face, her blue eyes wide and bright from the news of the promotion and recalled the softness of her skin as he squeezed her hand. His lips parted into a thin smile.
How it had taken him so long to see her, really see her, remained elusive. People came and went in an organization of this size and he could remember only a handful of them that had made such an impression as Claire had. She was different, alluring
in a manner that took him quite by surprise.
***
Tending to matters of work proved difficult for Claire. She found herself drifting off into a daydream as she skimmed through the unread emails that had collected in her inbox during the hour-long meeting with HR. She’d signed the offer letter indicating that it would take effect for the next pay cycle. The bump in pay was considerably more than she’d expected. Thirty percent in times like these was unheard of. What this would mean for her family was almost incomprehensible. The news was too much to keep to herself and so she’d texted Colin, assuming he would be on the shop floor and would not hear a call. His delayed reply came in the form of an all-capital letter response. “WOO-HOO.” It made her smile.
The one thing that dampened her spirits a little was the fact that she also found out who her replacement would be. And it was not going to be Lucas Abbott. Instead, they were shifting around some of the account managers, delegating additional accounts to each, per the new territories. Her replacement would be someone from the office in Salt Lake City.
This was not going to make Lucas happy and she dreaded seeing him. Frank had put it on her to break the news. Claire thought about taking him to lunch, soften the blow a little. She’d seen Lucas lose his cool once or twice and wondered if he might make a scene if they were out in public, although he was still a professional and maybe wasn’t being given enough credit.
If she was going to have to do this, a phone call was in order, but before she’d had a chance to dial his extension, as always, his timing was spot on.
“So, how’d it go?” Lucas asked, now standing at her door. Had his ears been burning at the mere thought?
“Oh—hey, come on in. Listen, I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go and grab some lunch in about an hour.” She glanced at the time on her computer monitor, assuming it was still late morning. Time had flown by so quickly.
