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The next day I went around the city, hunting for furniture. The deal on the apartment wasn’t signed off by the builder so I put the pieces I liked for my home on hold. If it went through, I would tell the stores when they could deliver. I placed a call to Edith to let her know I’d found my new home.
“That’s wonderful dear. When do you move in?”
“I’m waiting for the paperwork to go through.”
“Congratulations. Should I tell Austin?”
“You can, or I can call him.”
“He’s planning on coming to visit me in August. You two should get together.”
“That’s a nice thought, but it’s better we don’t.”
“Have you thought about telling him about the baby?”
“I think it’s best that he doesn’t know. I don’t want him to have any guilt.”
“You should tell him anyway, but I leave that up to you.”
I started Charge that next Monday. My office was not as big as Charles Amick’s, but it was pretty close. I had my own personal bathroom and got to choose the furniture I wanted. Everything was all set for me when I came through the door at seven-thirty.
I decided to change gears. I know how much my employees hated and feared me at Spotlight and Tailwind. I didn’t want the same thing at Charge. The ice queen was gone, or at least had partially melted. I could run my office with compassion and caring without making enemies. Although I knew I would have some, especially in the board room. Charles gave me carte blanche to clean up management and enact new policies.
As I had at Tailwind, I interviewed all upper management. I could see why the company had a problem; most of them seemed to have a sense of entitlement. In reviewing financials, their expense accounts were out of control. I would put a stop to that with the team I kept, and at this point, there weren’t many.
I spent my first week observing interaction between management and employees to make sure my decisions were correct; they were. I called people into my office to hand them termination slips. Everything was going smoothly until I called Dirk Benson, senior vice president of marketing into my office. Dirk was condescending and obnoxious. He reminded me so much of Thomas Pelter at Tailwind.
“Please sit down, Dirk.”
“You know I could’ve had your job.”
“If you could’ve, you would. The board hired me.”
He sat down with his arm hanging over the back of the chair. I pegged him to be about forty-two. I remembered his type in college. Handsome thinks he’s God’s gift to women. I noticed he didn’t have a wedding ring on and it didn’t surprise me. I also observed him rubbing up against one of the female assistants and making lewd comments. He was a liability even though no one reported him yet.
He swiped his hand through his thick brown hair and fixed his ice blue eyes on me. “Why am I here? I have a campaign to finish.”
“You’re here because I want to get to know my employees.”
“You already did that.”
“You’re right, I did, and you’re a liability. I need to terminate you.”
His eyes flashed anger, and he sat up straight, banging his fists against the edge of the desk. “You can’t fire me. I have a contract.”
I kept my cool. “You violated your contract by sexually harassing the employees.”
“Bullshit. I heard about you. I got a friend who used to work at Tailwind. You’re a frigid bitch. You come into the office screaming sexual harassment to get rid of people. Maybe you need some sexual harassment. I bet that pussy hasn’t been fucked in a long time.”
He stood up, and so did I. Dirk was close to a foot taller than me, but I wasn’t afraid. Jay taught me well, and I wouldn’t be intimidated or pushed around the way I had by JJ Wentworth.
I pointed at Dirk. “You’re fired. Leave my office and the building.”
He approached, and I pressed my intercom to call my assistant, Diane. She buzzed as I backed away from Dirk rounding my desk. The door burst open just as my knee connected with his balls. He crumpled to the floor, and Diane snickered. I was breathing heavy as Dirk moaned with his hands clasped over his genitals. A few seconds later, security came into my office.
“You want to press charges?” security asked.
Dirk croaked from the floor. “I fucking do. This bitch kicked me in the balls.”
