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He took a breath and peered at me over his glasses. “This is going to affect you as well. Remember, your acquisition analyst, Mark, was my pick for Bob’s CFO.”
“And I said I’d support that. I’ll find a replacement.” Mark Timlin deserved the promotion opportunity.
The hint of a smile on Jay’s face telegraphed agotchaline coming. “Well, he needs to move right away. He’s meeting right now with his new team. He has to hit the ground running if this is going to get done.”
I wasn’t prepared for that. I’d planned on having a few months to locate someone to fill his shoes. “I need him for a few months part time, then.”
“You didn’t ask me ahead of time about the ramifications of this decision. This is one of those ramifications. You can call Larry and pull back the announcement, or lose Mark starting tomorrow. We don’t have time to find another qualified CFO candidate for Bob, and you can’t do the spin-off without a CFO in place. If this isn’t done right, the SEC will come down on us like a ton of bricks, and it won’t be pretty.”
I took a breath, but didn’t see any alternative. “We go ahead. You can have Mark. And, Jay, I’m sorry I didn’t prep you ahead of time on this.”
He stood. “Water under the bridge.” He stopped at the door. “By the way, who gave you that lemonade-and-sugar quote? Was it Lloyd?”
“Yup, Dad’s full of them.”
He reached for the door. “That he is.”
“Just a minute, Jay.”
He turned. “Yes?”
I was still the boss here, and that gave me some prerogatives. “I need someone to fill in for a month while I interview replacements.”
“I’ll have Denise in HR get someone for you from the temp agency I use.”
“I have a better idea. Send me somebody qualified from your group, andyouget a temp to fill in.”
“Yes, sir.” He shook his head and left.
After the door closed behind him, I turned to the window and chuckled. This would cost him a good guy. He wouldn’t dare send me a turd.
Jay had insisted on teaching me a lesson about being rash, and I’d just taught him a lesson about how shit had a tendency to run down hill, which in this case was his direction.
Dad’s suggestion hadn’t been a bad one, but Jay had just pointed out—without rubbing my nose in it too much—that I’d made a rookie move. I could have taken a day or two to make this decision, and not huddling with him and others had just caused my first unintended consequence and bitten me in the ass. And the day wasn’t over yet. The decision might cost me more in the future than I’d stopped to anticipate. Something more middle-of-the-road—between Larry’s instant-action philosophy and Jay’s conservatism—might have been better. A thought for next time.
I looked out over the expanse of the LA area. My office was this high up because I was willing to take risks, and sometimes those came with costs.
* * *
Jennifer
The other sixwhose names had been called to go with the spin-off were already in the conference room when I shuffled in—happy faces on all of them as they mumbled about stock options. This greedy group had no other questions apparently, like where we would be working.
I returned their smiles as I contemplated the abundant empty space on the lower floors of this building. The company had been trying to lease that out. The possibility that I might keep a badge that gained access to this building brightened my outlook. My vengeance could stay on track.
Fisher introduced Mark Timlin, the CEO’s acquisitions analyst, as our new boss and left the room.
Timlin took a seat at the head of the table. “Look around. This merry group will comprise the nucleus of the finance team we’re taking over to Hydrocom—that’ll be the name of our new company. Jay has told me wonderful things about all of you, and I look forward to helping you staff our team for success.”
It was just my luck to end up working for someone who had spent the last two years at the right hand of the devil himself.
He was energetic in his description of the opportunities for all of us with the new venture. As the new CFO, it made sense that he would be.
I concentrated on the wood grain of the table in front of me as he went on too long for my taste about how excited he was.
He then went around the table, getting names from those he didn’t know and telling us our new positions.
“Jennifer, you’ll be the new General Ledger Supervisor,” he said when he got to me.
