Page 33 of Heart of a Hero

THE DAY after Thanksgiving was always a bit too much. He had to work. Most people, who could, had taken the day off, which meant it was largely quiet. He made phone calls and checked for issues for most of the day.

“Conrad,” Mr. Maxwell said, standing in his doorway.

“What can I do for you?” he asked as he looked up from the system he was monitoring.

He hesitated. “Can you come to my office?”

“Of course.” He locked his system and followed him down the hall to the corner office with a view of the forest next to the building.

“Please close the door,” he said, but seriously, and Conrad’s heart fell. He knew that tone and that he was going to be given bad news. “I have some questions that I need to review with you.”

“Of course.”

“As you know, we interviewed you and a few others for the director of systems position.” He paused and pulled out a file. “You already know that the team has been dragging their feet. The management team needs to agree, and while most of us have, there are a few holdouts. Those holdouts want another candidate for the position, and they keep bringing up some issues that arose a few weeks ago. It’s claimed that those issues were the result of your work.”

Conrad wanted to jump in but sat quietly until he was sure Mr. Maxwell was done talking. “I sent a report to my managing director about those incidents along with proof from our clients that it was another associate here at the firm who actually caused the issues. I was the one who got the calls and fixed the problem. If you’ll allow me, I can send you the same report.”

“That’s the issue. Your managing director remembers the report but can’t find a copy.”

“Oh?” Conrad smiled and pulled up a private email account he kept separate from the office systems. He brought it up on his phone and sent it to Mr. Maxwell. “Here’s a copy. It’s attached to a copy of the original email that was sent, so you can see the date and time. The report includes statements from our vendors, and it lists the name of the person who gave them the instructions.” He waited as Mr. Maxwell reviewed the document. “Also, I’d like to bring up from a systems perspective that if we have emails that are missing, then we may need to do a security review of our mail server and system to ensure that it is secure. I can arrange for that if you’d like me to.”

“I see…. Why didn’t you bring this to our attention sooner?” Mr. Maxwell asked.

Conrad shrugged. “Because it wasn’t my place, and I didn’t want anyone thinking that I was putting Lester down just to get ahead. That’s not my style. If I get this position, it’s because of my hours of hard work, extra time, and in-depth knowledge of how things work and how to help our clients. I do my job and I back up the team. Since Clive retired, I’ve also been doing part of his job.”

Mr. Maxwell nodded. “I understand that, and it’s been noticed by many of us.” He put his hands on the desk. “Thank you for the information.” It seemed like a dismissal, so Conrad stood to leave. “You didn’t put Lester down, and you filed this report the way you should.”

“Yes. I did what I thought I should.”

“True. But I have to ask what else you might know that you haven’t told us.” Mr. Maxwell gave him one of his intense stares. “I’ve seen the way you work and how thorough you are. Lester is a gossip, we know that, and it’s why he isn’t being considered for the job among most of the partners… among other things.”

Conrad paused. “The things I have been told, I can’t prove. Well, at least some of them I am not able to prove, so that makes them little more than gossip, and relating them to you would be the same as what Lester does. However I will share what I know the facts of. It seems that Lester, after his divorce, was subject to a restraining order regarding his daughter and ex-wife. The order had lapsed but was recently reinstated. And there are possible ethical questions around his dealings with his ex-wife. I can say nothing more without proof. We are a professional organization, and family matters are private and personal. But ethical issues are something we all need to be aware of.”

Mr. Maxwell hummed softly. “How did you come by this information?”

“Court records and filings are public information. As for the rest, his ex-wife’s sister is the other room parent at Lizzie’s school. She relayed the remaining information.” There was no way he was going to involve Forrest in any of this. “The truth is that if what I was told is true, it would constitute a serious ethical violation.” Conrad decided it was time for full disclosure. “There is one more thing that I have decided. If Lester is promoted, then my first order of business will be to give my notice. I will not work under him under any circumstances. This is not a threat; I’m just being honest. I have a child to raise, and I won’t add that kind of stress and chaos to my professional life.”

Clearly Mr. Maxwell was surprised. His eyes grew wide. “I see.”

“I don’t think you do. I work hard, and I have given a lot of hours to this firm. Everything I have done has been for the betterment of our clients and Brunner Maxwell, and I want to continue to do the same thing in the future. We always need to show our clients the very best of who we are.” And that isn’t Lester. He left that part unsaid but knew Mr. Maxwell understood.

“You’ve always worked for the benefit of all of us. That much is clear, and Clive always spoke highly of you.” He paused, and Conrad knew he was measuring his words. “We will have a decision soon. That I can assure you.”

“Thank you,” Conrad said and left the corner office, heading back to his own workspace, where he checked that everything was progressing well. Some of his clients were retail companies, and that meant today was a huge day for them, and tonight they would be processing a large set of transactions, so he needed to support them so that their systems could process everything. Still, at the end of the day, he was pleased to be going home.

“Daddy, can we get a Christmas tree?” Lizzie asked as part of her hug hello. “Gramma says that they have them, and I want to get one.”

“Do you want a real one? Because we need to wait a little to make sure that it won’t dry out.” She shook her head, and Conrad remembered her allergies. “I have an artificial tree in the basement. We can put it together if you want.”

“Yay,” she said and ran off, obviously happy to let him make her Christmas tree dreams come true. Conrad took off his coat and went downstairs, then looked over the model he and Forrest were working on. The figure was in multiple parts. The legs and hips stood as one piece, with the torso still a work in progress. The ancillary pieces had been started, but Conrad was still waiting for the bricks he’d ordered. They had been shipped and were expected any day. After sighing and pushing down the urge to work on it, he got the tree out of storage and carried it upstairs. It was a slim tree about seven feet tall. That way it made a nice show but didn’t take up a huge amount of space in the living room. It was also pre-lit, so he got it together and plugged in before calling Lizzie.

“Daddy, it’s beautiful.” She danced around the room, and Conrad grinned as he returned downstairs to get the ornaments. As he reached the bottom of the stairs, Lizzie was coming down. He blocked her from getting any farther, and she turned around and went back up. “Are those the ornaments?”

“Yes.” A lot of them had come from Lizzie’s mother. Conrad set the tub down and slowly pulled out the wrapped decorations, explaining which ones had come from his sister and what they meant. “This one was from me. I gave it to you for your very first Christmas.” He hung it on the tree and gave Lizzie some others to put up.

“Can I help with the star?” Lizzie asked once the box of ornaments was empty.

“How about you get it out?” Conrad said, and Lizzie got the tree topper out of the box. It had been one Gwen had for her tree. Conrad took it from Lizzie and carefully put it on the top, and then he plugged it in, making the gold star glow.