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Pushing myself to my feet, I clutched my ribs. “Where do I start?”
Hank took a step forward to support me. “Need a grand gesture.”
Ilya clapped me on the shoulder. “Come on. We’ll come up with a plan after practice. You should probably give Phoebe a little more time to cool down. It hasn’t even been twenty-four hours yet.”
Blood dripped down my shirt from where Ilya and Chris ripped into me. And Hank didn’t hold anything back on my ribs either. With a wrap and a few stitches in my face, I was able to go to the locker room, change clothes, and function enough to practice.
Coach eyed me. “Broken ribs?”
I grunted. “Bruised.”
He nodded. “Fine, get going.”
Without further questions, I skated out to the center, focused on the drills for the defensemen. Sam gave me the side-eye a few times, but then we settled into the drills. I was going minute-to-minute right now. If I looked backwards or forwards, I would fall apart completely. So, concentrating on puck drills and footwork, I let the tweak of my ribs keep me in the present.
* * *
A few days later, I stood in the conference room at Piercing Tides gazing out at Seattle.
“You ready for this?” Dominic asked, slapping me on the shoulder.
I shrugged. “Not much else we can do, right?”
I’d always thought of Seattle as my home. And I always thought this would be what I’d do upon retirement. Plans changed. I was about to become a New Yorker.
Voices in the hall caught my attention. It was time.
“Come in,” I said gesturing to the chairs. “The meeting is about to begin.”
With Dominic at the door standing guard, I started the employees’ meeting. By mid-meeting, Dominic took over. I saw how well the employees responded to him. He had been going on all the trips, making the contracts with the locals, and knew the most about how the company ran. He spoke their language and it showed in the way he worked with them. It solidified my plan for the Board meeting.
Dominic led into his summary. “So, while we would like you to stay on, there will be a big restructure of Piercing Tides. After a meeting this afternoon, it’s likely you’ll look at this company very differently. I would encourage all of you to think about where you want to be. Who you want to work for. What good you want to do in the world. I promise you Piercing Tides isn’t going to merge or cease to exist. We’re rooting out some of the weeds and then we’ll thrive again. By tomorrow at ten a.m., send me an email with one word: staying or leaving. For those who stay, let’s get to work. If you choose to leave, pack up and go. There’s no two-weeks’ notice or severance. Either you’re with us or you’re looking for employment elsewhere. It’s that simple. A memo will go out after the Board meeting. Read it carefully and make your choice. Then, let’s get on with the work.”
The employees looked a little shell-shocked but nodded and rose. Dominic held the door for them, then closed it behind them. “Good?”
I grunted.
At one o’clock, we went back to the conference room and set up for the two o’clock meeting, setting out the professionally drafted paperwork Dru designed for me in folders at every seat. I invited the Advisory Board as well as the Board of Directors to make sure we had everyone in attendance. Dru was there to take notes.
Within thirty minutes, we were no longer alone. Jamarion’s mother arrived first.
Mary waddled up to me. “Two meetings in one month? Whoo-wee, baby.”
I forced a polite smile. “Nice to see you again, Mary.”
As everyone else filtered in, my family greeted them with a courteous smile.
As the clock struck two, everyone had arrived except Martin, the Chairman.
I took Martin’s place at the head of the table, leaving my usual seat to Dominic. “Good afternoon. Without Martin here to do the honors, I will lead this meeting. You are all aware that I am not, and have not usually been, involved in the everyday operations of this company. I chose well-educated people I trusted to handle this in my absence. I am not a micromanager by nature. I don’t like it. I trust people to do their jobs and collaborate rather than manage. But, as it turns out, that is not the job I have. As CEO, my hands are supposed to be in every pot, directing and guiding. Since I’m not able to do that at this time, I would like to propose a change to the current structure. I will agree to step down from my position as CEO only if you will accept my brother as my replacement.”
A murmur arose among all the board members.
The head of the Advisory Board, Murial St. James, stood to address me. “Are you saying the allegations emailed to us this morning are true?”
I shook my head. “Absolutely not. I recently received the full list of accusations and they are completely false. Since anything that is sent via email in this office building is accessible for my review, I have found communications between Jamarion Platt and Martin Schilling showing how they fabricated dealings and forged my signature to try to oust me to merge with one of our competitors. You can find them in the packet before you.”
More murmurs arose and folders opened.
