Page 31 of The Cost of Love

“I’ll walk you up.” He starts to get out of the car, but I pull on his arm to stop him.

“No, it’s okay. This is a friend’s place; I’ll be alright.” I kiss him once more and hop out quickly, closing the door.

The whole way up the stairs, I chastise myself for even coming close to laying my shit all out there. I need to keep things straighter between us before I find myself in something I’m not ready for.

Chapter 13

Alex

Acouple of weeks have passed without Chanice solidifying plans. Perhaps needing a break after that confession on the streets, she is keeping her distance. And what to make of it? Telling me so openly that no one has treated her with the bare minimum that she deserves. Praising me for giving her so little in the bigger scheme of things. I don’t know what she will do if she lets me shower her with the affection I would give if we were in a relationship. Only time will tell. Until then, I need to focus on what I can change.

Which is the way our warehouse handles goods prior to shipping. The system is a mess, and with the new deal with America Knight, I need to make our processing times shorter. Meeting with the head executive of that department and the warehouse managers of England, I’m looking to see what we can do.

Ethan, the executive, looks around the boardroom at the men and women he should know well by this point. They look back at him with as much recognition as a stranger on the street would, already helping me diagnose a part of the problem.

“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for meeting with me today. I’m hoping we can figure out how we can get our goods in and out of our possession while cutting down at least twenty-five percent of our time. I want to know where we are going wrong.”

Ethan decides to go first. “I honestly think if we invest in tech that can help the sorting and boxing of products, we can reduce not only some of the time but the workforce as well.”

The managers look at each other with wide eyes.

“Why would we need to lessen our workforce?” I ask.

“To save money.” He doesn’t even look in the direction of the people he would be directly impacting.

“If I can say something.”

“Of course, George.”

He looks surprised that I know his name.

“We already had to lay off at least one-third of our workers to meet the budget cuts last year. I think that is part of the reason we are so slow. A lot of our people are doing the work that would usually take at least two individuals. We’re breaking our backs here.”

This finally gets Ethan to look in their direction, his eyes narrowing. George doesn’t back down from the stare, making me like him even more.

“We made £2.4 billion last year in profit. You gave yourself a raise, almost doubling your salary. Care to explain to me, Ethan, why the budget in this area needed to be cut?” I ask.

“Well, uh, the increase in minimum wage impacted our numbers hard.”

Numbers that are already too high to just be paying workers minimum wage. I know exactly who this change impacted.

“It seems to me, Ethan, that you are unable to do your job correctly. If there are budget cuts, they should affect everyone in the company and not just our hourly staff. You could have lowered your salary instead of doubling it, if we were trying to save money.” He goes to speak, and I hold up my hand. “Your decision to fire a good portion of our workers has resulted in overworked employees and a delay in our processing. This has resulted in millions of pounds lost. I think with that result, you are not qualified for your original salary, let alone the one you gave yourself.”

He stutters and gasps, sitting there like I didn’t make myself clear.

“You’re sacked. I’ll have security lead you out.”

George practically claps with the way his hands come together. The others smile for the first time since walking into this room.

Once Ethan is gone, we discuss the hiring initiative I’ll be enacting to return our staff to full capacity. Letting the managers know that anyone in their field can apply for the new executive role, I bring us back to our roots.

After everyone leaves, I look at the budget cuts that have been implemented over the last few years and start to map out the way things are going to be rectified. People don’t quit jobs, they quit bosses, and I don’t see how anyone in this blasted company can’t see how much money that would save us in turnover. If they want me to run things, then they will have to watch how I do it.

Working overtime to try to get things back to the way they should be, I’m spending way too much time in my office. Staring at the drab gray walls every day is constantly giving me a headache. It’s enough to have me keep ibuprofen on standby at all times. I should give the task of redecorating to my father’s assistant, Ms. Welch, but I barely trust her to send emails for me. Before I can go online to find a designer, my phone rings for what seems like the hundredth time today.

“Yes, Ms. Welch?”

“I have Olivia Whitmore on the phone. She says she’s your sister.” The fact that Ms. Welch doesn’t already know who Liv is speaks volumes about the relationship my father had with my sister.