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I had no alternative.
After summoning Andrew to my office, I wasted no time. As it was, I didn’t have any to spare. It had been a few days since my talk with her, plenty of time to get a sense of how she’d done.
“Well, it wasn’t pretty, Gabe. At least in the beginning.”
“What do you mean?”
Andrew spent a bit of time recapping Fiona’s first foray into staff discipline. And while she had a number of bumps and bruises in the process, she hadn’t suffered any broken bones. In other words, she’d handled it well, and for the moment anyway, it appeared as though she’d avoided any major revolts.
Relieved, albeit still uneasy, I reclined in my chair, interlacing my fingers behind my head. “So, where do we stand?”
“Well, she left little room for disagreement or misunderstanding, Gabe. She more or less told everyone that if they didn’t want to remain on the team either due to personal issues with her or an unwillingness to adhere to the aggressive schedule, that she would see to it they could get a transfer at the completion of the project.”
I nodded as he spoke. “All right, well, how has it gone since?”
Andrew tented his eyebrows at me. “Honestly?”
“Of course.”
“It’s been fine. No issues. I’m not sure what your objectives were, but I’ve not seen things run this smoothly since Fiona assumed control. Whatever you told her appears to have done the trick.”
Unbelievable.
I had little confidence, more like none, she’d actually go through with it. If I hadn’t been sitting down, I might have fallen down. I nodded yet again, acting as if I expected nothing less, yet still uncertain whether there would be little more than a skeleton lab team left before long. I hated walking this tightrope with her, partially because it was a mess I’d helped to create and partially because Fiona couldn’t see how simple this would be, if she’d just do as I said.
I shifted my upper body forward in my chair and folded my hands together on my desk. “Anything else?”
“Hmm, no.” Andrew said, as he shook his head. “Not right now.”
“Okay,” I began. After placing my palms flat on the desk, I stood and continued, “Just keep doing what you’ve been doing, Andrew. I’ll let you know when, or if, I no longer require your assistance. Of course, if there’s anything completely out of the ordinary, let me know. In the meantime, I’ll have a chat with Fiona.”
Andrew took my hand in his, shaking it. “Will do, Gabe.”
Less than a minute later, Andrew exited my office, while I slid into my chair and snatched my office phone from its cradle. Reaching down to the dial pad, I pressed a couple of the hard plastic keys and dialed Fiona’s extension. On the third ring, she answered.
“Fiona, I’d like for you to come to my office.”
She didn’t reply but merely grunted in a way that suggested her attention was focused elsewhere.
“Fiona,” I said, raising my voice a decibel for emphasis.
“Hmm?”
Thinning my lips at her lack of focus, I continued, “Did you hear what I said?”
As I spoke, the sound of her shuffling paper echoed with tinny annoyance in the phone’s earpiece.
“No,” she muttered. “What? I-I can’t right now, Gabe. I’m busy.”
I wrinkled my brow in disbelief and eased myself into a standing position. Without a moment’s hesitation, I responded. “I don’t care what you’re doing. When I tell you to come, you come.”
“Gabe,” she began, as I heard the focus return to her words. “I don’t understand what it is you want from me. I can’t keep running back and forth to your office whenever you feel it’s necessary. Can’t I come later?”
I flexed my jaw at her refusal. “No, Fiona. Come now.”
For the next several seconds, the only sound coming through the earpiece was the sound of her breath as she considered the words she’d say next.
“Fine,” she grumbled at last. “I’ll be up there as soon as I can.”
“No. Right now, Fiona. Come. Right. Now.”
With that, I placed the phone back into the cradle with a forceful thump and got back to work on the prospectus. When she hadn’t arrived twenty minutes later, I headed down to the lab to set her straight once and for all.
GABE
I had no idea what the hell had gotten into Fiona.
But she would learn flagrant disobedience didn’t come without consequences. On the way to the lab, I had just enough time to cool off and gather my thoughts before seeing her. No matter what, I had no intention of making a scene, but I wasn’t leaving the lab without her either.
