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“Actually, I do. One of the recommendations Trident will be making is that raiding of the supply closet for personal use must be curbed. Immediately.”
She laughed as if she thought he were joking. When Drew didn’t join her, her eyes widened with surprised amusement. “Wow. You come out swinging with those types of changes and you’ll be at the very top of everyone’s shit list, Mr. Sullivan.”
“That’s okay. Being seen as the bad guy isn’t new to me. The hospital is losing too much money. When you have hundreds of employees who think it’s no big deal to grab a box of latex gloves or bandages from the supply closet to bring home, it ends up costing the hospital tens of thousands of dollars per year.”
“I’m not saying you don’t have a point.” She raised a hand in concession. “I’m just saying it’s a good thing you bring your own coffee. Because once it’s revealed that you’re behind these changes, someone would probably spit in it if you bought coffee from the cafeteria.”
“Thanks for the warning,” he said with a laugh. He checked his watch. They still had about ten minutes before the meeting would begin. “What about you?” Drew asked. “Doyouplan to spit in my coffee? Metaphorically, of course.”
“Spitting is nasty,” she said. “I have access to substances that would cause you a lot more pain.”
His brow arched.
“I’m joking,” she said. “Again, I’m not here to be difficult. However, I will not be silent if I disagree with something. And I do have a habit of playing devil’s advocate.” She shrugged. “I can’t help myself. I like to pose questions. I’ve seen how they can spark new ideas.”
Drew perched on the edge of the uncomfortable conference table and set his coffee next to him. Folding his arms across his chest, he said, “You don’t have to tell me about your penchant for playing devil’s advocate. I once sat in a classroom and listened to you argue about the patriarchal themes of Homer’s work with Mr. Brown. The man could hardly utter a word by the time you were done with him.”
A rueful grin curled up one corner of her mouth. “He tried to get me transferred to Mrs. Cornwall’s English lit class after that.”
Drew laughed. “You’re kidding?”
She shook her head. “Not kidding. He said that my strong attitude was a disruption.”
“You made some good arguments. The fact that women are literally given out as prizes inThe Iliadis pretty messed up.”
“Goodness, that was so long ago. How do you even remember that?”
Drew’s gaze swept over her face. Softly, he murmured, “How could I forget?”
She stopped in the act of lifting her coffee cup to her mouth, her expression nonplussed.
“Drew, it’s two o’clock.” They both startled at Samantha’s interruption. “Time to get this show on the road.”
“Yes, of course,” Drew said. He motioned for London to sit in the open chair, but then he walked to the rear of the room and stood against the wall. He was confident in his project manager’s ability to lead the meeting.
As Samantha began her presentation, Drew observed the eight people the hospital administration had put forward as the best ambassadors for the project. They would be tasked with providing Trident’s team better insight into the day-to-day operations at County, but also assisting in encouraging the rest of the staff to participate in the analysis.
At least, that was the plan. How well Trident’s plan was received and executed would depend a lot on how things went in today’s kickoff meeting.
Drew’s anxiety level had decreased exponentially by the time Samantha concluded her presentation. He’d gauged the reactions in the room through every bullet point, and it was exactly what he’d expected from the hospital’s employees: curiosity, concern, and just a touch of dismay.
It shocked him how clueless most people were about the financial health of their workplace. There was no doubt they had heard the rumors floating around, but Drew could tell by the disturbed looks on their faces that this was the first time they’d understood how dire the situation was here at County.
Samantha brought the meeting to a close and informed everyone that she would be setting up a private Slack channel where they could all communicate. She then had to explain what Slack was to the two members of the team who were obviously Dr. Coleman’s contemporaries.
He went over to Samantha. “Good job,” Drew said. “Everyone has their marching orders, so we shouldn’t have to meet until Friday, right?”
She saluted him. “Aye, Captain.”
Drew made his way around the room, introducing himself to everyone they’d brought in to work with Trident. By the time he arrived back to where London had been sitting, the chair was empty. He left the conference room and took off down the hallway. He caught up with her at the elevator.
She glanced over at him. “Did I leave something in the conference room?” she asked, her voice droll.
“Unfortunately, it would appear you brought that attitude along with you.”
She kept her head facing the elevator, but Drew caught the smile playing at the corner of her mouth.
“Have your feelings about what Trident is doing changed at all after getting a closer look at what we’re up against?” he asked.
