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Maddox smiles with humor that never reaches his eyes. “Good. You can keep your job.”
The boy breathes a visible sigh of relief, but then Maddox says, “It’s the rest of you that have to be worried now," and the tension ratchets right back up. His gaze scans the room without words, and I can feel a bead of sweat traveling down my back, despite the coolness.
“Terry,” Maddox says next, and a man a few seats down jumps. Then he clears his throat before answering.
"Yes?"
“Do you want to explain to me why the fuck we only pulled in three billion this month?”
“Um…the market is difficult this time of year." Terry gives a nervous laugh. "Plus, there's been a lot of new changes in the company and the current political climate…people are just not buying. It's especially becoming increasingly harder to sell commercial and that's what we specialize in."
"Terry."
"Yes?"
“I don’t give a fuck about that and you better give me an honest answer because even fucking Paulino pulled four billion and he barely knows how to wipe his own ass.”
I knew he was talking about Victor Paulino, owner of the other large real estate agency in the city. But the comment? I mean, I've only met Paulino once, but I've heard a lot about him and he's a competent agent, albeit a little snobby.
“Boss,” Terry's voice is pleading.
“Terry,” Maddox says mockingly in the same tone of voice a warning that is emphasized by his sharkish smile that just tells me he's about to devour someone alive. "You've been working for me for a decade now. Don't make me forget that."
Terry's expression morphs and then he hangs his head in shame.
“I guess we haven't been performing our jobs very well," Terry finally admits.
“Ding ding, we have a winner,” Maddox says, and I guess Terry gets to keep his job because he continues, “And isn’t that a damn shame. Because the only reason you're all here is because you're supposed to be good at your jobs. I hired you guys because you're the best. I’ve never given a damn what you do in your free time, never cared that Bob is an insufferable whiner with a dick the size of a pencil. Or Mr. I-love-my-wife Jim screws interns in his spare time. Or that collectively, you're all probably as likable as a damn toothpick."
Jim's-I’m guessing- gasp can be heard around the room.
“And I don’t give a damn about any of that. Y’all can be assholes on your own time, but when you’re on my clock, you’remyassholes. You’re going to produce and perform what I pay you for. And I don’t pay for number two. Got it?”
“Yes, sir,” they all chorus and it’s like watching kids in kindergarten being scolded by their parents. I’m pretty sure some more of them are going to pee their pants and I can’t help but feel bad for them. And annoyed at Maddox. I’ve never thought that intimidation is a good productivity tactic, and I definitely don’t think so now.
“Rosa J, Manny P, Evan R, and Katie W, you’re all fired for being irredeemably incompetent. All your junior agents are fired too. Numbers are just abysmal. Everyone else has about a month to completely double their commissions, otherwise, I’m going to be looking at a whole new agency.”
I can tell who the fired people are because they visibly pale at the words. One of them, an older lady, looks like she's about to burst into tears, but Maddox, the soulless bastard that he is, doesn’t seem to give a damn. Instead, he gets up like he’s about to leave, spots me, and turns back around.
“Oh yeah, I forgot one more thing. We have a new agent joining us today. Ava." He gestures at me to walk forward and when I do, he wraps his hand around my waist, pulling me to his side. I gasp both from the shock of the movement and the sensations, the feeling of his hand wrapping around my body. He’s large enough to span my entire waist with no problem and it's definitely not as small as it used to be.
“Ava is very special to me.” His voice is a low murmur now, with something resembling affection in his eyes. But I know it's not real affection because it's too hard, self-serving, and almost mocking.
But it's still a good imitation.
I remind myself that it's just for show but my heart thunders anyway. I look away from him. I understand he has to be convincing, but right now? In front of his employees? Is it really necessary that he does this here?
I glance behind me to find that people are staring at me, some with scorn and some with pure loathing. Even the faces that are carefully blank are hiding hostility. And I wouldn't blame them. A bunch of them just got chewed out and fired, and here I am, supposedly fraternizing with the boss.
No, this doesn't bode well for me at all.
“Treat her good,” Maddox concludes and releases me. He exits the room without asking me to follow him, unaware…or most likely uncaring that he’d just put a target on my back.
"Come on," Natasha says to the side of my face as she walks ahead of me. "I'll show you where you will be working."
Natasha then gives me the shortest and least informative tour I’ve ever had. It mostly consists of her asking me who I am and how I know the boss and when none of my answers are interesting enough for her, she simply sighs and shows me to my desk.
“He’ll email you when he needs you," is all she says before she leaves. I don't bother asking many questions, knowing that she'll probably be as unhelpful as possible. But that's fine. I’ve worked in hostile environments before, I know how to deal.
