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I turn around to leave not bothering to say goodbye.
PRISCILLA SPEAKS ABOUT ETHAN KNIGHT
BROOKE
Iwalk out of his office, leaving from another door of his massive office. Thankfully this exit leads to the main floor instead of Pricilla’s office. I don’t want her to see me as emotional or unprofessional. Right now, my face will betray those very emotions we work hard to hide at work. I walk towards the sanctuary of the elevator, looking forward to those few moments of privacy.
“Brooke, wait.” It’s Pricilla.
“Oh hi, I am sorry I did not see you on the way out…”
“Brooke, your interview transcript was discussed, and we discussed whether to hire you or not.”
“Thank you for hiring me.”
“I voted against you,” she says.
“Oh…” I am not sure what to say. My mind is still caught in the silliness of her Boss, our Boss Mr. Ethan Knight.
“But…” she says, eyeing me again from top to bottom, “Jessica, who is your team lead, was adamant that you had something. That you would bring change. We left the final decision to her. And here you are, meeting our C.E.O.”
“Why did you vote against my hiring?” I blurt out. Uneasy question but curiosity gets the better of me.
“Lack of experience, I thought the pressure of this place might be too much for you. But today you proved me wrong. We tested you with that fake handbag and you showed your stuff,” She points to her head, “and,” she gives me a knowing smile, “you have grit. In time you will learn to use it.”
Okay, that feels good. I must admit, her strength and poise had made an impression on me, and her compliment feels like a surge of strength.
“Was it rough in there with Mr. Grump?” She smiles. I have a feeling this was the real question why she started this conversation.
“Uh it was not the welcoming speech I was hoping for…” I say frankly.
“He has rough edges, but he is good on the inside.”
Oh really? Is this snobbish, cold-hearted clown a hexagon? Have I only discovered two sides with four more to go?
“Did you know that everyone in this company is a full-time employee with full benefits?”
“Yeah, I heard that on my onboarding.”
“Ethan Knight does not outsource any services. The security guards, the janitors, the maintenance workers who keep this building functional, all the designers, officers, technicians we are all full-time employees. When Elysian makes a profit, each of us gets a piece of the pie.”
“That is good,” I say, my mind goes to Alice at the front lobby. I am glad she is taken care of.
“The board members rebelled against him at the annual meeting because he was refusing to outsource maintenance and security to an outside firm that would have paid the employees half and reduced their health benefits. To save millions of dollars.”
“Do you know what he said to them?” she says, her eyes twinkling. “Very loudly, he said, you touch my people, and I will go to war against you…And trust me, when he is angry, he looks even taller. That was all he needed to say.”
“You were there,” I say judging by the way she tells me this story.
“I was proud to be there.” Without saying another word, she walks back to her office.
THE FIRST ASSIGNMENT
BROOKE
It has been three weeks since I last saw Ethan Knight. My mind shifts between the cold and dismissive way he treated our shared memory. How eager he is to forget what I had held as my favorite memory.
Then there are the words of his Admin Assistant Pricilla who sees him as some kind of defending hero, who stood up for his employees. Whoever he is, he makes me uncomfortable, like something unresolved. A rude mystery in progress. A very good-looking mystery, with a body I melted into.
