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“No, he didn’t say anything, not to me. You don’t think he wants to date you or something, do you?”
“No, Marcie, I don’t. I’m married. Don’t jump to some conclusion and mention it at work.”
“Oh, I won’t. It’s just, well, I think there are some women at work who would love to date him…even if he is scary.”
“He’s not scary. He’s focused. Tell Emily I’ll be home in two hours max. If she’s tired, let her sleep.”
“Will do. Tell me all about it?
“I’ll clue you in. Goodbye, Marcie.”
“Byeeee.”
I killed the connection, wondering just what the mysterious Codrin had in mind. Why did he need to talk to me in person? Why the mystery? I was busy putting my department back in order. I didn’t need drama. That was for movies. I pushed Codrin out of my head. I needed to talk to the techies.
I was on the phone when Codrin knocked and entered. He stopped when he saw me, and I held up one finger. No smile, no real warmth, just that magnetic pull. He was a walking dynamo. As soon as I ended the conversation, He came forward.
“All right, Mr. Mystery, what’s so important? And don’t tell me Emily beat you at checkers or something.”
He almost chuckled, which I took as a compliment. “Of course, she won. She cheats.”
I laughed. “Someday, I’ll have to stop her from doing that.”
“I’m sure you will. She’ll turn out just like her mother, and that’s a good thing.”
I rolled my eyes. “Right. Well, what brings you here at this hour?”
“Work, believe it or not. I know I sounded a bit over the top, but I didn’t want to talk over the phone or in front of your aide. I have been tasked to evaluate a possible acquisition of a financial institution in Indianapolis. I need someone with HR experience to help me evaluate the personnel.”
“And you’re thinking of me?”
“For several reasons. One, you’re very good at your job. You won’t be fooled when you conduct the necessary interviews. You know all the laws and rules, and you won’t make mistakes that lead to lawsuits. Two, you know how to keep things to yourself. This is a very quiet acquisition. We do not wish to affect the stock positions of either entity. Three, since you’re new, you won’t bring unnecessary baggage to the effort. Others would be territorial and try to protect their fiefdoms.”
“Gee, I didn’t realize I had so many attractive qualities.”
He smiled. “More than you know.”
I blushed and avoided the obvious compliment. “What does this project entail?”
“I realize you have a daughter that needs her mother. After all, she’s new to Evanston and everything. So, I’m proposing that you spend one week in Indianapolis. The strategy is to avoid the top-level executives, as they will be replaced. The lowest-level employees will probably be retained, so you don’t need to vet them too closely. It’s the middle managers that we wish to rate and retain. They hold most of the most valuable experience and are the hardest to replace.”
“One week to do all that?”
“No, the first week is for overview. We can discuss the exact tasks later, but I would like you to walk through the personnel systems and compare them to our own. Who knows, they might have a better department that we would acquire and maintain.”
“That would still take longer than a week.”
“I know, but once you have unfettered access, you can come home and work from your office or your house. I don’t care. You can pick the site that offers the most free time and security. I think you can acquire all the personnel files you need and review them from here.”
“You’ve thought about this a bit, haven’t you?”
“You’re one very valuable piece of the puzzle. I won’t sugarcoat this. It means long, hard days and evenings. Obviously, time is important. Once the word gets out, and it will, all manner of lawyers and reporters will leap into the swirling waters. Indianapolis will not like losing a valuable asset, although, for all intents and purposes, the greater part of the assets will remain there. The board of directors hasn’t signed up yet. Only top management is involved at this point.”
“They’re going to know something is in the works as soon as I arrive there.”
“Yes, but they don’t have a need to know everything. And you won’t be alone. I have the VP of trusts doing analysis, as well as the VPs of Operations and IT. We’ll be a team, a well-staffed, fast-working team.”
I studied Codrin, wondering just how much he was holding back. Sure, I was VP of HR, but there were probably half a dozen people in my organization who knew more about the bank than I did. I hoped I wasn’t being set up for some sort of failure. When the acquisition come crashing down, and there was a good chance of that, I would be one of the scapegoats.
