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I think I’ve found the perfect replacement for Doreen.
Miles’
That’s it? That’s all he’s going to give me? I know he’s expecting a tit-for-tat… that I’ll reply, asking for more information and he’ll drip feed it back to me, like this is some kind of game. Except it isn’t.
I grab my phone as I stand and put it into my back pocket, heading for the door.
Doreen is sitting at her desk, and she looks up as I come out, raising her eyebrows.
“I’ll be back in a minute.”
She nods and returns to typing, while I walk out of her office and down the hall, turning the corner at the end, by-passing the stairs and the elevators, and moving a little further along, knocking on the third door on the left. I barely wait for Miles to say, “Come in,” before I push open the door and try not to smile as he sits back in surprise, his eyes darting up from his computer screen and his mouth popping open.
“Expecting an email, were you?”
“Well… um…”
I move further into the room, closing the door behind me and stand opposite him, using my height to full advantage. “You think you’ve found a replacement for Doreen?”
“Yes… I…” He’s flustered, and while I don’t normally like making people feel uncomfortable, I can’t help making an exception in his case.
“Tell me about her… assuming it’s a woman.”
He taps on his keyboard a couple of times. “Oh, it’s a woman,” he says, his confidence returning, along with his smile. “Her name is Livia Hopkins. She’s twenty-one, and…”
“And, let me guess, she’s beautiful?”
Miles is a couple of years younger than me, and for some reason, my father appointed him head of HR not long before his cancer diagnosis. In my opinion, that was a big mistake, but I wasn’t here then to give an opinion on the matter, and even if I had been, Dad wouldn’t have listened to me. The problem is that Miles has a reputation with women, and while my own track record makes it impossible for me to criticize, I’ve heard rumors about the way he talks to some of the female employees, and the way he behaves around them, too. All the while they’re only rumors, there’s nothing I can do, though… and I think he knows it.
He doesn’t need to answer my question, and I can tell he doesn’t intend to, in case he incriminates himself. Instead, he just smiles. To me, that seems like the perfect reason not to employ Livia Hopkins, just to keep her out of his clutches.
“Have you only got the one candidate?” I ask.
“Yes. I’ve interviewed five others…”
“This is news to me.”
“I know, but I didn’t tell you about them, because they all needed to give at least three months’ notice to their current employers.”
“And Livia Hopkins doesn’t?”
“No.”
“Is she even employed?”
“Yes. She’s working as the PA to the CFO of a robotics company, and has been for around six months. She’s qualified to do the job, Hunter.”
I’m not sure he’s qualified to judge, but I can see the problem. It’s the one we always knew we’d have… namely, finding someone who can fill the position within such a short time-frame.
“Okay. I need to see her sooner rather than later.” If she doesn’t fit the bill, I’ll have to give Miles more time to find someone else, and if she does, the earlier she can start, the better. It’ll give Doreen at least a few days to hand over the reins.
“She said she can fit in with your schedule.” He looks up at me, tilting his head expectantly, and I pull out my phone, going to my calendar.
“I’m slammed with meetings later in the week, but I’m free for most of tomorrow. Do you think she’ll be able to manage that?”
He shrugs his shoulders. “There’s only one way to find out.”
“Okay… well, the morning would be better for me, but if it has to be in the afternoon, I can work around it.”
