When he arrived at work on the day of the presentation, Harry noticed that Mrs. Kowalski was still at the desk, and Veronica was nowhere within sight. He felt himself sink a little. It would have been nice to think he could have gotten a shot of confidence from her support that morning, but apparently he was on his own. When he said his good morning, and opened up the door to his office, though, he saw a steaming cup of coffee sitting on top of a checklist, along with a small memo. "R is going to surprise you with certain files. I might be able to cover. -V"
Harry grinned, before reaching into his desk and pulling out the final presentation notes and report to be photocopied, sitting within a manilla folder. He brought it out and handed it to Mrs. Kowalski, giving her the photocopying instructions for the meeting. He then walked back into the office, and took the customized box of files he'd made based on the previous day's research with Roger, and shoved it under his arm, and walked down the hall towards where the meetings were usually held, coffee in one hand, the box held in place against his hip by the other. When he got inside, he noticed that it was empty, and he began to set up for the meeting, rehearsing his presentation to himself as he took sips from his coffee, trying to quell the anxiety within him. Although he was sure he didn't need her help, part of him hoped that Veronica would show up a little early just for some reassurance, but when the first executives popped in for the meeting, he realized he was going to be on his own. Mrs. Kowalski showed up with the reports, and he circled the table to distribute them, and was settling the transparencies next to the projector when the stakes were suddenly raised.
"Hello there, Mr. Stevens," said Charles Nunberg, the chairman of the board, when he came in, walking up with a hand outstretched. Harry was a little surprised by the direct greeting, since it was the first time anybody higher than a vice president had spoken to him directly since he started working at the company, let alone shaken his hand.
"Hi there, Mr. Nunberg," Harry said, suddenly a little on edge. Mr. Nunberg was old enough to be his father, with a slightly portly look that might have been fat or the holdover of a lot of muscle, and considering the squeeze that handshake had put on him, it was probably the latter. He was an old man with a young face, and really nice grandfatherly eyes that almost made you comfortable, were it not for the fact that he still looked able enough to swim with the sharks. He looked like the classic business executive, the sort of man who reaked of power and benevolence and usually surrounded himself with pitbulls to take care of the nastier side of business for him.
"Oh, please. It's Charlie," Mr. Nunberg said with a chuckle. "We're a company of the new millenium! No need for unnecessary formalities here."
"Alright, uh... sir," Harry said, looking beyond the smiling executive to where the surly assistants were sitting in their full suits, appraising him. Mr. Nunberg laughed again, before turning to go to his seat at the head of the table, opposite from where Harry was going to do his presentation. Right before sitting down, though, he said, "Oh, and by the way, excellent hire on that Veronica of yours. An intrepid woman."
"Thank you, sir," Harry said as the executive sat down and began to mumble something incoherent to his assistant on the left. How did Veronica get a chance to meet with the chairman? He breathed in quickly and shook his head.
Never mind
, he thought,
the presentation, focus on the presentation
. He went back to where he'd set things up, and just then, Reg walked in with his secretary and Veronica in tow. Veronica quickly made a beeline for him.
"Hey stranger," Harry said, trying to talk through a smile as the room quieted down.
"I'm so sorry, Harry," she said, trying to compose herself. "He's got a surprise planned, I know it."
"Well, let's cross that bridge when we come to it," Harry said.
"I think it'll be okay," she said. "But Harry, really, I'm so sorry."
Harry smiled, and noticed that everyone was completely quiet, waiting for him to begin. He looked at Veronica, smiled and nodded, and she sat down next to him. He looked at the chairman, who nodded and waved a hand, beckoning him to begin.
"Uh, hi," Harry said. "I'm Harry Stevens from accounts management. I work under Reginald and am one of the agents for some of our small to mid-sized clients, and I'm here to talk about the problem that's been on some people's minds since the last quarterly report. I know that between that and the audit, there's an interest to try to make some changes that look good to investors, and I guess I'm here to give you my opinion on what strategy we should make. If I seem nervous, sorry, it's my first big project here."
He made a quick pause after the introduction, and prepared the first transparency. "Veronica, can you turn off the lights, please?" he asked, and she got up to do it, forcing a smile. He noticed that there was a look of concern in her eyes, and it was odd, because suddenly, despite his quick apology should he seem nervous, he didn't feel that way at all, and with each step of his case, he found himself growing more confident and forceful. He started by explaining the situation, that some clients of the smaller business variety were seemingly in danger of going into delinquency, but that while it might make sense to take a hardened collections stance on them, history had shown that many companies that fit this profile in the past usually made it through based on the merits of their business skill, and turned out to not only be able to pay their bills but continue to do business with their company long afterwards. He then explained how an analysis of the history of these companies showed that by having taken a lenient stance had actually encouraged them to be loyal to the company, to the tune of about a third of the company's profits over the last ten years, and that their recommendations had often brought in other companies, matching the same growth in that market as the company had seen with the bigger accounts with the corporate clients. As he spoke, he felt a strange power over the room, and they were turning pages in the report when he told them to, and transparencies seemed to move off and onto the projector in a surreal paperwork ballet. Even the assistants were paying more attention to the report, trying to keep up with his case, than they were to him. He was just about to settle into his home stretch when a cough sounded out.
"Uh, Harry, sorry to interrupt," Reg said, "I'm sorry, Mr. Nunberg, and others here, apparently Harry isn't up to speed with the large number of companies who've proven to be a liability in that same time period."
"Actually, I'm not there yet," Harry said, trying to maintain a smile. "I can address that concern in a minute."
"Thanks, but we've already heard the crux of your argument," Reg said. "Veronica, can you turn the lights on please?"
Veronica's face grew pale as she looked at Harry. Her eyes were imploring. To her surprise, Harry waved his hand and said, "I'll do it." He walked over to the wall and flicked the lights on.
At that moment, Reg leaned back and whispered something to his own secretary, who got up and began to circulate some new reports around the room. Reg then stood up from where he was sitting, and addressed the room. "Ladies and gentleman, it's important to note that over the years, our company has done business with a large number of companies who've gone belly up, and who accumulated further charges well beyond the point our collections process should allow, to the tune of several million dollars, and this is money that could have been saved had it not been for the laziness of those in accounts management who let these things slip on for far too long. By my figures, and I think these will be more complete than those of Mr. Stevens, we've lost 8 million dollars in our company's history to these clients in bad debt, with a full 4.5 million in preventable losses were we to have taken a harder stance-"
Harry felt a tiny explosion of excitement inside. "5.7 million," he said quickly.
"One second, Harry, you'll have a chance-" Reg began, before stalling. "What did you say?"
"It's actually 5.7 million," Harry said. "With total losses in just under 11 million."
Reg snorted. "You're, like, trying to make my case
for
