It was 8 pm on a Friday at the office of Hathaway Corporation in Mumbai. Alex, the senior Vice President, had just concluded a meeting with a major client, and it had not gone too well.
Last month, Vienna Holdings hired Hathaway Corporation for a consulting project for pulling the company out of potential bankruptcy. It had been around 28 days, and Hathaway had not concluded its financial research. For a project span of four months, Alex knew that his company was late.
After the meeting, Alex was sitting in this corner office with his hands on his forehead. He seemed lost and shook his head vigorously, unable to comprehend the turn of events. It had never happened in his 15 years stellar career that he could not deliver on time. And given the high stakes of this project, he could see himself losing his job if he didn't make amends.
Veronica was a new hire at Hathaway and reported to Alex. She had joined the firm six months ago and had been doing quite well. After setting the bar high, she was put into the Vienna Project and had played a crucial role from the project's beginning. Alex used to assign her research tasks and slide work, and she was on top of her job every time.
Except for this time, when she messed up, and Alex knew. It was evident from the meeting that she had not done her research correctly when she could not convincingly answer any of the client's questions. Alex was fuming as he knew what was at stake.
After the meeting, he dialed Veronica, "Hi, could you come to my office, please."
"Yes, I will be right there," replied a shaky voice.
There's a knock on the glass door.
"Can I come in?"
"Yes, please."
"I was just leaving. Is it something urgent?"
"Yes, it is. I would not have called you on a Friday evening had it not been urgent. Take a seat."
Alex was visibly angry and annoyed.
He asked her if she knew what had happened today. Sensing the tone, Veronica apologized and said that she would take care of her ends in the future. This did not convince Alex as he indicated Veronica to come over to his side of the table.
"What do you think have you put here on this slide? Did you even think it through?"
Veronica was apologizing profusely, and she did not know how to deal with the situation.
"Sorry, Alex, you're right. It should not have been there."
"You have just cost us our jobs. I don't think you should work here anymore. Please pack up your things."
Veronica could not take this. A fresh MBA out of college, she had loans to repay. She started sobbing.
"Please, I will make up for it." A tear rolled down her eyes down her cheeks as she begged Alex for her job. Alex seemed unmoved. He did not have any empathy left.
"I do not know what use you'll be to us."
Veronica was sobbing; tears were rolling down her eyes to her neck. Her shirt had patches of wetness because of them.
Alex took a glance at this, "Your shirt is getting wet. Please stop this crying. It is nothing personal."
Alex offered her a glass of water, "Please go and wash your face. I will wait here."
Veronica went out to the washroom.
Alex had not thought about work for the first time in the last few hours. Glancing at the wet shirt of a young girl had taken his mind off the job, and he had started thinking about his college girlfriend, who resembled Veronica to a great extent.
With a voluptuous body and tightly worn shirt, Veronica was popular in the firm. She had caught Alex's attention several times before joining his team.