Being left alone in my own office with the commanding, young black teenager was terrifying enough. She seemed so determined to get to the bottom of my failing business, and it was becoming even more intimidating for me.
In a million years, I would have never guessed that I would be placed into this type of a situation. Nor, would I have guessed that someone, like Alexis, would be taking over my staff in the manner she had been.
Alexis was just 18 years old, and here she was bossing around and directing seven older white women in their 40's and 50's. It seemed as if she had done this so easily, too, and in less than a months' time.
Now, she was directing her attention towards me.
I am quite sure that she could tell I was trembling with nervousness as she walked around my office. Casually, she began looking over the items on my book shelf. For me, it was a very tense moment. I couldn't figure out why I was so intimdated by such a young woman.
I sat there, simply clutching the arms of the large cushioned chair that Alexis had already anchored into place. It was right beside hers.
The young, black woman circled around my office in the most non-chalant of ways as she began to speak.
"You have questions for me, don't you?" she asked.
I was nervous and afraid to ask anything that might set her off again. Yet, somehow my curiosity and concern got the best of me. I needed to ask the questions that were running through my mind since the moment I walked in.
"Y-Yes, I do." I said softly and nervously.
I was beginning to get my voice back. I was frightened, yet I was also getting angry by the way she had been treating all of us. The things she was doing were completely incomprehensible to me at the time.
"What have you been doing?" I asked.
"Why are you being so mean?" I questioned.
"What did you do to Ginny, Beth, Tiffany, Cindy and the rest of my staff?" I asked, in a rather worried and unthinking tone.
Alexis simply strolled up to my side. Her close presence made me regret the tone I just used. Without hestitation, the young black woman grabbed the back of my long, blonde hair and arrogantly pulled my head back to her. She did this until my face was almost straight up and facing the ceiling.
She brought her beautiful face close to mine and began carressing the side of my cheek with one of her long, red fingernails.
"I told you." she began. "I told you that you needed a black woman in this office." she said.
The fear on my face had to be obvious. The petite black woman touched my face as if she was touching a pet. Suddenly, she squeezed the cheeks of my face firmly.
"It's called black dominance." she said.
"It means that a dumb white bitch, like you, will always submit to a black woman, like me." she explained.
Her tone of voice was more arrogant and commanding as she released my face from her firm grip and walked over to her seat behind my desk.
She propped her heeled feet up onto my desk, and crossed them at the ankles with her right foot over the left. They were set just off to the left side of my chair now, a mere six inches away.
"As far as the others go ... well, let's just say that I made them understand." she said.
The expression on this 18 year old woman's beautiful face was cocky, arrogant and all-knowing. It was the look of a cat who had just swallowed a canary.
"W-What do you want from me?" I asked, now more concerned.
Alexis Barron sat back comfortably into what was once my desk chair. She pulled the large blue binder from the desk and plopped it right upon her lap.
"We're going to go over your company portfolio and profit and loss reports line by line." she said.
"I am going to show you how much of an incompetent, dumb white bitch you are." she rudely said.
"But, we're also going to talk about the new contract for the business I brought in." she added.
She began flipping through the first pages of the PNL report as I sat there, in complete shock and awe. I was scared and embarrassed as she began to belittle me. The manner in which scolded me about the way I ran my business over the past two years was absolutely demoralizing.
Alexis was suddenly all business.
The young, black beauty chastised me for not watching the financials closely. She told me that my fixed costs were too high and that I had spent excessively on marketing strategies that were, what she said were "pathetic" and "idiotic."
She began going over the loan I had taken out for the business. Then, she began discussing the product lines and bottle designs of the perfumes.
Then, she discussed the salaries and how I never had been overpaying low talent white women who were more like secretaries than business coordinators.
For the next several hours, Alexis went over every detail of my company's profit and loss reports, line by line, and in the most excruciating detail.
The young black woman even pointed out that I had reported revenue to the IRS that were illegal.
My face was a crimson red from the total embarrassment that I felt. I was already tired from my long trip and now, after nearly 5 hours of being criticized for my imcompetent leadership, I began to grow weary.
I truly felt as if I was going to pass out from the humiliation. But, I did not know at that moment that this humiliation was just the beginning.
I had sat there listening to my new black employee for almost 5 hours. It was shocking how this teenaged woman was able to discover all the flaws in our business and marketing plans, and in such a short period of time.
In less than a month, Alexis Barron was able to point out all of my mistakes. She was able to secure control over a staff of older white women and get them working for her.
She was able to bring in new clients and open discussions with former clients. It wasn't just the newest account that I knew about from the time I left for Oslo ten days ago. There were also 4 other new clients, and her contact with a half dozen customeres that stopped purchasing from us 2 years ago were now talking to her about new business.
It was shocking to me.
The young black woman even pointed out all the mistakes I had made with my personal finances.
She made me feel so incompetent that I could hardly move. I sat there motionless and amazed by her focus and businesslike mind. It was demoralizingly obvious that she completely and totally outclassed me in every way.
Yet, this was still just the beginning of her discussions with me. She wasn't even close to being finished scolding and humiliating me.
Alexis told me we will now discuss the changes she had made while I was gone, and the future business plans she had developed.
"A-Alexis, please?" I pouted.
"Please. This is all too much. I am so tired. This is so embarrassing and I don't want to continue this." I said.
"I-I was thinking that I just want to shut the business down." I explained.
The 18 year old black woman looked back into my eyes, an amused but determined look began to trace her full lips.
"Sit back!" she ordered.
"I said sit back and don't move." she repeated the order.
Her angry tone frightened me. Timidly, I sat back into my chair and looked at the stern face of Alexis Barron. She moved her large executive desk chair to within inches of mine and scooted up to the very edge of her seat.
