Jack had to stay at the hospital overnight for observation, other than a few bruises and a black eye. He would be fine. It seemed Steven had decided to go to Withorp, another competitor. By the time I got home and undressed, the shit had hit the proverbial fan.
Within hours he had spilled his guts on most of the wrongdoings and secrets of the company. Even though it was late at night, most of the late-night news media had already aired the dirty laundry, including our CEO's mental illness.
"Well," I said, sitting down as the first of what I knew was many phone calls came through. "All good things," I said as I picked up my phone.
By the time the morning hit and I got out of bed, my phone had multiple messages. My email box was almost full. I had given up trying to put out the fire after two in the morning. Clients were leaving the company in droves.
"Morning," I said to the front office women, who regularly would be all smiles. Now their faces were full of dread, they knew the ship was sinking, and there was no miracle cure to save it.
Juliet looked at me as I entered. "All of them," she said.
I nodded, not expecting anything less. It happened overnight, but with all the stuff that had happened before last night, there was no reason for anyone to stay. "Take the rest of the day off," I shrugged. "I will go talk to Tim; I have no doubt..."
"He is my father," Juliet blurted out.
"Who?" I said, looking at her in shock. I knew who she meant, but the news hit me like a sledgehammer. "What?"
"I didn't know until three years ago," Juliet said. "My mother never told me anything about my father, then when she passed away, I was looking through her things, and I found a picture of the two of them."
Juliet sat down and told me how she contacted Tim and told him about her mother and the pictures. Tim never knew he had a child, let alone a daughter. He helped her with her career, and eventually, she landed the job with the firm.
"He put you with me, didn't he?" I said.
Juliet nodded. I shook my head. "I'm sorry, I should have told you."
"Yes, you should," I shouted back. "Well, his great plan fell to shit, didn't it?"
"You have to..." Juliet started to say.
"Forget it," I said as I stood up. "I tried, and I failed so," I walked towards the door.
Tim was in a meeting when I stormed into the room. "Now what?" I asked.
"We are talking about that," Tim said as he looked at me. "I think it is only fair if we..."
"What?" I asked as I sat down. "Sell the company?"
"No," Tim shook his head. "I was telling them if we fold and do not go after the clients for breach of contracts, we can give all our employees a half-year salary and recommendations if they need them."
Even in my angry state of mind, I had to admit that it was a fair deal. No lawsuits, no new bad media. We let everyone go and give them a well-deserved reimbursement. "You agree?" Tim asked.
"Yes," I nodded.
After the meeting, I approached Tim with what I was told. "Surprised she lasted this long," Tim said as he looked at me. "It wasn't my idea to keep it from you if that's what you are thinking," he said with a smile. "Juliet has a thing about using my name. She thinks it brings down her merit or makes people give her special treatment. You must understand before she met me, she thought she was alone, Juliet didn't know she had a stepbrother or a father. Juliet still likes to do things on her own."
"So, what was your plan with me?" I asked.
"Simple," Tim shrugged. "I needed someone outside the box. You were it."
"Because?"
"Surprise, you would even ask that question," Tim shook his head. "From the start, you have been plotting to get to this spot, to sit in one of these chairs and make changes, I just gave you a push in the right direction. Is that wrong?"
When he put it that way, how could I see any fault? "Juliet needed to be with someone that would push the envelope, and you needed someone that knew how things worked up here," Tim said with a smile. "I didn't plan on you doing so well, that one of our own would turn on us, but that's the nature of the beast."
"So, what are you going to do?" I asked.
"What I have always wanted to do," Tim said, standing up. "Close the doors on this company for good, even when my father had it, he knew it wasn't going to last, too many old ideas, it would have never survived without drastic changes."
I nodded.
"What about you?" Tim asked.
"I will land on my feet," I nodded. "Thanks for the opportunity."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Tim announced to the whole company that they would be getting a fair reimbursement and letters of recommendation if they needed it. This went over well; he also addressed the media and told them that all the rumors were true. For too long, the company that he owned had unfair dealings with outside sources as well as sharing information about their clients with third parties.
He further announced that all clients that left would not be under contract to pay anything for breaking the contract earlier, and if they wanted to sue, there would be no push back from the company as they were in the wrong. When asked for the names of the people under him who did most of the shady work, Tim answered that it was behind them, and the company was under his leadership, and he was at fault.
Most of the notable clients quickly responded that they would not be filing if they were able to get all of their accounts out of the company as soon as possible. For the last week that the partners worked, we quickly resolved any accounts, making sure they were happy with the speed we let go of all their dealings.
"That's the last," Jack said as he entered my office.
"Yup," I nodded, making sure every account was out of the system.
"It was nice working with you," Jack said as he offered his hand.
"You're still a bad liar," I said, shaking his hand. "But if it buries the so-called hatchet, it was good working with you also."
"What's your plans?" Jack asked as he sat down on the couch.
"I am going to let all this boil down before I look for anything," I said as I looked at him. "Within a month or so, there will be some new scandal, something new for people to sink their teeth into, then all this will be behind us."
Jack nodded. "I agree," he said as he looked at me.
"You should take your wife on a cruise or some getaway," I said, looking at him. "You've put her through a lot these past years."
Jack looked at me as if he wanted to tear my throat out, but then he smiled. "You're right," he nodded. "Maybe it's what our marriage needs, a break from all of this, mess."
We shook hands one more time and went our separate ways, as I watched him get onto the elevator something told me I wouldn't see him again.
I went upstairs to Tim that everyone had left, and the building had been put up for sale. It was weird, walking through the halls and across the floor with no one around. Even though it was the middle of the day, it felt odd. "Everybody is out," I said, peeking my head into his large house/office.
"He left," Juliet said as she looked back at me.
"Okay," I said as I walked back down the hall.
"You still mad at me?" Juliet said as she caught up with me.
"Shouldn't I be?" I replied.
"We made a good team, didn't we?" Juliet asked.
"Yes," I nodded.
"Well then," Juliet stopped. "Thank you for the opportunity of working with you."
"Thank you for all the knowledge you gave me," I said.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~
Three months passed in a blink of an eye. I thought that all the bad publicity would have passed, but like a bad smell, it lingered. Most of the others had found work. Multiple companies had called me for recommendations for people that worked at the lower levels, including Candice, who got a job at a law firm.
I, on the other hand, had no luck. The moment I put my application in, they looked at the previous employer and immediately gave me the "don't call us, we will call you," line which I knew meant they wouldn't call.
