HADASSAH (Episode 6)

She was genuinely grateful to be left alone to sleep, but in another corner of her heart, she was hurt that he wouldn’t let her be in the meeting that she set up, and also cut her sleep for.

               “Always not wanting me to have anything to do with cogent company matters. As a PA! Very preposterous!” she grumbled to herself as she slid back to bed.

               “What was that?” Mr Adrien asked, and she was startled. She wasn’t aware she didn’t leave the meeting. She sprinted to her table and left the meeting abruptly without a word as she covered her mouth in regret.

               “Once again, I apologize for this impromptu meeting. The faster I get a reply, the quicker we leave the meeting.” Mr Adrien declared, and he waited for a response before proceeding to the reason for the meeting. He got several “Okay sirs” before he continued.

               “I couldn’t sleep since I arrived from the airport. We spent loads of time in the air, and no matter what I did, I didn’t get sleep. But then, there’s a matter having a field day in my head. If I decide to want to repay someone for the goodwill shown towards this company, and most especially, my life, what do you think I should do for such a person?”

               “Gift the person some amount of money,” someone suggested.

               “No, I want something more valuable”

               “Money is valuable sir”

               “I mean I want something tangible that the person will always remember and appreciate. I do not want to do something that would vanish from his memory in some week’s time or even days”

               “Does he work in the company, sir?” Hank asked after a long silence as everyone was trying to think.

               “Yes he does,” Mr Adrien replied and there was silence again.

Hank thought he was probably the one on the boss’ mind as he had done some restructuring since he was made the MD, and gave the boss some life-saving hacks. That was one of the reasons he got promoted though.

               “Err, I was thinking. How about increasing his salary by say fifty percent, promoting him, maybe even give him shares of about five percent, and making him partner,” he suggested and smiled.

Others in the meeting started to grumble wondering why the person had to enjoy so many privileges without even taking a bullet for the boss or giving him a kidney.

               Mr Adrien shook his head, “Nah. Making him partner is doing too much. I think I’d go with the salary raise and promotion. If he is promoted, his salary definitely will increase, and maybe I’ll add a little something like an apartment and a nice ride.”

               “That too is nice.”

               “Who recalls the Terrence and Big Ben incidence?” Mr Adrien asked, and they all looked lost.

               “Nobody?”

               “I do sir. It was a big shocker then.” The HRM replied.

               “Good. Now what I do not recollect is who exactly reported the incidence.”

               “It was your PA sir,” another replied and it seemed they were starting to recall the incident.

               “No, she wasn’t.”

               “She was sir”

               “I’m aware of that but, she wasn’t exactly the one who found out,” Mr Adrien said convincingly.

Hank and a handful of them were in darkness. They had heard about the incident. It was on everyone’s lips in the office. However, there wasn’t a disclosure of the name of the person who revealed the evil plot. The topic was more on why the two guys did what they did.

               ”Sir, why don’t you just ask her instead? She is your PA,”

               “I am also aware of that. You all are also aware that she only handles what I ask her to handle, and nothing more. I do not discuss the company’s matter with her.” Mr Adrien replied, obviously offended.

               “I’m sorry.”

               “It’s Michael sir. Mr Michael.” A senior manager replied.

               “Who is he?”

               “He is one of the junior staff sir. He took the position Terrence left. He is probably related to Ha…” the senior manager continued but she was interrupted.

               “That’s beautiful! Now, you, the HR and the MD see to it that he gets everything I said he should get. A promotion, a nice apartment, and a car. Let me know when it’s done. Also, it has to be done ASAP! No over-promotion, please. Only give him what he can handle.” Mr Adrien said, and there was silence.

               “I believe I’ve made myself clear?” he asked.

               “Yes. Yes, you have sir.”

               “Understood.”

               “That’s all. The meeting is over. Goodnight. Don’t be late to work,” with these words being said, Mr Adrien left the meeting, and he immediately felt light and sleepy.

               “But he is part of those to be laid off by the end of the month,” one said. They were all still in the meeting, even after Mr Adrien had left.

               “How sure are you?”

               “Didn’t you hear when Fisayo said he’s a junior staff?”

               “Erm, that would be Mrs Fisayo to you,” the lady who gave the name of Michael said, obviously offended being called her first name. She was the one who informed Hadassah of the sack letter going about in the company.

               “I suggest we all retire to bed. Tomorrow’s going to be hectic as Mr Adrien is back from his work trip, and that spells work for us!” someone said.

               “Why would he want to suddenly promote someone who's on the verge of being sacked because of his qualification?” another asked. At the time, quite a number of them had left the meeting.

               “You should have asked him before he left the meeting,” another said and left, leaving four people, Hank, Mrs Fisayo, the HR and one other head of department.

               “I guess we have to meet tomorrow at lunch break, so we can get this done and over with.” The HR said and left the meeting. Mrs Fisayo also left, leaving Hank, and another person, who had fallen asleep.

Hank couldn’t understand why Mr Adrien would want to promote someone who is about to be sacked. Let alone the person being the individual he hated the most. Not to mention the fact that he is part of the committee planning for Michael’s progress. It dawned on him that if Mr Adrien found out he was going to be laid off, there’s an eighty percent chance he’d be retained, and that would probably be unfair on the others, and the boss might just decide to stop the people massacre by returning their jobs to them. He had to do something about it very fast.

The next day at the office, he was on another conference call with his wife and friends explaining to them the new development.

               “That’s serious,” his wife said.

               “What do you intend to do about it?” his friend asked.

               “What do I intend to do? Hmm. As we speak, the guy is on his way to check his house… in his new car!” Hank replied dejectedly.

               “What?”

               “That fast?”

               “Twas the boss’ orders, and since money is not a problem, it happened in a flash. Zara, you know why I left home in a hurry this morning?”

               “No. I was surprised you left so early”

               “Fisayo had already made arrangements for the car, and she asked me to check it on my way to work. I mean, I’m higher in rank than she is, and she actually ordered me to pick the car up. I couldn’t decline. It was like I was being remote-controlled. She and the HR had to go check the house as well. I… I just can’t wrap my head around it.” Hank explained, sounding like he is bereaved.

               “You cannot let this fester longer. You can still salvage the situation, and do something about it,” the other friend said.

               “How about what we discussed the other time?” his wife asked.

               “Trust me, I have the document already. I’m staring at it right now, but I don’t even know anymore,” Hank replied, wiping the balls of sweat that had formed on his forehead.

               “That’s all you need. With that, you can bring him down in at the snap of a finger, and he wouldn’t even remember he was just given a house or a car,”

               “Yes, but…” Hank was about to reply when his intercom rang.