Delayed Reaction

"She's really that good," I assured him. "Check with anyone, particularly our G.M.s and key clients. She's that good and more."

I was a bit pissed off with Wray that he would insinuate that I was influenced by her looks and not her talent. I had been extremely careful when I wrote the review to back it up with fact, and proven fact at that. I also knew that a couple of Wray Henderson's colleagues had encountered Siobhan Mulcahy and had come away impressed. When he put her review before the salary committee, I was pretty confident that there wasn't going to be any legitimate dissent.

"I'd like to have a talk with her then, Cam. I'd like to get to know this wonder girl a little better. I'll let you know when, but it'll be before I take this to the salary committee."

The salary committee was comprised of John Hoffer, Wray Henderson, Clarence Woolfolk and Lynda Powell, VP of Finance. I would be expected to join the committee next year.

I nodded. I couldn't very well object, but I didn't like the idea that he didn't trust my evaluation. That was something I was going to have to find a way to deal with. I'd had no such problem when I submitted my reviews of the various operations managers at the branches. Why now with Siobhan?

I called her into the office. I couldn't let her be blindsided by Wrayton Henderson.

"Wray has asked to meet with you," I said as she sat in front of me.

"Why?" She was clearly curious as I expected she would be.

"I suspect it's because of your six month review. I submitted it to him today in advance of the salary committee meeting."

"Is it a poor review?" she asked, now clearly worried.

"Hell no. It's graded Outstanding ... as it should be. I think he's suspicious that I might be overstating your case."

"Are you? I didn't expect to fail, but I wasn't expecting Outstanding, either."

"Why not. You're everything I want and need in a personal assistant. You've learned what's required very rapidly, you work extremely well with our staff, field people and our customers. You're hyper-organized and ... well ... you get the picture. I have no complaints whatsoever about your performance. I couldn't think of a single thing I could recommend that you work on to improve."

She sat quietly, saying nothing as she absorbed my comments.

"Are you sure that's accurate?" she asked at length.

"Can you think of an area that you are deficient? Can you name something I can help you with that will improve what you are doing?"

"Yes, of course. I still have a lot to learn. I'm still learning about our products and who our customers are. I've only just scratched the surface as far as Emerald is concerned."

"Siobhan, you've only been here six months. I didn't expect you to be an expert on this business in that little time. What I'm grading you on is how you've performed in that very short period when everything was new to you. Six months from now I will have different criteria to judge you by."

"I'm grateful for your high opinion of me, but I guess I have to say that it hasn't been hard to get accustomed to working with you. You make it very easy for me. Your orders are direct and straightforward. We've worked closely enough that I can almost anticipate what you want some of the time. I'm learning quickly because I get a lot of feedback from you and the other people I work with."

"That's the way it should be," I said with a smile. "I don't want you to worry about talking to Wray. He's not a bad guy to work for and I think he's just surprised that you've come this far this fast. Maybe he wants to satisfy himself that I'm not pushing you too far too fast. Anyway, don't be worried. I wouldn't change a word of my review and I doubt if I'll be asked to."

"Thank you, Cam. I really appreciate that. I like working here and I want to do a good job. Just promise me you'll tell me if I'm not doing what you expect from me."

I smiled again. "That's a promise."

True to his word, Wray called Siobhan and asked her to come to his office at three that afternoon. It was a nervous young woman who left for a walk down the hallway to his office. I watched her go, hoping that Wray did nothing to discourage or upset her.

When I left the office that afternoon, Siobhan still hadn't returned from her meeting with Wray Henderson. I toyed with the idea of waiting for her, but I had an appointment with my dentist at four-fifteen and I didn't want to be late. I left wondering what would take them so long in that meeting.

Chapter 3 A Difference of Opinion

When I arrived the following morning, Siobhan was no where to be found. That was unusual. She and I were almost like clockwork arriving at seven. There was no note on my desk and nothing on my voice mail. I thought of calling her at home but decided not to. She might be ill or maybe just had slept in for the first time.

She arrived at the office just before eight, walking in and hanging up her light spring coat before seating herself at her desk. She didn't acknowledge me or say good morning. She just sat, looking at her laptop screen, probably reviewing her schedule. I waited a few minutes before I went out to her desk.

"Good morning," I said, pouring myself a coffee.

"Morning," she mumbled, not looking at me.

Nothing about her behaviour was normal. I didn't like the look of this and I decided I'd better try and get to the bottom of it right away. "When you have a free moment, come in and see me please," I requested, turning back to my desk.

She didn't respond verbally, but a moment later she followed me into the office and sat in her customary chair at the front corner of my desk.

I looked at her carefully, noting an almost vacant look about her that wasn't normal.

"What's wrong?" Might as well get to the point right away I thought.

"Nothing."

"Sorry. That doesn't fly. In the six months that you've been here you've never come to work at this time and you've never been anything but bright and upbeat. So ... what's wrong?"

She shook her head. "Nothing, Sir. I'm just a little tired I guess."

"Sir? Since when did I become Sir?"

She looked up at me and she seemed to be on the verge of tears. I got up and walked to my door, closing it before returning to my desk.

"Talk to me, Siobhan. What happened yesterday afternoon. That's what this is about, isn't it?" I was taking a quick guess but her reaction and the look on her face told me I'd hit the bullseye.

"He ... he ... didn't believe your performance report. He said I hadn't been here long enough to rate Outstanding."

"That's it? That's all?"

"No. He asked a bunch of personal questions."

"What kind of personal questions?"

"Who I was dating? Who was I going out with? He ... he was insinuating that you and I ... that we were ... sleeping together."

"Son of a bitch!" I hollered, slamming my hand down on my desk. "He accused you of sleeping with me to get a good review, is that the gist of it?"

She nodded, her head bowed and looking at the desk and not me.

"God damn him anyway. He has no right to accuse you of that. He is way out of bounds and he's going to hear it from me," I spat.

"No ... please Cam, don't make it worse. I denied everything but I can't prove it. You know the truth, but he's just jumping to conclusions."

"Listen, Siobhan, I can't let him talk to you this way. He's violated a very clearly written and firm policy and I've got to call him on it. It isn't optional. He just can't do this."

"But you'll get fired, or get a bad review. He's your boss. I don't want to lose my job either. Why don't we just leave it and let it go, Cam. It's over with. He's not going to change your review, so it won't hurt me."

"That goes against everything I believe in. If we let him get away with it this time, there'll be a next time. Maybe not the same thing, but he won't worry about my calling him on it. Who knows? When my review comes up, he may try the same thing on me. I'm sorry, but I'm going to have a very firm but polite discussion with Wrayton Henderson about your meeting with him yesterday and he is going to understand in no uncertain terms that he was out of line. Way out of line."

Now Siobhan was in tears. I guessed she hadn't had much sleep last night and for that I was equally angry with Wray. The last thing on my mind was job security. I had enough confidence in myself to find another job, even if it wasn't as good as this one. As far as Siobhan went, I was sure she could get a job in a flash with one of our customers based solely on their contact with her. No, this was not the time to worry about our employment future.

I picked up the phone and called Wray's secretary.

"Donna, I'd like to see Wray as soon as possible, please."

"Sorry, Cam. He's tied up for the day," she replied a little uncomfortably.

"Is he out of the office?"

"No ... he's here."

"Is there someone with him?"

"No ... no one," she answered clearly and distinctly.

"Donna, would you please tell Wray that if I'm unable to see him in the next hour, I'll see John Hoffer instead."

"I'll tell him right away, Cam," she said. I wasn't sure what I was hearing in her voice, but it wasn't worry. Considering I'd just threatened to go over him to the CEO, I thought that might cause some concern.

She called me back five minutes later.

"He'll see you at nine-thirty, Cam."

"Thank you, Donna. I appreciate your help."

"You're welcome, Cam ... and good luck."

Why did I think Donna knew more than she was revealing? Had she heard what was going on in Wray's office yesterday afternoon?

"Was Donna still there when you left Wray's office yesterday?"

"Yes, I think so. I wasn't really paying much attention. I was upset."

"I'm sure you were. Well, I'll deal with this when I see Wray in a few minutes."

"Please be careful, Cam. I really need this job."

"You aren't going to lose your job, Siobhan. If anyone's in danger it's Wray. He's opened himself up to a lawsuit just having that conversation with you."

"But it's 'he said, she said," she said, showing a good command of logic.

"Yeah, but these accusations don't come out of thin air. Someone would want to know why you were in that office in the first place. You report to me. And since the performance review was rated outstanding, what motive would you have to lie? You had nothing to gain. Nope ... this one is not going any further unless he does something stupid."

She looked distraught and I could understand it.

"What's on our schedule today?" I asked.

"Mostly updating the costs on the regional shipments for your planning review."

"Okay, that's nice boring work for both of us. Why don't you get started while I'm down the hall with Wray? You know what I'm looking for, so you can go ahead and I'll catch up when I get back."

"All right," she said without enthusiasm.

"Siobhan, this is an order. Cheer up!" I grinned.

She tried. She really did, but I was sure it wasn't going to last until I came back from my meeting with Wray in one piece and still holding a job.

"Come in, Cam. I'm very busy so I can't give you much time. What is it you want?"

"I think you know perfectly well why I'm here. I have a young woman in my office who is extremely upset at the nature of your meeting with her yesterday afternoon. More to the point, you made an accusation that she and I were intimate.

"You know and I know that is out of line. You didn't have an H.R. person with you and you didn't have a shred of evidence to support your accusation. I won't put up with that, Wray. You were out of line and you owe her an apology ... in writing."

"Who the hell do you think you're talking to, Cam? You may be the golden boy around her, but insubordination is still cause for dismissal."

"Should we take this discussion to John then?"

"Of course not. I may have said something that your girl misconstrued as improper, but in no way did I act improperly."

"Well, I guess that's open to interpretation. Let me tell you that Siobhan's interpretation was that you accused her of sleeping her way to an Outstanding level review. She's not prone to exaggeration and you seldom mince your words. At this point, I'm taking her word for it."

"That girl is wrong. I made no such accusation. We had a private talk and I might have asked her a couple of personal questions, but I did not make any accusations of any kind. Now this issue is closed. I won't do anything to downgrade her review, but as far as this tempest in a tea pot is concerned, I do not want to listen to any more of it."

"Wray, I think you made a mistake with Siobhan. I would hope you recognize it and don't ignore what I said or how I feel about it. I still think you owe her an apology."

He had finally cooled down from his "high horse" posture a few minutes ago.

"I'll give it some thought," he said sullenly.

I nodded and left without another word. I looked at Donna and she was smiling at me for some reason. She must have heard some of the heated exchange between her boss and me. She got up and walked to the hall with me.

"Well done, Cam. I'm proud of you. That poor girl was in tears when she left his office yesterday. He can be a real asshole sometimes. I'll stop by later and let her know everything's going to be fine."

"Thank you, Donna. She'll be very happy to have you on her side."

I walked the short distance back to our office and saw Siobhan anxiously waiting for me.

"Relax," I smiled reassuringly. "We're both still employed."

She let a sigh out that sounded like she'd been holding her breath for hours. In fact I'd only been gone ten minutes.

"I asked him to give you an apology and made it clear how unhappy I was with his comments to you. He denied suggesting what you heard, but I had him cornered and when I threatened to take it to John Hoffer, he quickly backed up."

"Did you really say that ... I mean about John?"

"Yes ... and I meant it. You'll also find you have an ally in Donna Witherspoon. She was really happy that I confronted him after what he put you through yesterday. I gather she doesn't have a high opinion of Wray. I have to say, mine has dropped considerably today."

"Thank you, Cam. I hope this hasn't hurt your chances here. After all, he is your boss and he does have a lot of say in the board room."

"Well, in the five minutes I've had to think about it, I'm not worried. The one nice thing about Operations is that it is measurable. When we do something, we can measure the result. And results speak for themselves. Overall, this department is the shining star around here, and you're part of it.

I could see Siobhan cheer up as I spoke. The crisis was over and done with. We could go back to doing our jobs and not worry about it. Wray wouldn't dare downgrade her review now.

Siobhan's review passed through uncontested and she received a well deserved raise in pay. I could see the satisfaction that it brought her. She was being told that she was doing an outstanding job and the proof was on the paycheck. What she didn't receive was an apology from Wray. I toyed with the idea of going after my boss again, but decided to let it lie. I'd made my point and I was sure Wray hadn't forgotten it.

After our little drama in May, things settled down and I was able to resume at least civil relations with Wray. Neither of us had cause to mention the incident again, but it was in the back of my mind that he would bear watching around the female staff.

Doogie and I would find a way to meet after work on Fridays about twice a month. Usually, we'd have just one beer or in his case, a Scotch. It was a way for me to informally stay in touch with marketing. I had invited Siobhan to join us more than once, but she declined. I suspected she thought it was a men-only environment and wouldn't be comfortable. I know Donna invited her to join the girls after work and on occasion she did stop in with them. Donna told me that my assistant was very well liked by the other women and that was good to hear.

"Getting ready for your plan for next year, Doogie?"

"Yeah. The troops are getting nervous about the Chinese again. They're starting to show some signs of being interested in our slice of the market. We're waiting for the first assault."

"Well, I'm looking at any way we can reduce our costs," I said. "That includes maybe closing some distribution points and consolidating our shipping. It isn't the only solution, but it's on the table again."

"Did I tell you about the bloke I talked to about China a couple of weeks ago?" Doogie said out of the blue.

"Not that I recall."

"I was on my way to Montreal and this geezer sitting next to me had just got off an Air China flight from Beijing and was on his way home. We got to chatting and he starts to tell me about his strategy to compete with the Chinese. Anyway, he isn't really competing with them. He's just come back from signing a joint venture with them to produce some kind of parts that he will buy and assemble in Quebec. I forgot what they were. Some kind of machine gears or something.

"Anyway, he was about to get a right thrashing from the Chinese if he didn't do something, so he buggered off to Beijing to talk to the government gits about finding someone to make parts for his company. Shit, they opened the bleedin' door for him. Put him in touch with three or four manufacturers and nearly paved the flippin' road for him. They're also negotiating fully assembled components for some of the cheaper items.

"Well, it got me to thinkin' about it. Could we do something like that? You know, maybe get parts made in China and assemble them here? That should help make us more competitive don't you think?"

"Yeah ... it might at that. We'd have to think about how we wanted to do it, but it's a strategy all right. The thing is, we'd have to set the specifications and standards and make sure they could meet them all the time. We'd get killed if they sent us poor or inconsistent quality."

"No doubt about that," he agreed, "but from what I hear, they're gearing up to improve their quality right across the board. They know they've got to be spot on in the technology stuff."

I took a sip of my beer as I thought about his suggestion.

"Doogie, would you be willing to work with me to put a presentation together on the concept. I can't run some of the numbers without costs, but it's the concept I want to explore. We're buying a fair amount of components from outside suppliers now, so we know what those costs are. We might not have enough time to seek out Chinese suppliers and vet them for quality, but we can at least get started. There's a trade commission office in town we can meet with too."

"I'd love to," he said strongly. "Be a damn sight better than the doom and gloom of worrying about what's to come."

"That's my thinking too. It's going to be a joint venture for us too, Doogie. It's got to work for marketing as well as manufacturing."

"I like the way you think, Cameron. Let's do it. What can I do to get started?"

"Can you get me some examples of Chinese equipment already in the market? We need to have a look and see what their strengths and weaknesses are. We should have done this a while ago, but I guess we didn't really take them seriously until lately. Talk to your guys, too. Get their opinions. They may have some ideas as well."

"I'll get on it Monday morning, sharpish."

When I arrived Monday morning, Siobhan was at her desk as usual.

"Good morning. Can I see you in my office when you're free?" I asked.

"I'm never free, but always available," she giggled.

"You're in a good mood this morning. Have a hot date this weekend?"

"No," she said emphatically. "Sassy phoned me and told me about your conversation with Doogie."

"How the hell can we get involved with people who call themselves Sassy and Doogie. They sound like cartoon characters. Anyway, since you two are now BFFs, what did she have to say?"