Dismissed by the Missus

Dismissed by the Missus

I'm fascinated by stories where a powerful wife (e.g., CEO, boss, etc.) fires her husband when both work at the same place. Better authors than me have tackled the subject, most notably qhml1's "Let go" (https://www.literotica.com/s/let-go-6) and BigGuy33's "You're Fired!" (https://www.literotica.com/s/youre-fired). Neither of these stories were based on infidelity, but rather job performance, and I highly recommend both to anyone interested in the balancing of marital and professional power between spouses. I decided to take a stab at such a situation.

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I sat in one of the plush guest chairs opposite the imposing desk of our company's CEO, Gabriella Forte. I had been sitting alone in the large, opulent office waiting for Ms. Forte to arrive. I was told by her secretary that she would be along shortly. I looked around at the lavish furnishings and numerous framed pieces of artwork and photographs. Many of the photographs were pictures of Gabriella meeting with famous and important business people and politicians over the years.

I suppose that most people, when summoned to meet with the CEO, would wait outside her office until she arrived. I guess I wasn't most people. Instead, I was in fact her husband of the past ten years, Tyler Knox. We met at the company's annual "Family Day" celebration that was held at the local fairgrounds. Family Days was open to all employees and their families and all were encouraged to attend. It was held on a Friday and all the employees got paid time off if they attended the celebration. So, of course, nearly everyone attended.

We were both single and somehow got paired together in a three-legged race. Afterwards, we spent the rest of the day together participating in other events and getting to know each other. I found out that she was a newly hired manager, recently receiving her MBA from a prestigious university. I had been with the company a few years, having graduated with a computer science degree a few years ago. We quickly found that we were roughly the same age and had many of the same interests. Family Day led to a date, which led to more dates, which eventually led to marriage.

Gabby is about 5-6 with light brown hair that she keeps in a short, professional style. She put on a few pounds after each kid and as she got older, she had difficulty losing weight. I didn't mind her extra curves, I thought they were sexy and were a testament to her giving birth to our two daughters. I knew that she was self-conscious about her weight gain. Ideally, with her build and height, she should have weighed about 130 pounds, but she was probably 20 to 30 pounds heavier than that. Because of her work demands, she had difficulty finding time to work out or go to exercise classes. She spent a small fortune on her wardrobe and beauty treatments to make her look as good as she could, given her more "Rubenesque" figure.

As for myself, I'm just a tad under 6-foot-tall and just a tad under 180 pounds. I've got wavy, dark brown hair and a strong jawline. In high school, I was on the cross country and swim teams and found that running and swimming not only kept me fit but also gave me time to think through any problems I was facing. Going for a three-mile run with a technical problem on my mind sometimes resulted in a breakthrough or at least with a plan to approach the problem from a different angle. I had contact lenses, but usually wore glasses as the contacts sometimes bothered my eyes. I'd received complements on my blue eyes, but I usually wore the glasses since they were more comfortable.

As a couple, an observer would probably say that I was the better-looking spouse. I'd joke that in high school, I did make a little money modeling for a local clothing store for some of their ads. I usually failed to mention that the owner was a friend of my parents. I still must have been decent enough looking for the owner to ask me to model in the first place. I didn't care what others thought of us, however, and I was quite attracted to Gabby's personality and her zest to pursue her interests, many of which we shared.

By the time we married, Gabby was a rising star at the company, already a second-line manager with six managers reporting to her and almost 100 employees in her organization. She decided to keep her maiden name rather than take my name or take the hyphenated, and awkward, name of "Forte-Knox." I had no problems with her keeping her name, especially because we worked at the same place and I didn't need everyone knowing my wife was a company super-star.

During the intervening ten years between our wedding and today, Gabby and I were blessed with two adorable daughters, Maria and Finley, who were now 8 and 6, respectively. After these two pregnancies, Gabby decided to have her tubes tied. While I had no problem with this, I was perturbed that she didn't discuss it with me or even tell me beforehand. I was going through bills and paperwork after Finley's birth and noticed an amount for "tubal ligation." I asked Gabby about this and she informed me that she decided to have her tubes tied to avoid further pregnancies, "two kids are more than enough," she informed me. Unlike Gabby, I didn't have to carry the babies for 9 months apiece, but it would have been nice to discuss such a drastic procedure as a couple beforehand.

I think this might have been a turning point. A point where, rather than being a partnership of two equals, Gabby felt that she was superior and could call the shots as she liked, both at home and at the office. I'm usually an easy-going guy, so going along with what she wanted usually wasn't a problem. Now and then, I'd push back about something that I did care about and we'd usually discuss it and come up with a suitable compromise. I still felt that, in some ways, Gabby thought of herself as my superior, mostly due to her success at the office. In the past couple of years, her laser-like focus on her job left little time for her family or her other interests. The girls and I found ourselves doing by ourselves many of the activities that we used to do as a family.

Most people that I worked with knew that my wife was the company CEO, but Gabby and I really tried to keep separate identities at the office. Because of these efforts, I was a bit bewildered on why I had been summoned to her office for the very first time. I really needed to get back to work on a project that would link one of our legacy systems to a state-of-the-art new system that the company had recently purchased. I was perhaps the only programmer that really understood the legacy code, so I worked on the project alone rather than in a team. I wondered why Gabby couldn't have just sent me an email or talked to me at home.

Looking around her office once more, I noticed that there weren't any pictures of me or the kids on the walls. Instead, there was a nice 5x8 framed photo of the family on her desk that was taken during our last trip to Disneyland a few months ago.

Just then, I heard the door open and turned to see Gabby enter along with the company's HR Director, Judith Rogers. I stood to greet both Gabby and Judith. I was a little confused as to why Judith was there, and, at first, I figured that they had been at a meeting together beforehand and needed to discuss something further after I left. My confusion was quickly cleared.

Gabby sat down behind her desk while Judith remained standing to her right side, both facing me. "Hi Tyler," Gabby said, "sorry to keep you waiting."

"No problem," I responded, wondering what was going on.

"Well," Gabby continued, "there's no easy way of saying this, but after meeting with your manager, the company has decided that your services are no longer needed. I've asked Judith to be here to go over your severance benefits and answer any questions that you might have."

"WHAT???" I yelled, "you bet your ass I have some questions. Why in the hell am I being fired?"

Gabby calmly replied, "you do recall that three months ago you were put on a 'measured-mile' by your manager, Tom Selts, and that you had three months to get the integration project finished, right? Well, those three months are up and, according to your manager, the project still isn't finished."

"You know damned well that I lost a bunch of time when Finley had surgery two months ago and that I had to cover all of the doctor visits because you couldn't lose any time from your precious job. We discussed my concerns, and you promised me that you'd smooth things out with Selts and explain to him that I had unexpected family events that caused the integration project to slip."

"In addition, a month ago I discussed further unexpected technical difficulties with Selts, and spent three days out at the vendors ironing out incompatibilities between our legacy system and the new system. Selts knew I was doing everything I could to get the project finished. I'm waiting on a needed patch from the vendor, and once I receive it I'll have about a week of coding and testing for the integration to be 100% complete."

A slight frown appeared on Gabby's face. "I don't know the technical details about your project. I did let Tom know that you had filled in some for me around Finley's surgery and he said he had given you additional time. I'm sorry, Tyler, but I have to be objective and treat you like I'd treat any other of our 5,000 employees. The decision to terminate your employment is final, there's nothing I can do about it at this point. I'm sorry. I also know that you handled most of Finley's care and doctor visits, and I really do appreciate that."

I sat there in shock for several moments. "I know for a fact that first line managers, not the CEO, handle the firing of employees that report to them. So much for me being treated the same as everyone else. Maybe next time one of your kids is sick you should see if one of your other employees could help out, since you're too damned important to handle any of your family obligations. I see now that your so called 'appreciation' doesn't go very far. Maybe it goes farther for others, but not so far for your husband."

Gabby had the decency to grimace, knowing that I spoke the truth. "I know you don't really feel that way, Tyler. You'd never let anyone else care for your kids, you're too good of a father to even consider it. I decided to do this for your benefit. Of course, your dismissal was brought to my attention because you're my husband. Judith recommended that I do this personally, here in my office, to spare you any undue embarrassment. I know you're angry and upset right now, but you'll get over it."

I sat there seething. Nothing more needed to be said. I knew this was bullshit and Tom had his own reasons for wanting me gone. Having the CEO's husband in your department wasn't ideal for him as he knew any mistakes he made would likely be shared with the big boss. In addition, there was a newer guy, Alan, in our department that graduated from the same college as Tom. Tom and Alan were even in the same fraternity on campus. I knew that Tom wanted to promote Alan to my position. Alan was an OK guy, but not nearly as technically competent as myself, and he didn't know anything about the legacy software system. I cracked a little smile as I thought about Alan trying to finish up the integration project without my help.

Gabby couldn't stand the silence any longer. "Well, why don't I step out, I have a meeting I need to go to anyway. Judith can go over the severance paperwork and benefits with you and we'll have someone collect your personal items from your cubicle." With that, Gabby got up and walked around her desk. I didn't know if she was going to try to hug me or touch me on her way out. I stared intensely at her and she hesitated. She must have decided that it was too soon to touch me, so instead she said, "I'll see you at home Tyler," and she walked out of her office. As she walked out, a couple of security guys stepped into her office and planted themselves just inside her door.

Once Gabby was gone, Judith decided to sit in one of the guest chairs rather than sit behind her boss's desk. "Tyler, I'd like to explain your severance benefits. Then I've got some paperwork to go over and have you sign so that you can receive the benefits." Judith told me about the "job search and placement" benefits, the two-months severance pay, and the six months of health benefits that I would receive. When finished, I sarcastically asked, "I don't understand, did Gabby take me off of her company benefits as well as fire me?"

"No, no, of course not, these are just the standard benefits we give when terminating an employee for performance reasons. Of course, if theft of malfeasance was involved, the employee wouldn't be receiving these benefits. Do you have any questions?" I told her that I didn't so she then pulled out the severance paperwork and started going through it. One of the clauses was my agreement that I wouldn't sue the company for wrongful termination. I baulked at that.

"Why would I agree to not sue the company and its officers for wrongful termination when its clear to me that I was wrongfully terminated?" I have to admit, Judith was a cool customer and wasn't flustered by my question. "Of course, Tyler, you don't have to sign the paperwork. However, the severance benefits won't be given if we don't have a signed agreement."

"I don't really give a shit, Judith. My wife makes plenty for us to live on and I'll stay on her benefits. Unless, of course, she plans on firing me as her husband as well. I'd like to keep my options open about suing this place, so I respectfully decline the company's crappy severance benefits. Judith, why don't we wrap this up? I'm not signing any of your paperwork, and I'm sure that the gentlemen at the door are waiting to escort me out of the building. I don't want to keep them waiting any longer." With that, I stood up and turned to leave.

Judith stood up as well, "Tyler, I know this is difficult, and I truly wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors." I nodded at her and flippantly remarked, "Judith, the only future endeavor on my mind is figuring out if I want to divorce that bitch that you call your boss." Judith couldn't hide the shock on her face, I'd never spoken remotely like that before. I then turned and left the office with the security officers following behind me.

An hour later, I was at home with our two kids, having picked them up early from their after-school program. They were happy to see me earlier than normal. I told them we'd make pizza for dinner; they were thrilled as we always enjoyed making homemade pizza together.

We lived in a large "McMansion" in a gated community that Gabby picked out. She felt that we needed to live in a house that reflected her exalted position as the CEO of a major company in our community. I would have preferred a home in the country where the girls could run and play and maybe even have a couple of small horses. I didn't especially care for most of our neighbors. Many of them were pretentious assholes and hardly hid their distain for me, a lowly software developer. In their eyes I was obviously the inferior spouse to the all-important CEO.

While working on the pizzas with Maria and Finley, I thought of how precious my two girls were to me and how I couldn't imagine life without them. I thought of how Gabby was increasingly distant from both me and the girls. Today's firing, without any advanced discussion or warning from my loving wife, was the straw that broke the camel's back. I was tired of living in a conceited neighborhood and tired of being treated as a second-class citizen by my wife. A plan started formulating in my head while I was rolling the dough out with my giggling daughters. The more I thought about it, the more I liked it. I decided then and there to start implementing the plan that I internally dubbed 'Tyler 2.0'.

-------------- Gabby --------------

When I left my office, I knew Tyler was pissed. He had a right to be and his reaction to being fired was pretty normal. A few of the things he said, however, made me wonder if I didn't have all of the facts beforehand. That pissed me off. I didn't have a scheduled meeting, but I decided to have an impromptu meeting at Tom Selts' office to check on a few of the things that Tyler said.

Workers' faces showed a level of surprise as I quickly marched past their cubicles on my way to Selts' office. His door was open and he was there, behind his desk looking at something on his computer screen. I rapped three times on the opened door as I let myself in, closing the door behind me. Tom looked up and his eyes widened, he looked like he'd just swallowed a turd.

I sat down and looked at him, studying his face and demeanor. "Well, I just got through firing my husband, based, of course, on your evaluations."

"Oh," Tom responded, "that must have been tough. Tyler's a great guy, he just couldn't pull his weight. How'd he take it?"

"About as well as you'd expect. He did say a few things of which I was unaware, thus the reason for my visit."

"Oh, what did he say?" Tom asked, a bit sheepishly.

"He said that he was waiting on something he called a 'patch' from the vendor that was necessary to complete the integration. He said you were aware of the delay and the technical reasons it was taking longer than expected. Tyler said that once he had the patch, he could finish the integration in about a week. You never told me these things, why not?" He could tell that I was more than a bit peeved at being left in the dark.

"Well, that was just another excuse that Tyler had for being late. We all know the integration was a complicated project, but Tyler had ample time for completing the job and just couldn't get it done. When the patch arrives, my best guy, Alan Shaw, will do the final coding and complete the integration."

"That still doesn't explain, or excuse, why you didn't tell me about the patch code and that Tyler said he could complete the job within a week of receiving it," I said, my voice sharp with anger. "You haven't told me that Tyler was lying about the patch, so I assume what he said is true and that he told you of the situation. If I was made aware, I would have at least insisted on giving him additional time to get the code and complete the integration with the new patch, not just because he's my husband but because that would have been in the company's best interest. Tyler's been here for a number of years and was always a good employee until you convinced me that he was failing at this project. Getting good software developers is damned hard, and my going along with your decision to fire him was based on the information you provided. Now I'm finding that you didn't tell me the full story."

Tom's face turned a shade of red. I wasn't sure if he was embarrassed or angry. Frankly, I didn't care. "Ah, the, ah... integration project was going on way longer than we planned," he stammered, "it was costing the company too much money."

"If the project was so damned hard, why didn't you, as his manager, get Tyler some extra resources to help finish the project. Where was this wunderkid Alan then? Sounds like Tyler could have used the help. I get the sense that you pulled the wool over my eyes and I went along with your recommendation to fire Tyler based on your documentation that has serious holes in it. Now I find that you neglected to tell me some important things that I should have known." I sat quietly, staring at Tom, thinking about what I should do next.

"How long does Alan say he'll need to finish the job once the patch arrives?" I asked.

"He assures me he can have it finished in a week," Tom responded confidently.