Satisfied With Love Ch. 06

"Fortunately for me, she is a great assistant and understands there will be times like this in working relationships. I forgave her, she forgave me and we moved on, both on a personal level and a professional level. Arguments like this will happen in professional relationships all the time, even in personal relationships. It will happen to us again. Expect it. Say what you need to say because everyone has an opinion. Don't hold it inside and don't hold it against anyone. If you do, it will eat you alive. This is one reason why personal relationships are so important."

"How do I know all this you ask? Because Kristi spoke with me about relationships the day I arrived on the Island. How does she know this? Because our father literally taught her over the last four years. She warned me in advance what I will be facing on this job and not to let the smaller problems over shadow the bigger picture. That is another of many reasons why she is getting a well deserved promotion and raise."

"And Peggy, you have heard some of our discussions so you know I'm not feeding you bullshit."

Peggy nods and said, "That is true, Brad. I have heard a few because I was sitting on his balcony when some of them happened. I did not hear that one, however, but the ones I did hear made me think they sounded like a bickering old married couple. It was kind of funny in a way."

"Thanks Peggy," Brad said as a grin appears on Kristi's face.

Brad said, "I need some air," and got up to go outside and chill.

His sisters got up to go with him. Kristi got up with them, puts her arms around them to stop them.

As Brad heads for the door, she said, "Remember the third mistake I mentioned that I didn't know I was making?"

They nod.

"It happened because I did not give Brad time to deal with his anger after he got mad at me and I thought it should be over. He is not as pissed now as he was with me back then, but he is doing the same things now that he did back then."

"So, based on my experience, you should let him be alone for at least fifteen minutes so he can deal with his anger and relax. Anything you say to him now will only exasperate the problem, as it did for me. It was the one thing which stressed our relationship to the max. That is why he was still mad at me when I thought it should have been over. So far, that incident has been my most intense learning experience with Brad and I feel lucky to have survived it with my job intact."

"I will never forget that argument and I never want to go through that again. I hardly slept that night and I went to Brad early the next morning so we could talk about it. He was already awake thinking about the same thing. He revealed he also did not sleep well. It affected us both and when we talked about it, we resolved our differences and apologized to each other again."

They took her advice and gave Kristi the biggest hugs of her life.

"Not to be a smart-ass Kristi, but now I really do understand why Brad wants you to be the lead assistant," Peggy reveals. "We never got the training you gave Brad."

"I know Peggy, and I do hope I can change that."

They return to their seats. During that time, Peggy and Stacy apologized to Kristi profusely. They did not realize the full ramifications of the assumption they made. Kristi said she does not hold grudges and this incident is water under the bridge as far as she is concerned.

They had a group hug, then return their attention to Brad. Peggy said he is extremely hurt by this. Stacy can only agree. They do not know how they can make it up to him and ask for Kristi's advice. She told them how she thought they should proceed forward as Craig listens to all this and taking it in.

Minutes later, Stacy and Peggy went out to speak with Brad. One at a time, both sisters hug him with watering eyes and apologize for the foolish assumption they made. They both hug him again and took the time to clear the air. They told him they have a clearer understanding of what they did, and they didn't want to proceed with Brad mad at them. Brad hugs them together and told them not to worry. He forgives them, still loves them and will not hold it against them.

It is an experience that taught all three of them a lesson. He is disappointed, not only with his sisters, but more so with himself.

"Brad, how can we make this up to you?" Peggy asks.

"You just did Peggy. You too Stacy. Both of you just did," Brad replies.

The thing that really pissed Brad off the most, is that he realized he did not listen to Kristi's advice, even after she raised the issue twice. She was right about the perception, but at the time, he was on a roll and felt full of himself so he didn't care what she told him. He was being a boss, not a leader. Kristi is also right about women not liking her a first. They return to the meeting about ten minutes later, with Brad lagging behind his sisters.

When Stacy and Peggy return, they both apologized to Kristi, again, for their inaccurate assumption. They gave her hugs and multiple apologies again and she accepts again, reiterating she will not hold it against them.

When Brad returns, Kristi is seated facing the table, talking to Craig. She turns and watches Brad as he approaches. He sat down facing her, leans his forehead onto her left shoulder and snakes both his hands to the table and laces them in her left hand. She places her right hand on his cheek, affectionately.

"I'm sorry, Kristi," he said. "You are right about other women not liking you at first. You also warned me twice that people would think you got the promotion because you are fucking the boss. You were right about both and I didn't care. I was so full of myself, I literally ignored you. In the process, I degraded you personally to your fellow employees and Island staff, some of whom will be your employees soon. I'm not sure how I can make it up to you, but I will try. Again, I am so sorry. I feel like such a dick. Now, I wonder what the rest of the staff is thinking.... That aside, do you remember what my response was?" he asks as he releases her hand, sits up and leans back.

"That is something I will never forget, Brad. Sarcastically, you said that anyone who disagreed with your decision could talk with you about it, then you would fire them," she said.

She starts to chuckle, then giggles, then laughs. Craig, Stacy and Peggy all did the same.

"Yeah, well, something tells me that's not going to happen," Brad said chuckling as well, then laughs with Kristi.

In a more normal tone, Brad said, "I guess I'm not as smart as I thought. A humbling moment. The thing I'm mad about the most is not what my sister's did, it's what I didn't do by ignoring your advice Kristi. However, girls, that doesn't get you off the hook either. Never, ever assume anything. The lesson for all of us today."

Stacy and Peggy realize they not only insulted Kristi, but also Brad. They both felt bad, real bad, for their ignorance. They have no clue how they are going to make it up to Brad and Kristi. It just seems what they already did, isn't enough.

"Okay Brad. We'll talk about it later, okay?" Kristi said as she reaches for his hand again and this time, he took it and held it tight.

"We will. Nuff said then. Okay Craig, sorry for the disruption. Rick is next," Brad said. "What are his data points?"

"Rick has been here for just about a year and makes $53 grand. He has no marks on his record and his contract is up in about a year."

"Peggy, you're up."

Brad stays affectionate with Kristi, knowing he screwed up and he wants her to know he knows he screwed up, and that he still feels bad he did it. He also wants his sisters to see him feeling as bad as they feel.

"He's okay, a little awkward sometimes but has lots of good one liners."

"Okay does not work for me Peggy. Base your evaluations on performance and attitude, not one liners and awkward, please. Your choice," Brad said.

"Brad, my evaluation of Rick is flawed because I don't really know what his capabilities are."

"I understand that Peggy. But still, you have seen him at work."

"True, and with that in mind, I don't want to get rid of someone because of my own lack of experience. I want to keep him for now and recommend a salary of $56 grand. But, I will pass final decision to Kristi. I'm going to use Kristi's advice and see if anything changes. Having an assistant is new to me, as with Stacy, so getting advice from Kristi on how to deal with him has been very helpful. Kristi, what you just said to us was a real eye opener for me. Thank you. I will come back to you for more advice. Your thoughts."

"Thanks Peggy. I look forward to it.... I will agree with Peggy's recommendation," Kristi said. "This was Rick's first time in the field so he just got his feet wet on this one. He spent lots of his time in the office prior to this. As far as I'm concerned, he can stay as long as Peggy wants him. He did pitch in, without hesitating, and got the job done satisfactorily on the last trip. Thank god because Scott sure didn't. My only change is to raise your salary recommendation to $57 grand. And also, we have to understand that if we decide to terminate either Anita or Rick, we will likely loose them both."

"True," Peggy and Stacy said as Brad nods.

"Got it," Craig said.

"Last is Jeni, and Kristi will handle her," Brad said.

"Jeni is the newest hire, being here only nine months. She was hired to relieve me of some of my duties when Danny learned his fate. She has already surpassed the other assistants in her skill level and her thought process. She is the one who suggested I go on vacation for this next trip and she will take over my duties. She also suggested that we bring friends to the Island before the last trip."

"It was her idea to give you all a helicopter ride a few days after you arrived to break the stress of the meetings. She also set up the firearm lesson, the scuba lessons and the parasailing. She is continuously thinking about her leaders. She was busy during the last trip to LA and engaged herself in numerous problems we faced. She was as busy as I was. I'm very pleased with her performance. Her current salary is $65 grand and...."

Craig interrupts, "Kristi, her current salary is $52 grand."

"What! Are you sure Craig?" Kristi asks.

"She was hired as Junior Assistant, Kristi, nine months ago."

"I don't believe it! I was not aware of this. Her performance level is that of a senior assistant and is off the chart for that salary."

She turns to Brad and said, "Brad, this is not fair to her. Junior Assistants have less than a year of experience. She has nearly five years. You've seen her in action, would agree to raise her salary to $68 grand and promote her to a senior assistant, and also give her the back pay from when she started? She deserves it."

"Indeed I would. I think she is worth every penny of that easily, but what do I know? I'm the new kid on the block," Brad said, teasing her.

Kristi smiles.

"What do you think, Stacy, Peggy?" she asks.

"I'm fine with that if you are Kristi. I've seen her in action myself," Stacy said. "I'm okay with it."

"Same for me," Peggy said. "She is good at what she does."

Kristi remarks the average assistant makes between $30 grand and $70 grand, mostly because of the fear factor they face. Those assistants that excel can earn in excess of $120 grand.

Craig injects, "I see Brad's assistants getting big raises while the others get small raises. Is there some significance to this?"

Kristi spoke up, "It would appear that you're right Craig, but that is not the reason for the differences. First of all, Jeni and I got a promotion and raise while Anita and Rick just got a raise. Second, some of it is due to lack of experience because none of the 'new guys on the block' have done this before. It's also due to lack of training on my part. However, it will improve with time because this will be done every year now, according to the new contract."

"Another reason is due to my experience level, or lack thereof, with the assistants as far as what has been observed in the last year, because of Danny's death. Also, I agree with all of the reviews since I know most about their experience level. I feel the new salaries fairly and accurately reflect their current skill levels. In the future, performance and attitude will dictate raises and additional training will be involved so I predict future pay raises and performance evaluations will be very different."

"In Jeni's case, I recommended a senior assistant position to Danny with a salary of $65 grand. I knew he would give it to her so I never felt the need to follow up. Jeni has a self confidence problem and for whatever reason, Danny must have taken advantage of her. He got a great employee for a real cheap price. I wish he didn't do that to her. It really makes me mad that he did. Sorry guys. I don't mean to insult you, or your father. It just made me angry is all."

"Got it. Excellent answer Kristi. Thank you," Craig said.

"Okay then, that job is done. All we need is the words for the new contract and we can send this to the next step. Craig, all current assistants will be on this open contract. New hires will be on a one year contract while their performance is evaluated. If they remain, they will change to the open contract. Also included in the contract will be annual performance reviews and salary adjustments. Salary adjustments will be based mainly on performance and attitude. The contract can be cancelled by either party at anytime with a two week written notice to the other party."

"Everyone good with that?"

Everyone nods their approval.

Craig decides to throw his two cents into the pot, saying, "I'm very impressed with the performance of the four of you. I have seen all of you interact on a personal and professional level at your worst and your best here today and it was most impressive."

"I normally don't get to see what goes on behind the scene. The relationship you share with each other is outstanding and beyond reproach. You get along so well, even when you're seriously angry at each other. A month ago, none of you knew the other existed. You have come a long way in the last three weeks. It is indeed a privilege to work for you and the new Packard Empire. I predict this company will reach new heights in the future."

"Thank you Craig. We appreciate that. But, just so you know, you don't work for us, you work with us."

"Very true," Craig said as he nods his correction.

"What else is up?"

"Just the interview at 4, the team meeting after dinner and the meeting with your sisters at 9," Kristi said.

"Good, time to get in the pool," Brad said. "Let's do what we gotta do, then we're off duty until 4."

As they made their way to the door, Brad took his sisters under his arms. They gave him an unexpected hug with tears in their eyes.

"This is just one of many lessons this business will teach us. Just accept that each of us has made a mistake, that we will make more, and move on. That is what you must do. That is what I must do and don't forget, this will happen again. I will say it again, it will happen again. Okay?"

"Okay, Brad, I'll do it, somehow, for you," Stacy said.

Peggy's reply is very similar.

They hug and his sisters went on their not so merry way. But, after they left the business suite, they stop and watch as Brad approaches Kristi, hopefully to make things right with her.

Brad approaches Kristi as he put his arms around her, and said, "I need a hug badly, Angel. I feel so bad right now."

They held each other as tears came to their faces.

"God Stacy, if they can forgive each other, we should be able to do the same," Peggy said. "They are one amazing couple."

"You're right Peggy. Now it's our turn to man up and show up to do this job," Stacy said.

Then they turn away to go to their suites.

Brad and Kristi hold each other tight and kiss multiple times. They remain in the business suite for another ten minutes after everyone else has left. Brad feels real bad about what he has done to his girlfriend. All he wants to do is hold her tight for as long as he can, until time is no longer on his side.

But, as fate would have it, it was time for some rest and relaxation so they hold hands and head to the suite. As they made their way, Kristi decides she will do something for Brad, but she has not told Brad what that something is.

Brad is thinking he has learned one hell of a lesson as a result of this meeting and he is ready to face Kristi's punishment. He knows it's coming, but he is not sure when, and he is expecting the worst.

To be continued.... Stay tuned to 'Satisfied With Love Ch. 07'.