The Phoenix and the Ice Queen Pt. 01

"I was asked, during the time we were working with Resin, to evaluate potential candidates from Resin for this role, and offer them the opportunity if I found someone, I felt was a good fit. While there were quite a few decent candidates, for my mind there was really only one stellar one, you. You were by far the most knowledgeable, you had no trouble instructing Resin and Proud Stone personnel in how to best utilize the equipment and software. What's more, I know that some of the side tasks we asked for required some programming skills, which you showed you have, and we think will be a plus on this assignment. Plus, possibly most importantly, we observed that you were able to work well with the other member of the team specially chosen from our ranks."

"And that would be?"

"Me." She said before continuing, "As I was saying, this assignment would be at least a year, and to demonstrate how serious we are about getting you; our offer is double the rate Clay negotiated for you, which as you know was not cheap. Proud Stone will also be paying all travel expenses. Needless to say, Clay has approved this, but it's up to you whether you'll accept."

Brandon was floored at the generous offer, and while not quite certain he would take it, he knew there was something he should say before accepting.

"I'll need to think on it, it's an intriguing offer to be sure, but before I give any answer I need to ask, just how familiar is your company with my background."

"Not very, we leave the background check to the contract company. Why, is there something we should be aware of before hiring you?"

Brandon sighed, knowing this would probably cost him, and by extension Clay and Resin a huge opportunity, but he knew he had to level with this woman if he was about to spend a year on the road with her. "Since it seems your employers are about to make a huge investment in me, and you just agreed to spend a large amount of time around me, I feel it only right to disclose how I came to work for Clay in the first place."

Miss Murphy nodded for him to continue, and he began to tell his tale. "My last job was working for a software developing firm as a programmer, I liked my job, and I was good at it, but it was not the greatest of companies to work for. Still, it was a good opportunity for a first job, and a pretty decent steady paycheck. I was right out of school, so really, that was all that mattered. Until about a year ago, when I was put on a project that would end up ruining my life.

"The project was to work on an operating system that would basically be the backbone of hospitality system for like a hotel, smart house, that kind of thing. Though it was mostly designed for commercial use. It was supposed to improve efficiency in big hospitality driven businesses."

"I see, so your client was a major hotel chain then?"

"Yes, and no, I'll get to the client in a minute." Miss Murphy nodded, and he continued, "Given the value of the software, and the nature of one particular client's needs, there was a bit of a time rush in effect. In other words, they, the client that is, really weren't willing to wait past the target deadline we were given. Not wanting to lose the business and the commission, there were people motivated to bend the rules a bit, to deliver on time."

"Never a sound strategy, especially given what the product you were working on does."

"Exactly, given that it was to be in charge of all systems, heating, cooling, water, fire suppression, food orders, basically you name a service or need for a hospitality business this program was set to automate it."

"Wait, the public safety systems? Is that legal? I thought after Millennium Cruise Line tried to automate theirs, they put an end to that."

Brandon smiled, "I see you read the news. Yes, Millennium put it in the spotlight, kind of like the White Star Line infamously did for lack of lifeboats, but it was always frowned on. Though to be honest most safety systems are automated, just not the way my former employer was doing it. That said, the issue was not so much how they tried to approach it, so much as quality control noticed a massive glitch in the safety systems. A glitch that might, say prevent certain important sensors alerts from reaching the attention of the operator. In other words, a massive leak of flammable gas could go unnoticed by the staff." From the look on his companions face he knew she grasped the problem. "So yeah, not a good error to have, and definitely not one to ignore. The trouble began for me when I was the person who reported the error to my supervisor and was disregarded in favor of finishing on time. In fact, I was reassigned to something else, and low and behold, the next day they had approved the code I had been checking as safe."

"Was it?"

"Absolutely not, I went back and looked, the error was still there, it had been looked at and patched, but there was no band aid that could fix it. Really, it needed to be rewritten, which would take weeks my supervisors didn't have. You see, their client was set to launch their new asset a few months later and they wanted the software as soon as possible to get everything ready for the summer season."

"Launch? Wait, you're not serious. You don't mean to say, Millennium?"

"I do, Millennium Cruise Line was using our software on their brand-new ship, the Nexus, and eventually their entire fleet. Needless to say, given I knew the nature of the error, and what the client was using it for, I felt I had to say something. A hotel having a leak is bad enough, but a bad enough explosion at sea would be catastrophic." Brandon paused to take a sip of water then continued, "However, when I went a level up it got ignored, so I went up another level, still nothing. So, I did the only thing I felt I could do, I tried to alert the client they were being sold damaged software. I never got any reply from them."

"Well maybe they never got it."

"Oh, they got it alright, the reaction the following Monday proved that. I was fired for basically trying to warn the cruise line. In other words, both companies knew of the glitch, and did not care. They were prepared to take the risk and fired me to try and shut me up."

"But it didn't work, did it? You're the guy who blew the whistle on MCL and Genotech then."

"Yes, so you know the rest. I got drunk, and ranted about it in front of my old college buddy with a blog, he blasted both companies for their negligence. People thought it was internet BS, until the Wall Street Journal did some digging and found it to be absolutely true and crucified both companies for public endangerment. MCL was forced to cancel all sailings until the feds were sure they were using safe practices, and the Nexus sat in dry dock for an extra few months. Most importantly though for this story, I got sued by both companies. Millennium sued for damages, Genotech for a breach of contract, apparently, I was not allowed to discuss anything I worked on for several years.

"Anyways, since they had me on the confidentiality, it would've been an uphill and very expensive battle to fight it in court, and the amount they wanted if they won was crazy high. So, when they offered a settlement that involved mild wage garnishment, and a ban, I was kind of forced into taking it."

"Wow, that's rough, though I think you had a bad lawyer, no way they should have been able to bully you into that."

"Probably not, but I kind of just wanted it over at that point. Besides, I had already been helping Clay for a few months while all of this was going on, so I figured, what the heck? I'd help him out for a while, I was still involved with technology, and I get to problem solve. I do some side projects on my own time off the record, which is one advantage of working with Clay's group."

"So, you're just going to bide your time for 5 years, just like that? You're going to let them get away with wrecking your career like that?"

"That's the thing, if I was some guy obsessed with climbing a ladder on a power trip like some of the guys I basically ratted out, it'd be one thing, but I'm not. I like being in the trenches, as I just said I love my work, I love the challenge in it. If it requires managing people, like I just did, so be it. I just want to work on challenging projects and leave time for a family life. The court case made me realize that they think they ruined me, so fine let them think it, I'll just keep my skills sharp in the meantime and when my time is up, I'll be back doing what I love." He paused sipped his water again and said, "I could do without the garnishment though, to be honest, that kind of blows."

"I bet you could." Murphy replied with a smile. Then she added, "I'm surprised they could sue you like that in the first place, shouldn't you have gotten some kind of federal protection?"

"Tricky thing is, no one has ever proved its me, though taking the settlement kind of did that, but that was out of the public eye. Plus, since I didn't come to the feds and say, 'hey look into this and I need protection," it was kind of out of their hands. In other words, my case kind of fell through one of those infamous cracks in the system. It's ok though, like I said, I don't mind it too much.

"So anyway, that's my story, I signed on with Clay and had been working with him a few months when you guys came calling, the rest you know." He said as their food arrived.

Miss Murphy did not say much as they began eating, so he asked, "How about you, how did you end up out here? From your accent I'd say you're from Boston."

"Yes, I am, born and raised," she said before, quite out of character for her, she launched into a brief account of her background. She grew up in Boston, as she had said, but her childhood was not great due to an abusive father. By the time she reached high school she had been forced to look for work to pay the bills when said father skipped out on her and her mom. It was there she met her mentor Andi. Learning from her mentor, she had discovered she had a talent and passion for business, which encouraged by her mentor she had carried all the way to an MBA from Harvard. Toward the end of her time at Harvard, she interned with an up-and-coming financial services firm and been quickly hired full time. After just a year, she had impressed them enough to be put in charge of opening a regional office in Chicago, when the company's first choice had been forced to back out for personal reasons. "The rest you know," she said finishing.

Brandon had to admit he was surprised at the amount of detail she had shared, but interestingly enough there was one common thing she had not volunteered. "So, you got a first name? Because, no offense, but if I'm working on the road with you for a year, I'm not just calling you 'Miss Murphy'. It sounds like I'm talking to my teacher or something. Or I could just call you Murphy I suppose." Then realizing his mistake, "If the offer still stands that is, after what I told you."

"I'll have to check with my boss, given the high-profile nature of your issue, but I suspect they'll take my recommendation."

"Which is?"

She sighed and smiled, "That you're an extremely capable and knowledgeable worker, and frankly given what you were fired for only proves that. Your supervisors at Genotech were idiots, as were the people at Millennium, and they paid for it big time. It is unfortunate they got you on the contract breach, but that was clearly a lawsuit motivated by small minded egotistical idiots bent on making themselves feel better, it's just a shame they got away with it really. So as far as I'm concerned it means nothing, it means more that you took the time to tell me. A lot of people would not have, and that shows integrity, which we value highly at Proud Stone."

Brandon smiled, "Well thank you, I must say that was not the reaction I was expecting. I appreciate it."

"Given the behavior of past executives you have been exposed to, I am not surprised in the slightest to hear that. Trust me Mr. Metcalf, we are not all like that." Then she added for good measure, "for the record, in the event you find any problems in our systems, we encourage you to let us know, so we can correct them."

"Thanks, and I've told you, call me Brandon. Which brings me back to my original question, if you don't mind me using your first name that is?"

She smiled, "You know, normally I would, but I don't mind it with you somehow, and you're right it's kind of silly for us to be so formal. Anyways, call me Mel."

"Will do. Any chance I get to know what that's short for?"

"Nope." Mel said with a smile that clearly indicated the matter was not completely closed forever, just for the time being.

"Fair enough, Mel works." Then after a pause he added, "But speaking of issues, it might be nothing, but you may want to have one of your full time IT guys take a look at the code for your network security. Something didn't sit right with me while that was being installed. Again, it could be nothing, but better safe than sorry right? Especially given your business.

"Absolutely, our clients security is paramount, thanks, I'll be sure to pass it along."

They spent the rest of lunch discussing the details of the position, then Brandon went off to complete a few calls Clay had waiting for him, and Mel went back to her office to talk things over with her bosses. By the end of the day, she called him back to let him know they had agreed with her recommendation, and that the job was his if he still wanted it. Brandon accepted, and a few weeks later, to what would have been the utter shock of himself just a few weeks before, he hit the road on assignment with the supposed Ice Queen. The funny thing was, she did not seem that frosty to him anymore, he was starting to think there was way more warmth in her than she let on, if you could look past the icy bluster that is.

Chapter 3

"I don't suppose you can go any faster Brandon?" Mel said impatiently, tapping her newly manicured nails on her leg, as Brandon drove the rental through rural Wisconsin on the way back from a set up in Minnesota. They had been scheduled to fly back on a small plane, but it had been grounded due to a flash storm, so Brandon had opted to drive back, since Mel was clearly in a hurry to get back for some reason. "Well Mel, that storm that kept us from flying home covers most of Wisconsin and Illinois as well as Minnesota, so excuse me for exercising a bit of caution in trying to get us home. What is the big rush anyhow?" Then offhand he added, "You got a hot date or something?" When his companion stayed silent, he just smiled, "That's it is it? You have a date tonight. You know I wondered why you agreed to that manicure, you never go with if someone asks."

"Fine, so what if I do?" Mel replied grudgingly, "Got a problem with that?"

"Nope, I'll see what I can do." He said speeding up his cruise control setting a few mph.

"Thanks, and I do not always turn the spa stuff down. I mean yes, I had the date tonight, but also, I liked Molly, I saw a lot of myself in her."

Brandon nodded, it was true, in the six plus months they had been on the road opening countless Proud Stone branches, Brandon had rarely seen Mel take to a new trainee like she had Molly. Not that Mel had not liked any previous trainees, to his surprise she seemed highly protective of the new recruits under her care, even going so far as to take calls for advice from previous branches, despite not being remotely required to do so. Of course, the fact Mel had fired Molly and sent her home crying at first, also probably had something to do with Mel being so nice to her.

Not that they left many with questions once they were gone. After a few weeks of getting used to each other, and the routine, Mel and Brandon made a very good team. Mel would handle final office setup, hiring of personnel, and training. Brandon would make sure any technical systems were set up, the new branches cyber security was properly in place, and train any employees new on some of the custom PSF software. Both performed their roles extremely well and worked surprisingly well together. So much so that it had not taken long for the new regional manager to take note of their success and praise them for it. Despite the risk in hiring Brandon, it was said he was doing so well, it was well worth it.

Brandon was about to teasingly pry into Mel's personal life, when suddenly, the check engine light turned on, and black smoke began pouring from the hood. Fortunately, Brandon had been driving in the right lane and there were few other cars on the road, so he was able to get over and quickly turn off the engine. Hoping it had simply overheated he let it sit for a few minutes, while Mel called the rental company for assistance, just in case. When he tried to start it a bit later the engine would not turn over, much to his and Mel's dismay. By this point though, Mel had said a tow truck was on its way from the town they had passed a few miles back, but it would be a bit before it arrived.

After the better part of a tense hour, with Mel making only irritated small talk, the tow truck finally showed, and they were taken back to the nearby small town to have the car looked at. After a few hours in a local diner, it was clear the car was not going to be repaired for a while. The rental company said they would send out a replacement but given it was five o'clock on a Friday, the earliest they could get something there was the next morning.

"You're in luck, we had a cancelation, looks like we do have a room," the clerk at the only chain hotel in town said looking up from her screen.

"One? Miss, I asked for two rooms." Mel said indignantly, having refused to check in at the local motel because it looked unclean, she was left hoping this hotel could accommodate them.

"Well, I'm sorry ma'am but we just have the one opening, and frankly with this wedding in town this weekend, you are lucky we have that." The clerk said with a patient smile that told Brandon she would love nothing more than to send them packing.

"We'll take it," Brandon said handing over his card, "Or at least I will Mel, whether you choose to share with me is up to you." Mel stormed off upset, and Brandon checked in apologizing. "Sorry about her, she was supposed to have a date tonight back in Chicago, and between the storm and our car breaking down." He paused then added, "Needless to say she isn't in the best mood, thanks for your help." Then off the confused look, "We're not a couple, we're co-workers, in case you were wondering."

"Oh, that makes more sense," she said finishing up the check in. Then as she handed over the keys, she asked if he needed anything else.

"Actually yes, any good places to eat?" The clerk smiled and suggested the diner they had spent the afternoon at, a steakhouse, but that was where the rehearsal dinner for the wedding was tonight, and a local Italian place. All three were well reviewed by guests. He thanked her and walked over to where Mel was sitting.

"Well, you two seemed to be getting along well," she said snippily, still clearly irritated at him for intervening.

"Well, that's what happens when you're nice to people Mel, you should try it sometime." Brandon said quietly, handing her a key. When she didn't reach for it, he said, "It was that, or the street Mel, its not like we can leave."

Mel sighed and snatched the key from him, "Fine, but we are not sharing a bed under any circumstance, you hear me?" Brandon nodded and they proceeded up to their room. After doing some unpacking and a call to the desk for extra pillows and blankets for the couch Brandon volunteered to take, Brandon started to get hungry. Noticing Mel was still in a funk he had an idea.

"Tell you what Mel, I'm taking you out tonight, I may not be your hot date, but word is there's a pretty decent Italian place down the street. What do you say we have a nice dinner together, as long as we're stuck here, on me?"