There are a couple of reports that show decreasing sales in two casinos, but when I look at the numbers, it’s easy to see the wrong figures have been plotted. With just a few changes, the reports would show that the casinos had been increasing in sales from month to month. At least, that’s what makes sense to me, but maybe I’m missing something .
I sigh when I look through the last piece of paper that has anything to do with the company. I just wasted three hours and am no better off for it. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to do this, not unless I find the key to my father’s filing cabinets or his password for his computer .
Granddad would know, but I can’t ask him. I guess I’ll just have to learn about the company elsewhere. I just don’t know how. That’s probably why I’ve been hiding out in my father’s office for the last few hours .
I get up from the desk and poke my head into the hallway. It seems relatively empty for a Thursday. I’m surprised no one has come into my father’s office all morning. It’s probably because everyone is too sad to think of him as gone. I know everyone loved him. He was a great boss, a great friend, a great husband, and a great father. At least, that’s what the minister said at his funeral. I choose to believe that .
I step into the hallway and start walking. I don’t know where I’m going. I just go .
“Hi, Ms. Felton .”
“Tony,” I say before hugging the man who is practically a member of the family. He always seemed like a brother to my father .
“How are you doing?” he asks the token question .
“I’m holding up .”
“You visiting your father’s office?” He nods in the direction of the office .
I nod .
“I haven’t built up the courage to go in there yet. When I do, I know I’ll end up crying like a weepy old man .”
I smile. “We can’t have that .”
“I should get back to work. I hope to see more of you around, Ms. Felton .”
I smile and start walking again. “Wait,” I say, turning around. “Do you mind if I hang out with you today? I just want to be around people who knew my father. It feels like home here, not like at the house .”
Tony looks at me with confusion. “Are you sure? It’s going to be pretty boring. I have some phone conferences, and then I really need to get the numbers ready for the expansion Mr. Browne asked for .”
I smile. Tony has already given me more information about the company than I have had all morning .
“Yes, I’m sure.” I take his arm and walk with him to his office. “And call me Kinsley, Tony. We are practically family .”
Oh my God! This office is a mess. It looks like a tornado came in here and blew papers into disastrous piles all around the room .
Tony, on the other hand, walks into his office with no surprise on his face. He doesn’t look like someone just came in here and ransacked his office. He actually seems to relax when he enters his office .
I walk over to his desk as Tony takes a seat behind it .
“I have to take a quick phone call, but make yourself at home. Then, I can show you some of the stuff your father and I were working on,” he says .
I nod and do my best to smile as I glance around the smaller-size office, but I’m afraid it comes across as a frown or a horribly disgusted grimace. I cover my mouth with my hand, hoping he didn’t see. He brightly smiles back at me. I guess he didn’t .
He begins dialing his phone. I wait until I hear him jabbering away at someone, paying me no attention, before I take a seat on the floor in front of piles of paper .
I feel bad for Tony. He’s my father’s age. He’s worked for the company almost as long as my father, but he will never become CEO, never even be given a chance. Instead, he will always be just the Assistant to the VP of Operations. He’s Killian’s assistant, I realize, even though Killian has only worked for the company for five years, and Tony has worked for the company for thirty. To a company this big, it doesn’t matter though who is more loyal. It matters who is more likely to get results. And after I look around this office, I know why Tony will never reach a higher position. His office is a mess. There is no way he can be organized in a mess like this .
I still feel sorry for him though. Even though I know Tony gets paid generously to do this job, I still feel sad. I have a better chance of becoming CEO than Tony ever will .
And if I am CEO, I will have to make tough decisions, like promoting a less experienced younger employee over a loyal and mature employee. That is probably an easy decision compared with the decisions my dad made on a daily basis. I’m not sure I could do it .
I swallow hard and push the thoughts out of my head. I’m not here to think about if I can make the tough decisions required of the job right now. I’m here to learn as much as I can about the company and the job. Then, I can make decisions about my future .
I dig into the pile, trying to figure out what I’m looking at. There are hundreds and hundreds of more charts and graphs with the same incorrect information on them as the ones in my father’s office. Shit . I hope my dad wasn’t relying on them to make decisions about the company. I hope Killian isn’t either .
I look at the name on them, trying to figure out who made the graphs and who wrote the reports, so I can tell Killian he needs to fire them. Then, I see it. It’s Tony. He created these graphs. If anybody ever found out, he’d be fired. My dad was the only one who would care if Tony still worked for the company or not .