I’ll do everything I can to make things right.
Being in Cass’s apartment in Newton Road this weekend has led to some late nights. I’ve let the tears fall, feeling some remnant of closeness to her in her space. I’ve seen pictures of her with her family positioned nicely up on the mantlepiece. Of her looking absolutely beautiful, hugging her sister with a huge smile on her face.
I already miss her too much to let her go, and the same is true for Ant. He’s my rock and best friend for a reason. He’s the man I value most in the world. The one who has always seen the best in me. Much more than my parents ever did.
I pull into the Nevilles car park and check myself out in the rearview mirror. I’ve been sure to suit myself up. At least I look better than I feel. So here we go. Time to face it.
I arrive at the suite on the third floor, heart thumping at the thought of running into Ant before the meetings begin, but there is no sign of him. It’s Frank, the recruitment team manager who steps up to my desk as soon as I sit down to log in. His smile seems overly dramatic for a Monday morning.
“Gerwyn, we have a location session for you. Can you join us, please?”
I pull a face, struggling to fathom why the hell I have a location session scheduled right before a quarterly client progress update. I’ve been preparing the reports for weeks.
“Sure, but after the Leesons meeting?” I check the time. “I should be done by midday.”
Frank looks uncomfortable through his grin. He shifts from foot to foot, scoping out the desks around us before he speaks again.
“No, Gerwyn. Now, please.”
I shrug, as though it’s no big deal, but the thump in my guts is telling me otherwise. There’s an overhanging cloud as I follow him out of there, and still no sign of Ant as we walk down the corridor and take the stairs down to the floor below.
Frank opens the door to meeting room eleven, and I know the thump in my guts is right as I see Naomi Dawson and the head of location, Peter Crawley, ready to begin with paperwork laid out in front of them.
I waste no time getting to the heart of it.
“What’s going on here?”
They try to make light of the situation. Naomi gestures to a seat opposite them and I take it, but this is bullshit. Any employee location meetings are generally either standard – to check fulfilment within part of a team, or as a consultation for a relocation lying ahead. I’d be a naïve idiot to think Ant has scheduled a fulfilment meeting after the events of the weekend, so it can only mean one thing.
Peter lays out the objective of the session the very moment Frank takes his seat alongside him.
“Anthony Bradstone has put in a relocation request for you. We’re transferring you to the team in Prague.”
“Prague?” I ask, in abject horror, since I have had virtually no interaction with them from day one, and don’t speak Czech.
Peter nods. “Yes. Prague. It’s a role slightly lower down the ladder in the team, due to the current opportunity list, but Ant tells us you’ve been struggling with performance and will appreciate the relief from pressure. We’ll be keeping your salary band and commission levels the same, and we will increase your responsibilities as you improve.”
He shunts some paperwork in my direction, and I see the relocation opportunity has already been drawn up, awaiting my signature.
I shunt it back again.
“I don’t want relocation to Prague, and I have no challenges with my responsibilities, thank you very much.”
Frank looks at Peter, an unspoken confirmation between them both.
“What?” I ask. “Is this an offer, or an order? Be honest here.”
Peter looks me right in the eyes, as though he’s privy to a lot of information I’m not.
“I’m sorry, Gerwyn, but it’s a compulsory relocation. Otherwise we’ll have to take the route of disciplinary action.”
I sit back in my seat, scoffing at them.
“Disciplinary action for what, exactly? I’ve been exceeding targets for months. Check it out with any of the Berlin team, or check out any of my project performances. I don’t want to be relocated to Prague. End of.”
Frank leans forward, offering me the paperwork again.
“Ant says he’ll be able to provide adequate evidence of your underperformance. He doesn’t want to go down that route, which is why we’ve drawn up the Prague opportunity for you. It’s your call, but make sure it’s the right one. We can have you assigned to the new team within the week. We’ll even provide you with a generous relocation allowance.”
I can’t believe this. I scan the paperwork in shock, because even by Ant’s standards, this is a ridiculous level of coldness. I’ve seen him rain down hard with disciplinary action when team members have crossed his lines before, but nothing so dramatic as this.