Okay, that was a lie. I was so nervous I could puke.
But… I could no longer stand it. Cyrus Hansen not only wouldn’t speak to me, but he was also not giving me the jobs that I should have gotten. When he asked me about the other clients I’d mentioned bringing in again, I’d said they changed their minds.
They didn’t.
But… I was going to take them on myself.
For my own marketing firm.
Ooh, there’s that puke feeling again.
I knock on Cyrus’s door before I can think too hard on it and he calls me in. When I step in, he takes a quick look at me before staring back down at something on his desk.
“Sir, if I could have a moment of your time.”
“Go ahead.” The fun, jovial guy who hired me is no longer here. In fact, I would say he’s done a complete one-eighty and as silly as it might sound, I can’t work for someone like that. It’s not good for me.
“I need to turn in my two weeks’ notice,” I say, then backpedal. “Well, I already did. To HR.”
Cyrus frowns and finally looks at me. “Two weeks’ notice?”
“Yes. I’m sorry if this is inconvenient for you, but I can no longer justify working here. My skill is above the work I’m being given. I believe my talents will be of better use elsewhere.”
Holy shit. I sound so full of myself.
I hate it, but… I’m not lying.
“I see.” He sits back.
“So.” I clear my throat and stand to my full five-foot-five stance. “That’s all I needed to say.”
I turn, ready to march out of the office before I feel my feet stop. There’s just something I have to say, something that I can’t not say.
“Sir.” I turn back to him and find him watching me. “I have to say one thing before I go.”
“Okay,” he answers a bit reluctantly.
“When I first started the hiring process for this company, I was so excited to see where it could take me. Meeting you and Lillian had me even more eager to start working for you. But there was something I couldn’t understand, and that was why you insist your employees be with spouses.”
“I like a family unit. People understand the importance of commitment when they’re committed in a relationship.”
“See.” I shake my head. “I don’t agree. I think regardless of whether or not I was engaged or married, I would do my job. I would kick ass if you let me—pardon my French. But the moment you found out that I was not with Archer anymore, you ripped that opportunity away from me.”
He doesn’t reply, just sits back and takes my words.
“All I’m saying is, I think you need a different hiring process.” I take a breath. “I could go to HR for discrimination issues, I could make a point to bad-mouth this whole “family unit commitment” thing. But I won’t, because I truly believe that you can make Hansen better just by focusing your efforts on the employees themselves. Not who they’re dating, what their spouses are like or if they’ll be committed to your company. Just… put a little faith in people, and I think it’ll change your company.”
I don’t wait for a response, having said my piece, and I march out of that office without a backward glance.
Then I run to the bathroom and lose my breakfast.
Well, I was almost successful there.
Chapter Fifty-Two
“It’s weird. When I see him, I get that rush of excitement like when I see my food is about to delivered. I just want it to get there so I can gobble it up!” – April
VIVIANA