Cash Burn (29 page)

“They threaten her? Huh?” He was coming out of his chair. One hand fumbled through the air behind him and found the back of the chair to steady himself. “Did they threaten her?” His lower lip trembled, glowed with spittle.

“I told you—take it easy.”

Breath rattled out of the old man’s mouth. A smell like spiced oak and unbrushed teeth settled in the air. “Anything happens to her . . .” His head quaked.

Jason wanted to put a hand on his dad’s shoulder and ease him back into the chair. But he couldn’t bring himself to try to touch him. “I have to go. Are you sure you don’t know where I can find Phil?”

The old man’s shoulders stooped. His hands went to the table for support and his head dipped, pointing his sparse scalp at Jason. Then it rose to reveal the clouded eyes and ruined nose. “If I hear from him, I’ll call. You take care of Serena. Hear? You take care of her.”

“Sure. Sure, Dad.”

47

Dan Martell’s department-store pose had cratered ten minutes ago. Jason thought he looked very old now. The suit could be replaced by a ratty sweater, the tie by a scarf to keep the chill away from his throat.

“Where, Jason? Who’s going to hire me in this market?” It was an accusation.

Jason shouldn’t have tried to reassure him.

Across the room, Margaret from HR scowled at him over black-framed reading glasses, gold chain links falling from either side so she could wear the spectacles over her chest like a weird necklace. She’d warned him to stick to the facts. After he’d tried to console Chris, she told him it only made things worse.

Tell them it’s not personal. Explain the separation package, how the bank calculates severance and where they fit into the policy. Let them know they’d receive paperwork about their 401(k) and insurance coverage at their home address. Get them to sign the severance agreement, or at least take it with them. There were important provisions in the agreement about confidentiality and bank property. Explain to them that if they were going to receive their severance checks, they needed to sign the agreement. Sure, take some time to review it. But bottom line, if you want to get a few more paychecks, you’d better sign this document.

Jason put his hands on Dan’s agreement. One more after this one. He’d already fired Chris Walters. He’d fired Geoff Pierce. Dan made three. Then he’d call in the last one.

“This is the severance agreement, Dan. We need you to sign it. You’ve been with the bank for six years, so you get the maximum.” He turned to the page that showed the number of months and the calculation.

Dan didn’t look at it. “Who’s going to hire a sixty-year-old banker, Jason? Would you?”

“There’s also outplacement counseling.”

Dan shook his head and sneered. “Counseling. I’d rather have the money you’ll pay them.”

Jason looked to the agreement as if that option might have appeared sometime after his fifth reading of the document.

Across the room, Margaret finally chimed in. “We encourage you to take advantage of it, Dan. It’s a good firm. It’s not just talking about how you’re doing. They’ll give you resources for your search too.”

Dan kept staring at Jason.

This was going nowhere. Jason stood. “I’m sorry, Dan.” He held out his right hand.

“I’ll take less pay.”

Jason let his hand drop. “Dan . . .”

“You can cut it by a third. I’ll work for a third less.”

Margaret said, “We can’t do that, Dan.”

“Jason, please.” His eyes blinked five times, trying to keep tears from leaking out. “Half. I’ll work for half.”

Jason returned to his seat. “Dan, take the severance. Take a couple weeks off with Barbara. Use the counseling. Maybe you’ll find something before the severance period’s over, and you’ll pocket some extra pay.” He slid the agreement forward.

Dan looked down at it. His hand rested on it. The first page had the name of the bank and the words
Separation Agreement
at the top. It was a seven-page document. The goal, as described by BTB’s lawyers, was to get a signature on it before the separated employee left the meeting.

“Jason,” Dan said in a whisper, his eyes down, “don’t make me beg you.”

He could tell him it wasn’t personal. He could talk about the cuts and the numbers and where Dan’s salary and benefits ranked in the office’s overhead. But none of it would matter. “There’s nothing I can do, Dan. The decision’s made.”

“You can change it.”

“No. This is the way it’s got to be. I’m sorry.”

Dan lifted his eyes. His chin trembled.

“You’ll get through this, Dan.”

He shook his head. “You don’t know.”

“Know what, Dan? Look. Take the agreement with you. Go over it with Barbara. If you have any questions, call Margaret. Or call me. It’s a generous agreement. Things will work out.”

“No, they won’t.” He crumpled the agreement into his hand. With a deep breath, he lifted his face and stood as if drawn up by his chin. He looked around the room. Margaret was on her feet too. She’d pulled the glasses down so they hung by the chain around her neck.

Jason held out his hand again. “Call me in a few days, Dan. Okay?”

“Yeah.” Dan took his hand, the grip firm. He winked—a reflex Jason had never noticed before.

Dan turned. The mannequin posture had wilted in the space of this fifteen-minute meeting. He moved like a man who needed something to lean on.

At the door, he stopped, his hand on the knob. He turned his head slightly but wouldn’t look up. “Barbara won’t understand.”

Jason crossed the room. “Don’t sell her short. She might surprise you.”

Dan raised his eyes. He turned them to the door and with his fist on the knob tried to stand up straighter. He couldn’t seem to turn the knob.

Jason put a hand on his shoulder. “Try to think of it as beginning something new, Dan. Give yourself some time. I know you’ll come through this okay.”

Without looking back at him, Dan opened the door. Next to Brenda’s desk, Foley waited to make sure Dan didn’t take anything that was bank property when he cleared out his office.

Faces lifted from their desks to see this victim. At the sight of them, Dan hesitated. His head dipped, and he moved out along the wall toward his office, his posture reminding Jason of a whipped dog. Foley trailed him.

They stared at Jason. All of them. But when he met their eyes, they turned away quickly. Hoping they weren’t next.

Brenda didn’t look away. She had no idea she was next on Vince’s list. Her hands were folded in her lap, her face up to him with a sympathetic press of her lips and turn of her eyebrows. “Anything I can do?” she asked.

He shook his head. “I just have to get this over with.” She was lowest in seniority among the executive assistants. Jason placed his fingertips on her desk. Turned from her. “Angie, would you come in for a few minutes?”

Angie’s head jutted forward in disbelief. “Me?”

“Yes.” Jason turned and entered his office. He went to Margaret. “Give me the last severance agreement.”

She drew it out of an envelope, glanced at the name, and handed it to him.

“There’s been a change.” He went to his desk and lined through Brenda’s name and wrote Angie Barrett’s in above it.

By the time he turned, Angie stood in the doorway. He handed the agreement back to Margaret.

She looked at what he’d written. “We need to talk about this.”

“Come on in, Angie.” Jason stepped behind her and closed the door on the faces that stared at him from the lobby. “Have a seat.”

Margaret leaned forward. “Jason—”

He silenced her with a glare and came around his desk to sit before Angie. “The economy is forcing us to do a reduction in force.” It was a tape by now, a repeating loop running through his mind. “Every office has to select 20 percent of their employees. Unfortunately, your name’s on the list. It was a very difficult decision. It has nothing to do with performance. You’ve been a pleasure to work with. The bank has approved a severance package, and based on your years of service, you’ll be compensated with a number of weeks of pay. Margaret’s going to prepare the agreement and she’ll have it messengered out to your home.”

He glanced at Margaret. She stared at him, shaking her head.

Angie showed no emotion.

He let the tape roll. “Margaret will also deliver information on your benefits. Your health coverage will continue through the severance period and for the month following. If you want to continue it, the bank will work with you to get that taken care of. Margaret can explain the details.”

He was done. It was all he had to say, and he’d said it three times earlier. Angie was the last one.

“I get it,” she said.

“Good. Do you have any questions?”

“Yeah, I have a question.” She folded her arms. “What makes you think I’ll let you get away with this?”

“It’s a reduction in force, Angie. It’s not personal.”

“Oh, it’s personal. You think I’m blind? You think everybody in this office is blind?”

“Look, the decision’s been made. I know it’s hard to accept—”

“You better believe it’s hard to accept. I’ve got seniority. My reviews have all been good. You’ve got no basis to pick me except what you got going with your little blonde. She’s the new kid. She ought to be the one fired. Not me.”

Margaret looked like she’d swallowed a bug.

“I think you’ll find the severance agreement is pretty generous. Once you sign the agreement, you’ll receive several weeks’ pay.”

“We’re talking about your thing with Brenda, not the severance agreement.”

“Angie, the whole bank is going through this. You’re not singled out.”

She turned to Margaret. “Do you know about this? Isn’t it against the rules for a manager to be messing around with one of his subordinates?”

Margaret gave her nothing. HR training kept her face blank.

Angie spun back around. “Not to mention a married manager. How do you sleep at night, Jason?”

It was time to let his voice rise. “Look, whatever rumors you’ve started around here just confirm I’ve made the right call.”

“They’re not just rumors. It’s common knowledge.”

“You want to stop these accusations right now, Angie. Understand?”

“You’re firing me so you can keep your mistress around. Everybody knows what happens when your door’s closed. We even have a pool going. What time of day. How long the door stays locked.”

“That’s enough. Keep it up and the severance is off the table. I’ll axe you for cause. Is that what you want?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Fine. Send me your severance agreement. We’ll see if it’s enough to keep me quiet.” She stood and turned to Margaret. “Does HR back this up? Is this the official bank decision?”

Margaret said nothing. She slipped Brenda’s severance agreement into the envelope and avoided looking at Angie.

Jason went for his phone. “Stay right there, Angie.” He dialed Brenda’s extension. She picked up before the first ring ended. “Have Foley come in.”

“He’s still in Dan’s office. It’s kind of a scene.”

“You help Dan get out. I need Foley in here.” He hung up.

Angie’s arms were folded. “Taking food out of my kid’s mouth. That’s what you’re doing. So you can keep your little fling going. You’re sick.” She went for the door.

“Don’t open that door.”

She swung it open. The door bounced against the stop and began to close behind her as she marched past Brenda’s desk to her own.

Jason turned to Margaret. “You’d better see to her until Foley—”

“We need to talk.”

“Just get out there and make sure she doesn’t set fire to the place, will you?”

She gathered up her briefcase. Her reading glasses bounced against her chest when she rose to face him again. “We’re not done with this, Jason.”

He waved her away.

She left his office. He watched her approach Angie. The drama wasn’t over between them, but when Jason saw Vince headed his way he lost interest in Angie’s tantrum.

48

Vince stood like a bull ready to spring out of a gate. “This is the worst execution of an RIF I’ve ever seen.”

“What did you expect? People to kiss your feet for firing them?”

“I expected you to handle this professionally. You’ve got people crying and shouting all over this office. Haven’t you ever done this before?”

“As a matter of fact, I haven’t.”

Brenda leaned in behind Vince. She began to draw the door closed.

Vince heard the door squeak and turned. “Wait a minute.”

She froze.

He faced Jason. “Why is Angie packing up?”

“Because her name was on my list.”

Outside, Foley returned to the scene of the crime. Apparently he’d gotten Dan down to his car with his box of mementos, and he was back for the next casualty. He relieved Margaret. She wasted no time coming to Vince’s side, looking every bit as bovine as he did. Put them in a cow pasture, and their business suits wouldn’t keep them from fitting right in with the herd.

Vince’s jaw knotted at its edges. “She was not on the list.”

“You said I made the final call. That’s what I did.”

“So it’s true.”

Brenda still stood in the doorway. Vince turned to her. “Get in here.”

Hands folded before her, she obeyed him, striding in like a penitent approaching an altar. She didn’t look in anyone’s eyes. Not even Jason’s. She stood next to him.

Outside, Angie dropped an F-bomb on Foley. Jason looked up in time to see her slap Foley’s arm away from the box. She held a plaque. Jason recognized it, even from a distance. He’d presented Angie the award in March. MVE—Most Valuable Employee. In the back of Jason’s mind, he wondered if circling an MVE for a reduction in force would weaken the bank’s case if she decided to sue them instead of taking the severance package.

She caught him looking at her, flashed the plaque in his direction and stuffed it into the box with a smirk.

Jason shook his head and waited for Vince to set him up. Somewhere underneath the needles of sparse hair on Vince’s scalp, a brilliant jibe was forming but wasn’t quite fermented enough yet.

Margaret’s suit made her look as square as a jack-in-the-box. Crank her arm and see what springs out of the top of her head. Jason told her, “You’d better get Angie’s severance agreement drafted. If you don’t get her signature before she leaves—”