me.”
“Think
you’re going to enjoy running an entire company?”
“I
know so once I learn all about the ins and outs I wasn’t privy to as Jillian’s
chief of staff.”
“Speaking
of Jillian,” he said, sensing that she had something to do with Grace’s down
mood. “Did she give you any more trouble
after the board meeting?”
Another
hesitation. “Not after I fired her, no.”
Tommy
looked up. He hadn’t expected it to come
to that this soon. “You fired her?”
“Yeah,
well, let me back up. I did fire her,
yes, but then she came by my office a few minutes later and said she quit and I
could take that firing of mine and shove it up my ass. And since I hadn’t officially completed the
paperwork to fire her and submitted it to HR for processing, according to the
HR Director she technically quit. And on
her own terms.”
Tommy
frowned. “Was it horrible, sweetie?”
He
could feel Grace’s anguish. “Worse than
you could imagine. When she came to my
office and announced that she was quitting, she said she could never work for a
company, not even her own company, that would have me at the helm. And that was her mildest comment. Earlier, when I came back to work after
lunch, she really lanced into me then. She was standing in the reception area, for all the world to see, and
called me her servant and the help, and Tommy Gabrini’s whore.
“That
bitch!” Tommy yelled.
“Oh,
yeah. She said I was the whore you loved
to fuck so much that you gave me a company to run. I slept my way to the top was how she put it,
and she said it in front of senior management staff too.”
“ Got damn that woman!” Tommy blared. “Of
course now it’ll be all over the company. And that was her aim, you know. Not to criticize you. To minimize
you. We ought to sue her ass for
defamation,” Tommy suggested.
“Oh,
I don’t have time for Jillian Birch,” Grace said. “She can say whatever she wants. But she won’t be saying it inside Trammel,
that’s for damn sure.”
Tommy
laughed. “Probably best that you got rid
of her early.”
“Oh,
I know it was. They’re just trying me,
that’s all. I’m young and, they think,
I’m innocent and some kind of push-over, so I expected it.”
“You
said they,” Tommy said. “Not just
Jillian?”
“Well,
nobody else rose to Jillian’s level of disrespect, but some, like Nayla, are
coming close.”
“Nayla? What’s her issue?”
“She
wants a promotion.”
“A
promotion?” Tommy asked. The nerve of
these people! “She’s barely handling
logistics, and now she wants a promotion?”
“She
concluded that she has the friendship card so she might as well play it, that’s
all. But I disabused her of her
conclusions.”
Tommy
exhaled with a distressed release. “I’m
beginning to wonder if I was doing you a favor when I turned that company over
to you. I wonder if it was the right
move.”
“It
was absolutely the right move, Tommy, what are you saying? It’s a dream come true for me! I always wanted to run my own company. Did I think it was going to be a company this
size? No. But it’s a wonderful thing you did for
me. And things will get better. I’ve just got to work harder and earn their
respect, that’s all. And I plan to do
it. I plan to work my butt off to turn
Trammel around. So don’t worry about me,
please. I’m fine. You just go to New York and take care of your
business and return to me in one piece.”
Tommy
smiled. “I think I love you, kid,” he
said.
“You think ?” Grace asked, and Tommy laughed.
“I
knew that would get a rise out of you,” he said.
But
when they said their final goodbyes and he hung up the phone, he still felt
uneasy. In many ways giving Grace a company
once owned outright by Jillian put Grace in an untenable position. Although she was telling him she was fine, he
now
“Think
you’re going to enjoy running an entire company?”
“I
know so once I learn all about the ins and outs I wasn’t privy to as Jillian’s
chief of staff.”
“Speaking
of Jillian,” he said, sensing that she had something to do with Grace’s down
mood. “Did she give you any more trouble
after the board meeting?”
Another
hesitation. “Not after I fired her, no.”
Tommy
looked up. He hadn’t expected it to come
to that this soon. “You fired her?”
“Yeah,
well, let me back up. I did fire her,
yes, but then she came by my office a few minutes later and said she quit and I
could take that firing of mine and shove it up my ass. And since I hadn’t officially completed the
paperwork to fire her and submitted it to HR for processing, according to the
HR Director she technically quit. And on
her own terms.”
Tommy
frowned. “Was it horrible, sweetie?”
He
could feel Grace’s anguish. “Worse than
you could imagine. When she came to my
office and announced that she was quitting, she said she could never work for a
company, not even her own company, that would have me at the helm. And that was her mildest comment. Earlier, when I came back to work after
lunch, she really lanced into me then. She was standing in the reception area, for all the world to see, and
called me her servant and the help, and Tommy Gabrini’s whore.
“That
bitch!” Tommy yelled.
“Oh,
yeah. She said I was the whore you loved
to fuck so much that you gave me a company to run. I slept my way to the top was how she put it,
and she said it in front of senior management staff too.”
“ Got damn that woman!” Tommy blared. “Of
course now it’ll be all over the company. And that was her aim, you know. Not to criticize you. To minimize
you. We ought to sue her ass for
defamation,” Tommy suggested.
“Oh,
I don’t have time for Jillian Birch,” Grace said. “She can say whatever she wants. But she won’t be saying it inside Trammel,
that’s for damn sure.”
Tommy
laughed. “Probably best that you got rid
of her early.”
“Oh,
I know it was. They’re just trying me,
that’s all. I’m young and, they think,
I’m innocent and some kind of push-over, so I expected it.”
“You
said they,” Tommy said. “Not just
Jillian?”
“Well,
nobody else rose to Jillian’s level of disrespect, but some, like Nayla, are
coming close.”
“Nayla? What’s her issue?”
“She
wants a promotion.”
“A
promotion?” Tommy asked. The nerve of
these people! “She’s barely handling
logistics, and now she wants a promotion?”
“She
concluded that she has the friendship card so she might as well play it, that’s
all. But I disabused her of her
conclusions.”
Tommy
exhaled with a distressed release. “I’m
beginning to wonder if I was doing you a favor when I turned that company over
to you. I wonder if it was the right
move.”
“It
was absolutely the right move, Tommy, what are you saying? It’s a dream come true for me! I always wanted to run my own company. Did I think it was going to be a company this
size? No. But it’s a wonderful thing you did for
me. And things will get better. I’ve just got to work harder and earn their
respect, that’s all. And I plan to do
it. I plan to work my butt off to turn
Trammel around. So don’t worry about me,
please. I’m fine. You just go to New York and take care of your
business and return to me in one piece.”
Tommy
smiled. “I think I love you, kid,” he
said.
“You think ?” Grace asked, and Tommy laughed.
“I
knew that would get a rise out of you,” he said.
But
when they said their final goodbyes and he hung up the phone, he still felt
uneasy. In many ways giving Grace a company
once owned outright by Jillian put Grace in an untenable position. Although she was telling him she was fine, he
now
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