CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 12
‘Trying a new management style, are we? Or have you just become a card carrying member of the long-lunches brigade?’ Sarah asked when Claudia returned to the office. She gave her a look of mock disapproval as she handed her a bundle files.
‘Why not?’ Claudia challenged, ‘The current style isn’t very effective. A change could be a good thing.’ She said taking the folders.
‘Great management technique; if you stay away from your desk long enough someone else is bound to make all the hard decisions for you.’ She shook her head slowly and added, ‘Why make any decisions at all? Let’s just all go home and forget we have a business to run here.’ Sarah smiled, ‘Just joking. I’ve left a few messages on you desk. A couple probably need a response before COB. But don’t rush though there’s still plenty of time. It’s only four-thirty.’
Claudia shook her head, ‘Smart-arse.’
‘Thank you for noticing.’ Sarah said with a grin.
Claudia went to her desk and picked up the pile of pink, while-you-were-out notes. Two of them caught her attention. One was from the PM’s secretary asking if the meeting time could be changed to three p.m. That would make Thomas happy; a couple of extra hours would take the pressure off, or maybe it would just give him more time to stress out. The second message was from the New York office. Angus wanted to speak to her urgently. Sarah could get back to the PM’s secretary, but Claudia knew she couldn’t delegate the New York call. She dialled the Weather Scope office and was put straight through to Angus, one of the senior partners and company directors. Although she had an excellent working relationship with him, she didn’t really like the man.
‘Claudia. Thanks for getting back to me.’ Angus said in his broad Bostonian accent, ‘We’ve got a situation here.’
‘A situation?’
‘Yes. An interesting one; Christoph’s just resigned.’
‘What?’
‘Christoph has resigned,’ Angus repeated ‘effective immediately. Came in this morning, gave me a letter, cleaned out his office and left.’
‘Good God’ Claudia felt her knees tremble. Talking was difficult. ‘What on earth brought this on?’
‘He said he just can’t do it anymore. Said he’s lost his commitment and needs to get away.’
‘Away? To where?’
‘He didn’t say. Of course I told him to take some time off; I told him to take a holiday and he’d feel differently once he had time to unwind. But he said no; said a holiday would do nothing to change how he felt. He said he needed to get away from Weather Scope for good.’ Angus cleared his throat, ‘Look Claudia this is pretty serious.’
‘Now that’s an understatement if ever I’ve heard one, Angus.’ Claudia almost shouted, ‘It’s a bloody catastrophe, that’s what it is.’ She wiped her brow, then asked, ‘How do you want to handle this Angus?’
‘Well I’ll step in as CEO for the moment. And I guess we need to make a formal announcement.’
‘Shouldn’t we wait a few days? Christoph might change his mind. Give him a day or two and he might just come back.’
‘No. He’s not coming back Claudia. I’ve known Christoph for thirty years; I know when his mind is made up. And I’ve got to tell you I’ve never seen him more determined than he was this morning. No he’s not going to change his mind.’
‘So what do you want me to do?’
‘Tell your people; then it is business as usual. We can’t afford to let this set us back.’
‘You can’t be serious. How can we just go on as if nothing’s happened? Without Christoph we take a huge step backwards.’
‘Don’t panic Claudia. Sure there’ll be a gap; a big one, but we’d face the same problem if Christoph was run over by a bus.’
Claudia gasped, ‘Only he hasn’t been hit by a bus.’
Angus sighed, ‘I wouldn’t be so sure about that. I think he’s been hit by a big one.’
‘Bloody hell Angus. For God’s sake don’t joke. It’s not a laughing matter.’
‘Who’s joking?’
CHAPTER 13
Sarah managed to get hold of everyone before they left for the day, and told them there was an urgent meeting in the boardroom at five-thirty.
The place was buzzing when Claudia walked in. A few people noticed she looked shaken, but no one mentioned it. They stopped talking and waited for her to take her usual place. She nodded to everyone then suddenly she was all business. ‘Firstly I just want to thank you all for staying back. I’m sure you’ve all got better places to be, but something has come up that you need to know about.’ They all knew something had come up. Claudia didn’t call them to the boardroom unless she had something important to say. She felt all eyes upon her. ‘I’ve just come off the phone to Angus in New York.’ She took a deep breath, ‘It seems Christoph
has resigned and is no longer working for Weather Scope.’ The murmur was almost a roar. ‘I know. I’m as shocked as you are, but it’s for real. Angus will take over as CEO and it will be business as usual for all of us.’ She raised her hand to quieten them. ‘Please, hear me out here. This is primarily a New York problem. Sure there will be a few hiccups this end, but nothing we can’t handle.’
She could tell from the groaning, the others disagreed with her. ‘What I need right now is for each one of you to give me a list of anything you’re currently working on that you were either going to send to Christoph or you’ve been waiting for him to respond to. I need to work out who the best person in New York for you to team up with. Anyone who isn’t working on NY stuff can go home to their families.’ She looked apologetic, ‘sorry, but everyone else needs to stay, just as long as it takes to prepare the lists.'
It was after nine and Claudia was packing up to go home when Katherine appeared in the doorway. ‘Hi Kate. Has your day been a shocker too?’
‘Absolutely.’
‘What’s that saying; what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger?’
‘You and I must be as strong as granite then.’ Katherine replied, trying to sound light-hearted. ‘You want to grab a late coffee with me?’
‘I’m not sure I can stay awake much longer. I might take a rain check on that one.’
‘Please Audi. It’s important. I really need to talk with you.’
‘Well come in and take a seat we can talk here.’
‘I’d rather go someplace else if you don’t mind. This place is starting to get to me’
They walked to a small all night coffee shop a block away from the office. After they ordered, Katherine looked hard at Claudia and tried to assess her emotional state. She could tell she was physically exhausted, but couldn’t gauge anything about how she was coping with the news of Christoph’s resignation. She’d swung into her avoidance tactic; solid wall construction, and work was the cement that held it all together. ‘So what do you think of Christoph’s crazy-man antics?’
‘You mean his resignation?’
‘What else? Or has he done something crazier that I didn't hear about?’
‘Resigning from a job isn’t crazy Kate. It’s rather courageous.’ Claudia replied defiantly. ‘Especially, if you’re not happy. Good for him. I wish him all the best.’
Katherine stared across at her, ‘Oh sure. Just leaving everyone in the lurch, now that’s real courageous.’
Claudia tried one more time to defend Christoph’s actions, ‘With everything that’s going on in his life right now, I’m sure he’s done the right thing. There’s never a convenient time to leave; it’s probably best to just pick a date and do it.’ She tried to sound convincing, because deep down she shared Katherine’s opinion that he could have chosen a better time to leave, but she didn’t say so, and she found it difficult to listen to Katherine’s criticism. ‘Look Kate can we not discuss Christoph please? I’m really not in the mood for a fight.’
‘What would you do if Christoph contacted you and said everything had changed and he wanted to rebuild your relationship?’ she asked quietly. She watched Claudia carefully and could tell she was considering her question.
‘I thought we weren’t going to talk about Christoph,’ she smiled and shrugged her shoulders, ‘O.K. if I answer this one question, then can we drop it, please?’
‘Deal’
‘I don’t like hypothetical's. How can anyone really know how they’ll react in any given situation, especially an emotionally charged one? Oh, sure we can intellectualise about how we think we’d behave, but when push comes to shove, the idealised version is usually way off the real life reaction.’
‘Well give me the idealised scenario.’
Claudia shook her head, ‘No need. I have thought about this many times and I’ve already sorted it out.’
‘And?’ Katherine studied Claudia closely and waited for her response.
‘If Christoph contacted me, not that I’m expecting him to, but just suppose he did, I would tell him, gently, but firmly, that I can’t go back.’ She considered her words carefully, ‘I’d say I can’t live with an on-again off-again relationship. I would tell him I will always value what we had, but I realize my work is more important to me than anything, and I need I be free to focus 100% on EcoLogic.’ She paused, ‘I think I’d also tell him I was hurt; badly hurt, but I’ve put it behind me now, and I’m not prepared to leave myself open to be hurt again.’
‘Is that all?’
‘No I think I’d also tell him I was very naïve; that I actually believed I meant as much to him as he did to me. And that’s why I was hurt. Naiveté may be charming in some people, but it’s stupid to wear one’s heart on one’s sleeve, as I did.’ She sighed, ‘And I’d also tell him I acted like a complete fool, and I don’t want to ever make that mistake again.’ She smiled. ‘How good is this Kate? I didn’t want to go into Christoph territory, but I’m glad it did. That shows I’m over it.’ Her smile turned to a broad grin, ‘Finally! It’s been a bloody rough ride, but now it’s done.’
Katherine was delighted because she knew Claudia rarely exaggerated. If she said she was over Christoph, then she was. Katherine settled back in her chair and relaxed as she made the decision not to show Claudia Christoph’s email. She needs time to strengthen her resolve, before she’s faced with the big test. Katherine told herself. She deserves a stress free period to get back on top of her emotions; she rationalised.
‘So have I answered your question satisfactorily?’
‘Class A girlfriend.’ She grinned too, ‘Now let’s get ourselves another coffee and some of that wicked cake over there.’ She said, pointing to the display counter.
Later when they’d walked back to the EcoLogic car park, Katherine felt a pang of guilt. Maybe I should tell her about Christoph’s email she asked herself. I should have given her the chance to decide how she wanted to handle his request for her to contact him. She looked sideways at Claudia, who seemed calm even though Katherine knew how exhausted she was. No, she reassured herself again, she’d got enough on her plate right now. She doesn’t need this distraction, she just needs to stay focused and in control.
Katherine said good night to Claudia, and watched her drive away. ‘Oh shit. She said out loud, ‘I’ve really done it this time.’ She turned the ignition key with unnecessary force, and clenched the wheel in an effort to suppress her guilt.