Chapter 29: Job Change

I received a message from Dakota, the CEO’s executive assistant, that ‘the man’ desired a meeting with me on Friday afternoon. It was a friendly one, she told me, and nothing to worry about – probably a ‘how goes it’ chat. Ross Howard made sure that Retail Solutions didn’t do anything hostile to its employees, ever, so I wasn’t worried – only curious. Dakota told me that she knew nothing more, only that the ‘boss’ was being secretive.

Thus, at two p.m., I strolled into the corner of the building where Ross and Dakota had their offices next to each other. Dakota lit up like a Christmas tree with the broadest and best smile of my month. I leaned in and snuck a kiss and told her that I loved her. She beamed at me more, almost like having a spotlight shown on you.

She gestured for me to go into Ross’ office, and I did, rapping on the doorframe as I did. Ross’ secretary also gave me a big grin as I passed her desk. Ross looked up from his laptop and gestured me into one of the comfortable chairs in his office. I asked, “What’s up?”

Ross picked up a folder from his desk. He said, “I know that you and Dakota are close, so it has been difficult for me to keep what I’m about to do secret from her. Fortunately, you don’t know anybody that well in human resources as part of your retinue – yet! and my secretary can keep a secret.” He laughed at his ploy.

I waited for the shoe to drop. Some secret could go either way – perhaps.

Ross continued, “To put it concisely, the board and I would like you to become the vice president of customer service.”

I was stunned. I sat in silence and replayed what Ross had just said – and again. This was a big deal, and was a two-level jump from my current job even though the intermediate level had been empty for a while as I ‘acted’ in the position.

“What about Tom Byer?” Tom had been my big boss in the VP position for the past five years.

Ross nodded, “Tom is going to become the vice president of European Operations.”

I looked surprised, “We don’t have any operations in Europe, do we?”

Ross chuckled, “We do now. You know that Tom is British. Well, he wants to try to duplicate what we have here in the U.S. in Europe, starting in the U.K. and the Benelux countries. He’ll be based somewhere near London, probably on the M-25. For us, it’s a green field endeavor. The board, me included, have given him four years to start showing a profit – a return on our investment. Meanwhile, he’s got a business plan and a budget. He’s already lined up some of the electronic manufacturers for our equipment so we’ll meet European standards and make them happy that the equipment is sourced more locally.

“Tom will be moving over there after the first of the year. In the meantime, I want you to turn over your directorship of field operations to your number two, and focus on picking up the various threads that Tom has in play. He wanted to be here today to congratulate you and share in this, but ... well, he’s in London looking for office space and talking to a very small operation that we might buy for him – a starter kit, if you will.”

“I’m stunned.” I genuinely felt like a very nice truck had just run over me, showering me with feathers, caviar, and champagne.

Ross went on, “Your base salary will about double. Your bonus will likely increase over a hundred percent assuming a year like the last one. There are all sorts of other perks, too: travel, gym, health plan, education plan, retirement plan, estate planning, and so on that executives get. You’ll also get a new car; one you won’t have to lug equipment around in all the time.” He passed me the folder that he’d picked up. “It’s all in there in black and white. After you review all of that, HR would like you to visit and sign a few things accepting the job and lying to them that you flawlessly understand all that stuff.”

I took the folder in my hands. “Mark Butler would be my choice for my replacement.”

Ross nodded. “That’s what we expected. If you talk to HR right after this meeting, they’ll prepare his promotion package and have it ready for Monday afternoon. Why don’t you join me then, and we’ll give him his good news.”

“He’ll be thrilled. He and his wife just had a second child, so the extra money will come at a good time. His wife had been working, but went on furlough a month ago.”

Ross said, “There’ll be an announcement of your elevation to VP sent out in an email to everyone about four p.m. today, if that’s all right with you?”

I nodded, “That’s wonderful.” I remained stunned by the past few minutes. My mind was in high gear thinking of what I had to do to assume the new post.

I said, “I guess I get a real office, too, huh?”

Ross laughed, “Yep, right down the hall, but you have to promise not to pester Dakota all the time. Then again, I have to talk to her, too.”

“Oh, certainly.” I paused. “Thank you, sir.”

“You deserve this, and in some ways it’s long overdue. Congratulations.” Ross stood and so did I. He shook my hand, but then motioned for me to standstill.

Ross said loudly, “Dakota, you don’t have to eavesdrop outside my door any longer. Come on in here.”

Dakota appeared from just outside the door and blushed slightly. She’d been caught eavesdropping, probably for the nth time. I assume that was also why she was a good EA. I got another hug and a peck on the lips. She said, “Congratulations.”

Ross gestured for the three of us to sit down. He picked up another manilla folder from his desk before sitting. Dakota’s eyes got very large as she watched her boss.

“Dakota, you have been my EA for almost three years, and before that distinguished yourself in several other lower-level posts. What you have is a staff position, and there is nowhere for you to go from here, yet you deserve some kind of promotion.”

Dakota interrupted, “I love working for you, sir.” I could see she was nervous.

Ross went on, “Thank you, but you need a line position. Starting Monday, you will be the new head of the Gulf Coast Small Business Sector. Ron Goodman who had that position is leaving the company for another job. It is a management position, so you will get to put your managerial talents to the test and, given what you’ve done in your current job, I have no doubt that you will succeed in remarkable ways. This is also a matrix position, so you have to coordinate across the functions, such as marketing and operations and, oddly enough, customer service. I believe you know the new vice president there, very well. As my EA you have lived in the matrix and understand it better than I do. Have fun!”

Dakota shot me a look filled with angst and panic. She was suddenly being tossed into a complex line position that would demand far more results from her than Ross probably did – and she knew it. For her, this was like jumping off a cliff at night, not knowing how far down it was, and hoping for a soft landing.

Ross passed her a folder. “You get a pay raise and some new benefits that are detailed in that folder for you. I believe your salary will go up about fifty percent, and your bonus percentage will move to twenty percent depending on company performance. Congratulations.”

Dakota tried to speak but nothing came out. Her lips moved but for once she was truly speechless.

I asked, “Can I get you a water, honey?”

She nodded rapidly. I went to Ross’ small office refrigerator and got her a bottle of water. I handed it to her and she drank down about half of it in one large gulp.

Ross and I were quiet and watched her try to compose herself.

She said in a broken voice, “I’m grieving about leaving you, Ross. I’m truly speechless, which is rare.”

We gave her time to digest what had been said.

Dakota finally said, “I am scared shitless about what just happened to me, but I will try like hell to be the best damned manager any of those people have had or anyone in that position has ever been. Thank you for this opportunity.”

Dakota lunged at Ross, leaning over the chair and hugging the surprised man and then kissing him hard on the cheek. He was the one now speechless.

Ross said, “Dakota, you don’t have to do this all on your own. Matt, here, and I, as well as all the other managers will be available to help you get started. Do you know what to do on Monday?”

Dakota looked flummoxed. She said, “Go to my new office, I guess. Beyond that, I haven’t a clue. I guess I should talk to Goodman before he leaves.”

“And after that?”

“I haven’t the foggiest idea right now.”

Ross turned to me, “Matt, what would you do Monday if you were Dakota?”

“I’d have a short staff meeting with everyone that can attend from that sector to introduce myself as I exuded confidence, competence, and friendship. I’d then meet individually with each person to find out what their thoughts are about the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to the sector and to Retail Software. Take notes and act on them. Show that you are a person of action. Also, don’t say you’ll do something and then not do it.”

Ross looked to Dakota, “That’s good advice.”

Dakota said, “I’m on it ... Sir.” She was still nervous. Ross was a boss that always went by his first name. Being called ‘sir’ was not on his agenda, but he did forgive her by taking her hand and shaking it firmly. It occurred to me that I’d called him ‘sir’, too.

I picked up a couple of bottles of good champagne on the way home. Little did I know that there were other job changes that had occurred that day. I did think of Jill’s work – getting a fresh start on the east coast with a new technology client plus establishing contact and work with a new adult video company. She would need to be toasted, too.

When I went to put the champagne in the refrigerator for later, there were already three bottles in there. That stopped me cold. Something else had happened, perhaps.

I turned around and Michael was there. He proudly said, “I got a promotion today. I’m now an officer of the consulting firm I work for – a partner, although I have to buy into the partnership. It’s quite prestigious, I wanted to celebrate.

I explained to him about Dakota and my promotions. We both cheered loudly and gave each other man hugs and back slaps by way of congratulations on the joyous occasions. He told me more about his consulting firm and what the promotion meant for him and his fiancées. He was going to be very well off.

But there was more.

Garth showed up and he was bouncing around off the walls. As of an hour earlier, he became a doctor – a doctor of philosophy. He’d been a Ph.D. student for three years with increasing intensity working on his doctoral research and the attendant written dissertation and oral presentation. The paper’s title was ‘Sustainable, Secure, and Autonomous Artificial Intelligence Robotic Systems in the Manufacturing Industry’.

He explained, “I defended my dissertation today. There were sixty people in the classroom including my thesis committee of six professors – three from my school, and three from other schools that knew what I’d been researching. I presented for an hour and then did Q&A for a second hour. I was sweating bullets.

“The committee made me leave the room for fifteen minutes after I finished while they deliberated about the acceptability of my research work for the Ph.D. degree. This was the last rung or hurdle – the final step to the degree, and I DID IT. I PASSED! They all shook my hand and called me Dr. Dayton.” He screamed and started to dance around again. He had tears of joy in his eyes.

“What now?” I asked after he slowed down slightly. Michael and I were slapping him on the back and giving man hugs to him, too.

“The dean came up to me after some of the melee died down and offered me a teaching position at the university that I’m going to accept. Also, some of the people in the audience were from Ford, GM, and Honda. They each want me to consult to them on my research. Fuck, Ford told me that they expected me to charge them about $250 per hour – per hour! That’s like $2,000 a day. I have $68,000 in student loans, so that’ll go a long way to helping to pay off that debt – unless Congress lets the president forgive the debts.”

We talked about consulting and mixing teaching, research, and consulting together. There was a natural synergy of the three that Garth hadn’t realized until we talked. He could also come back from some of his consulting work and employ some of his students to further leverage himself and give them real-world experience.

We appreciated that and his new status as a freshly-minted doctoral graduate. Everyone also started calling him Dr. Dayton. I said that as a doctor of philosophy, he should also have some philosophical things to say. We offered up some ridiculous adages for his consideration: ‘Never trust an angry warthog’ and ‘Take two aspirin and call me in the morning’ were two I remembered.

Wendy and Tracy disappeared just before our normal dinner time. They arrived home twenty minutes later with a large sheet cake with the word ‘Congratulations’ on it in large scrolly letters. There were no lewd pictures on the cake this time, but there were two impressions of teenage breasts with erect nipples that graced the icing, obviously added after the cake was purchased. Everyone applauded their thoughtfulness and creativity at the last minute.

The cocktail time and dinner were kind of unusual in that about half the women were still dressed rather than half-nude as they usually were. Especially for a Friday evening, this was a rare event given our recent and highly erotic behavior. The women liked to tease. I asked and Misty thought that it had something to do with all the promotions.

Just as we sat down to start dinner, Denise appeared around the side of the house, looking very tentative about being there and being accepted. Michael jumped up and welcomed her with a hug and kiss. He directed her to a place to sit near him, which also turned out to be next to the newly minted Dr. Dayton.

The new ‘doctor’ got her a glass of wine and they got to know each other a little more. From what went on, I gathered that she and Michael had been in contact over the past week. I’d also gotten my head organized a little better and wanted to talk to her about the general décor of the house and the other rooms beyond those she’d already worked on. She had good ideas and a decorating style that I liked.

There was no pretense after dinner. The assumption, and a pretty good one, was that everyone was there for an evening of romance and sex. I wasn’t sure that Denise had that same agenda, so I watched her out of the corner of my eye.

After dinner, I finally got Dakota in my arms, naked and beautiful, rubbing herself all over me and trying to lavish an infinite number of kisses on me. “I love you,” she said repeatedly, and then she interjected with a chuckle, “Mr. Vice President.”