Chapter 4

At first, Erin and Hugh were on the phone constantly. Erin drove to Hugh's office, and marveled at how large and fancy it was. Erin made it safely to Hugh's desk without seeing anyone by going in the back entrance and taking the stairs eight stories to his office.

Wondering what to do next, Hugh suggested that they go through his E-mail. As they went through each E-mail message, Hugh dictated to Erin what to write. This turned out to be a useful technique for Erin to learn about Hugh's office environment, including the politics, customers, and personalities. Unbeknownst to Hugh, she had found a pad of paper and was furiously taking notes.

Next, a tour of the offices. Erin walked around, saying 'Hi' to everyone, and with a combination of picture flash cards and Hugh on the phone, she was able to identify most everyone and mostly avoid embarrassment. Almost everyone asked about Hugh's vacation to Ireland, and Erin was so convincing about how wonderful it was - mentioning all kinds of places that Hugh had never seen, that several of the staff started, right then, to plan their next vacation.

"What now?" Erin asked.

It was now 1:30 PM. Erin had just finished a tuna fish sandwich from the local deli.

"Well," replied Hugh, "I guess we better get it over with."

'It, ' of course, was the meeting with his boss. The boss had left a voice mail asking for a meeting as soon as Hugh had come back to the office.

Erin called and arranged the meeting with the boss's secretary. "She says he's available right now." Erin gathered up all her notes.

"Good luck. I'm sorry you have to go through this."

"Hey, I'm not the one getting fired. This will be easy for me. I'm just sorry that this is happening to you. But cheer up! At least you have your stock, right?"

"Right," but Hugh was depressed, all the same.

"OK, see you later."

"Bye."

Erin hung up the phone with a click, and Hugh waited.

Three hours later, the phone finally rang.

Hugh rushed to pick it up. "Where have you been!! What have you been doing? I've been dying here!!"

"Sorry, sorry, I've been busy!"

"BUSY?? Busy doing what? What's going on for God's sake?"

"Hugh," Erin's voice could barely contain her glee, "sit down, you won't believe this."

"Uh, oh, I don't like the sound of this," Hugh sat down.

"I bought the company."

"YOU WHAT?"

"Well, not bought it, exactly, and it was really John's idea, but we convinced your boss that he should spin off your group into a separate company. The Telco will own 25%, and the remaining 75% will be split amongst the new employees. Everyone from your group has signed up! You have 26%, and John has 25%."

"I don't believe this."

"Believe it. I ran into John on the way to your boss's office. He mentioned the idea, I thought - hey you're about to be fired so there's nothing to loose - and then we went ahead and did it. John was very impressed with my negotiating skills."

"And they did it?" After first feeling hurt and angry, the beauty of what had been accomplished began to dawn on him.

"Well, John and I were very persuasive. Also, the fact that we gave back half our stock probably helped..."