Page 19 of Corporate Escapades

The walk over to the ADG building felt agonizingly long to Paris. She was anxious and did not know what to expect. She hoped Chase was wrong. Would their parents really fire them? Why had they waited until now? She and Vic had been at work all day.

Entering the boardroom, they found all the key players seated and waiting. Nicola stood in greeting and asked them all, including Chase and Mya, to take a seat. Walking over to the door, she shut it behind them. Normally, they kept the door open, but today was different. Paris could feel her palms beginning to sweat.

“Have you seen this?” roared Dom, tossing a paper over to Vic and Paris. The headline read:Alarie & DeMarcé Battle Verbally at Fundraising Gala.“I don’t think I need to tell you how bad this is.”

“It’s never okay to lose your cool in public,” said Mikel. “Consider the camel’s back broken.”

Jessamine raked her fingers through her long, curly auburn hair, her blue eyes brimming with tears. “You have no idea what you’ve done, and I’m afraid I can’t stop what’s coming. The board is in agreement.”

Nicola nodded. “I hoped after last week’s conversation that you’d figure things out and do better, but you wasted no time reverting to bad behavior.”

“We feel you’ve left us no choice,” said Cristo. “Actions such as yours require a firm response from the company.”

Standing, Mikel looked at them both. “You may have noticed we’ve changed the locks on your apartments.”

“Yes,” replied Vic. “Hard not to.”

“Here’s what happens next,” said Mikel. “We’ll lay things out for you, and you’ll keep your mouths shut until we ask if there are questions, okay?”

Paris had never seen such an angry and piercing look from her father. Both she and Vic nodded their understanding.

Nicola stood. “As of right now, you no longer live in the condos, and you won’t be in the family building either,” she added. “You’ll move to employee housing across campus.”

“Effective immediately, you’ve been demoted,” stated Dom. “As your family, we hold you to higher standards. That said, we also recognize where this mess stems from. It’s time to heal and move forward with your lives.”

“You no longer own company cars,” said Jessamine. “You don’t have access to the company limos either. If you need to go anywhere, you’ll do so by foot, public transportation, or nicely asking your assistants for a ride.” Looking at Mya and Chase, she added, “You two have every right to say no to their requests. This is not an obligation; I want to make that clear.” She watched Mya and Chase nod their understanding.

Moving on, Cristo said, “Your belongings are no longer yours. Kiss them goodbye because they’ll stay locked up in your old condos until further notice. If you fail to turn your behavior around, those belongings, as well as your condos, will be given away, and you’ll have to start over on your own.”

“Your assistants will now become your babysitters,” added Mikel. “Chase and Mya, you’re each getting a raise because babysitting children is more daunting than your normal daily tasks. If you two want to act like kids, we’ll treat you as such. If either of you gets physical with Mya or Chase, it’ll result in your immediate discharge from ADG and the family. This shouldn't be an issue, but apparently, Paris has a violent streak in her as of late. It pains us to make these decisions, but we’ve enabled your poor behavior for much too long.”

Nicola looked at Vic and Paris to be sure they were paying close attention. “There are several guidelines we expect you to follow. First, your trust funds and company expense funds are now closed off from use. You’ll be allotted a new account with a debit card. Each account will have $1,500 to get you started in your new lifestyle. This is all the money we’re going to give you, so you best use it wisely. Second, we expect you to keep up with and maintain all of your bills and living expenses, includingyour rent, utilities, and proper work attire. Aside from your bank card, you will not be allowed any credit cards, and again, there will be no stealing tolerated,” she said, looking at Paris. “You will also abstain from drug use. If we find out that you used drugs, stole, or manipulated anyone into letting you use their credit card, you will be let go from the company immediately.”

“You’ll begin your new jobs in the mailroom tomorrow,” said Dom. Both Vic’s and Paris’s mouths fell open, though they didn’t utter a sound. “You will behave when you’re at work. That means no fights and no yelling. Anything that isn’t proper etiquette for work is grounds for punitive action. Believe me when I say we can always further demote you. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir,” replied Vic.

“Yes,” acknowledged Paris.

“Your babysitters are here to help you,” stated Mikel. “They’ll work with you to put your lives back together. They are your business confidants, and they’ll call you on your bullshit.”

“Now,” said Jessamine, “We did discuss forcing you into therapy to deal with your issues, but all of us agree that forcing someone into therapy does not mean they’ll work at improving, so we’ve decided against it. If you’d like to see a therapist to help you sort out your feelings regarding loss as well as your new situation within the company, we’ll gladly pay for it. Mya, if you’re not up to handling this situation with Paris, please see me after the meeting, and we can have you temporarily switch places with Dom’s assistant, Molly.” Despite her statement, everyone knew Mya would never back down from the challenge of dealing with Paris. It wasn’t in her nature.

“In the meantime, I hope you’ll consider talking to each other,” said Mikel as he looked at each of them in turn. “You will work together to get through this. If you’re upset about your current situation, you have no one to blame but yourselves. You will not complain to your babysitters about how you got here,but you may complain to one another as much as you like, though I hope you won't. Hopefully, it’s sinking in that neither of you is innocent under the current circumstances.”

“Furthermore,” added Nicola. “We’ll reward you if you succeed. However, you’re both responsible if one of you cannot live up to an expectation.”

“We will check in with you every week,” said Cristo. “During our Monday morning check-ins, you’ll find out how you’re doing and whether we’re promoting you. You should also know that we may have others report to us regularly on your behavior at work.”

“If you manage to get it together and work your way back up the corporate ladder, we’ll welcome you with open arms. If you don’t straighten yourselves out, we’ll reserve the right to sever ties between you and the company. Do you understand?” asked Dom.

“Yes,” replied Paris and Vic in unison.

Dom nodded his head. “You’re our children, but strict action is necessary in order to preserve the reputation of this company. Believe me when I say we take no pride in having to move forward in such a manner. Act like the adults you’re meant to be, and we’ll treat you as such. If there are no further questions, we’ll give you the keys to your new apartments and have Mya and Chase take you to them.”

Paris and Vic had no questions. Both were too shocked to speak. Mya grabbed the keys from Mikel, and she and Chase hustled them across campus to the employee housing where they too lived. The building was newly remodeled, except for the top floor.

Looking at the numbers and locations of the new apartments, Mya surmised that her place was much larger and nicer than what Vic and Paris were receiving. Both apartments were on the twelfth floor. Arriving at the first door, Mya handed Paris thekey. Paris inserted her key into the lock and swung the door open. Mya cringed when she saw the inside.

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