Page 27 of Corporate Escapades

Once Paris had finished her morning routine, the party set out for the main ADG building. Their group was the first to arrive at the meeting. They grabbed more coffee and pastries and took their seats all on one side of the table. The seniors came in and took their seats across from them. Vic felt as if he was at an interview. Little did he know, it was much like an interview.

“Good morning,” said Jessamine. “How are you all doing today? Paris, you look a little tired, sweetie.”

“I am,” she replied. “I couldn’t sleep last night, and this morning, while I was in the shower, the workers shut off the water to our apartment.”

“Oh, that’s terrible! We’ll inform the work crew they must notify you from now on if there will be any shut-offs,” repliedher mother. Paris let out an audible sigh when she realized her family knew the complete extent of their current living situation.

“How about the rest of you?” asked Jessamine.

“I’m good, Mom,” replied Vic. “I made it out of the shower before the water stopped.” Turning away, he smirked at Paris, who shook her head angrily.

“You look good, Vic. I see you found some clothes to wear. Considering where you had to go, I think you all did fairly well,” said Dom.

“Mya, Chase, how about you? How are things going? Are they behaving themselves?”

Chase nodded his head to the affirmative. “I can’t speak for how things are when they’re at work, but outside of the office, they seem to be behaving themselves.”

“Oh, really?” asked Cristo. “Then what’s this?” he asked as he produced the morning’s paper and slid it across the table to Chase. “Feel free to read the headline out loud.”

“Oh, damn,” said Chase. “ADG Heirs Cut Off From Trust Funds And Demoted. Vic! I told you to be careful. I warned you about Janel. How could you be so careless?”

Vic choked on his coffee, sputtering droplets across the table. He neither suspected Janel would try to hurt him, nor that Chase had an angry bone in his body. The headline humiliated him. One thing was for certain. He and Janel were through for good this time.

“Thanks a lot,” said Paris. She had nothing more to say to him. She couldn’t believe he’d been so stupid as to tell his ex about their current situation. Now everyone would know, and it was beyond embarrassing.

“Definitely not what we expected to see in the papers this morning,” said Nicola. “I would have thought you two would have kept this situation to yourselves,” she said, shaking her head in disapproval.

“Moving on to the next order of business,” said Mikel. “How do you think you did with your new positions?” he asked.

“I busted my butt,” said Paris. “I think I followed directions well, and I got things done. I’m quite proud of the week I had.”

“Yes, you did very well,” agreed her father.

“Vic, what about you?” asked Jessamine. “How’d you do?”

“I learned the job. It was easy. The week flew by,” he replied.

“Uh-huh,” said Dom. “What about the part where you quit working halfway through?”

“Dad, I didn’t stop working. I just didn’t complete as many assignments. The job was simple, but it got boring fast. It’s not like the work didn’t get done.”

“The problem, Vic, is that the person who was supposed to be doing it, did not complete the work. Tell me, what would you do if you hired someone and halfway through the week, they simply stopped doing the job you had trained them on?” asked Dom.

“I’d discuss their performance with them and get them back on track. If they didn’t take it seriously, I’d find someone to retrain them,” he replied.

“You’d retrain them?” asked Mikel.

“Yes, sir,” replied Vic.

“No, sir,” replied his father. “You, my son, have fired people for much less.”

“He’s right,” backed Chase. “You’ve fired people for much less and on their first day of work, even. You’ve shown no mercy.”

“So,” said Mikel, “this is what we’re going to do. You, my young friend, are fired.”

“Seriously?” asked Vic. “You already demoted me to nothing.”

“Oh, trust me, there’s always somewhere else for us to put you,” replied Dom.

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