Page 5 of Salty, Spiced, and a Little Bit Nice

My stomach twisted. Stewart was known for getting to the point, so his making small talkandusing the word “please” rang an alarm.

I cautiously lowered myself onto a chair. “Nothing eventful. Yours?”

“Oh, probably overindulged more than I should have.” Stewart cleared his throat and clasped his hands together. “You must be wondering why I called you.”

“Is this about the Axton Mining IPO?”

“No.” He leaned across the desk. “The board had a meeting earlier. After the dreadful past two years, they want to restructure. Cut some costs. Merge some roles, streamline the operations.”

The twist in my stomach tightened.This sounds bad.

“We have to let some people go,” Stewart said, his hands still clasped. “You’ve been a great asset to the company. However, based on your last performance review, we feel you’re probably better suited for a role elsewhere.”

The twist in my stomach was now a Category 5 hurricane. “But why? I exceeded all my KPI targets last year. My last appraisal reflected that.”

“Yes, but there are others who performed better. The decision wasn’t easy, but it was based on the company’s best interests. Nothing personal.”

My head spun as Stewart continued talking about how much he valued my contributions to the team, his words going in one ear and out the other.

It didn’t make sense. I was one of the top analysts for the company last year, and my clients consistently achieved higher than average returns on all their investments. Working in finance was never my first choice, but it was either this, or medicine, or law, because those were the only career paths acceptable to my parents. Arguing with them would be pointless, and I was good with numbers, so finance was the most sensible choice. Even then, there were many, many days when I hated my job and wished I were anywhere else but here.

Still, it was dreadful to have been told the company no longer required my services. On the first day back, no less.

I shifted and squirmed in my seat.Way to make your family proud of you, Ellie.All hell would break loose when they heard the news. My parents would hang their heads in shame, because to them, being fired from a job, no matter the reasons, was in the Top Three Things That Would Bring Lifelong Disgrace to Your Family. Another one was Rejecting a Lucrative Marriage Proposal from An Important Business Partner, so in less than a week, I’d succeeded in disappointing my family twice.

It’s a sign, a small voice said,that you should accept Eric’s job offer.

Not.

“I can write you a recommendation letter, although you probably won’t need it,” Stewart said. “I’m sure your family can give you a job in one of your companies.”

My head snapped up at that. “What?”

“Pang Food Industries. That’s your family, right? One of thelargest manufacturers and wholesale distributors of Asian food in North America. I saw the YouTube video.”

That damned video would be the death of me. “Yeah, that’s us.”

“If I were you, I’d be living it up at the family business instead of slumming it here with the rest of us common folks. Two billion dollars turnover in the last financial year, multiple subsidiaries, and thousands of employees across the country. A brewery joint venture with Fitzgerald Creek Wines.” Stewart let out a laugh. “You won’t have any problems finding your next role.”

I stilled. “How did you know about the brewery?”

He shrugged. “Everyone knows about it. It’s public knowledge. There are social media accounts promoting it.”

“But the joint ownership has never been publicly disclosed,” I said slowly, my brain sifting through all the probable answers. “The only ones that knew about it were the people working for my family or the Fitzgeralds’.”

For the briefest second, a look of guilt crossed Stewart’s features. “No, I’m sure I read about it somewhere.”

A siren wailed in my head as a disturbing possibility entered my mind. “My mother. Did my mother have anything to do with this?Wait.Did she pay you to fire me?”

The look of guilt returned to his face, giving me the answer I needed.

“Un-fucking-believable.”

I stood up so quickly my chair toppled over backward. I’d been tolerating my family’s interference all my life, but this was above and beyond. Was this their way of punishing me for rejecting George’s proposal?

No, I realized. This was a ploy to force me into accepting Eric’s offer. If I didn’t have a job, then I’d have no choice but to say yes and join the family business.

And to think I had felt guilty for getting fired and giving them shame.

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