Page 33 of Zimyra

“Well, what I can say is, being out here in the field teaches you some things. I have to go into the office every day and get a paper report from her in which she prioritizes first by urgency and second by the date submitted. She types up a report and hands it to me, to which I go with Mauricio to all the units listed. Mauricio completes the tasks, I jump in where I can, and we mark them off one by one as we complete them. At the end of the day, we turn in this report to Zimyra. She takes the report, updates her spreadsheet, then manually sends emails to the tenants to notify them that their maintenance request has been completed.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“It’s complete nonsense.”

“It’s just a process, Ax. The way you explained it makes it sound complicated.”

“No, itiscomplicated. I mean, come on, Peter. If it’s truly a luxury complex, then the people running the joint shouldn’t be years behind in technology. And, by the way—how much does Zimyra make an hour?”

“She’s not hourly. She’s salaried.”

“How much?”

“Forty-two thousand.”

“Forty-two thousand dollars? That’s it? Who lives off that little?”

“You gotta remember, the cost of living is lower down there than it is up here, Axel.”

“I looked it up. The average salary is forty-five thousand, so she’s below average.”

“Ax—”

“Did she get a raise when she hit her one-year anniversary?”

“Uh…no.”

“Why not?”

“It wasn’t in the budget.”

“The budget? I know how much operating cash we have readily available. We have millions, and you’re telling me it wasn’t in the budget?”

“Look—I think you’re getting sidetracked, Ax. You’re down there to see what this woman is doing. That’s all. You’re not there to change things around or probe into her life—”

“That’s exactly why I’m here. I’m trying to find out who she is and how she’s makingourbusiness successful and now I learn that she didn’t get so much as a cost of living raise?”

I’m heated. Perhaps if I didn’t know her – and in many ways, I still don’t but I know enough – I would be so disturbed by all of this. But I feel like she’s getting screwed, and I’m the one who’s in a position to do something about it.

I say, “Here’s what we’re going to do. The maintenance system update she recommended, push it through.”

“Ax—”

“Peter, I don’t want to hear that we can’t afford it because I know that’s not true. I will pay for it out of my own pocket if I have to. Push it through. Have your secretary send Zimyra an email notifying her of this. Also, I realize we can’t issue a raise at the moment, being that she’s way past her year, but she’s getting a performance bonus ASAP.”

Peter huffs. “You do realizeI’mthe CEO of this company, right?’”

“You’re right, and you deserve to pop your collar, but while I’m down here playing undercover boss, this woman will get whatever she asks for. We already know she knows what she’s doing. Who knows—the upgrades she’s asking for may be the thing to make other complexes more successful.”

After a heavy sigh and a long pause, Peter says, “Okay. Fine. As long as you get some good intel, I’m here for it. Oh, and by the way, call your mother, too. She’s been freaking out since you’ve been gone.”

“Why?”

“She said you’re not bred for the South.”

I chuckle. “I’ll call her right after I hang up with you.”

“Alright, son. Keep your head down and remember your goal.”

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