Page 49 of Besties
She sneered at me, her gray eyes narrowing to slits. “Get out.”
“I hope you’ll give me a chance to explain why I missed our last meeting. My stepfather had an attack, and Mr. Ryland and I went to Florida to be with my mother. I am sincerely sorry for scheduling, then not coming in.”
She glared at me, and I felt like a kid in the principal’s office again. “As I said, we won’t be doing business with Teaching Time again. We’ve contracted another company that seems to have our best interest at heart, and we’ll be going through them. Good day, Mr. Henry.” She sat down and focused on the computer screen. I knew she wasn’t really watching it, though as I saw her gaze flick to me several times.
“Ms. Berry, Teaching Time has always had the interests of the students at heart. I’m not sure what’s changed to make you think otherwise.”
She pushed up out of the chair, hands flat on her desk, and glared at me. “Teaching Time used to have a sterling reputation. While I accepted your excuse of one bad apple in your company as an anomaly, I’ve since discovered that many other programs in the area are also having problems. In fact, since we spoke last, I’ve gotten word from eleven other schools that have or will be severing ties with Teaching Time.”
If she had struck me, I wouldn’t have been more shocked. “Ms. Berry, please give me a few moments here. I’m very confused. What, exactly, happened since last we spoke?”
She heaved a sigh and dropped back into the chair. “Missed deadlines. Flimsy excuses. Arrogant sales representatives. You name it, and Teaching Time has been guilty of it. I have to say, I’m disappointed. I thought you were on the up and up with me. The candy and flowers were a nice touch.”
Her voice dripped with condescension. My head was spinning, and for just a split second, I wanted to bolt, but this was Richie’s company, and I would be damned if I disappointed him.
“What deadlines did we miss?”
“Parkman Schools was supposed to get outfitted with software in their Special Education Department. Everything was set up and ready to go, and then Teaching Time dropped the ball. Now the kids have nothing to work from, and Parkman had to scramble to find a substitute. East High had paid five thousand dollars to have their sports teams tutored to ensure they remained eligible for playoffs. Now they’re out the money, and their football team was disqualified from regionals. Do I really need to go on?”
My blood was boiling. I pulled out my tablet and checked on the schools she mentioned. “We had nothing with those schools. In fact, I—oh, damn.” I looked up at her, hoping she could see the contrition. This whole thing had just gotten so much worse.
Her lip curled up into a sneer. “Apparently you’ve discovered something.”
I looked her in the eye. “I did. Would you care to guess who the sales rep was for those schools? They’re on my list of places to visit today, because after the problems you had with Dennis Kramer, I had all of his sales calls pulled. He doesn’t even work for our company anymore and has no business approaching schools using the Teaching Time name.”
That cool gaze faltered. “You knew nothing about this?”
Sweat tickled my neck. This was insane. “No, ma’am. Like I said, Mr. Ryland and I were with my mother and stepfather for the past week. We got back on Saturday, and when we walked into the office today, we found out what had happened while we were gone.”
She sighed and tapped some keys absently. “I don’t know who to believe.”
“And with good reason. I don’t know what’s going on, but I do know that Teaching Time values your business and we’re committed to helping the students who need us. You have my word, I’m going to get to the bottom of this.”
She slumped back into her chair. “We’ve already signed contracts with another company. Their product is very similar to yours. They’re more expensive, but they were there when we needed them.”
“I’ll be honest, I’m disappointed, but I do get it. Your students need the tools at hand and couldn’t wait.”
Shaking her head, she finally seemed to unclench a little. “I don’t understand you. Shouldn’t you be angry?”
Yes. I’d been angry my whole life, and Richie was the only real stabilizing influence I had. This time he wasn’t here, but I needed to keep my temper if I was going to help him sort this whole mess out.
“Would it help if I was? What’s done is done, and being upset isn’t going to solve anything. What I can do, here and now, is hopefully start a new relationship with you—one that will earn your trust once more. Even if you never use our product again, we still want to be part of your success.”
A slight smile crossed her lips. “You mean that, don’t you?”
“I do. Mr. Ryland isn’t doing this for the money. He wants kids to succeed.” If I wanted to get my point across, then I needed to open up to her. “May I tell you a story?”
Small lines appeared in the corners of her eyes. “Sure, I guess.”
So I told her about Richie, how he tutored me, got my grades up from failing to better than just passing. How he stood by me, even when any smart person would have given up. How that led him to start Teaching Time, and why it was his life’s goal to help people who’d been like me. When I finished, she was looking at me with rapt attention. “And I assure you, Richie—Mr. Ryland—isn’t one to give up.”
“I—I don’t know what to say.”
“There isn’t anything that needs to be said. I just wanted you to know what kind of person Mr. Ryland is.”
“You sound sincere, but…. Well, the company we went with did too. When we talked, the others and I, we figured the leadership of Teaching Time had started to cut back on the quality of their products. That their—your—interest in the programs offered had waned and now were causing schools to fail.”
Nowmy blood was boiling. “I can assure you, that’s a lie. We have worldwide connections, including some that were made in the last few months, that are invested in our success, as it will help their schools and programs. This includes companies that find graduates who’ve used our programs are more likely to be in the top five percent of their classes. Even if we’re not your go-to company, we’re willing to help you as well.Thatis how committed we are.”
