Introduction:
Marcus performs the first two interviews
I sat at my desk and quickly flipped through all three
resumes while waiting for the first candidate to come
in. I know I probably sound like a broken record at this
point, but it was strange to me that I was interviewing
for a personal assistant when I'd just been one of the
many drones on the analytics floor of Marduke just a
few days ago, I wondered if Gerald had any idea what
was going on, or that I'd even bought the company. I
was sure the rumor mill was running at full speed, and
he was probably getting his fair share of questions
since we'd been neighbors for most of my time
working here. The thought of him getting hammered
with inquiries was amusing, since he spent most of his
time clueless about the goings on around him. He was
a good guy. Maybe I'd arrange to give him a bonus just
for the hell of it.
Under the resumes was a memo from someone named
Michelle with some notes on the changes that had been
implemented since I'd fired Gina yesterday. It was a
neat, bulleted list of items that addressed the power
vacuum from Gina's expulsion, upper management
concerns, and several other things hadn't considered in
my hasty desire to acquire a company just to piss a
couple of people off.
My phone interrupted that train of thought, vibrating an
inch across the dark wood surface of the desk as it lit
up. Another text from my mother. I caught enough of
the preview to get the gist of the message. She
wanted me to call her.
Before I could even answer the text or look back at
Michelle's report, the door opened, and in strode
Vikram. He'd been with Helen and me when we
arrived at the Dunbar building yesterday. YPV had
loaned him to me for the next few days to help with
the acquisition and restructuring. According to Michelle's
report, he had already met with the higher-ups at
Marduke. He addressed any of their concerns and
coordinated with them and middle management until
Natalie could take on her new role. In only a handful of
business hours, he'd managed to assuage the concerns
of the -executives, set up a temporary command
structure to fill the gap left by Gina, and find a
replacement for Natalie's old position. Having spent
most of my time in the lower levels of large
corporations, I'd seen the amount of work a typical
person could get done in the same amount of time, and
was astounded by what Vikram had been able to
accomplish. It truly was impressive what a person could
do when properly compensated and given enough
resources.
The young man had a coffee with him as he entered
and sat it on my desk. "I hear you're looking for a
personal assistant? I'm here for the interview."
"Um..."
Helen had primed me to interview the hot women right
outside my door, so I was completely thrown off by
what Vikram said. I hesitated in grabbing the cup of
coffee as I tried to formulate some sort of response.
He grinned, "I'm just messing with you, man. I'm pretty
happy where' I am."
I snickered and took a sip of coffee, relieved that he
hadn't been serious. "Good one."
"I'd never in a million years think you would hire me
when you have candidates like those out there." He
glanced through the open door and looked back at me,
"Can I give you a bit of advice? Even if you're caught
flat-footed, try not to look like you are. You've got to be
a bit more assertive if you're going to survive in this
world. A bit more dominant. Otherwise, people are
going to walk all over you. If you thought I was
actually serious, you should have told me to fuck off
and pointed out the ladies sitting out there. At the very
least, just blow me off by telling me to submit my
resume then have me leave."
He was right. My friends weren't all going to be people
like Dillon or some of the other guys. I wasn't going to
be solely working with people like Gerald and Natalie
and the people in my circle weren't going to be just like
sweet Mrs. Lucas from across the hall. I was going to
be rubbing elbows with savvy people who had infinite
resources and the desire to fleece me the moment
opportunity struck. I was going to be fighting off
absolute snakes for the rest of my life. Helen had more-
or-less told me the same thing, but it was different
hearing it from someone who wasn't trying to seduce
me at the same time. Coming from Vikram, it rang a bit
more sincere.
Vikram's advice got me thinking... why had I felt so
powerful and confident with Bobbi last night, yet so
awkward with everyone else? What was it about Bobbi
specifically that gave me the gumption to literally kick
her out of bed when she didn't follow my exact
directions? Was it the amount of anger and resentment
over the way she had treated me and other decent
people she worked with? Was it that simple? And even
if it was, how the hell was I supposed to harness and
weaponize It? Dont forget to leave a Comment
The Love Of Money - Episode 32 By shary 0 Thoughts on this episode.