Who: Eleanor and the ex-CEO of her company What: Phonecall, threats, and funtimes, oh my! When: Monday afternoon Where: Eleanor's new office Warnings: Language, a very angry Eleanor NOTE: Reposted as a favour, originally posted by Eleanor
When Eleanor had come back from her vacation, the first thing she had done Monday morning was go into work, determined to shake things up and get some critical changes made. She was not going to be working for an incompetent fool for one second longer. And once she set her mind to something, it was going to get done.
Very discreetly, she started talking to anyone who would spare her five minutes, asking questions about the man's habits, his personality, his work ethic, anything that she could uncover. And it was like a Pandora's box, everyone seemed to know something. Whether it be that he liked to take three-hour lunches and come back drunk, or that he liked to hit on all the new secretaries, or that he sometimes just decided to leave at 1 in the afternoon, citing 'personal reasons'. Checking back through the past six months, Eleanor uncovered over 25 instances of this. Not to mention the numerous women who told her he seemed to not know how to take 'no' for an answer.
Armed with all of this evidence, she asked for the board of directors to meet, and then presented her findings. By themselves, perhaps certain things could have been forgiven, like the long lunches. Not the drunkenness, but everyone takes a long lunch now and again. But added all together, it was an overwhelming mountain of proof, and they had no choice but to fire him. He was given half an hour to clear out his office, he was relieved of his ID badge, and escorted from the premises. Eleanor had watched him go, feeling a quiet sense of joy in evicting someone from the position who never should have been there in the first place.
The next day, the board met again. "We need a new CEO," one of them said. "This company needs a leader, someone better suited to its needs. Someone who won't run us into the ground."
One or two of the board members turned to look at Eleanor, who very carefully kept her face blank. Looking too eager was tacky, and she was certainly not that. Instead, she simply raised a questioning eyebrow.
"Would you be interested in the position, Ms. Durand?" another asked. "You're extremely qualified, and your record is impeccable."
Eleanor smiled graciously. "Thank you very much," she replied. "And if the board felt I would be the best choice, then yes, I would be interested."
They voted unanimously to install her that very afternoon. Sitting behind her desk, she spun her chair around to face the window, allowing herself a few moments to enjoy the view.
Of course it wasn't all sitting and looking out of windows. Her predecessor had left an enormous mess to clean up, with the result that Eleanor was at work until 11 almost every night. But slowly, gradually, things started to fall back into place. Molly, who had worked in the mail room for a year and been completely ignored, was given a performance review and was found to have quite the head for both organization and computers, and she was promoted to a position as a PA for one of the VPs. Eleanor had had lunch with the girl a few times and had discovered through their chats that she was not only intelligent, but she had a wicked sense of humor, especially with biting satire.
Her own PA, Jacob, was another story. There was no denying the young man's talents, he was efficient, organized, and dependable, but it was like he was always a half-step out of sync. Eleanor had determined to give him another month, but if things weren't meshing by then, she'd have to try and find him something more suited to his skill set, because she wasn't going to let him go, not if he could be put to good use elsewhere.
Monday morning, she was seated at her desk, going over some expense reports when Jacob's voice came over the intercom. "Phone call for you, Ms. Durand."
She'd been expecting a board member to return her call, so she didn't think twice before saying, "Put it through, Jacob." She picked up the handset and said into it, "Hello?"
"Enjoying my office, bitch?" a voice growled down the line. Eleanor's eyes widened slightly. Her old jilted boss. She'd had a recording device set up at the advice of their in-house counsel, in case something like this ever happened and they needed proof later. Right now, she was extremely thankful she'd listened, and pressed record.
"Quite, thank you," she replied. "I think I'll need a new chair, though, this one's all wrong."
There was a snarl of frustration on the other end. "Fucking cunt. I had the sweetest job in town, until you started poking your nose where it didn't belong. You'll be sorry for that."
"Is that a threat?" Eleanor asked, her voice like ice. "And I'll remind you, you brought this on yourself. Six more months under you and this company would have gone bankrupt."
"You're fucking right it is," he ground out. "No one screws me over like that and gets away with it."
Eleanor raised her eyebrows, even though he couldn't see it. "Really now. One could make the arguement that I already have."
"I'll sue you," he raved. "The company, the board, and you personally. Unlawful termination, discrimination, and anything else my lawyer can think up. Expect the papers."
"Do your worst," Eleanor said, her voice deadly calm. "I will bury you." And even though it wasn't very professional, she hung up on him.