THE VIRUS

To most people who met him, Jamie Bender seemed like a decent enough guy. But he had a few major flaws. At the top of the list was an inability to deal with confrontation. His deep fear of failure and rejection had trailed him his entire career, and as he grew older, it seemed to be gaining ground.

But Jamie was brilliant in a variety of ways. He tested off the charts in standardized tests to get into B-school. More important, he had developed a control of his emotions and a personal charm that masked his insecurities, and he had learned to leverage these skills in every way possible. In other companies where he had worked, these were enough for him to get by, even succeed. After all, in the right environment, Jamie was extremely likable. But with Rich, he could see the walls closing in fast.

Jamie knew that if this had occurred in the past, he would have put his résumé together, found a “better opportunity,” and moved on. But that wasn’t such an attractive option now. For one, he was actually beginning to understand and appreciate what was going on at Telegraph. On a more practical level, he had just moved his family to a new city. And even if he could leave the company, as a vice president he wouldn’t be able to shake something like this from his résumé so easily. He would have to find a way to survive at Telegraph, if only for another six months, and then maybe find another job in the area.

For the first time in his career, Jamie felt trapped. And people who are trapped tend to do crazy things.