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Alison arrived at work at 8:30 a.m. on Monday. She parked in her space, gathered her briefcase and bag, locked the car door and headed towards the lift that would take her to her office at McDougal & Cohen.
She smiled at everyone who entered the lift, while she recalled everything that had happened over the last couple of week. She was pretty pleased with herself. The outcome of some of the disciplinary meetings, she had been conducting, had gone very well. But one still nagged at her. Paul Jenkins. He’d been dismissed on the grounds of gross misconduct, and was escorted from the building by the police last week, having been charged with fraud.
Mr Cohen, or Frank as he preferred with the managers, was supposed to speak with Mr McDougal, regarding the details an outcome of Paul’s case. But, judging by the shitty email she had received yesterday afternoon from Mr McDougal, Frank had done nothing. Oh the joys of being the HR Manager. This morning should be interesting, she thought to herself.
She stepped off the lift and walked down the hallway towards her office. She could always lock herself in. That would put pay to any meetings.
“Alison!” came a deep booming voice.
She turned around, to see the large overweight frame of Mr McDougal coming towards her. Perhaps he was a mind reader, and could sense she was going to try and avoid him. She plastered her most accommodating smile across her face, “Good morning, Mr McDougal.”
“Good morning, I hope you were on your way to see me? There are a few issues we need to discuss this morning. Number one being, why the hell I’m getting emails from a solicitor representing Paul Jenkins, in a case for unfair dismissal?” his voice was hard and his stare so cold, it would freeze the Sahara desert.
“I was just getting in, Mr McDougal, if you would please give me five minutes, to take my things into my office and collect the files that we need to discuss. I will meet you back at your office, or you’re more than welcome to hold the meeting in my office,” she replied hoping he would agree to a later meeting. She hadn’t had any coffee yet and was a little grumpy.
He thought about this for a couple of minutes. “Your office, you’ve got nicer coffee than me,” with that he gave a slight snigger, which surprised Alison.
They walked along the corridor to Alison’s office. While she fiddled with the key in the door, he took a bolstering gulp of air. Alison noticed a slight frown on his face and asked. “Is there something wrong, Sir?”
“No, no,” he replied. “It’s just I can’t smell the lovely coffee aroma I usually get when I walk past your office.”
Alison faced the doors and rolled her eyes. “That’s because I haven’t started any yet. That’s normally the first order of business. Then I do all my morning prep. All while taking calls and answering emails,” surely he didn’t think she had a secretary? She was probably the only senior manager not to.
“You mean you have no help in the mornings, what so ever?”
Okay, so perhaps he is a mind reader, she thought. “No, just me. I usually get to start my normal routine at about 11 a.m. or 12 a.m. It depends on how many enquiries I have.”
Alison finally managed to get into her office. She set her briefcase on the desk, put her bag in the cupboard and opened all the blinds. She then assessed the state of the office. Obviously yesterday had been a good day. She had managed to tidy up. Some days her office could resemble a landfill sight, with papers and files everywhere. She turned around and went about, making the coffee that her boss so obviously desired.
“If you go over to the coffee table, Mr McDougal, I’ll bring yours over to you, and we can have the meeting there,” she said lightly hoping that he wouldn’t think this environment too informal for a meeting.
The corner of his mouth twitched, and Alison started thinking that she might actually get a smile. Something that she had never seen on this man’s face since, she started five years ago.
“That’s a wonderful idea,” he replied.
It took fifteen minutes for the coffee percolator to work its magic, and allow Alison to serve her boss with a cup. While he was enjoying the first sips, she went to her desk and picked up Paul Jenkins’ folder. He must be really worried about this threatened lawsuit, she thought. Otherwise he wouldn’t be in my office at 8:55 a.m.
She took her seat and looked at Mr McDougal, who looked as though he was ready to pounce. He had the whole, bull and red rag expression. She swore that if it were possible, she might even see steam coming from his nose.
“So can you tell me, why a member of staff has been fired after ten years of employment? Paul was one of the best Account Handlers this company has ever seen. He’s made us a hell of a lot of money over the past.”
Obviously Mr McDougal had a lot of respect for Paul. She had been trying to decide, on how she should handle this meeting. Now she knew she would have to tread very carefully.
“I’m sorry, Sir, I was approached by Mark Stand, Paul’s floor manager, regarding the accounts that Paul has been working on this past year. Mark had some questions about the accounts, and Paul couldn’t answer them. Mark wanted those answers. So I requested all files on the accounts, be passed onto the investigation team. Cynthia Giles carried out the investigation. To say that the findings were interesting is an understatement. It appears that Paul has been skimming off the top, of all the accounts he worked.”
Mr McDougal’s face went white, and he started breathing very heavily. Alison immediately got up and put the air conditioning on. Trying to cool her boss down, before he had a heart attack. She was relieved he was sitting down. He probably would have passed out otherwise.
“You’ve got to be joking? How much was missing from the accounts? Has any of his other work been checked?”
Alison rooted through the file and found the amount. “I’m afraid he’s had £100,000, from this year’s accounts alone, Sir. Luckily, the guys in the file department have kept everything as far back as fifteen years. I’ve asked for all the files, to be delivered to Cynthia for closer examination. I don’t think we’re going find anything for the first year or so. He was just finding his feet, and wouldn’t be bold enough to try it.”
Mr McDougal was starting to get some colour back to his face, but he still looked like a condemned man, being led to the gallows.
“Sir, I was the HR officer that dealt with the grievance procedure. I knew he would probably try something like this, to try and worm his way out of being prosecuted. Paul has had three grievances against him in the last year. The Police have been notified, and will want to have a look at the files and the report, being written by Cynthia. But at the moment, I understand he has been charged with fraud and released on bail. The unfair dismissal case that has, come to your attention will not hold water in court. It’s very plain to see, that we had no other option, than to terminate his employment and file charges.”
Mr McDougal picked up his coffee cup and downed what was left. His breathing had returned to normal and, he seemed much calmer. Alison couldn’t help but notice, the slight tremble in his hand though.
“Thank you, Alison. I’m sorry that I was rather brash with you when you came in. I didn’t know any facts, and I had a threatening email from a lawyer. Since you’ve been here, you’ve changed so many things, and have saved us a lot of money. I suppose I’m going to have to find a way to compensate you, when the next bonus or wage increase arrives. Or would you settle for a larger office?” he gave a small smile.
Alison laughed at this. It appears that old McDougal had finally mellowed out a touch. “No, a raise would be fine thanks, Sir. I’ll have a word with Frank and ask him, why you were never informed of this issue.”
“Next time, if there is ever an issue like this I would prefer you brought it straight to me, or email me and Cc Frank into it. But with that said, perhaps we should set up a fortnightly meeting, so all three of us can be singing from the same hymn sheet.”
“That would be a good idea. Now if you would please excuse me. I have a mountain of work to do and, I would like to get out of here at a reasonable hour.”
“Okay, Alison,” he turned to leave and stopped. “I take it the position for a new Accounts Handler has been advertised? We need to get that filled A.S.A.P, the longer we wait the harder everyone else will have to work.”
Alison walked over to her desk and opened another folder. “Yes, Sir, I’ve arranged for the vacancy to be advertised in all the major papers and, to be put on all the appropriate websites. We’re looking to start interviewing by the second week in September, and have the position filled by the first week in October.”
“Excellent. By the way, the coffee was great. If I send my secretary down can you tell her, where it comes from, and where to get it?”
“I can do that. But please feel free, to help yourself to another cup to take with you.”
Alison was glad she had finally sat at her desk, the last offer of free coffee made her boss smile, like a child in a sweet shop. She smiled at him as he found the biggest mug possible and filled it, surprising her with another enormous grin as he exited.
Alison sat back before she began her day, and had a moment of reflection. Not only had McDougal mellowed. But it appeared he also had a sense of humour. Yes the lawsuit was expected, and that is why she had handled things personally. But it was still going to be a major pain in the arse.
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