Carter's War - 6. Chapter 6

He fidgeted with the tie and no matter how many times it was tied and retied it still felt uncomfortable. How could someone who wore a tie every day to work suddenly be incapable of tying one? He adjusted it once again and started from scratch as Alicia slipped into the office behind him.

"You're looking smart, boss," she said as she walked round to face him and took over tying the tie; in one fluid motion she had the accursed thing tied, tightened and straight. He glanced down at it and up at her.

"I should marry you," he said with a smile of gratitude.

"I think my husband would object to that, Will," Alicia said as she folded down his collar and stepped back to admire her handiwork. "I finished preparing the reports you asked for, they are on the edge of your desk." He picked up and leafed through them as she continued, "I also poured you a mug of coffee to take with you."

He shrugged on his suit jacket, collected the reports and picked up his mug. "So..." he said, taking a moment to think if he had forgotten anything. Things were sharper for him now that he had slept; he had taken the time he needed to recover from his illness. He breathed a sigh, comfortable in his own skin for the first time.

Alicia smiled at him, "Good luck, boss."

He nodded to her once again and set out across his department for the elevator, trying to keep his composure as he walked past his employees negotiating contracts and arranging interviews. He had been to a number of board meetings since he had come to work for Avery-Woods, but each one still felt like his first.

He sighed as he got into the elevator and hit the button for the upper offices, taking a long draught from his mug as the doors swept closed on his domain and the elevator shot upwards. He drew one slow breath as he steadied his nerves and walked out of the elevator, a model of composure.

The other board members were assembling; a wide array of personalities from across Avery-Woods departments, they all had one thing in common: they were all at least twenty years older than Will was. Will smiled at their arrogance and simply crossed to his chair, set his notes down and glanced around the table.

"Good morning, campers," he said before he sat down pulling out his glasses and flipping through Alicia's carefully prepared notes. She was beyond efficient; everything was cross-referenced to the reports he had read over the last few days. He glanced at her charts and familiarized himself with the material before he flipped it closed. He was ready.

He looked around the table at the heads of the other departments. Mary Conner was talking on her cell phone. The manager of training, she took the raw talent he brought into the firm and shaped them into model employees. Ordinarily the two departments would work closely, but Mary had her own ideas about how recruitment and human resources should be administered and Will went out of his way to avoid her as much as possible. She of course knew it and resented him as well. The arrangement worked rather nicely for Will.

Of course Mary had nothing on Bruce, the manager of Canadian operations who was standing over by the great bay windows, hands behind his back, staring over the city. He looked every inch a comic-book villain, leering over his city drenched in a fever of megalomania. No one could deny his thirst for success, and how he managed it was anyone's guess, but he was responsible for increasing Avery-Wood's distribution across most of North America. He worked his people hard, and got results, it was too bad that he didn't seem to give a damn about anyone other than himself.

As usual, Robert Avery's arrival was heralded without pomp, ceremony or announcement. For a man who had been described as a Canadian equivalent to the American Donald Trump or the British Sir Richard Branson, he had a less dramatic presence about him. It was one of quiet confidence; in fact he was often able to sway a person with a few choice words and a smile. It was as if he seemed to intrinsically know what to say at the right time.

He had been able to build Avery-Woods into the multinational firm by a sheer force of will, and as a result it relied heavily on his charisma. He had chosen to remain as the company's CEO despite ongoing pressure from the other stockholders, and was deeply involved in co-ordinating everything from a head office in Canada, when so many other companies chose to base their operations in America.

It always amused Will when Robert Avery dragged American financiers from their comfortable Wall Street offices and made them travel from that sprawling metropolis to the financial capital of Canada. It seemed to be one of the small pleasures Avery had left, as if he enjoyed reminding other people that there was more to Canada than snow and trees. And so he steadfastly refused to travel to them.

There was a ripple of excitement from the other board members as Robert Avery leaned forward. "Alright," he said as he held up his hands to quiet the room. Those not in their seats quickly sat down to give him their attention. Even Mary turned off her cell phone.

He stared at each of them and as his eyes passed Will's he winked paternally. "Let's try to make this meeting as painless as possible, shall we?"

There was the murmur of agreement around the table, and Will reached out to drink from his mug. It was a nice sentiment, but board meetings were rarely short. And if they were to run by the established pattern for those meetings, then he would be giving his presentation on the hiring situation in an hour or so, a third of the way into the meeting--sometime after the sales reports, and before Mary gave her training reports.

Will always detested the unnecessary waste of time that comprised a business meeting. Absently he played with his pen while he stared out of the window, half-listening to the sales presentations. The regional managers talking about sales projections they couldn't accurately predict. It was a best guess, always padded to make them look better.

That was something Will knew all too well when hiring a salesman. The better they were at sales, the bigger liar they were. He found it especially enjoyable when, on the rare occasion he participated in an interview, he could burst the bubble of their ego and bring them crashing back to earth with a well-timed question or observation.

Bruce was delivering his report, detailing as usual nothing of any interest, till he suddenly shifted to the imminent Tri-Tech merger. He was talking about one of the staffing concerns brought up by the Tri-Tech board.

"I already have my staff working on that," Will interjected when Bruce made mention of the staffing integration. "I will be able to give you the full details when I deliver my report, but my department is prepared for the surplus of talent."

"In future," Bruce adopted a lecturing tone, "I think I should receive a copy of your projections before a board meeting."

Will glanced over the table towards him, irritated by something about Bruce's tone, "The moment your department sees fit to share its figures so that I have an accurate growth projection, I will be able to do that. However, for the time being my department runs on the more practical day by day assessment."

Bruce appeared taken aback, "Excuse me?"

Will nodded, "I can give you the hiring and attendance data for the last five years, I can even give you our turnover rate and why the numbers are the way they were for any given day. But to use this data to accurately project what is going to happen tomorrow," he shook his head, "I have no idea what resumes are going to cross my desk in the next few days."

"You don't scout talent?" Bruce asked.

"This isn't the NHL, Mr. Weippert: I don't sit at the back of university lecture halls and watch to see the best and the brightest of those graduating next year. I also don't get together with the other companies in Canada and participate in a draft, hoping that Avery-Woods is the first ball pulled out of the bingo machine so that I get to pick who I want." He closed the file folder in front of him, "By necessity, my department produces tangible results as opposed to inaccurate projections."

"He has you there, Bruce," Avery chuckled as he leaned forward. "Now we should move on to operations, before we start touching on our budget."

Mary held up her hand, "Excuse me, Robert... Mister Avery, I would request a ten-minute break so that I can make a few calls."

Avery nodded, "Alright then, very well." He stood, "I'd like to see you all back here in ten minutes."

Will rubbed his temples, as he remained seated watching the other board member's file out of the room. Robert Avery stood and rested his hands on the back of his chair as he smiled.

The old man reached out to pour himself a tall glass of water. "You did that deliberately," he said as the last board member closed the door on them.

"He's an arrogant son of a bitch," Will replied removing his glasses and setting them down on the table. "I needed to remind him that I am not one of his employees."

"Mission accomplished," Avery chuckled. "I respect the fact that you stand up for yourself, just don't piss off too many people, Mister Carter."

Will glanced into his empty coffee cup. "I do my job, sir," he looked up again, "but my job isn't sitting in my office writing reports that would be useless the very next day. Bruce should know that."

Avery waved a hand dismissively, "Bruce is trying to mark his territory; he wants a VP title and he wants to show everyone he is capable for the job. He feels that by singling you out, he can show he is tough enough to run things on a larger scale."

"You know," Will responded, "I never liked school-yard bullies. My dad taught me, knock 'em down once and if they get back up, put them down again."

"Smart man," Avery nodded. "But Bruce Weippert isn't someone who appreciates that philosophy. I just ask that the next time he starts, take one for the team."

Will chuckled, "I'll play nice." He stood, "I should go and copy my notes to give him a copy for my presentation."

"Now that's playing the game," Avery said with a smile. "Because when Bruce pulls off the Tri-Tech acquisition he will be a VP."

"Delightful," Will sighed as he stood and tucked his notes under his arm. "I'm still not calling him sir."

Robert Avery chuckled, "You don't call me sir, either."

Will looked at him, "My father also taught me: a real man only answers to two people in his life, his wife and the lord God in heaven, and God doesn't cook you supper."