Monahan 01 Options (21 page)

“We’ll let the police decide that Danny. It had to have been an accident,” I tried to convince him. “Who would want to kill your mother? Think about it. If there was anything wrong here at the office she would have told me or you. She didn’t have anything to hide. Danny, I think this was just a horrible accident.”

“Did the police come and see you? I told them to talk to you.”

“Yes, a police officer came by a little while ago. She took away some food to have it tested. We’ll know better when they get the results if it was something she ate at the party.”

“It had to be something she ate at the party. Peanut allergies kick in right away. It’s not like food poisoning you know,” he said.

“I know. Look, I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

I hung up after we said good-bye and put my head in my hands. This day was an emotional roller-coaster. I thought about leaving Harold a message that I was sick and going home but thought better of it. If Danny wanted me at the funeral home tomorrow afternoon, I’d only be in the office for the morning. And with the funeral on Wednesday morning, I’d be so behind by Wednesday afternoon, I’d never catch up.

I wondered if I should let anyone here at the office know that the police were now involved. They’d probably find out soon enough though. If Constable Lofaro had been waiting for any length of time in the reception, everyone would’ve known about it because tongues wag very quickly around here. Except for Harold there wasn’t one officer of the company I trusted to take the situation seriously.

Before I did anything else I called the office manager again. I got her voice mail and left her a message. I asked her to send a broadcast e-mail message to all employees letting them know about the funeral arrangements for Ev. I also asked her to send some flower arrangements to the funeral home.

I made a quick call to Vee to find out about the stock price and was shocked when she told me it was down two dollars so far for the day.

“That brings us close to seven dollars,” I said unnecessarily.

“I know. We’re getting close to the price the shares were at four years ago when Oakes joined us. If the company lasts and we keep our jobs, I hope the shareholders fry his ass at the next shareholders’ meeting,” she said vehemently.

“Gee, Vanessa. Don’t beat around the bush. Just come out with it and let us know how you really feel,” I joked. She laughed reluctantly.

I returned some more calls and actually got some work done. Harold had asked me in one of his messages to call all of the out-of-town directors to ask them where to send their packages of materials for the board meeting on Thursday. Is the man in his right mind? If the materials haven’t gone out by now, and past history was any indication, the board members wouldn’t receive any material until they were seated at the table and the Chairman called the meeting to order. It was Monday and there was no sign of the documents being ready in time to send out today. If we sent them Tuesday by overnight courier, the directors wouldn’t receive the packages until noon on Wednesday at the earliest, and by then, most of the out-of-town directors would be on their way to Toronto for the meeting on Thursday morning. This was a lame exercise we went through every time there was a meeting, and I was sick of playing the game.

Jackie could make the phone calls and take the heat from the directors’ secretaries. They got tired of playing the game as well and would usually get pretty snippy with me. Or, if they were feeling particularly benevolent that day, they’d put me straight through to Mr. Director himself who would proceed to chew me out for not getting the documents out on time. No way. I was tired of going through the motions and being made a fool of.

I dialled Jackie to find out if Harold’s door was open yet and she said she hadn’t seen him all day and that as far as she knew, the door hadn’t opened.

“So he still hasn’t received those documents I gave you this morning?” I asked her.

“Nope. And the courier package from Scapelli’s is still sitting here. Want me to bring them back in to you?”

“Please.” I wanted to get a look at Rick Cox’s severance package.

The courier package was a large envelope taped up very tightly. The front and back were stamped in red: “Confidential. To be opened by addressee only.” Harold Didrickson was the addressee so I opened the envelope. What the hell, I thought. Some secretaries have very strict orders about opening confidential material but I had never received any such orders from Harold. I believe he trusted me.

The documents inside the envelope were very interesting. The company was kicking in section 4(a) of Rick Cox’s employment agreement. The ‘termination without cause’ section. And termination without cause entitled Rick to three times his annual salary. I flipped to Schedule “A” of the document where they attached a copy of the actual employment agreement. Section 1(a) of the employment agreement stated that his annual salary was $550,000 a year. And that was a couple of years ago. If I remembered correctly from last year’s annual information form, Rick’s salary had gone up considerably.

I continued reading the main document. He was going to receive just over $2,000,000 in severance and was entitled to his exercisable stock options. I was too sick to do a quick calculation on what he’d make on those. Son of a bitch. I must get me fired one of these days. And then I remembered, I didn’t have an employment agreement, and, I’d be lucky if the company gave me two weeks notice. They could get rid of me for not putting my dirty coffee cup in the dishwasher.

Well, well, well. I’m sure the two million dollars would smooth Rick’s transition. Make him feel a little better about getting fired for fucking the company. Jay wouldn’t be getting anything.

I picked up the documents from Scapelli’s and all the other stuff for Harold that had accumulated over the day. I got the keys to his office from my desk drawer. I had decided to barge in if the door was locked.

Which it was. I knocked and when I didn’t get any answer, I went in. Harold was lying on the sofa in his office with one arm over his eyes and I couldn’t tell if he was sleeping.

“Harold,” I said softly.

“I asked you not to disturb me,” he said.

“Well, I wasn’t sure if you were in or not,” I lied. “I went out for lunch earlier on and I didn’t know if you had gone out.” I dropped the documents in his basket.

“What part of do not disturb don’t you understand?” he asked me snidely. What a prick.

“The disturb part. I don’t understand disturb, Harold,” I retorted. “Disturb means to bother. I’m not bothering you. I’m doing my job. And if you’re finished your little nap, maybe you should do yours.” I looked at my watch. It was four-thirty. That meant it was six o’clock in Newfoundland. Good enough for me. Harold continued to lie on the sofa with his forearm covering his eyes.

“And,” I continued. “It’s quitting time. I’ll see you tomorrow for the morning. I’ll be out tomorrow afternoon and Wednesday morning. If anyone’s focused on the board materials by tomorrow morning, I’d be glad to get working on them. If not, it’ll have to wait until Wednesday afternoon. If I come back from Evelyn’s funeral. The family may need me.”

“I expect you to be here on Wednesday after the funeral. There’ll be a lot of things to get ready for the board meeting. We need you to do up a stock option report in the morning. I understand Jay’s no longer with us and you’ll have to do it.” He said all of this in a monotone.

I walked over to where he was lying and looked down at him. He removed his arm from over his eyes and looked up at me. He looked like shit. But didn’t we all these days.

“In mourning for Rick?” I asked him. I knew I was treading on thin ice here and didn’t care. He’d shown absolutely no emotion when Ev died and I had no sympathy for him.

He sat up and put his elbows on his knees and looked up at me.

“Kate. You’re a smart girl. Think about the effect Rick’s departure is going to have on me. Ergo, the effect it’s going to have on you. Have a little sympathy here.”

A hot flash coursed through my veins and I tried, I really tried, to keep my temper in check.

“Sympathy?” I said quietly through clenched teeth. “Sympathy? You want to know where to find sympathy? It’s in the dictionary. Look it up. It’s between shit and syphilis.”

I slammed the door behind me on my way out.

chapter twenty-eight

I made one last call before leaving for the day.

“Hi. It’s Kate,” I said.

“Well I know that,” Jay said. “How’s your day been?” He sounded awfully chipper for someone who’d lost his job. Well, he probably had every right to feel chipper. He was out of this hell-hole. I guess I’d feel chipper too if I didn’t have to come back in the morning.

“My day’s been so-so. Actually, pretty rotten. But that’s boring and I’m sure you don’t want to hear anything about it,” I said. “How’s your day been?”

“Not bad, all in all. Why don’t I tell you all about it over dinner tonight?” he asked.

“Dinner? I guess I have to eat. And I couldn’t think of anyone nicer to eat with. Where should we meet?”

“How about somewhere close to home? Any ideas?”

“Yeah. I feel like Italian. How about Tony’s? We could meet about six-thirty.”

“I thought Tony’s was just take-out,” Jay said.

“He’s got a few tables. And he’s got other things besides pizza. You’ll like it.”

“Okay. Fine by me. See you there about six-thirty,” he signed off.

I turned off my computer and left my desk in its usual mess. I decided to leave by the reception area, just to let everyone know I was leaving early. No sneaking out the back door this time. I asked myself if I was being petty and bitchy and decided I wasn’t. If everyone else can act like babies, I could act like a toddler.

Traffic was lighter than normal and I realized it had been a long time since I was out of the office at ten to five. I arrived home in thirty minutes and took a leisurely shower. I dressed in jeans and a loose blouse. Because this was almost like a date, I put on clean, white sweat socks. I arrived at Tony’s fifteen minutes early.

“To be punctual, is to be princely,” my father used to lecture. I had tried over the years to be late for things and just couldn’t do it. If I was five minutes early, I got palpitations of the heart and considered myself late. Fifteen minutes early was just right by my father’s standards. I could drive around the block a few times but I saw a good parking spot in front of the Pizzeria and grabbed it.

Alfredo was on the phone behind the counter when I walked in. I glanced to the left and saw that none of the six tables were occupied.

“Are Monday’s always this slow?” I asked him when he hung up.

“No darling. I just had a feeling you were coming in so I cleared the place. We did the same for the Pope you know, the last time he was in Toronto.” He came around the front of the counter with a menu in his hand and gave me a bear hug.

“Are you taking out or eating in?” he asked me.

“Eating in. With someone. He’s meeting me here in a few minutes.” I headed over to my favourite table at the back, beside the window. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d eaten here with someone. Usually, I eat alone and read the newspaper.

“With someone,” Alfredo mimicked me as he followed me. “And it’s a him. Ooh. Someone special Kathleen?”

I sat down and hooked my purse over the back of the chair.

“Yes, Alfredo. It’s a him. And is he someone special? None of your business,” I teased. “Now can I please have a drink?” We both laughed.

“Right away.” He was singing the Katie song as he made his way back to the counter.

I stared out the window and watched the traffic as I waited for Jay. I knew I had really pushed Didrickson to the limit today. Twice. I had never talked back to him like that. Most times I was my usual sarcastic self and most times I got away with it because I knew when it was appropriate. And I didn’t think my sarcasm had any menace to it. It was mostly teasing.

But today he had made me angry twice. And both times I let him have it back. My parents had brought me up to respect authority and I know now that my mother regrets teaching us that. “Blind respect for authority will get you nothing but trouble,” my mother says now. “Let them earn your respect first.” My father on the other hand still believes in blind obedience. That’s what made him a first class, infantry soldier.

I still have trouble defining the line between blind respect and earned respect. But I had learned over the last couple of years that just because someone is in a position of authority, doesn’t mean they
deserve
to be in that position.

Usually, I’m a good soldier. And I admit that I’m a soldier. I do what’s asked of me to the best of my abilities. But even a good soldier gets tired of the assholes.

I noticed Jay’s car drive by and I yelled at Alfredo for my drink.

“Come on. The service in this place is going downhill. All I asked for was a measly soda water. Did you have to go to the restaurant down the street to get it?”

“Hang on. Hang on,” he yelled back. He was bending down behind the counter and he was triumphant when he stood back up. “Found it!”

He paraded to my table with a soda water in one hand and a round, red glass ball with a candle inside. He placed the soda in front of me and fumbled in his pants pockets for some matches to light the candle which he put in the middle of the table.