Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3) (23 page)

Sean’s eyes were sea green infernos. She had
seen that look many, many times. It was taking everything he had
not to take two quick steps and carry her away. Krista broke out in
a sweat, mostly because she wanted to let him. “
Sean
!”

He blinked twice, saw Janice and her looking
at him expectantly, and flushed a bright red. “Geegee, we’re
paintballing after lunch. You might wear your yoga pants. Or
running pants. Or whatever you’ve got.”

~*~*~*~

Krista turned and headed to the bathroom.
Sean walked stiffly away—he had to go find Tory. And get some
space. He’d almost given in and it would have been the second
biggest mistake he’d made with her. He would have given in, and she
would have gone running. You couldn’t push Krista when she wasn’t
ready. She just froze up. You had to coax her out, and if you did,
the rewards were plentiful.

Sean made his way upstairs to the suites
where Tory had his room and make-shift office. All the VPs could
have had suites as well, but Sean wanted to stay near Marcus and
Krista. He wanted to be one of the team until everyone was gelling
smoothly. All the other VPs thought he was stupid for it.

The door to Tory’s room was opened by
Ron.

“Hi, Sean. Come in. I was just finishing
up.”

The room was large and luxurious. The outer
room looked like a living room. There was an entertainment system,
couches, and a recliner, with a bar area off to the right. Further
in was an area for a mini-office with a desk and chairs, and
visitor chairs. Tory was sitting there, his laptop opened in front
of him.

At the back of the suite was a large arched
doorway that showed an enormous king size bed with four-posters and
a million perfectly set pillows. There was probably a gigantic
bathroom in there somewhere as well as a walk-in closet.

The allure was space. That’s all it was, more
space than the room he currently had and hardly used. Sean had a
house for that. It wasn’t worth missing Marcus’s random tid-bits
about what people had said to him in passing. Information was worth
more than a big bathroom any day.

“Sean, come in,” Tory said as he looked out
over his laptop. “I was just talking to Ron about the gravity of
Blake’s comment. It was one of five comments Krista could easily
sue us for.”

“I believe my team is responsible for the
other four,” Sean stated matter-of-factly as he walked in and took
a seat in one of the chairs against the wall near Tory’s desk.

“Three of them, yes. I expect you have talked
to your team?” Tory asked severely.

“I’ve talked with each of them more than once
since Krista has started. I have written two of them up. Two more
infractions for each and it will be a fire-able offense.”

“And they haven’t curbed the comments?” Ron
asked incredulously.

Sean met Ron’s disapproving stare. “I don’t
think you realize how personal these guys take it that a woman got
promoted. She is the first, and as such, she doesn’t belong. She is
also attractive, so foul play is immediately suspected. They don’t
make comments in my hearing. They think they’re being sneaky. The
fact that it gets back to me anyway and I write them up creates
more animosity. They think Krista is the one telling me, when in
fact it is other women overhearing and they are just as
insulted.

“Sixty-five percent of my Region’s work force
is female.
65%!
Only one woman is in upper management, and
two are at supervisor level—Krista promoted a woman to fill her
place. There is only one other, and she is a lesbian—you can
imagine the comments she gets from her male peers. We hire women,
but we only promote men.”

Sean sat, his body open to encompass the two
other men, before he went on. “Now look at the clients you work
with. How many women are presenting to you on a continual basis?
How many women do you talk to regularly regarding normal business
operations outside of our company? And how many women are you
missing
in your sales? If you think like a man, you will not
entrap a woman. Women can bedazzle men—they’ve been doing it for
centuries—but most men can’t seem to figure women out enough to
sell to them. The exception is a gay man, but I bet you don’t have
many gay men in your upper tiers, either, based on the comments I
have heard regarding Marcus’s sexual orientation, which are also
suit worthy.

“The fact is, you all chastise me for
promoting a female, but are missing the worth of doing so. In this
day and age,
we
are way behind;
our
company is
outside the norm. We are passing up a lot of qualified applicants
by discrediting them because of their sex or sexual orientation. It
is as unacceptable as it is costly.”

Ron looked at Sean in contemplation. Ron
wasn’t a stupid man by any stretch. And while he was slightly
entrenched, when he saw opportunity, he moved quickly. He could put
aside his prejudices if it meant a larger bottom line. He was a
businessman, plain and simple.

“Passionate speech, Sean,” Tory said with his
hands resting on the desk. He was staring at Ron, recognizing the
same thing Sean did. “I will add that Krista, in particular, is an
exceptional businesswoman. She has the same title as Blake, who is
another young manager. However, Krista has 30% more responsibility
under Sean’s jurisdiction—more than any other manager in the
company. She has a quarter of the number of people reporting to her
as Blake, and two less compared to James in Texas, who is also
doing an outstanding job, but who is currently trying to hire one
more to take up the slack. Krista is not trying to hire. With her
own insight, and Sean’s fine-tuning, they have redesigned how
departments report to her, and she to Sean, minimizing redundancy
and stream-lining 75% of their processes. I’m sure I don’t have to
tell you what that does to my bottom line…”

Ron said nothing, but the wheels behind his
eyes were turning.

“The reason I bring this up,” Tory said,
leaning back, “Is because it has come to my attention, belatedly,”
Tory turned his piercing gaze to Sean, “that Krista is entertaining
the notion of leaving our company. Did you know about this,
Sean?”

Sean nodded slowly. “I found out yesterday
from Marcus. I talked to one of her friends who…doesn’t like me all
that much for personal reasons. This friend doesn’t pull many
punches.

“Krista isn’t actively looking, but from what
I understand, she doesn’t like the environment of upper management
and has been approached with nearly the same position offering more
money. She wasn’t seriously considering it until she came to this
conference.”

“Were you planning to bring this to me?” Tory
asked in clipped tones. That was an indication that Tory was
irate.

“I didn’t realize she was at a boiling point.
I don’t have the rapport with her I once did.”

Tory sighed and leaned further into his
chair. “I found out yesterday as well—from a competitor…”

“A
competitor?”
Sean asked. “From what
I’ve heard, two
clients
have approached her.”

Ron sat down in the recliner, slightly
removed from the conversation, but going nowhere. He liked to be
abreast of all the going’s-on in the company, and now he had an
interest in the young woman they were talking about. If she was
looking to leave, he would try to figure out a way to capitalize on
a transfer.

“Yes,” Tory went on, looking at his email. “A
competitor. She is well-liked within our company, and it is widely
known she is grossly mistreated. The word is out that she is
willing to leave. If Krista so chose, it would result in a bidding
war. I know of two companies that are creating a position for
her.

“I was going to suggest she move to New York,
being that she is not reconciling with Sean as he had hoped,” Tory
looked at a calculating Ron. “But that was before I saw her
interaction within the conference. It was also before I witnessed
Blake’s maltreatment.”

“I’ve discussed that with Mr. Jorski. He will
be written up for it when we get back to the office.”

“Not enough,” Tory said sternly. “I’m not
sure you realize how much that comment could cost this company. Not
to mention an extremely valuable employee.” Ron leaned back
heavily. Tory speared Sean with his gaze next. “I had no idea the
mistreatment that went on within our company walls of the opposite
sex or those with a different sexual orientation. I also have to
realize that most of upper management is Caucasian and there might
be race issues at work. I should have known this—that is my
fault—but it is unacceptable and an extreme liability. Not
promoting is one thing, but…”

Tory stood up slowly and walked to the
window. “I apologize, but this has come as a rather rude shock. A
shock that I will be rectifying. Starting with Blake. He is on
probation, starting immediately. One more offense and he will be
terminated.” Ron’s eyes widened.

Tory turned to Sean. “It goes for your team
as well. It must stop, and I am prepared to start firing people
until it does. I will also be contacting Human Resources to
schedule sexual harassment training and sensitivity training. The
outlook of this company must be turned around.”

Neither man spoke. It wasn’t often Tory got
so worked up. He very rarely got miffed, let alone cross. His black
mood was not something either of them wanted to be on the other
side of.

Tory, trying to maintain calm, walked back to
his chair and sat down. “Now, what is to be done with Krista?”

“I can make room for her,” Ron said smoothly.
“I have no doubt that I can quell any out-speak on her being
female.”

“She won’t move,” Sean said quietly. “All her
friends are in L.A. or Seattle. She won’t make another move across
the country. L.A. sat well with her only until lately.”

Tory was analyzing Sean. “And you haven’t
talked to her about leaving?”

“I’ve been keeping my distance for the most
part—taking my lead off of Marcus. They are close.”

“As her boss, you should be able to have that
conversation,” Ron said disapprovingly. He didn’t think Sean was
experienced enough for the position he held and it showed.

“They have a rather…difficult personal past,”
Tory replied, giving Ron a look that said his input was not wanted
on this subject. Ron took the hint.

“You haven’t been able to turn your team
around.” Tory wasn’t asking Sean a question.

“I haven’t, no. I have gotten more out of
them, for the most part, but until this conference, it has been a
struggle. They haven’t been challenged all that much for the last
few years.”

“Yes, that is my fault,” Tory said
thoughtfully. “That was part of the reason for the structural
change. It worked well in New York, so we adopted it.”

“You mentioned this conference?” Tory said,
rounding back.

Sean smirked and rested his right ankle on
his left knee. “Krista has been working with me on my goals, but
she hasn’t meshed with the team—for obvious reasons. It wasn’t
until the conference that she apparently decided—again, this is
coming from Marcus—that she would shove our collective opinions up
our collective…”

“Orifices, yes,” Tory finished, trying to
hide a smile.

“She then took over the motivating side of
the managers. She has a way of bringing people around that I don’t.
That not many do, I would say. She sees a goal and bends everyone
around her to accomplish that goal. It is instinctual, I think—for
the most part, anyway. If I was…a different sort of manager, I
might think of it as stepping on my toes.” Sean paused briefly.
Tory’s eyes flicked to Ron.

Ron shifted in his seat. “So she has taken it
upon herself to get
your
team working to their maximum
capacity?” Ron asked levelly. If the words were an action, he would
be looking down his nose at Sean.

It was Tory who answered, “Sean has wisely
allowed one of his subordinates to exhibit her skills, and for
that, it sounds like his team will thrive. I have seen her apply
these ministrations. I, too, allowed her full-reign, and, for what
I would call my insightfulness, she exerted greatly to get my panel
of analysts working cohesively and efficiently, freeing me up to do
other important tasks. It was that panel that beat out yours in
effectiveness, as you’ll recall. She took the number one spot in
four short months, I believe. Impressive, I would say.”

Tory turned back to Sean. “But she is still
learning. She still needs guidance in business matters, which is
what Sean is supplying, if I am not mistaken.”

“She doesn’t have a business degree, so she
is learning most things first hand. Learning quickly, though.”

“So you think she can turn them?” Tory
asked.

“I think she
is
turning them. I think
at the other end of this conference the playing field will be
leveled. Her friends don’t want to see her go, so that will help. I
am making steps, which Marcus says is helping—but no one has to
reach very high to entice her monetarily. I can’t give her a raise,
because I am too new. It would be unfair to the others, which would
undermine what she is doing here.”

“
You
are too new,” Tory said, checking
his watch. “I am not. Keep an eye on her—or should I say, have
Marcus keep an eye on her. Or Kate, who I assume was the one giving
you your information?” Sean nodded. “If Krista can make a home for
herself in the L.A. branch, then I will see what I can do
monetarily.”

Tory turned to Ron. “If you will excuse us,
Ron, I have a couple things to talk to Sean about, then we all best
head down to paintballing.”

Ron got up laboriously and slowly made his
way out of the suite. Tory watched him go, grabbing a bottle of
water from the bar as he did so. As soon as the door was closed,
Tory turned back to a nervous Sean.