Handcuffed Billionaire

8. Visit from the boss

8. Visit from the boss

Natalía
"Fire them! I want all of them fired now! I thought you said the PR team screened all the questions beforehand. So explain to me how in the hell questions were asked about my family!"
"I get that you are upset but you're talking about firing more than thirty people at once."
"I want the whole goddamn department fired! And what the hell have you been doing all this time? You were supposed to ensure that certain questions weren't asked!"
"You're blaming this on me? In case you haven't noticed I have been busy cleaning up after your ass. Don't blame me because your PR team is incompetent and cannot handle a simple task such as screening questions!" There was no way in hell I would accept responsibility for his employees mistakes.

"I'm going down to HR." He didn't wait for a response nor did he want one. His mind had already been made up. There was no explanation whatsoever as to how they allowed those questions to be asked. I would have been pissed too. So I followed behind him as he strode purposefully down to the HR department.

I could tell they were shocked to see him there. A short fat man with a beer belly came wobbling over. "Mr. Paxton, how can I be of assistance today?" You could tell from the expression on his face he was scared of what his presence might mean. But he held it together. "The public relations team, fire them." The man's eyes bulged from their sockets. "Fi...fi..fire them?"
"Yes, I want them gone today. They are incompetent and I don't need people like that working for me. As a matter of fact, fire the whole PR department. I want everyone gone today."
"Mr. Paxton I don't think it's a good idea for you to..."
"Do I pay you to think Charles?"
"No sir."
"What is your position here?"
"To hire and fire people sir."
"And what am I telling you to do right now?" The man remained silent. "What am I telling you to do right now Charles?" His voice boomed throughout the whole department. "To fire the entire public relations department. But sir I really suggest you think about this before making such a huge..."
"You're fired Charles. Empty your desk and get the hell out of my building." The man stood there with his mouth hanging open. I did kind of feel bad for him, but he should have just done what Marc wanted. "Forget it. I'll do it myself." He turned on his heels and briskly walked away.

"But I didn't do anything wrong. Why am I being fired? I've worked at Paxton Corp. since it opened its doors." Now I really felt bad for the guy. He didn't deserve to be fired like that. I sighed. "Don't worry about it. Just go back to work. Technically you did nothing wrong. I'll take care of it."
"You don't understand Mrs. Accosi. If I don't clear out my things and leave I won't get any benefits. What am I going to do?" I rolled my eyes impatiently. "I said go back to work. I don't think Mr. Paxton would really fire you. As I've said before, I'll take care of it."

I caught up with Marc just as he entered the floor. Of course everyone stopped what they were doing and started staring at him. He strode with confidence, and arrogance radiated off him. Curiosity was bubbling in the air. I pitied them.

"I know you are all wondering what I am doing here as I have never been on this floor before. I'll keep it simple. The PR team fucked up today and as such the entire public relations department fucked up. You're all fired. Clean out your desks, gather your shit, and leave my building. You have until 2 p.m. If you are found on the premises after that you will be arrested for trespassing."

Shock and disbelief was evident on all their faces, but none of them complained. I'm sure however that once reality sets in Marc Paxton will be getting a couple of lawsuits thrown at him. He was already at the door when the outbursts started.
"He can't do that can he?"
"We did nothing wrong."
"How will I find another job on such short notice?"
"How am I going to pay for my son's college tuition now?" On and on it went. And I didn't miss the dirty looks I was getting from some of the females either. I smiled at their hostility. "He can't fire an entire department. There is no way he can replace all of us." I scoffed. Apparently they didn't know the power of money.

Word had gotten out about what happened because everyone was on edge. The mood their boss was in wasn't one to take lightly. Luckily for them, I was not scared of Marc Paxton or his horrible temper. It was business as usual for me. All calls from the PR department were now being diverted to me. The constant ringing of the phone was quite annoying especially when the only response they were going to get from me was 'no comment'.

After about an hour of it I'd had enough. "Was it really necessary to fire an entire department?"
"That's what happens when you don't do your job. You get fired."
"And what about the people who are not public relations officers but work in the department, did they deserve to be fired too?" He shrugged. "Not my problem."
"And how do you propose we handle this mess?"
"There is no we. You are the PR officer. You deal with it."

Arguing with him wasn't going to go anywhere. "How am I to deal with it if you also fired the head of human resources? I can't replace the people you fired if there is no one to hire their replacements." He massaged both sides of his forehead. "Natalía, I'm really not in the mood for this now."

I wasn't going to let this go so easy. "I'll take over full management of the PR department and replace the people you fired by the end of the week if you let Charles stay."
"I already fired him. He's probably gone by now anyway."
"No he hasn't."
"Whatever. I can't talk about this anymore. Do whatever you want. I'm going home." He must have been really drained for him to yield to me so easy. He didn't even raise his voice once the whole time.

I was left to take care of the situation while he went home to get some rest. The fastest way I knew how to replace all the people he fired was to just put some of my own people in the positions. It made sense because they already knew how I worked and there wouldn't be a need to train them. Also there wouldn't be any issues with contracts as they would technically still work for me. Basically, they would be on loan.

As quick as I possibly could I arranged for them to be transferred to America. There was still the problem of the other minor jobs in the department. Getting new people would be a waste of resources. So I got Charles to help after repeatedly reassuring him he was not fired. We came up only with one solution; re-hire the people that were fired because they really didn't do anything wrong.

The problem was solved sooner than I thought it would be, and I was relieved. Charles offered to buy me dinner as his way of saying thank you. Once we agreed on a day and time I was finished for the day. Against my better judgment I decided to check on Marc, stopping to buy dinner on the way over.

I walked right in his apartment without knocking. The first thing I noticed was the different set of clothes scattered across the floor. One set clearly belonged to a female. I followed the trail of clothes until I found myself outside one of the guest bedrooms. Noises were coming from behind the door. It wasn't hard to guess what was going on behind it. I pushed it open and walked in. It didn't surprise me one bit to see Marc fucking Andrea from behind on the floor. They both looked up when they realized they were no longer alone, Marc in amusement and Andrea in disbelief.

"I brought food." I showed them the bag I had in my hand. "I'm sure you'll be hungry after you finish. I'll just wait out there while you finish up." It must have been a shock for Andrea because as soon as I left the room she started screaming at him. No doubt he was trying to console her after her little shock. Serves him right.

"What right does she have to come barging in here Marc? I thought you said you weren't involved with her other than on a professional level." They were both dressed now and had made their way out to where I was sitting. "Andrea please."

"You both should eat. The food is getting cold." I interjected. "You! What are you doing here?" Her screeching was really annoying. "I'm here because I have business with him. Nothing more."
"I don't care. You should leave and come back when it's business hours."
"Is that so?" Who did she think she was talking to? "Whatever plans you have, I suggest you forget about them. He already has a girlfriend."
"Like I said, I'm here on business. I could care less about you."

"Are you fucking her behind my back?" Her attention was on Marc now. "Is that it? Are you two fucking each other? I scoffed very loudly. "Answer me! Are you two fucking?"

"And what are you going to do if we are?" I challenged her. Apparently he didn't tell her the entire story. "Just answer the damn question! Are you fucking each other?" I looked from her to Marc and our eyes connected briefly before we both answered her question at the same time.
-"No."
-"No."