Chapter 144

“No. Absolutely not.”

“Hazel…”

“There is no way that Maria is on this list of layoffs.”

I recognized many of the other workers too. They were hard workers all, but I guessed didn’t have a high enough productivity to merit their continued employment with the company they’d given their all to for the past however many years.

“Actually,” I said. “This entire list is crap, Logan, and you know it.”

“These layoffs are important,” Logan said, sighing. He seemed so resigned about this whole thing, as if the board’s decision was final and he couldn’t fight back. Who knew if he could? He wasn’t even trying.

It made me furious.

“Important for who? These are all hard workers. They show up every day and give their full effort. But because they don’t put in the overtime to meet some new arbitrary deadline, they aren’t worth keeping around anymore? I thought this company cared about its employees. How can you treat people this way?”

Logan stood up from behind his desk. “You think I want to do this?”

Finally, a fire ignited in him, and anger rose in his voice. It was so much more satisfying than the defeat he had perpetuated only a moment before.

“You think I don’t understand that these pushes are only going to give temporary gains?” Logan demanded. “I’m not new to this, Hazel. I know very well my Grandfather is setting us up for long term failure. We’re on the track to burning out all of our employees, and laying off people is only going to make it worse.”

“Then do something about it, Logan. Please.”

Logan was my husband, but he was also a man that I believed in. We were very different in our backgrounds, Logan from the high society and me from a blue collar neighborhood. Yet even with that clash, I’ve never truly known him to be heartless.

He could be cruel when needed. He certainly pushed people, with the intention of making them give things their all. But heartless?

And make no mistake, this was heartless. These sudden exhaustive demands and the layoffs weren’t good for the company or the employees.

This was all just a punishment from his grandfather.

“You can’t let him get away with this.”

Logan looked at me sharply. “You antagonized him, Hazel.”

“Because what he was saying is wrong, Logan. A person’s value is not determined on how many zeros are in their back account,” I said – pleaded.

I wanted him to continue to be a man I could believe in. If he actually thought like his grandfather…

I didn’t know if that was a hurdle we could jump together. Would he ever really respect me if he saw his workers as less? I might have been his wife, but I was also his employee. That meant something.

Logan held my gaze for a long moment. My heart squeezed, unsure. Was he the man I thought he was? Or was he a man just like his grandfather?

Then, he sighed, and lowered his gaze down to the paper I still held. He reached for it and I gave it to him.

“I propose a compromise,” Logan said, looking over the names. “If these employees can substantially increase their productivity by the end of the week, I will push back on this. But I can’t go to the board or my grandfather with nothing. We have to show some kind of positive results.”

That was a really crappy compromise, honestly. But for Logan…

I could see the way his jaw locked and his fingers curled around the page, crinkling it. He seemed to genuinely believe this was the best he could hope for.

“Everyone else is working hard,” Logan said. “It would be unfair to give them a pass just because I want to. They have to show improvement.”

His words were final. I knew enough about him to know that was true.

“I’ll speak to Maria and the others. Privately,” I said.

“Thank you,” Logan replied and sat back down. He placed the list face down on the corner of the desk.

My own anger flickered under the surface of my skin, but I knew I could do nothing more here. So I left him and went in search of Maria.

I knew she hadn’t left yet because she hadn’t logged out of the employee work chat, but when I went to her desk, I found it empty. The bathroom then? I headed there.

Just inside, I heard the sound of sobbing.

“Maria?” I called.

“Over here, Hazel,” Maria replied, sniffling.

I followed the sound of her voice and found her crying underneath the row of sinks. She was tucked up into the corner, a bunch of paper towels clutched in her hands. Her makeup was running down her face, mascara marks tracked down her cheeks.

Kneeling in front of her, I took one of the paper towels and dabbed at her cheeks, trying to clear some of the mess. But the tears kept coming.

“I can’t do it, Hazel,” Maria said. “After everything… After years of work… I just can’t do this…”

“You can do it,” I tell her, trying to be uplifting, but my best friend knows when I’m not being entirely truthful. It’s not that I don’t believe in her, but that I doubt all of us. No one can meet these standards.

“You don’t believe that,” Maria said. “Even on my best day, I couldn’t get half of what they expect. I just don’t have those kind of high rolling clients. My client list are schools and nursing homes. Do they really think I can convince them to buy more of our products?”

“I don’t know,” I admit.

“I’ve seen the email,” Maria said. “The new efficiency standard. There’s no way I can match it. Maybe I should start looking for another job…”

I wanted her to stay, and was fighting for her, but I couldn’t exactly discourage the job search. At this rate, she probably would be happier elsewhere.

“But then… can I even depend on this company to give me a good recommendation? They’re just going to tell everyone I can’t do my job.”

Maria covered her face with her hands.

“Can’t you talk to Logan, Hazel? Maybe he’d actually listen to you.”

“I already have,” I admit.

Maria peeks at me between her fingers and I shake my head.

“It’s not him. It’s the board and his grandfather setting the rules.”

“Bullshit,” Maria said. “He’s the CEO, not an intern. He’s picking sides. And he’s choosing his rich friends over his own employees that depend on him.”

“We all need to work just a little harder, okay? If the numbers go up some, then Logan will have something to show the board and maybe they’ll back off.” I parroted some of what Logan told me.

As I spoke, Maria lowered her hands and glared at me. “Are you serious right now?”

“What do you mean?”

“You sound just like them,” Maria said. “The high society types.” She scoffed. “I’d always rooted for you and Logan, Hazel, you know I did. I thought maybe you’d help bring him down to earth and he’d help you have some fun for a change. But all that’s happening is you are turning into someone I don’t recognize.”

That stung so painfully that I physically recoiled. “You don’t mean that.”

“If you side with him on this, Hazel… You’ve really lost yourself.” She looked down. “Maybe you should get a divorce before it’s too late.”