Chapter 130

Aria’s POV

After the meeting was officially over, my co-workers and I returned to our offices and to our work.

Having thought it over, I decided that Joanna’s belittlement was some sort of motivational mind game. While it hadn’t been particularly effective on me, I could see how it might earn temporary results in people desperate to prove themselves and prove her wrong.

I had nothing to prove. I knew I did a good job here, and my methods had already achieved positive results. If Joanna could actually be bothered to read the reports, she would see that.

Even so, I worked for only an hour before my phone rang. Joanna’s assistant was on the other end of the line, summoning me to Joanna’s office like a kid being sent to the principal’s for misbehaving.

“Come immediately,” the assistant said. I didn’t know them either, nor did I appreciate the harsh tone they took with me. “Joanna doesn’t like to wait.”

“I don’t know where her office is,” I said.

The assistant sighed, impatiently, but then gave me the location. The office was in the building’s upper floors, near Liam’s office, which gave me an uncomfortable itch.

I needed to find a way to talk to him about these engagement rumors. They couldn’t be true, of course, but that bit of gossip must have started somewhere. I wanted to know where.

“I’m on my way,” I said, and hung up. Before I left, however, I gathered up the reports that highlighted the progress and improvements my training had made for the drivers and their performances. Holding the pile of paperwork to my chest, I left my office and made for the upper floors.

A frown curling down their lips, the assistant was waiting for me outside of Joanna’s door. “It doesn’t take that long to walk up from downstairs.”

“I needed a few things,” I said.

“Joanna didn’t ask you for anything but yourself.”

“Yes, but –”

“Go inside. Stop wasting her time.”

I closed my mouth. The rudeness was unexpected and unwelcomed, so much so that I felt shocked by it, unable to defend myself. With a frown, I walked around her and entered through the open doorway into Joanna’s office.

Sitting behind her desk, she looked at me expectantly. Without a greeting, she gestured for me to sit, yet when I moved, she said at once, “Close the door behind you first.”

Stilling, I turned around, closed the door, then faced her once more, and moved to the seat.

As I sat, I said, “I brought the reports that can show my progress since starting here.”

“Did I ask you for those?” She wasn’t as outright rude as her assistant, but her voice was still curt and to the point.

A straight-forward question deserved a straight-forward answer. “No.”

“No,” she repeated, “Because I’ve already looked through them. Of course, I have. Did you think I would call for this meeting without having inspected the work you’ve done?”

I lowered the reports down to my lap. I supposed that a good boss would have researched their employees before starting here. Maybe I did let the gossip getting me, allowing me to believe she wouldn’t be thorough. Or perhaps it had simply been my initial dislike of her that made me doubt her.

Either way, I looked like a fool now.

“I can admit that your overall work has improved the numbers for our drivers. Somewhat. But either you’ve grown slack in recent months or the drivers have stopped listening to you, because that increase has not persisted. In fact, in recent months, your performance has been somewhat concerning.”

That was news to me. “What do you mean?”

“While I haven’t been here to properly inspect your work or keep tabs on you, I can guess that your slip has been caused by a lack of work ethic.”

“I work hard every day,” I assure, “And I never miss a race.”

“My records indicate that you used PTO recently, to take off a day. These vacations should not be allowed in the middle of the race season. I’ve already spoke to HR, instructing them to not approve any more breaks this time of year.”

She must have been referring to the day I took off to attend Joe and William’s sports day at school.

“I had other obligations that day.” I had a strong work ethic, and I was good at my job. I wouldn’t let Joanna shake me, just because I also valued my family time.

“So you admit that you have other priorities you place higher than your work,” Joanna said. Lacing her fingers together, she placed them on top of her desk and lean forward. “You realize that every time you take a leave from this office, you create more work for those you’ve left behind.”

“It was a familial engagement,” I explained, hoping she would understand. “I have children.”

“That’s not the team’s concern,” Joanna replied. “Nor should it be. Hire a nanny. Your salary is high enough to afford it.”

“I can’t do that,” I said. “You can’t ask me to choose between work and my family.”

“I wouldn’t need to if you could take the initiative and properly balance on your own. As things are now, you are hurting the team with your selfishness. Do you think others would not like to be home with their families? What makes you special, Aria?” Joanna asked.

I didn’t know how to answer that so I kept quiet.

“It’s a shame really,” Joanna said. Unlacing her fingers, she began flipping through some paperwork on her desk. “I was hoping that in this talk, you would be able to dazzle me and convince me that you are committed to building a better team. Unfortunately, all I see is what I suspected from the start. You have stopped putting the effort in, and are now expecting others to pick up the slack.”

“That’s not true,” I said.

She ignored me. “In light of this, I see no reason to stop the measures I’d already put forward.” Looking up at me, she said, “You are unfit for your current role, Aria, and are officially demoted.”

The shock of it lasted only a moment, before I spoke up in my defense. “Liam would have to sign off on that.”

In no universe would Liam agree with what Joanna was saying here today. For someone who just started, Joanna was already acting like she owned the place. If she brought this up to Liam, hopefully he would help set her straight on her duties here and the importance of the staff already in place.

If she demoted me, who would take my place? And what would that mean for the drivers and their training?

No, I had to believe that Liam would defend me. I took time off for a valid reason, and I wouldn’t back down from that decision, no matter what Joanna threatened.

Joanna lifted a document from her desk and passed it to me. Briefly skimming it, I could see that it was an official notice of my demotion.

“Look at the bottom there,” Joanna said.

I did. The document was signed and dated by three different people. The first was a person from HR. The second was Joanna. And the third…

Touching the signature with my fingers, I felt the indentation the pen had made in the paper. This wasn’t a photocopy or a forgery.

This was real.

That was Liam’s signature.

He’d read this and signed off on it.

I felt like I’d been slapped across the face.