The female employee’s name was Stefanie. She was a Swiss woman who held a Director position in the finance department. Unfortunately, Linda had not been able to fire her during the latest round of major personnel cuts.
“Damn. This female employee would be a good target but is well protected by the boss. How on earth am I going to shoot her down?”
Linda asked herself. It was urgent as Stefanie was pointing out clear errors in the redundancy action by the company, which Linda designed. Maybe she had already realized the true intention of Linda for targeting certain groups of employees. Linda couldn’t sleep in the night for the first time since the headcount reduction exercise started, including the planning phase. As is the case as always, sense of urgency made Linda act boldly, taking a risk. It was time to use the delicious secret again, with some other agents. Linda simulated in her head the chess game board with the move of the queen and a pawn.
“Yes, that should work. That would be the end of her.” Linda was relieved with the prospect getting brighter. Linda took a glass of wine, secretly celebrating her own cleverness. Taro looked at Linda curiously, but said nothing.
Taro was Linda’s boyfriend. He was a Japanese who came to Switzerland to work as a researcher. When they first met via a Dating App, he was in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. However, due to his new assignment, Taro re-located to the French-speaking part of Switzerland. His current job was more than four hours away from where Linda lived. Although they were living apart on the weekdays, they would often spend weekends together. The best thing Linda liked about Taro was his silence and obedience. Being a nerd, Taro was awkward in communications and often stuttered when he wanted to speak. He didn’t know doubting people and took all what Linda said as the only truth on the earth. What’s even more convenient for Linda was that Taro didn’t have family or friends in Switzerland. With his extremely shy character, he was not well integrated in any community and was alone. Linda was one of the few connections Taro had. That means, Linda could manipulate him as much as she wanted. There was no one else for him to ask for objective views and advice. Linda would be perfectly free from the risk of others’ pointing out to Taro about Linda’s evil manipulation. Although his face was far from handsome in terms of Asian aesthetics, his tall and muscular body matched Linda’s selection criteria. “He’s the perfect companion, as a pet.”
As always, Linda called Rachel on the following day. Linda started in a weary voice,
“We’ve discussed that we recently implemented the personnel reduction plan as per your approval. There is actually one employee who didn’t like it, a woman named Stefanie, who has been protesting it very loudly recently. Apparently, she is upset that her close friends are dismissed while people she doesn’t like are able to stay. Apparently she has taken things personally, as irrational people would do, you know. Stefanie claims it’s not fair that Sandrine and Katelyn survived massive layoffs in positions that are completely redundant just because of their connections to the CEO, while other employees were made to leave. She is probably one of those people who are poisoned by Mark’s propaganda against Ben and you. With resentment and shock, Stefanie started spreading the terrible rumor that you are one of Ben’s mistresses and that’s how you got the HR Head’s position. She would like to ruin your reputation, believing that her personal friends were fired because of your decision. They say even more terrible things about you, using vulgar expressions. It’s too much to share with you. Of course, I don’t believe any of those horrible hoaxes but just wanted to share the information to protect you.“
That was a routine lie as usual, but Rachel was once again fooled by Linda’s skillful lying.
“Stefanie’s bosses are tolerating her behavior, and there’s no stopping her from their side. They don’t want to provoke her emotions as they feel guilty with the layoffs and don’t want to be blamed. They think it’s easier for them if Rachel becomes a scapegoat; they would be free from attacks and blames. But if you let this go unchecked, your authority and the legitimacy of the entire HR department should be undermined. The terrible lies spread by Mark keep affecting employees here even after he is gone. With the shock of the dismissals, this might come back again in a big wave to destroy you and Ben.”
This time again, Linda’s story was vivid and plausible. It was even more so as she used Mark’s criticisms made to Ben and Rachel as an underlying story. It was easy for Rachel to imagine, even if Mark was made to leave, there was still an atmosphere to support Mark in European offices. It might be the case that employees in Europe were hoping that Mark would move the company headquarter from the US to Europe, once Mark became the new CEO and merged the company with his family’s business in Europe. In addition, it was natural that people there feel dissatisfied with the upper management of the company after the large-scale layoffs. Switzerland was away from the US where Ben and Rachel sat. Rachel didn’t have many correspondents there and had to rely on Linda’s information.
“Thank you for reporting this. Of course we cannot leave it going on. What an unprofessional woman, Stefanie. We cannot tolerate such a bitch who spreads lies for an egoistic purpose. Eventually, you will be instructed to fire Stefanie. When that happens, you will handle it quietly. Until then, don’t tell anyone.” Lucy said to Linda. Linda grinned, imagining Lucy’s wrinkled face turning red with anger.
A few hours later, Ben, the CEO, sent an email to Theo, the head of Finance Europe, and Carl, the head of Strategy Europe, who was always jittery with upper management. There was only one line in the email: “Fire Stefanie.”
Theo and Carl turned pale and trembled when they saw this email. “Why? There was no explanation!” Theo and Carl got together and whispered to each other. “It is too abrupt. Stefanie and Ben have had no contact. Why on earth did Ben have to instruct her dismissal in person? If that was a misunderstanding, could it be cleared up?” They were eager to gather more information but they had no courage to contact the CEO directly on this. Theo suggested first to ask Joe, the General Manager Europe, to ask Ben why, but Carl stubbornly refused it. “Let’s not mention this to Joe, who knows nothing about it at the moment. If Joe were to ask Ben about it, Ben would get even more furious and our heads should be blown off.” Carl was simply scared with power. Thus, quite conveniently, Theo’s inquiry came to Linda.
He called Linda and asked,
“The CEO sent us an email out of the blue to fire Stefanie. Do you know anything about it?”
Linda was eagerly waiting for this phone call.
‘Yes, I’ve heard it from Rachel. As a matter of fact, Ben is very upset about what Stefanie did. Apparently, Stefanie went directly to Ben and Rachel, complaining about the recent mass layoffs here. She told them that it was a real shame that the good employees were laid off, while the boss’s ex-girlfriends, Sandrine and Katelyn, who are completely useless, survived it as they were connected to Ben. Ben got mad about such a rude and nonsense question by an employee lower down. If we let Stefanie stay, even you, the Head of Finance, could be asked to leave. I don’t want that to happen to you, so I’m warning you, the sooner you fire Stefanie, the better. Rachel told me not to share this story with you, so please don’t tell anyone that I informed you. Just keep it to yourself. I’m really just doing this for you as I appreciate you as a colleague.”
“Oh, jeez!” Theo let out a despairing mumble.
“I’m so sorry. But if you don’t do something, they’re going to question your loyalty to the CEO and the company. I’ll set up a meeting with Stefanie right away and give her a termination notice. I’ll come up with a reason for termination. Since we just had massive layoffs, it is not so strange to fire someone. Let’s state that Stefanie’s position is no longer available due to the reorganization. This would be natural. The other employees won’t doubt it. You’ll attend the termination meeting with Stefanie, but I’ll conduct the termination session so leave it to me. Don’t say anything else and keep your mouth shut. You must never tell Stefanie that the CEO in person ordered you to fire her. And of course, don’t mention what Stefanie said to Ben. This is to protect you; if you ever mention that in a meeting, this implies that you admit the fact that Ben got mad with Stefanie because what she said was actually true; two women stayed because of their personal connections to the CEO. You don’t want to offend Ben, right? Just state that you’re dismissing her because her position is no longer available.”
After hearing Linda’s explanation, Theo had no choice but to agree.
Thus, the meeting with Stefanie was set. Of course, the true purpose of the meeting was kept secret from Stefanie. With her heart beating loudly with great excitement and thrill, Linda told Stefanie, “As a company’s decision, we regret to inform you that your work contract is terminated. You need to leave the company and look for an external opportunity.”
There was a short pause. Stefanie’s face hardened a little, but then she looked back at Linda with a wry smile. Then she gave an answer which startled everyone.
“I’m sorry, but you guys can’t fire me. I’m pregnant.”
(to be continued)
This story is fictitious and is not based on any real persons or organizations. Copyright: Kunoichi4You 2024
Psychopath in the Next Office 