Ben was frozen on the phone. A woman was speaking to him in German in a weak voice. The caller was Linda. Ben saw another email to him from Linda a few weeks ago. It was an email of petition requesting for Ben’s intervention. Joe and his successor, together with the European Management Team decided Linda’s termination after investigating what Linda was doing to make her target get fired. Rachel, the global Head of HR, was informed about the decision. After a six-month notice period, Linda would have to leave the company altogether. Ben ignored Linda’s e-mails. However, one day his secretary received a phone call from someone claiming to be from the German government, and she transferred the call to Ben. The secretary was just following his instruction to forward all calls from government officials in his home country. Ties to the government was one of the most important things to Ben. This time, however, it was actually Linda, who disguised herself as a German federal government officer, knowing Ben’s eagerness for political connections. Linda spoke in a tearful trembling voice. She spoke in German, to appeal to Ben the most.
“Ben, I don’t know what they told you but please understand me correctly, I didn’t do anything wrong against the company. I am totally innocent. Actually I’m the victim. Sanae blamed me for making her get fired but that was her bosses’ decision. I was just executing a normal termination order as a HR. The procedure was all standard and there was nothing against HR protocol. Ben, you are the greatest person I’ve ever met, who has a heart of justice and integrity. I’ve admired you for a long time. I’ve worked for you supporting you from the HR side in Europe, the biggest part of the business, and that was the most inspiring experience. Nobody ever pointed out my wrongdoings; as I was dedicated to serving your company for 12 years, playing fair and helpful. It’s all misunderstanding and manipulation by the evil woman, Sanae, who should be blamed. She was disrupting the company order by approaching various male managers personally in a non-compliant way. She was demanding men to push her in a better position, using personal favors. Carl, your loyal employee for a long time, didn’t like that, as he thought Sanae was a threat to his position. I was just forced by Carl to fire the woman, who was anyway not performing well.
This was totally a separate decision from James, Sanae’s line manager at that time, was on a temporary contract. It was all Carl’s idea to put James on a temporary contract with a fixed term. He was hoping that it was the way to help James stay in the company, while making him behave better. I actually warned him about the risk: Due to the hiring freeze facing a tough business situation, the number of permanent employees should be fixed. If we give him a temporary contract in this director position, it might give James an incentive to reduce the number of his direct reports to regain one headcount to realize his own permanent contract. That means, he might be tempted to fire Sanae from his team. But regardless of that, Carl forcefully ordered me to give him a temporary contract; he wanted to leave the company but we definitely needed James to work on the key strategic project – “Digitalization.” Even though James once resigned as he got a job offer from another company, he was hesitating to move to the new company. Carl was keen to keep him in his team as he was such a competent person who delivered a lot on digital topics during his tenure at the company. Even though some people said he was difficult due to his leadership style, others said he was a good boss. I have had several face-to-face meetings with Carl on this topic to clearly discuss the pros and cons, sometimes in late hours, as my personal preference was no-go for such a temporary position.
But how much could I do against Cal who had such a strong will, as I was merely a HR person? Carl was also leading the Digitization Project from the business side and I was part of the project from the HR and Communications side. I had a strong pressure to obey his decisions; we were supposed to work together to deliver for this project. It was also Carl who told me not to inform anyone about the change in James’ status. When he told me to do so, he was really threatening me, saying that if I didn’t obey it, he would harm me. You may have heard but Carl is a double-faced man; he can be shrewd and cunning, while smiling very friendly. There is a reputation nobody knows what Carl is actually thinking but he is good at covering his ass. I had no choice but to accept Carl’s terms at that time. He told me that it was also a company’s target, given by Ben, to protect profits by keeping full-time headcounts constant while achieving key projects. As we are middle management, we should just focus on realizing the given targets.
I had explained all this to Rachel, the HR Head, and she agreed to it. But once Rachel saw an accusing email from Sanae, which was full of falsified facts about me, she switched sides to sign off on the decision to fire me to save her own skin. But really, this is a terrible mistake. Once again, I am deeply committed to the company, and want to continue working for you. There is no one who could be more loyal to you than I am. Please give me another chance. Can we see each other at the hotel to discuss further?”
Ben was not surprised by this call because he had been warned of the “honey trap” from managers in Europe, ever since the first email from Linda. Normally, he would welcome such an invitation as long as there were no negative exposures. This time, however, Ben had to be very careful. Ben, having money and status, had no issues in having a constant supply of fresh women. If he was going to make a move, even taking a risk, it should be young blonde, according to his personal preference. Linda had had many opportunities to meet Ben in person, because of her role of the HR Head in Europe. If Linda had been a beautiful woman of Ben’s taste, she would have been on Ben’s radar a long time ago. However, Linda, with her skinny body, sallow skin and frizzy brown hair, was not Ben’s type. Unfortunately, Linda’s first attempt with honey trap was not successful.
“I can’t do that, I’m afraid. I understand your difficulty but the company has no choice but to make this decision. This was decided in a meeting involving all parties who knew actually what happened, and I respect that decision by those. You should concentrate on finding another job. And please don’t call me like this again.”
Just saying that, Ben was about to hang up the phone. Linda quickly interrupted Ben with her voice changing completely.
“Are you in a position to say that? I know very well what you’ve been doing at the company. If I were to report to the authority that you were having an affair with the Head of HR, Rachel, and then offering her the position of the Head of IT as a bonus, wouldn’t that be a bit of a compliance problem? As a HR I know it’s a compliance issue to have a romantic relationship with a direct report. On top, taking advantage of that relationship to make personnel decisions is not legal in a publicly traded company in the US. If that was brought to the court, you should both go to jail.”
“What? That’s just a baseless rumor! Don’t tell me nonsense!” Ben was momentarily taken aback by Linda’s change of attitude, but he raised his voice and retorted.
Linda continued without cowering. “And there is also an issue of succession nomination. You appointed Eddie, who was in charge of a smaller division of the company, to be the next CEO, instead of Joe, who was the general manager of Europe, the largest division in the company. Most of the employees here in Europe knew he was the real power behind the growth of the business. Why did you make such a decision hurriedly, even though you still had some more time before your retirement? I was on the conference call with Joe when he lost to Eddie in the battle for successor nomination, so I know exactly how you explained it to Joe. But I also knew what you said was a lie. The real reason for this decision was not Eddie’s future potential and leadership. It was because Eddie paid you a handsome amount of bribes to make the deal.
The employees all remember the strangely silent period of several months after the two candidates were officially announced. Well, well, well. What happened during that time? During the final round of succession decision, you asked those two to help you resolve some concerns you had upon retiring from the company. Joe only understood your statement on the surface and presented you a plan for realizing future growth of the company to assure you. The company should generate higher revenues and profits, according to a series of strategies, and its share prices should go up significantly. ABCD Corporation will be admired even more in the world. That was the punchline of Joe’s presentation. I must say Joe made a fatal mistake in interpreting your question; a single-minded person like Joe is prone to such a fundamental mistake in reading between lines. Joe was overconfident in his own abilities and believed that he should be appointed as the next CEO even though there were two candidates nominated. He did not try to see the real meaning of your question, or first of all, carefully assess why you set up the final round like this. You were a cunning person and was intending to get the most out of the situation of two candidates competing for your current position and the fact that you are the final decision maker. You are the Chairman of the Board and the CEO; any ultimate decision should only come from you.
On the other hand, Eddie’s qualifications were not as good as Joe in terms of actual performance and academic achievements. We all know the disastrous outcomes of the technology projects he was in charge of since he joined the company. The only exception was the latest new product launch which went well. But he was not the person anyway who was in this successful project from the very beginning of gathering customer requirements and designing the new product. Eddie just came later and hopped on the existing promising project to take the juicy part of the final product launch to advertize him as a rising star. Despite those disadvantages, or exactly because of these, Eddie was keen in turning things around using any dodgy methods. He correctly interpreted your request with the true meaning behind and decided to play the forbidden hand in order to turn the tables on Joe. Your concern that you mentioned to them was whether you should be able to keep enough income in various forms after you retire from this tasty position. Since Eddie gave up his bonus for you to help secure your nice life after your retirement, you gave the grace to Eddie. In the end personal interest and profits mattered you the most in deciding your successor. Employees would love to know the fact.
Rachel shared with me this secret between you and Eddie, not knowing what would happen to me later. I even have some emails to prove it. You and Eddie are partners in crime literally, and there should be no risk that Eddie would blow it up even if you were retired. If he would do that, that would be suicidal; giving bribes is as bad as taking bribes in the corporate world. Using this secret, you could always ask Eddie to give you extra pocket money anytime even after Eddie becomes the CEO. It is likely that the deal was already made like that: Eddie should send you additional funds to thank you for your great contribution at the company and the right succession decision long after his retirement.
What an amazing villain, are you? Women and money, how corrupt can you be? If I reveal the truth, it will be farewell for you and Eddie, both of the current CEO and the next CEO in one-go. You should definitely lose your position at least, and are more likely to end up in jail. It will be an unforgettable Resume; CEO’s position for 16 years and then moving behind the bar as an inmate for the life-time.
I don’t have to hire a lawyer to press charges, I’d just whisper this top secret to Joe and it should take full effect. Disappointed Joe, who lost the nomination battle for the CEO in front of all the employees, has moved on to another company by now. That means Joe can act as he likes without any fear of you, not mentioning he would have a good motivation to damage you as revenge. When he found out the real reason why he lost against Eddie, he would be so angry to expose the corruption at this company in court. The company will be damaged forever. Oh, how horrible.”
Ben was speechless with shock. Actually what Linda told him was the truth. Ben appointed Eddie as the next CEO as he gave him a good amount of bribes in various forms, and promised Ben to keep paying royalty fees for this life-time for using Ben’s name in one of the company facilities. It was possible that Linda had some real evidence of their dealings. If Linda made this public, it would have a real impact on Ben and on the company brand, and would definitely ruin his life. Ben wiped the sweat from his balding forehead. His ugly face was getting weary.
Then he said in a trembling voice,
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, but it sounds like you’re in difficulty right now. I’ll see what I can do.”
Linda grinned, sensing that her threatening technique worked.
“Oh, my dear CEO, I’m glad that we are finally talking. Yes, my condition for keeping your secret is that you revoke my termination. Never disclose anything about me inside and outside of the company. Make it look like I’m still working for the company. I am sure that you agree that there are enough advantages to keeping me at the company, right? After all, I could blow both of you up if I wanted.”
“I don’t know what evidence you have, but I think you are mistaken. I’ve appointed Eddie as my successor because I’ve had complete confidence in his abilities. There was no bribe whatsoever. I have never asked such a thing in my entire life, nor have I ever taken one. But please don’t sue the company over something so baseless, please. If you would ever make this stupid move, I would have to think how to deal with you.”
Keeping cool, Linda took the opportunity to poke him and to conclude the deal.
“You will have my word that I will not disclose anything, as long as you see to it. I will still be employed by ABCD Corporation as the head of European Human Resources. Of course, you will never let any comments in the company about Sanae, such as an unreasonable termination decision by HR. We fired Sanae because she was a bad employee, not performing to her managers’ expectation. Try to suppress all the nonsense rumors that I was attacking other women who were promising. It won’t do any good to have such rumors for you or Rachel; the company’s reputation would be at stake. Also, never try to bring back any of those stupid women who were fired by me to the company. You will publish an article saying that I’m working hard at the company for the advancement of women for the sake of other women. If you ever made official my departure from the company internally or externally, then I will disclose what went on between you and Eddie for succession nomination.”
Ben immediately agreed, “I understand. We agree on that point.”
Linda continued proudly,
“Oh, that’s good. Let me see your sincerity in action. Never remove my name from the company’s management register. You’ll make online articles about me as if I were working for this company. I’m sure there are industry reporters you used to ask for glowing reviews for yourself, paying some hidden commissions. Make the writer write an appraisal article about me.”
Ben was now at Linda’s mercy.
“I understand. We’ll keep our secrets to our mutual benefits. I’m sure a reporter I know will get back to you shortly.”
Linda was chuckling cheerfully.
“That’s good. Yes, I AM actually supporting good women for their success as the HR Head, as I have always been. I am a great asset to the company you should never get rid of. Eddie and you should consider what positions in the company you should give me later; Head of Digitalization would be a nice fit for me as I was involved in it for a long time.”
Linda hung up the phone, feeling exhilarated. She told herself in excitement,
“Well done, Linda. That was a home run. Hopefully, I should be able to return to the company, and if not, the company would not be able to make Linda’s departure official. So, by all appearances, I am fully employed in ABCD Corporation as the HR Head. “
Linda should be registered in the official document as the only woman of the glorious management team. As long as it looked good, any further moves would be possible. She could apply for new jobs in other companies, pretending she was still working for ABCD Company. Because on paper, she really was. A small balcony of Linda’s own apartment looked shining again. The sun, which was about to set and disappear from Linda’s view, seemed to have returned.
It was a miracle, but Linda knew that she could keep the miracle happening even more with her tactics. Now that the professional side of the problem was to be resolved, she should start fixing things in her private life. That was, the escaped prey or the sweet pet, Taro. He recently ran away from Linda’s spider nest and flew back to Japan, realizing what she actually did to him. Again, that was caused by Sanae reporting to Taro about Linda’s wrong-doings.
“Idiot Taro, do you really think I will let you go? You cannot live without me. I will regain what I had last year. No one can steal anything from me, my job, my possessions and my appearance. If there were robbers who would take over my position or steal my possessions, I would fight them back. So far, my glorious career and obedient house-husband were gained by my skillful manipulations. They all belong to me lawfully.”
This story is fictitious and is not based on any real persons or organizations. Copyright: Kunoichi4You 2024
Psychopath in the Next Office 