Especially with Ria out of the picture.
I let out a long sigh, then got to work on finding a replacement.
As I was typing up a job posting, I found myself becoming angrier. I owned the damn company, and it would have been so easy just to hand it over to my secretary, along with her new title. She was single, too, and didn’t have any children. So going to Africa for who knows how long would have been a breeze. I kept looking up at her through my glass doors, watching her work on the computer.
She was so damn efficient and knew what the hell she was doing.
But just knowing that she sat on this all weekend got under my skin. The woman had been working for me for years, and she knew damn well that anything from De Veers was considered urgent. She also knew that Ria handled everything with De Veers and that she was no longer with the company.
If only she’d called me!
Once I finished typing up the job posting, my next business order was going over every employee profile to find a suitable candidate. That took me the rest of the day since my company was so damn big. But as I flipped through every profile, I realized that I no longer trusted anyone to do Ria’s job. She had done so much damage to me, both professionally and emotionally. Anyone I hired would be too much of a risk. But if I didn’t hire someone right away, I could lose everything I had worked so hard for all at once.
Then I turned my attention to the dire situation with the miners and composed my email.
De Veers Diamond Group:
I received your certified letter this morning after I returned from a short vacation. To say that I’m shocked at the miner’s strike would be an understatement, but rest assured that I will resolve this issue immediately. Please reassure them that I wholeheartedly support paying them a livable wage, along with providing safe working conditions.
However, the person who handled human resources and anything related to the payroll is no longer with my company. I’m searching for a replacement for this position, but in the meantime, I want to address this right away.
In regard to this being handled in Africa, I am asking for some leeway. Between having to hire someone new to manage this and just returning from a trip myself, I do not see how I’m able to send someone down to Africa.
Can we please find a way to resolve this remotely?
Sincerely,
Jorge Stein
Within minutes of sending the email, they replied back.
Mr. Stein,
Thank you for reaching out to us. Unfortunately, this must be addressed in person at this point. The miners want to speak with a representative from your company directly.
Please let us know when this can be arranged.
Sincerely,
De Veers Diamond Group
I slammed my laptop shut so hard that my secretary jumped out of her chair.
Looks like I’m back to square one because God forbid anything goes right in my life.
21
Ginger
There were fewer things that I enjoyed more than sipping coffee on my small balcony, which overlooked the gorgeous, crystal-clear ocean. Ever since I had moved into my condo, I had spent nearly every morning watching the waves crash against the shore while sipping Cuban coffee. But as much as I loved my condo and the view, I was starting to yearn for something bigger.
There were a few other condos in the development that were much larger, and naturally, they came with bigger price tags. I had considered moving into one since it would give me three bedrooms instead of two. Right now, I had my own home office and a bedroom, but it would be nice to have a guest room. Many of my high school and college friends had left Miami, and I would have loved to have a place for them to stay whenever they visited.
But my parents instilled in me the value of money, and I knew just how wasteful paying rent could be.
After pouring myself another cup of coffee, I headed into my home office and reviewed my five-year plan. It was something that I’d been putting off ever since Jorge and I had become more than friends, and if he had proposed to me in Paris, then I would have put it off some more, but that had never happened. I had thought he would have done so after one of the plays or on one of our several moonlight walks, but he never did. By the time we got back to the states, even though I was still very happy with him, I realized that I still wanted to move forward with my life.
And hopefully, in due time, he would ask me to marry him.
