Chapter 1
Kalliope Marie Robinson
NINE YEARS LATER
“You all have had some very interesting questions this week, and you’ve challenged the HR team to meet you at every level.
I’m excited about what you all will bring to the organization.
Thank you for your participation in orientation week.
I know you all have a bright future ahead of you.
Welcome to NI Briggs and Associates. That concludes orientation week.
Have a wonderful weekend,” I stated, clapping my hands.
I beamed at the room full of new hires as claps, cheers, and whistles went up all around me.
Three of my employees had left the room earlier at various times and hadn’t returned.
With the constant hot fires in HR and the deadlines, that was not unusual.
I could run orientation week on my own since I had designed it when I first arrived as an intern.
I stuck around for a few minutes and answered questions before the conference room cleared out completely. I walked down the long hallway that led to the human resources department and stopped when I noticed that it was cleared out.
Yes, it was a Friday, and yes, it was three in the afternoon, but there were normally a few stragglers hanging around. Most people worked from home on Fridays, but there was a decent number of staff who came in anyway, since the building wasn’t packed.
Of all the people who came in today, I expected at least three people to still be in our department, but no one was here. I turned my lips down and headed to my office. No sooner than I sat down did June Pak, the VP of HR, knock on my door.
“Hey, June.”
“Hi, Kalliope. Would you please come to Jim’s office for a moment?”
“Sure. Let me lock my computer.” I frowned as I locked my computer and then got up. By the time that I made it out of my office, June had disappeared into Jim’s office, which meant she had to be walking fast.
Jim Baxter, the chief human resources officer, wasn’t usually in the office on Fridays.
I thought it was odd when I saw him earlier, but I dismissed it.
Although I had been in several meetings with him in the past, it was generally earlier in the week, and usually a few of us would meet at one time.
For June to be calling me into an impromptu meeting with him, something was amiss.
I prayed that nothing had happened to any of my team.
We had four department heads in HR underneath Jim and June.
There was a ben and comp director, a learning and development director, a recruiting director, and me, the human resources director.
I oversaw a staff of fifteen people: four HR specialists, four HRBPs, four payroll specialists, two payroll analysts, and an HR assistant.
Any number of them could be the reason that I was heading to the CHRO’s office, but I put my money on Shiloh, one of my specialists. He was always toeing the line.
I pushed all that to the side when I saw Jim sitting at his round conference table with a folder in front of him, and an envelope in front of the empty chair.
My stomach lurched as I looked to June, but she kept her head up, staring straight ahead, which was odd.
I wasn’t sure why she wasn’t making eye contact with me.
“Hey, Jim,” I greeted.
He bobbed his head, gave me a tight smile, and replied, “Hi, Kalliope. Have a seat.”
I took the seat that he indicated. “What’s going on? Is everything okay?”
“Well, you know that we recently engaged in a Thomas assessment. As we have reviewed the assessment, our budget for next year, and several other metrics, we decided to make the tough decision to implement a reduction in force,” Jim explained.
“I thought we discussed this earlier last month, and the decision was made that there would be no layoffs, but we would freeze hiring, other than those associates we just hired for the warehouse,” I stated. “Whose department is impacted by this?”
I hated RIFs. Not only did it mean overtime for my employees, who loved the extra money but hated the long hours, but my heart always went out to those employees who were impacted. I worried about how they would make ends meet, the long-term impact on their lives, and their mental health.
My team did the best that we could to relay that news, find them other positions in and out of the company, and connect them with resources that would be helpful. We also communicated the news in a thoughtful and caring manner, understanding that they would be devastated by the news.
“Ours.”
“As in HR?” I asked.
Jim nodded. “Yes, HR.”
“But we’re working with minimal staff for the diverse companies under our group as is. Who’s going to handle—”
“We’re outsourcing our positions.” June finally spoke up, cutting me off.
I rolled my eyes in her direction. “I’m sure that we could have come up with an alternative method. Those contracting companies—”
“We’re outsourcing to our partners in India,” June stated, interrupting me.
I stared blankly at her and then at him. “What? It’s going to take some time for me to build those interpersonal relationships that I already have with our US team.”
“Kalliope, the layoffs impact you too,” Jim professed.
“Excuse me?”
June was too eager to speak now. “We’ve already relayed the news to the rest of your team. Everyone has been communicated with, including those working from home today. We’ve given them their severance packets, and today is everyone’s final day, including yours.”
I blanked out as June pointed to the packet and explained that my severance package was in the envelope and all the details that it included. I didn’t need her to tell me anything. I had this same conversation with hundreds of employees through the years, so I knew what came with it.
“We’ve included twenty-four months of pay, a twenty percent bonus, and one year of healthcare.
We’ve also included another bonus of paying out your vacation pay, although you’ve taken two weeks.
We simply need you to sign the first page, and your pay will be distributed on the next payday,” Jim explained.
I kept staring at the envelope in front of me until June cleared her throat and stated, “I know this is devastating and unexpected for you, Kalliope. We did all that we could to try and save several positions.”
I glanced up at June. “Spare me, June. We both know that you haven’t liked me from day one.
In the last three years since you’ve been here, you’ve had a beef with me, and I have no idea why.
Jim, I hope you don’t regret this decision.
” I pulled the packet open, scanned the important details because I was familiar with the paperwork, so I knew where to find everything, and then I signed the paper.
“We’ll need you to pack your things immediately,” June declared.
I pushed my chair back and headed to my office with her following me. I had nothing to say to her, but I hated that she was the one who escorted me to my office. If Jim cared anything about my seven years of service, he would have spared my dignity and walked me out himself.
It took no time for me to pack my things up in a box that had been placed on my desk while I met with June and Jim. When I finished, June walked me to the front door.
“I’m sorry it worked out this way, Kalliope. Best wishes.” She pasted a fake smile on her face and batted her eyelashes.
“Bitch, spare me the fake sympathy. Karma is a bitch, just like you.”
“Immaturity and bitterness will get you nowhere in this field, Kalliope. You’d better remember that the HR community is a tight-knit circle before you burn your bridges,” June threatened.
I stormed away and hopped in my car as fast as I could. By the time that I sped out of the parking lot, June still stood at the front door of NI Briggs watching me, as if she didn’t trust me to leave the premises.
It only took twenty minutes for me to arrive home, since I was driving in the opposite direction of traffic. Not feeling like carrying the box inside, I decided I would get it later. I climbed the steps to the porch of the three-bedroom cottage that I shared with my boyfriend, Remy.
My heart dropped the minute that I stepped inside and heard the noises. I knew that he worked from home today, as he did most days. He was in cybersecurity and had the flexibility to work anywhere.
But those sounds could not be mistaken. The grunts and groans and the slapping of bodies were clearly someone having sex. I rushed into the bedroom and halted in my tracks when I saw Remy fucking our neighbor’s daughter, Ellis.
My heart froze midbeat, and my stomach contorted, creating agony within.
My brain struggled to accept what my eyes saw.
How could the man I trusted with my heart and my life break me this way?
How could the young lady who I treated like my sister betray me this way?
I adored Ellis, yet she was no better than a bitch in the streets.
She had often been the babysitter for Remy’s nieces and nephews whenever they spent a few weeks during the summer with us, and we needed a little break.
She had even spent the night at our house on multiple occasions when she wanted to just “get away” from her parents.
I hadn’t minded because Ellis was an only child of older parents.
At the age of eighteen, she would be leaving for college soon, and I hoped that we had made a lasting impact on her.
If we hadn’t before, Remy was making sure of it now.
“What the fuck?” I shrieked.
They stopped and turned to look over their shoulders. Ellis stood up and smirked at me. Remy’s face dropped in horror, and he immediately looked apologetic and shameful.
“Baby, I’m sorry. It’s not what—”
“Don’t you dare open your mouth and tell me this isn’t what it looks like.”
“It’s not, baby.”
“Don’t fucking ‘baby’ me!” I shouted, holding my hands up as he walked in my direction. “It looks like you were fucking our neighbor’s daughter in the ass!”
The tears that flew down my face and the vomit that rose in my throat could no longer be contained. The moment that Remy stepped close to me, I spewed my lunch all over him.
“Damnit, Kalli.” He grunted in disgust.
I backed up toward the door when I finished, and Remy rushed to the bathroom.
“I’ve tried to get him to tell you, Kalli.”
“Shut. The. Fuck. Up!” I shouted at Ellis, slowly stalking toward her.
She shrugged unapologetically. “I’m sorry.”
“Bitch, you’re not sorry. You have come into my home, taken my kindness for weakness, and all the while, you’ve been fucking my man behind my back, you little whore!”
“Technically, it’s his home, and he allowed you to live here.”
I closed the remaining distance between us and smacked the shit out of her. “I hope you catch herpes and gonorrhea and your fucking uterus fall out, trifling bitch.”
She grabbed her face and scowled at me. “Jealousy and wrinkles don’t keep a man, Kalliope. You’d better think of that.”
For some odd reason, that reminded me of June’s taunt, and I knew I needed to get away from this child before I hurt her. Because at the end of the day, she was still a child, and she nor he were worth it. Remy was just a placeholder in my life, and now, my life was empty.
I ran out the door and didn’t bother grabbing anything. I wanted to be nowhere near them, and we had nothing to talk about.
I heard Remy shouting my name as I stormed out of the house. I jumped in my car, pulled off, and drove until I reached my parents’ house. I sat in the car crying for a long while. It was times like this when I missed my best friend.
He was always there to comfort me, to help me look at the bright side of things, and to beat anyone’s ass who hurt me. I would love for him to be here now beating the hell out of Remy. There was a gaping hole in my heart where there shouldn’t have been one.
Remy had been my comfort when I lost Andrès. I knew that it bothered him, and he had been jealous, but he was there. If I hadn’t felt Andrès’s absence before, I truly felt it now. God, the pain hurt so bad.
“Drè, where in the world are you?” I sobbed.
Because he was the only one who could make the pain go away. He was the only one who could make me laugh, live, love, and breathe again.