Chapter 11 #2
The next couple of days were nothing special.
Simon’s work life comprised a gazillion meetings a day, which nobody had told him about when he was working his way to the top.
His PA was good at keeping his diary in order, but everyone wanted his opinion on things, which was flattering, albeit irritating.
Couldn’t people decide for themselves? He’d empowered his team to do that, but his fellow executives were a different story.
The chief underwriting officer, Natasha, was very needy, but would only talk to Simon about her people issues.
Not only was it not the best use of Simon’s time, but it was disempowering to his new head of business partnering, who had replaced Jason.
It made Simon miss the feisty guy. He’d known how to handle Natasha with ease.
Simon kept trying to offload her to one of the team, but she wasn’t getting the hint.
“So, I should just tell him we’re extending his probation?” asked Natasha for the tenth time.
“Yes, like we agreed. He hasn’t met the targets you set him, so use that when you’re sharing the feedback.”
“How do I do that?”
Simon wanted to scream. How was this woman earning four hundred grand a year, plus eye-watering bonuses?
He was definitely in the wrong job. He couldn’t complain about his earnings, but when he was dealing with highly paid peers who couldn’t even have a basic performance conversation, it was cause for concern.
“Have you been laying the groundwork like we discussed?”
The way she was avoiding eye contact gave him the answer. Now the poor guy was going to feel blindsided, because she hadn’t been discussing his performance with him. What feedback had she been giving him?
“What have you been saying to him in your catch-ups?”
“We don’t really have those.”
“You’re not having regular catch-ups with a senior hire who is new and not performing?”
“Have you seen my diary?”
“You need to make time for your team, Natasha. We’ve discussed this before. It’s not just about the poor performers. You need to give time to your top talent as well.”
“Why do I need to speak to them? They’re doing a great job.”
“Have you told them that?”
“They’d know if I wasn’t happy with them.”
He wanted to shout at her, but that wouldn’t get them anywhere.
Before he could continue, there was a knock on the door.
Not wanting to let Natasha leave before they finished this conversation, he asked her to wait while he checked who it was.
He was surprised to see Dexter. It must have been important for him to disturb them.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
“Have you got a second?”
“Not really. Can it wait?”
“I think you’ll want to see this, while you’ve got Natasha with you.”
He nodded. “Do you want to come in?”
He hesitated. “I can just tell you.”
“You may as well tell both of us,” he replied, opening the door wide for him.
Dexter’s composure dropped for a second, and then he smiled and walked into his office.
“Hi, Natasha.”
“Hello, Dexter. What’s going on?”
“Dexter has something to share with us.”
He looked uncomfortable. Most people wouldn’t be able to spot it, but Simon knew him intimately so could tell he wasn’t sure how to approach this, which made Simon prickle. He had a feeling that whatever Dexter was about to say wouldn’t be good. Perhaps he should have spoken to him alone first.
“We’ve had some negative reviews on Glassdoor,” he said.
Simon gave him a curious look and gestured for him to sit down. It wasn’t unusual to get this from ex-employees, or even current ones.
“The reviews cite Natasha specifically.”
“What!” she shrieked.
“Have you got them with you?” asked Simon.
He opened his laptop, which Simon hadn’t noticed he was holding, but then most of them walked around with it glued to their palm all the time.
Simon had a table in his office, so Dexter put his laptop there and connected it wirelessly to the screen on the wall in a nanosecond.
How did he do that? Now wasn’t the time to get into that.
The reviews showed on screen. There were three one-star reviews that had been posted in the last twenty-four hours.
The CUO is destroying this company.
If you’re an underwriter, don’t work here.
Toxic culture driven by the CUO.
Okay, so not great, but manageable. People had taken swings at exec members before on review sites.
It was part of the job, even if it was hard not to be hurt by it.
The review contents went into more detail about how destructive behaviours in middle management were ignored, that Natasha wasn’t present, and some personal comments which were unnecessarily cruel.
“How do we get these taken down?” said Natasha.
Simon was expecting to see her tearful, but she was practically red with rage.
“They don’t take them down,” said Dexter. “This has happened before, and they will not remove any reviews from their website.”
“Then we’ll sue them. We need to call Bob.”
Bob was their general counsel, and there was no point calling him as he would only confirm what Dexter had just said.
“You can’t sue people for having an opinion, Natasha,” said Simon.
“Wait . . . Dexter, can you scroll down to the third review again.”
He did as she asked, and she pointed at the screen.
“That says it’s a current employee. Someone on my team has written this. How do we find out who they are?”
“I think you’re missing the point.”
“I’ll speak to my leadership team, and they can find out who it is.”
“Dexter, can you give us a minute, please?”
“Should I leave my laptop here?”
“No, just send me the link.”
He nodded and disconnected his screen. As he was leaving, he gave Simon a look that said, “Good luck with that,” and it was hard not to laugh.
Once he was alone with Natasha again, he suggested they sit at the table.
He could feel the fury radiating from her.
It was an emotional reaction to being hurt, and he understood that, but if he just left her to go back to work, she could do something that would inflame the situation.
That three reviews had gone up in close succession implied it was coordinated, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t true.
Simon had seen people band together before against a toxic boss.
He needed to dig into this, but first he had to get Natasha out of the office in a way that didn’t make her feel like she was being punished.
“Why don’t you head off for the rest of the day?” he suggested.
“Why should I leave? I’ve done nothing wrong. You don’t believe this, do you, Simon?”
“It’s not about what I believe. You need to take some time to let the emotions settle, and then we can tackle it properly, with a clear head.”
“Is this because you don’t think I can handle it?”
“I didn’t say that, Natasha. But you’re angry now, which I completely understand, and you don’t want to say something you can’t take back tomorrow.”
“I bet you wouldn’t leave if this happened to you.”
“I can tell you categorically that I would, and I’d be saying the same to anyone else who’d received this.”
“Even Alex?”
“Yes. Although I doubt he’d listen to me,” he added, injecting some humour.
It worked because she smiled.
“What do I tell the team?”
“That you need to leave to deal with a personal matter.”
“They’ll know it’s because of the reviews.”
“Isn’t your wellbeing a personal matter?”
“You’re good at this stuff, you know. Emotions and all that.”
He couldn’t help but snort a laugh, but she smiled.
She agreed to go home, and said she’d drop a note to her team.
Her PA would clear her diary, and Simon would let Alex know what was going on.
He promised to speak to Bob as well, although he doubted there were any legal options for them.
Once she left, he messaged Alex’s PA to find out when he could grab him for two minutes between meetings.
There was a tap on his doorframe. He looked up and smiled when he saw who it was.
“Everything okay?” he asked.
“She’s going home. I’ll talk to her again tomorrow. Could you let Bob know about it?”
“I gave him a heads-up after what she said, in case she went straight to him.”
“Thanks.”
“It’s a yes, by the way.”
“What?”
“The retreat. Count me in.”
It took all his restraint not to pull Dexter into a kiss, or break out into a happy dance – and he was not a dancer.
“That’s amazing. I’ll get the extra days all booked later.”
“You hadn’t already booked it?”
“I wouldn’t have been staying on my own. Only if you were coming with me.”
Had he gone too far by saying that? Based on the smile on Dexter’s face, it didn’t look like it.
“Anything else you need?” asked Dexter.
“There is one thing.”
“I don’t think we can do that here,” he whispered.
Simon chuckled. “No, would you . . . if it’s not a bother . . .”
“Is everything okay?” he asked with a concerned frown.
“Would you show me how to do the screen thing?” Simon felt his cheeks heat.
“What screen thing?”
“Well, you just connected it without wires.”
“Oh, that. It’s piss easy.”
Simon glared at him.
“Well, for younger people it is.” He grinned.
“You’re only seven years younger than me,” Simon growled. “And . . . you’re winding me up, aren’t you?”
“Do you want me to show you now?”
He nodded, mindful that he was still blushing, and Dexter had a shit-eating grin on his face. The fucker was enjoying himself.
Dexter had his laptop with him. He talked through what he was doing a bit too quickly, so Simon asked him to do it again and explain what he was doing out loud. It looked straightforward, so he grabbed his own laptop. After a couple of failed attempts, he made the connection.
“I’m so proud of you,” said Dexter.
“Piss off.”
“Happy to be of service,” he smirked, before leaning in and whispering. “You can punish me for my insubordination next time you come over.”
Before Simon could respond, he stood up and walked out, and Simon let out a breath he hadn’t realised he was holding.
He would definitely be making Dexter pay for that the next time he got him into bed.
Simon was now wishing he hadn’t made plans tonight, but he could wait.
It would make it all the better when he had Dexter underneath him, begging for Simon to give him what he deserved.
“You’re alive, then?” said Daniel after he opened the door.
He lived in a gorgeous flat in Hampstead. It had to have cost over three million quid, given the size, spec, and area. It put Simon’s three-bed house to shame, but then Daniel was a lot wealthier. Before he could say anything, Josh appeared.
“Where are you going?” asked Daniel, looking concerned.
“I’ll leave you two to talk grown-up things. I’m meeting Carly.”
“You never said anything.”
“Just arranged it.”
“You don’t need to go out. I’ll just tell this one to piss off.”
Josh laughed before giving his boyfriend a kiss. “I’ll only be gone a couple of hours. Get a takeaway or something.”
“Okay, well, let me know if you need me to come and get you.”
“I’ll just get the Tube back.”
“No. Call my car service.”
Josh rolled his eyes. “Fine. Now, you boys have fun talking about boring business things.”
Daniel spanked Josh on the arse, and his face went bright red but his eyes darkened. The chemistry between the two of them was off the charts, and they’d probably forgotten Simon was here, so he cleared his throat.
“Oh my God,” said Josh. “I’m leaving.”
Daniel pulled Josh towards him and kissed him as if it would be the last time. Josh was bright red but smiling as he rushed off without saying another word. Daniel adjusted himself.
“Subtle.”
“This better be good, Woods. I could have been fucking my man,” said Daniel as they walked into his kitchen diner.
“I need some advice.”
“I’ll send you my current price list.”
“No. Friend advice.”
“About?”
“Dexter.”
“Dexter, as in the hot redhead who works for you?”
Simon couldn’t help but smile.
“Oh, tell me you didn’t.”
“Didn’t what?”
“Fuck him.”
“It’s not like that.”
“Have you put your dick inside him?”
“Well, yes, but . . .”
“Did you forget what you were doing?”
“Piss off.”
“Well, what do you need advice for? Shall we get chip shop? I’ve not had that for ages.”
“Yeah, whatever. No, can you just listen to me for a second?”
Daniel looked at him, raising an eyebrow in the way he did that would make his clients, friends, and even strangers spill their darkest secrets.
“I think I’m in love with him.”
Daniel didn’t react. There was not a flicker of movement on his face. After a few seconds, he turned around and walked towards the kitchen.
“We’re going to need lots of wine for this one.”