Chapter 35
Ikept myself busy because I didn’t want to deal with Jeremy or my feelings for him. I didn’t tell Tangi what had happened because I had enough to deal with. For one thing, it took two days until Whitney and I were happy with the statement Jeremy was going to make. We then sent it off to Clay and Taylor to approve. Once that was done, Whitney and I changed directions and focused on Mark. She asked her contacts in marketing about Mark while I set up a meeting with John. He was reluctant at first, but agreed to meet me that weekend.
Saturday morning, I traveled across town in an Uber since I still refused to get a car. John picked a coffee shop near his house, and I couldn’t blame him for that. I recognized him from an old picture I’d seen at work, and took a seat at his table. He was hunched over in his chair, and while I guessed he was maybe in his late forties, he looked much older, with deep lines around his mouth and salt-and-pepper hair. His hands were wrapped around his coffee as he stared out the large picture window.
“John?”
He looked up at me. “You must be Jill.”
“I am. Thanks for meeting me. I’m going to grab a coffee. Can I get you anything else?”
“No. I’m fine.”
I ordered a coffee and watched him casually. The man looked sad, his shoulders sagging, and a frown on his face. I grabbed my coffee from the barista and took the seat across from him.
“I know you’re probably wondering why I wanted to meet you.”
“One guess. Mark?”
I was taken aback. “How did you know?”
“He has a history of making people miserable. I guess he’s moved on to you?”
“Pretty much. Tell me, why did you leave?”
He huffed and shook his head. “I couldn’t take it anymore. He was on me all the time. He wanted me to do what he wanted, even if it wasn’t good for the team. And I had no choice.”
“Why is that?”
He hung his head and sighed. “How do I know you won’t get me in trouble?”
“Because I think we can help each other, and we probably both want to bring Mark down.”
He looked out the window again, and when he set his gaze on me, I knew he was ready to talk. “I did some really dumb things. To make a long story short, we were having some money troubles. My oldest daughter was getting married, my other daughter was starting university, and bills were mounting. So instead of comping the tickets and merchandise we were getting, I was selling a lot of it. I shouldn’t have done it, and it was a huge mistake, but we needed the extra cash. Mark found out and said he’d report me unless I agreed to what he needed and wanted. I had no choice because I needed the job. I should have stood up to him, but we were strapped, and I couldn’t let my family down. After a while I couldn’t take it anymore, so I got another job and took a huge financial hit, but I had to. He was ruining my life. Once he gets ahold of you, he never lets go.”
John had made some bad choices, that was for sure. “You didn’t go to HR?”
“No. I couldn’t risk it. What if I had to pay all the money back? I couldn’t afford to do it.”
I could see his dilemma, but I was pretty sure I could get Clay to forgive him. Or, at least that was my hope.
“Would you consider coming forward now?”
“No. I know Clay well enough that he’d be furious with me for the deception. Like I told you, I took a pay cut for this new job. I don’t have the money to pay the team back.”
I tapped my finger against my takeout coffee cup. “I have a proposition. If I was able to convince Clay to forgive you, would you agree to make a complaint against Mark? You wouldn’t be the only one. I would make a complaint against him too. And I believe there are others within his department. John, I know you want to do the right thing. I bet you don’t want Mark terrorizing anyone else.”
He looked down at his cup. “What makes you think Clay will forgive me?”
“Deep down, I think Clay would rather have a happy team where he is at the top of the food chain and not some jerk like Mark.”
He closed his eyes tightly and groaned. “I can’t have this blow up in my face. I can’t get into trouble. I need the job I have.”
“What if I spoke to Clay first? I won’t mention your name, and if he is receptive and promises to forgive you, you will make that complaint?”
“Sure, why not? Then Mark won’t have anything to hold over me.”
“Thank you, John. I’ll be in touch.”
Clay was due back to Vancouver the same day the Kodiaks got back from their latest road trip, which happened to be one week from Jeremy’s mea culpa. In the meantime, Whitney and I looked over candidates for the Ravens job, and had narrowed it down to four. Clay wanted to be in on the interviews, so we scheduled them accordingly. We’d been working like dogs and delegating as much as we could, and when it came to doing the interviews for the Ravens PR job, I couldn’t wait to get it over with. Before we met with Clay and the first interviewee, I asked Whitney about John.
“Taking Mark out of the equation, do you think John would have been a good head of PR?”
She shrugged. “Maybe? I’ve only been here a few years. Zane would know better. I think he started off well, and then Mark got ahold of him.”
I thought about that as we spent the whole day doing interviews. No candidate stood out, but any one of them would have been suitable, not that I thought that Clay would settle for that. I asked Clay if I could talk to him as Whitney escorted the last candidate out. While it had been a long day, he spared the time.
“You look exhausted, Ms. Bowman. I think you’ve had a long day?”
“I’ve had a long month, but that’s not what is bothering me. I’d like to talk about Mark Giardello, the current head of marketing for the Kodiaks.”
“Right, Mark.”
I could tell he had no idea who Mark was. That could be good. If he didn’t see him as an asset, then getting rid of him should be easy. “I had a conversation with him a few weeks ago that was unsettling. He seems to think my relationship with Jeremy isn’t sincere. I’m not sure anyone told him, so I think it’s a guess.”
“Does he plan to advertise this?”
As I’d assumed, Clay was already figuring out where this was going. It was what made him the businessman he was.
“Possibly, but there is more. I don’t know a delicate way to say this, so I’ll be to-the-point. He thinks we are having an affair, and I have no doubt he’s going to use that information in an attempt to get favors from me.”
Clay’s face soured as if he’d eaten bad fish. “You’re not serious.”
“About what part?”
“All of it!”
“I have no doubt he will use the information to blackmail me. Possibly you too. I’m not sure. But there is even more. He has a history of doing this. He did it to the last head of PR, John Bartlet. I also know for a fact that he’s terrorizing his own department. He seems to think he’s at the top of the pecking order around here.”
Clay tapped a finger on the boardroom table. “Why am I just finding out about this?”
“In my defense, this just happened a few weeks ago, and I was gathering information to bring to you. I didn’t want to come to you with only my complaint. As for the others, I think they were too scared. And John, well, he wanted to move on, but he still fears Mark. It seems John may have done some foolish things while he worked with the Kodiaks.” I explained it to Clay who didn’t like it, but didn’t seem overly concerned about what John did either.
“Mark is not going to run the show around here. I’m letting him go.”
Now I was in a bit of a panic. People like Mark sought retribution. “While I think that’s a great idea, I’m fairly certain Mark is going to lash out.”
Clay set his gaze on me and smirked. “He will do no such thing. He signed a confidentiality agreement, and if he thinks he’s going to sully the reputation of anyone around here, I’ll sue him into the next century. Bullies like him rarely have teeth or the money to take on me.”
I, however, was not as confident as he was about Mark. “You’re sure?”
“I’ll make sure he understands. In fact, I’m going to talk to him myself. I have a way of persuading people out of doing foolish things.”
“One more thing,” I said as Clay was about to get up. “We had no standout candidates today, and after talking to all my staff, I think John would be a possibility. I’m not even sure he wants or needs the job, but he knows how the teams work, and he can jump right in.”
“Wouldn’t he see that as a demotion?”
“Possibly, but I think he liked it here before Mark made his life hell.”
“See if he’s interested. I’m on board with taking him back.”
Clay got up, and I thanked him for his time. I headed back to my office to make some notes on the candidates and to call John. He was surprised to hear from me, and when I proposed the job with the Ravens, he didn’t hesitate. It paid less than the job he’d had here, but it paid more than what he was making now.
“And I talked to Clay about your situation. He wasn’t happy about what you did, but he ultimately won’t hold it against you.”
“Crap,” John said. “All that time, I was letting Mark destroy my mental health for nothing.”
“I’m afraid so, but there is a bright side. Mark is going to be fired.”
“I suppose I can celebrate that.”
We were all going to celebrate that.
Whitney stood at my door looking anxious. Clearly, she had something she needed to tell me urgently. Great, what fire did we need to put out now?
“HR will be in touch with you soon about the job, and we can talk more then. Have a great day, John.”
I hung up the phone, and Whitney ran into my office nearly vibrating. “You have to come right away! Clay fired Mark. Security is about to escort him out.”
I thought about going, but shook my head. “Nah, you go watch the celebration. I don’t need to see that asshole ever again.”
“Are you sure? Think of the satisfaction.”
I smiled. “You can tell me all about it.”
Whitney ran out, and I packed up my stuff. Chloe had been sleeping in her bed and jumped up when she saw my messenger bag. She knew it was time to go home. I almost skipped home and planned to call Tangi about it later. Part of me wanted to call Jeremy too, but I was still too angry. My heart hurt, and I missed him, but not enough to call him.
We got home, and I fed Chloe. I had some leftovers and ate them for dinner. In celebration, I poured myself a glass of wine. I was going through my emails and saw the dreaded monthly email from the bank. I’d been whittling down my student loans, but I was still drowning in debt.
I clicked open the email and nearly choked on my wine. The email was to congratulate me on paying off the loan and some other crap about interest rates and qualifying for a line of credit. But I was seeing red. Only one person could have done this, and I wasn’t impressed.