Читать книгу Leesa's Story: Book Three of the Lane Trilogy - Vicki Inc. Andree - Страница 7

Lyza entered the L. L. Lane Unlimited building. It feels weird coming back here, as though I’ve been gone a hundred years instead of just one. She stepped off the crowded elevator and approached the receptionist’s desk. “Good morning, Faith.”

Faith smiled cheerfully. “Good morning, Miss Lane.”

Lyza stopped in front of the desk. “Please, call me Lyza. Is Bill in?”

Faith searched the computer screen in front of her. “He’s here. Would you like me to page him?”

Lyza took a seat in the waiting area. “Just call and tell him I’m in the lobby.”

Bill appeared in the lobby within seconds. He reached out and enveloped Lyza in a hug. “Lyza, so good to see you. I’m so sorry about your father. I know you’re going to miss him.”

Lyza quickly hugged him and stepped back. “I miss him already. I’m still in shock at what he did. Did Aaron Stern contact you regarding the situation?”

Bill smiled. “He did, and I want you to know that I’m ecstatic that you’re back. Your father’s old office is available.”

She followed him to her father’s oversized office. One end offered a view of the Los Angeles skyline, with a large desk in front of the window. In the middle of the room sat a round table, with six matching cherrywood chairs circling it. A sofa, loveseat with matching chairs, and recliner with a large coffee table in the center completed the other side of the room. On the wall behind the love seat, a three-by-four-foot portrait displayed Lawrence’s commanding pose as founder of the conglomerate.

Lyza stood under the portrait, back to the wall, and surveyed the spacious office. She turned and looked up at the portrait. “The portrait will go in the main lobby. The artist did a wonderful job. It looks like Father on a good day.”

Bill studied the portrait. “It will be moved today.” He turned to Lyza. “Do you want me to call the interior designer to redecorate?”

Lyza surveyed the room again. “It’s fine. I have to deal with bigger fires. Rumors say the business is losing money left and right. Is that true?”

Bill took in a deep breath. “It’s not as bad as rumored. It’s not throughout the entire business structure. Some areas need patching. And yes, those areas are hemorrhaging money.”

Lyza slowly took the chair her father used to occupy behind the enormous desk. “How can we stop it? You were Father’s right-hand man. I need your advice. Who do we need to talk to?”

Bill stood across from her and arched his fingertips on the edge of the desk. “We can call a meeting of the board of directors of each troubled division. Some of the world’s leading financial advisors knew your father. I’m sure they would be glad to consult until we can get a grip on the situation.”

She turned on the computer in front of her. “That’s what I want to do, then. Contact them. Set up a meeting. But before you do that, have a seat. I want to know what happened. Don’t sugarcoat it. This is Leesa’s doing, isn’t it?”

Bill took a seat in a leather chair. “I think she tried too hard. She felt abandoned when your father kicked you out. Then she got a taste of power and went a little crazy. You father took ill, and suddenly she couldn’t wait to take over. She wasn’t ready, but no one could tell her anything. She was going to take over and have everything her way.”

Lyza looked him directly in the eyes. “What do we need to do to get the company back to what it was before Leesa took over?”

Bill leaned back and folded his arms across his chest. “You could let the employees know you’re back, give them a reason to stop looking for jobs. We’ve had a fifteen percent loss of employees since Leesa took over. What can we do to change that?”

Lyza hesitated. “Instead of telling them of yet another change, let’s tell them I’m working to restore the business to what it used to be. We need them, and I don’t want to beg them to hang in there to find out if I’m sincere. I’d like to announce an increase in salary as a goodwill gesture.”

Bill’s jaw dropped open. “What? A salary increase in this economy? I don’t how that will go over with the directors.”

Lyza held up her hand. “I don’t want to usurp the directors, but let’s look at how much a five percent increase will affect the business.”

Bill’s eyes widened. “Five percent across the board?” He backed toward the door. “I’ll go crunch the numbers. You’ll probably want to talk to legal.”

Lyza pushed away from the desk. “I’ll go to their offices. I presume they’re still upstairs?”

***

The head of the legal department, Morris Banks, waited in front of the elevator, and as the doors opened, he stepped back to allow Lyza to enter first. “Hello. I heard you were coming today.”

She faced him. “You’re just the person I’m looking for. You’re still head of legal, aren’t you?”

He shrugged with an ‘I could care less’ attitude. “So far. How can I help you?”

They exited at legal. He opened the department’s glass doors. “Do you want to sit here in the lobby or come to my office?”

She headed for his office. “We need privacy.”

She found out I’ve been looking for another job. I don’t know which one of these spoiled brats is worse. I’m ready to go. Just fire me and let me pack up my things.

He motioned for her to take the chair across from him as he sat at his desk. She sat across from him quietly. After a moment, she spoke. “I’m not sure how to say this, Morris.”

Here it comes. Just spit it out, lady. I have places to go and people to interview with. Morris forced himself to keep the apprehension out of his voice. “Please be direct so we can get on with what needs to be done.”

Lyza rubbed her hands together. “All right, then. Morris, you’ve been around here for a long time, and you’ve done a great job.”

Is it necessary to pad the impact? Just do it.

Lyza continued, “I appreciate all you’ve done. We’re going to make some changes here.”

Morris pushed his chair back. “I understand. I can be out of here today.”

Her eyebrows rose. “What did you say?”

Morris stood. “You’re letting me go, right?”

She leaned back and crossed her legs. “No, I don’t want you to leave.”

His neck felt warm. “Oh, I thought this was an exit interview.”

Lyza smiled warmly. “Not even close, Morris. I’m giving you a raise.”

“A raise?” He felt the tension leave his shoulders.

Lyza nodded toward the chair for him to sit back down. “All the change and upheaval the last few months has been stressful, I’m sure. You’ve been under a lot of pressure. I want to assure you that I have no intention of firing anybody. However, there is work to do. I want to change the way we do business at Lane. Until now we’ve gotten a reputation for cutthroat business practices that include just about anything to increase the numbers on the bottom line. I want to change our reputation.”

Morris processed the information. I’m not getting fired. I’m getting a raise? He took a deep breath and tried to take in Lyza’s proposal for changing the conglomerate’s image.

Lyza explained, “This is a family business. The business now belongs to my son. For that reason, it’s important that he receives a healthy, productive business with a sparkling reputation for honesty and compassion when he takes over.”

Morris, still trying to get his head around all the new information, measured his answer. “Business isn’t run on honesty and compassion. I’m not sure it can be done and still make money.”

Lyza put her hands on her hips. “I think we can pull it off, Morris. Give it a day or two to sink in. I want to give a five percent raise to those who have stayed with us through these difficult days. Also, anyone who has left the company and returns within the next sixty days will also be eligible for the same raise from the salary they left. However, seniority will not be extended, because people who stayed should move up the rung for their loyalty.”

He cleared his throat. “That seems right.”

She stood. “I want to give you a heads-up. I’ve called a meeting of directors, and I want you and whomever else you think should be there from your staff. We can talk anytime before the meeting if you feel it’s necessary.” She moved toward the door. “Thanks for meeting with me, Morris.”

He stood, still in shock. “Yes, ma’am—Lyza.”

“Lyza. Please, Morris. Just Lyza.”

***

For her first community service assignment, Leesa met the work crew at the parking lot of the Los Angeles County Courthouse. Joe, the supervisor, handed out orange plastic bags. “Every time you fill a bag, bring it to me, and I’ll give you another one. We start in this parking lot. After it’s clean, we’ll go out on I-10 for the rest of the day.

“Here, put these on.” Joe handed out orange safety vests.

Leesa looked around at the seven other women donning vests: four black, three Caucasian, and one Hispanic. Two wore ankle bracelets. Leesa remembered what Aaron said about her attitude and kept her mouth shut, making sure to follow instructions. She pulled on her rubber gloves and took the long stick with sharp end for trash pickup.

She headed for a pile of debris in the corner of the lot. A car drove by and honked. She jumped.

The muscular black woman, covered in tattoos and wearing an orange vest matching the streak in her hair, waved them off with her middle finger. “They act like they never done nothing wrong.” Then she laughed. “Or got caught. I’m Kayla.”

Leesa said nothing, stabbing a discarded paper cup and depositing it in her bright orange plastic bag. Her goal was to fill as many bags as possible. Aaron said to make a good impression. She bent over and gathered a bunch of newspapers, which filled her bag.

After less than fifteen minutes of such work, sweat poured from her forehead into her eyes. The warm California sun beat down on the crew. Leesa turned in her third filled bag.

Joe called the group to the van. “All right. This looks good. Let’s get on over to I-10 and get some roadside cleanup done. Everyone in, ankle bracelets in front.”

Leesa climbed into one of the back seats. The air conditioning kicked in after a few minutes, and she felt welcome relief from the heat of the day. She already smelled her own sweat and felt filthy.

Twenty minutes later, the van stopped on one side of the highway. Joe ordered everyone out, and the women scattered to pick up trash. Joe drove along the side, keeping pace with them. Leesa left her full trash bags along the road for later pickup, grabbing new ones off the back of the van when it stopped every now and then.

The van stopped once again. “Over here! Everyone take a break and get some water.” Joe nodded toward the large plastic container with white spout at the bottom at the back door of the van. “Here’s a paper cup. When you’re finished, put it in the recycle bag.” He picked up a blue bag to show them. “You got ten minutes to rest. Let’s get this done.”

Boy, am I going to be sore in the morning. Leesa kept working silently while Kayla, working beside her, kept talking all morning about why she shouldn’t be there and who was going to pay if she chipped one of her nails.

Near the end of the morning, Kayla turned on Leesa. “What’s wrong with you, girl? You think you better than the rest of us?”

Kayla stabbed the same piece of trash as Leesa. “You can’t talk, or you just a jerk?”

Leesa looked her in the eye. “I can’t afford to get into any more trouble. Please don’t make it any harder than it already is.”

Kayla threw her head back and laughed. “I’m trying to make it easier, girl.”

Leesa frowned. “How do you figure?”

Kayla smirked. “You just wait. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

I hope not.

Joe motioned for all the women to get in the van. Back at the Los Angeles County Courthouse parking lot, he let them out to go home. Leesa waited until everyone left, walked to the corner, and called for the limo waiting nearby.

The limo pulled up, and she got in, thankful for the air conditioning going full blast. She couldn’t wait to get home and get clean. She lay back in the seat, exhausted and dreading the next day, when her orders were to meet the crew again early in the morning. She couldn’t wait to see what Cook had waiting for dinner.

Leesa dragged herself into the house, tired and dirty. She headed toward the stairs to shower.

Cook poked her head around from the kitchen. “Leesa, what would you like for dinner?”

Leesa’s stomach growled. She was hungry. “Pizza!”

***

Cook answered cheerfully, “Pizza it is, then. You get cleaned up, and it’ll be ready.”

She started pulling ingredients from the pantry and refrigerator. She could throw a pizza together in no time.

Poor thing. I don’t understand how she got so much community service for a traffic ticket. I still can’t believe Lawrence left everything to his grandson. At least Leesa has this estate and her bank account and investments. Lyza wants her to come back to work, but I don’t know if that will ever happen.

Leesa entered the kitchen as Cook took hot pizza from the oven.

She set it on the counter. “Here you go.”

Leesa grabbed a cold Diet Pepsi out of the refrigerator. “Oh, this is perfect.”

Cook’s heart went out her. “How did it go today?”

Leesa sat at the kitchen bar. “I don’t want to think about it. Two hundred hours of community service—that is forever!”

Cook served Leesa a slice of pizza. “But didn’t you say that after this week you might get a better community service assignment?”

Leesa took a long swig of Pepsi. “That’s what Aaron Stern said. I hope I can keep up the good work and not get in trouble. One of the girls wants to chit-chat. If I don’t talk to her, she thinks I’m a snob. You should see her, Cook. She’s scary, and I don’t want her for an enemy. But if I do talk to her, I might never get off trash duty.”

Cook sat on the stool across from her. “Is there any way you can work with someone else?”

Leesa lifted the hot pizza to her mouth. “I don’t know. I have to wait and see what happens tomorrow. I am so tired. I’m going to bed as soon as I’m done here.” She blew on the tip of the steaming pizza and took a bite.

Cook smiled. “Before you go, Lyza called.”

Leesa spoke with her mouth full. “Oh, great. What did she want? Because if she called to rub it in, forget it.”

Cook handed her a napkin. “No, she said she wanted to talk to you about taking back the Kramer’s Island project.”

Leesa froze. “Kramer’s Island? My Kramer’s Island? My dream project? She wants me to take my own project? How dare she! She took everything, and now it’s just like her to rub it in. I hate her. Oh, I’m too tired to get mad.” She pushed the half-eaten pizza away. “I’m going to bed.”