I had no idea why he barged into my office to share this with me, seeing as I already knew it. I also didn’t much like the “before you started” part, like the problem was me, not my rep. Further, I had a huge team who, besides the Chicago guy, was not only making their numbers, but exceeding them and the numbers they’d made prior to me being employed there. So his insinuation was not only not nice, it was ridiculous.

Further, he was research and development. I was sales. Why he was walking into my office to have a word with me about my Chicago rep was beyond me. It wasn’t like it was none of his business. It was like I had a boss that was on his level, so if he had concerns, he should take them to my boss, not waltz into my office, scowl me off the phone, and give me information I already had.

My only choice of reply was, “I’m aware of that.”

“You’ve been here for quite some time now, Francesca, and he’s been with us for some months, and his numbers are not improving,” he noted.

God.

What a dick.

“That hasn’t escaped my attention,” I shared.

“Is he going to be able to support Tenrix?” Randy asked immediately.

I felt a chill glide up my spine at the mention of Tenrix.

“Of course,” I answered.

“He’s not supporting our current product catalog so it stands to reason he won’t do much better with Tenrix, and Wyler has a lot riding on that product doing well.”

More information I knew.

“I’m also aware of that, Randy,” I returned.

“I prefer those under me to call me Mr. Bierman,” he shot back instantly.

I blinked, then stared, mostly because I’d been working with him for ages, and although I had the occasion to address him directly only a handful of times, I’d always called him Randy and he’d never breathed a word.

But more than that, that was totally an outrageous thing to say.

“And I prefer that my team refer to their colleagues by their given names.” My boss, Lloyd Gaster, was suddenly there and my eyes flew out my wall of windows to Tandy.

She was sitting at her desk, looking over her shoulder into my office, giving me wide eyes and a stretched out “eek” mouth, so I knew she’d heard Randy being a dick and went to Lloyd to tell on him for me.

Totally liked Tandy.

Randy turned to Lloyd. “Did I invite you to this meeting?”

“We’re having a meeting?” I asked fake innocently, giving my attention back to the men in my office, and Randy turned his glower back to me.

“I should hope not,” Lloyd put in. “A director having a meeting about sales and the performance of a member of my team with another member of my team without my knowledge wouldn’t make me very happy.”

I tried not to smile a gloating smile as Randy turned his bad mood back to Lloyd.

“It probably wouldn’t make Travis very happy either,” Lloyd continued before Randy could say anything. “He tends to like it when we follow the chain of responsibility. I do believe he’s also pretty keen on not shoving the hierarchy down anyone’s throats, say, by making them address you formally.”

“She has an underperforming rep,” Randy clipped out.

“Frankie and I are both very aware of what’s happening in Chicago. We’re keeping our eye on it. Taking measures. Hoping for improvement. But if there isn’t any, we’ll be quite capable of making difficult decisions and carrying them out.”

“That’s good to hear,” Randy returned curtly.

“I’m glad you’re pleased,” Lloyd murmured, then his focus on Randy intensified and he stated in a much louder voice, “In the future, if you have concerns about what’s happening in my department, I’ll ask you to bring them to me, as, should I have concerns about how you and your team are performing, I’d bring them to you.”

Randy didn’t reply to that. He just gave Lloyd a dark look, turned it on me, and prowled out.

When he was gone, Lloyd walked to my desk and said quietly, “Sorry, Frankie. That guy’s an ass.”

I pressed my lips together in order not to agree verbally. I managed that (barely), but I couldn’t stop myself from nodding.

“He gives you any more trouble, let me know. Okay?”

“Okay, Lloyd,” I agreed.

He smiled at me, then moved out the door, and Tandy, totally being the shit, waited the exact right amount of time before she wandered into my office with a file I didn’t need.

“Oh my God,” she hissed before putting the file I didn’t need on my desk and sitting across from me. “Randy Bierman is such a dick.”

It probably wasn’t good to talk that way in an office setting, but since she was entirely correct, and our head honcho had just called him an ass, I said not one word to refute her.

“What’s up his butt today?” she asked.

“What was up it yesterday?” I asked back.

“Well, yesterday, Miranda requested to be transferred to someone else.”

I stared at her.

Miranda was Randy Bierman’s assistant.

“She said she didn’t even care if it was a demotion or she had to work on another floor or something,” Tandy went on. “She’s d…o…n…e, done.”

“That’s news,” I noted, though I didn’t note it was news she should have shared with me yesterday.

It probably also wasn’t a good thing to encourage office gossip, but since I was always on the receiving end, not the giving end, I encouraged away. But I liked my gossip fresh, not day-old stale.

“She went to Mr. Berger to make the request.”

This time, I blinked, hard, and asked, “Seriously?”

“Yeah, she went in, had a chat with him, and he came out looking big-time angry. He had a chat with Mr. Bierman, then Mr. Bierman took off and didn’t come back. Miranda was at her desk after that, but she hasn’t been there today. Jennie says she’s moving to production. One of the scientists’ assistants is going on maternity leave and Miranda is going to take over for her while she’s gone until they can find her a new place to be. That new place to be, according to Jennie who got it from Miranda, is guaranteed.”

My eyes drifted to the glass wall as I murmured, “That’s very weird.”

“Yeah, you want a transfer, you don’t talk to the VP. You go to HR,” Tandy agreed.

You absolutely did.

But more, if you didn’t like your boss and a transfer was not to be had, other things were done. Like getting to the bottom of the issue and fixing it, or trying to. Or, say, telling the employee you’re sorry they can’t get along with someone and telling them to move on.