Read Online Executive Affair by Ber Carroll - Free Book Online Page A

eyes from his screen, his tone blatantly patronising.
    â€˜That’s odd. On the organisation chart that Harry gave me,you report to the finance manager, not the finance director,’ she said, giving him a cold stare.
    â€˜That’s just on paper … it doesn’t reflect the way things really work,’ he answered, his voice loaded with hostility.
    â€˜Well then, I’ll clarify the situation with Harry, just in case there has been a misunderstanding.’
    She felt several pairs of curious eyes watch her as she walked away. She resisted the temptation to go straight to Harry. She wanted Alan and the others to think she had more important things to attend to.
    She finally caught up with Harry after lunch.
    â€˜Of course he reports to you. He reported to your predecessor as well. He never seemed to have a problem with that. Maybe he doesn’t like having a female boss,’ he said with a small smile.
    â€˜That must be it,’ she smiled back.
    â€˜Do you want me to intervene?’
    â€˜No, thanks. I’ll have to get used to dealing with him.’
    â€˜All of the senior managers are back on board,’ he said, changing the subject. ‘I want you to come round and meet them before you go home today.’
    â€˜Okay,’ she nodded.
    Alan was going somewhere when she got to his desk. She stood firmly in the way of his exit, raising her voice so the others could hear.
    â€˜I’ve talked to Harry and he has confirmed that you do indeed report to me. So, let’s have the review first thing on Friday. That should give you enough time to get some information together. I want to see a list of the top twenty accounts over ninety days, details of what the issues are and who has been assigned to fix them.’ Without giving him time to reply, she swung around and returned to her office. Her hands were trembling. It was onlyher second week, very early to have a confrontation with one of her staff.
    There was a man she didn’t recognise waiting outside her office.
    â€˜Claire?’
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜Hello, I’m David Di Gregario, human resources manager.’
    David looked to be in his early forties. His brown hair was cut in a short back and sides, and he had an open, friendly face.
    â€˜Hello.’ She offered him her hand.
    â€˜I missed you when you started last week. I was in Asia with some of the other managers. How was your first week?’
    â€˜It’s been my second one that’s proving the problem,’ she said with a wry smile.
    â€˜I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation with Alan,’ he said, giving her a supportive smile in return. ‘I think you handled the situation well.’
    â€˜Thank you. I’ll regard it as a learning experience.’
    He took a seat in her office. ‘Harry said I should see you about these headcount reports. The staff numbers don’t look right to me.’ He frowned as he looked at the reports in his hand.
    â€˜Okay. I’ll have a chat with Stacey to see how she extracted them. We should be able to sort out what’s wrong pretty quick.’
    â€˜Great,’ he said, handing her a printed document. ‘Now, I also wanted to give you this to sign. It’s a confidentiality declaration. It’s a standard document that all new employees sign.’
    â€˜I had to sign one of these a few years ago when I started in Dublin. You know, Finance and Sales were regarded as the two groups that had access to the most confidential, and potentially dangerous, information.’
    â€˜We’re considering the possibility of asking staff to sign fresh declarations on an annual basis to remind them of the importance of confidentiality,’ David said as she scribbled her signature on the page.
    He left after a few more minutes of idle chat.
    The rest of the afternoon went by quickly enough and Claire locked up her office before going over to Harry’s.
    â€˜Time