Worst Week Ever (A Long Road to Love) Read Online Free PDF Page B

systems?”
    “Thirty.”
    “How many do
you think we need to fire?”
    “Twenty-nine.”
    His eyes
narrowed. “Let me guess. You want to keep your buddy Jack.”
    She shrugged
as if the idea of firing Jack didn’t outrage her. “He’s the only one who works.
The rest of the staff doesn’t even bother to come in. According to Bob, he’s
saving money by letting them work from home.”
    Carrie didn’t
want Trent to conclude working from home was the problem. Once they had quality
systems people, some of them might be able to work at home. God knows they
wouldn’t all fit in the server room where Jack resided.
    “I know systems
people can work off-site. However, they should still answer their phone
and emails, and do tangible work.” She sighed in frustration. “I once asked
Jack what they do, because I’ve never seen anything. He just rolled his eyes and
cited the exact words written in each of their job descriptions.”
    A faint smile
tugged at Trent’s lips. Why the smile? He should be outraged.
    His smile
widened. “When did you last take a vacation?”
    His change of
topic took her by surprise and worried her. She hoped he hadn’t lost interest
in replacing most of the systems department. When issues became complex, Trent
would sometimes opt to leave matters status quo. He continued to smile at her,
evidently waiting for a response. What’d he asked her? Oh, her last vacation.
    “I haven’t
gotten to that yet.”
    “You’ve been
here two years. Surely you’ve taken a day off?”
    When did he
think this vacation happened? She’d been attached to his side, working ten
hours a day since he hired her! “Not unless you consider today a vacation.”
    “I don’t,
since all we’ve discussed is my god-awful employees.” He slammed back against
the seat and glared up at the limo’s sunroof. Finally, he turned and looked at
her. “Be honest. Is it me, or do I have the worst employees in the world?”
    As far as she
could see, Trent and his employees shared the blame, but in his current
heightened state of aggravation, she needed to soften her reply. “They’re a
challenge. That’s why we need a professional to help sort it out.”
    “HR. Never saw
the point.”
    “Which is
probably why you have the worst employees in the world,” she muttered.
    “Ha! I knew I
was right!” He smiled at her. “Except for you. You single-handedly pulled this
company from bankruptcy.”
    He’d never
credited her with saving his business before. Her heart swelled with pride. “ We pulled it from bankruptcy.”
    With a heavy
sigh, he added, “I tried my hardest to keep things running, but until you came
on board, nothing worked.”
    “You wasted
too much of your energy yelling at people. Going forward we’ll need a softer
style.”
    His forehead
wrinkled like a shar-pei. “That sounds counter-productive.”
    His response
made her want to scream. Why did he cling to his father’s management style,
even when he’d just admitted it didn’t work? Two steps forward, one step
back. Taking a deep breath, she tried a new approach. “Did you take any
management classes in college that discussed team building?’
    “My father
taught me everything I needed to know. He declared team-building bullshit.
Every man should be out for himself and let the strongest survive.”
    She’d always
suspected Trent’s father had led him down this path of poor management. “Which
is why we struggle to get anything done. Running a business is a team effort. We
need to start rewarding people for working together, not screwing up everyone
else’s performance.”
    Contentment
crossed his face. She couldn’t imagine why, given the topic. Discussions of his
father and change normally annoyed him. He’d probably stopped listening and
moved on to new thought. Normally, she’d give up, but not today. He’d insisted
on coming along so he could discuss these matters. By God, he’d stay on topic.
    “Why are you
smiling?”
    His