Insanity, #1

by Andre Gonzalez

  “A’ight, if you say so.” Sylvia sat back in her chair as the projection screen at the front of the room flickered to life.

  “Is this on? Can you hear me, Denver?” a short man asked on the large screen. He paced in quick circles as he held the microphone to his mouth. His comb-over attempted to cover a receding hairline. “Denver, you are joining us here in Seattle with the rest of the Open Hands team, all five hundred of us.

  “My name is Lloyd Russell and I’m the CEO of Open Hands. Today has been an eventful day for all of us, and I wanted to be sure to touch base with you all on what the future holds. First off, welcome to the Open Hands family!”

  Applause erupted through the speakers from Seattle, with only scattered clapping in the Denver office.

  “I like to be as transparent as possible about the direction of our company, so I’d like to share my vision with you. “I want everyone to rest assured that your job is not in danger. We have no plans to cut positions. We need you. We didn’t agree to this buyout to make you go away. This is an investment. My vision is for us to move forward as one, and become the biggest resource for those in need around the world.”

  Applause ruptured in Seattle, and a few more joined in from Denver.

  “The plan for the next three months is to learn as much about each other as possible. That way, once everything is approved, we’ll be ready to jump in together and get the ball rolling.

  “So I ask of you all, let’s put the swords down. We no longer have to slander each other. We can now talk each other up, get customers excited, and let them know big things are coming!

  “Thank you for your time today. I will be sending out a follow-up email, please feel free to ask me any questions through a direct response. Otherwise, we will plan more meetings over the upcoming weeks, to share the progress we’re making.”

  Lloyd thanked everyone a final time before saying good-bye. The screen flicked off, and the unofficial head of the Denver office—the vice president of sales, Greg Landers—stepped to the front of the room. He grinned with pearly teeth. The ladies around the office often commented on how handsome he was, despite his approaching his sixties. He still had a full head of silver hair, no obvious wrinkles on his face, and high cheekbones.

  Greg raised his hands to silence the chatter across the room.

  “Thank you all for taking time out of your afternoon,” he said, projecting his voice. “We have big things ahead. I ask you to take Lloyd’s words to heart. He really is an outstanding leader and we can all learn a lot under his guidance. That being said, let’s get back to work and keep doing what we do, kicking ass and taking names!”

  This time the whole Denver office cheered, and everyone stood up to work their way out of the room and back to their desks.

  *****

  A week later, a cloud of uncertainty still hung over the company.

  Jeremy didn’t have much time to worry about it. As the customer service department’s unofficial trainer, he’d been called on to help with some major training over the summer. The merger meant a change in software used across the company that needed to be taught to the entire E-nonymous staff. Fortunately, Nicole had excused him from all of his regular duties.

  Jeremy had received special access to use a beta version of new software to try out. For the first time in six years, he didn’t have to fight his way through phone calls to hit metrics. He simply had a checklist of tasks to get done, and he worked through the list with confidence.

  He felt natural in the classroom, priding himself in making the training both fun and educational. Shelly sat in on a session each day, enjoying herself in the review games with the rest of the team.

  The week of training flew by and when it ended on Friday afternoon, Jeremy felt both relieved and accomplished. Nicole pulled him into a conference room at the end of the day to check in with him.

  “How do you feel it went?” she asked.

  “Good. It was a draining week, but a lot of fun.”

  “Good. Sounds like the team enjoyed your training, so good job.”

  Jeremy noticed Nicole seemed a bit distant. “Everything okay?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” she said, sounding unenthused. “I need to tell you something. Shelly is posting the trainer job to the public next week.” She paused and looked down at her twiddling thumbs.

  “Oh…okay. I get to apply for it, right?”

  “Yes, but that’s not the point. It’s so fucking stupid.” Her voice raised. “You’re already doing the job, and doing damn good too. I tried to talk her into letting you have it. You’ve earned it.” She paused. “But now you have to interview and go through all that bullshit just to get the job you’re already doing. Complete waste of time.”

  “It’s fine, Nicki,” he said. “It’s my job to lose. I’m sure Shelly just wants to go through the process to make it official.”

  “I know,” Nicole said, rolling her eyes. “In better news—where should we go for drinks after work?”

  *****

  On Monday morning, there was an email from Shelly announcing to the entire Denver office the open trainer position. She encouraged anyone interested to apply, said they planned to fill the position quickly, and provided the link to apply online.

  Jeremy had managed to keep negative thoughts from his mind over the weekend about having to apply for his job. The sight of Shelly’s email, however, started a small fire within.

  This is bullshit. What if some hotshot trainer decides they want to come join a growing company like ours?

  He begrudgingly filled out the application on his computer, typing hard on the keyboard and clicking his mouse with authority.

  Attach my résumé? Sure, why not? In case you’ve forgotten what I’ve been doing around here the last three years.

  He clicked submit. Shelly stood at her desk across the office, and Jeremy glared in her direction. The sight of her made him feel anxious now.

  An hour later he received an email from the recruiting team to schedule the initial interview with the customer service managers, followed by a final round interview during which he’d lead a training for the managers on a subject of his choosing.

  I’ve worked closely with all the managers and they love me. This should be a cake walk.

  22

  Chapter 22

  July 2015

  The day of the interview, Jeremy had more nerves than he expected. A voice inside him kept whispering, Don’t fuck this up.

  His hands were shaking as he drove into work that morning. He wore a brand-new suit purchased for his upcoming interviews. The collar made him feel like he was choking.

  “Looking sharp today,” Sylvia greeted him.

  “Thanks. Hope it’s not all for nothing.”

  “Why you worried, Jer?” she asked. “It’s your job. This is just a formality.”

  “Right. Thanks.” Why does everyone think this is in the bag but me? If it was a sure thing, there wouldn’t be an interview.

  When he got to his desk, Nicole looked him up and down and cracked a wide grin. “Big interview today?” she teased. Her attitude had relaxed from her bitterness on Friday.

  “Very funny.”

  “Good luck, I’ll see you in there later.”

  Jeremy spent the next ninety minutes reading news articles on the internet while his leg bounced nervously. He kept his desk in its standing position, knowing he wouldn’t be able to sit still for more than two seconds.

  “You ready, Jeremy?” Shelly asked, tapping him on the shoulder from behind.

  “Let’s do it.” Jeremy had so much adrenaline pumping through him, he thought it might burst out of his fingertips. He turned and followed Shelly toward the conference room next to her desk.

  Once they stepped in and she closed the door behind him, the nerves vanished like they were never there.

  “Please have a seat.” They sat down across the table from each other. “Thank you for taking time out of your day for this.

  “I
want to address the elephant in the room. I know you’ve been doing this job, and many people have asked why I didn’t just offer you the position. You’re a serious candidate and the front-runner, but I believe that competition brings out the best in people. That’s why I posted the job. No disrespect to you. I’m very grateful for all your hard work over the past few months, filling in on an interim basis. That being said, it’s my job to ensure the most qualified person is hired for any role in our department. Are you good with that?”

  “Yes, of course,” Jeremy said in his most professional tone. Of course not. This is bullshit.

  “Perfect. Now as far as the interview process goes, I’ve made a change. I’ll be your only interview today. Since you’ve worked closely with all the managers, there’s no need to have them come ask questions they already know the answers to. You’ll be moving to the next round of interviews next week and we all look forward to your presentation.”

  “As do I.” Confidence had replaced the nerves, and Jeremy felt ready to take on any questions Shelly threw his way.

  To his surprise and relief, Shelly tossed him nothing but easy questions. Is she trying to make sure I get this job? he wondered. They spoke for only twenty minutes before Shelly opened her calendar to pick a date for his follow-up interview.

  “How about one week from today?” she asked.

  “Sounds good to me.”

  “Terrific. Any questions for me?”

  Jeremy paused, remembering it was always beneficial to ask at least one question in an interview. “What can I do to make sure I stand out from the competition next week?”

  “Great question. We’ll be looking at your presentation skills. In training, you need to be able to teach to different styles.”

  “Okay, that I can do,” Jeremy said. “Thanks, Shelly.”

  “I look forward to next week.” She stood and extended her hand, and he shook it, feeling the coolness of her skin.

  “Thank you for this opportunity.” Gotta kiss a little ass, he thought as they walked out of the room, remembering his own words to Clark just a few months back.

  *****

  The following Wednesday arrived sooner than Jeremy expected. He had stayed busy putting together a slide show for his group interview.

  He chose a topic he could train with ease: how to play poker. It felt natural as he built out his training. He would begin by showing the basic rules, hands, and structure of a poker game. After that he would deal cards out to the managers and they’d all play a couple of hands.

  Visual and hands-on training. That should do it.

  Nicole had let him know there were three finalists interviewing throughout the week, with Jeremy going last.

  “You get to leave the final impression, so make sure you rock it!” she said.

  A two hour block was placed on his calendar for Wednesday afternoon, immediately after lunch.

  Let’s go get this job, he thought. He’d spent his lunch break in the conference room, making sure everything was perfect. He brought his headphones with him and listened to some Kendrick Lamar to get him the zone.

  He hummed along while organizing stacks of poker chips, shuffling a deck of cards, and running through his presentation with the projection screen.

  Perfect. Everything’s perfect. He had never felt more prepared for anything.

  Jeremy closed his eyes and did some deep breathing, opening his eyes as Shelly entered the room.

  “Hi there, Mr. Jeremy,” she said, taking a seat. “You ready for us?”

  “Sure am,” Jeremy said, feeling relieved as Nicole sat in the chair next to him.

  “Good. I know we’re all looking forward to it. Right, Nicki?”

  “Yup.” Nicole faked an enthusiastic tone.

  The rest of the managers filed in.

  “Welcome!” Jeremy said when everyone was in attendance. “Thank you all for joining me. Today we’re going to learn how to play poker. We’ll start with some basic rules and strategies, and finish by playing a couple hands.”

  Terri’s green eyes grew in excitement and she grinned at Jeremy to show her interest.

  Over the next fifteen minutes Jeremy explained the hand rankings of poker, the flow of a typical game, and a few basic betting strategies, like bluffing and check-raising. He felt like his mouth ran on auto-pilot, so his mind could focus on his audience. Around the table, each manager nodded in understanding and looked to be engaged in the content.

  “Now let’s play!” Jeremy said. He pulled his deck of cards from his pocket and started to shuffle them.

  “I’m coming for all your chips, Nicki,” Terri said with a giggle. She stroked her chip stack in anticipation.

  “Bring it on,” Nicole said.

  The managers all seemed laidback and comfortable, which he knew would only work in his favor.

  They played two hands with Jeremy as the dealer and unofficial adviser. Terri had called him over to ask his opinion on playing her hand.

  Shelly won the first hand, making everyone fold with an aggressive bet and Trevor won the second easily with a pair of queens.

  Once the laughter and small talk died down, Shelly shifted the attention back to the interview.

  “Thank you for an awesome training,” she said. “Now we just have a few questions to ask you.”

  Trevor started. “We all know you’ve been doing this job for a little bit. What’s been your favorite part so far?”

  Jeremy responded, “I’ve found that I enjoy connecting with our new hires from day one. With all the knowledge I’ve gained working here, it feels good to share that and hopefully make each new hire class come out of training more ready than the one before.”

  “Why training?” Shelly asked.

  “I’ve been in a customer service role for a long time now—almost seven years, counting back to my time with the Bears. I’m ready for a change, and training has given me the perfect opportunity to have fun while working and contributing to the big picture.”

  Jeremy saw Shelly raise her eyebrows, suggesting that she was impressed. “Do you have any questions for us?” she asked.

  “I honestly don’t,” Jeremy said. “Just wondering when a decision will be made.”

  “Of course. We expect to deliver an offer letter on Friday. You’re the final interview, so now we’ll discuss the candidates and decide who’ll be the best fit for us.” Shelly nodded as she spoke, and Jeremy caught himself nodding back as he listened.

  “Sounds good,” Jeremy said.

  “In that case, if you wouldn’t mind excusing us, we’ll start that conversation right now,” Shelly said with a kind smile.

  “Yes, of course.” Jeremy rushed to gather his laptop, cards, and poker chips. “I’ll see you guys later.” They all thanked him and he pushed his way out of the room.

  Outside the conference room, overlooking the empty gaming room, he exhaled, letting his shoulders slouch.

  I did it, he thought as he pulled at his tie knot to loosen it. That’s as good an interview I’ve ever had.

  He knew he had given it his all—left it all on the field, as they say in the sports world. Now he just had to focus on his job for the next couple of days and await a decision on Friday.

  *****

  When Friday arrived, Jeremy felt a wave of relief. The voice in his head was still trying to get him to submit to its doubt, and Jeremy wanted it to shut the hell up.

  I’m gonna get that offer letter and frame it, he told himself, trying to boost his confidence as the day went by with no word. If I have to wait until the end of the day, that’s fine. As long as I know before the weekend.

  Finally, he received the tap on his shoulder.

  “Hi there,” Shelly said. “You ready to talk?”

  “Yes, of course.” His nerves found their way right back.

  He walked behind Shelly and Nicole joined them en route to the conference room. Shelly and Nicole sat across from him. He noticed Shelly only had a notepad with her, and Nicole ha
d nothing.

  His stomach sunk. No offer letter in sight.

  “I want to thank you again for going through the interview process,” Shelly said. “It was a vigorous process for us as well, but I’m happy to say we had three very strong finalists.”

  Nicole kept her eyes focused on the empty table, avoiding eye contact with Jeremy.

  Oh, fuck.

  “That being said, we’ve decided to go in a different direction for the training position.”

  The words hung in the air and Jeremy wished he could swat them away like flies. He joined Nicole in staring at the table.

  “We’ve extended the offer to Rebecca Koubek. She is Arnie Koubek’s wife, and has a long history of working as a corporate trainer.”

  “You still have your job as our team lead,” Nicole said with a slight waver in her voice. She had a death grip on the table’s edge.

  “Yes, of course,” Shelly said. “We’re still very pleased with your performance and look forward to you working with Rebecca closely on the training needs for the team.”

  “Can I ask what the deciding factor was?” Jeremy asked.

  “Absolutely,” Shelly jumped in, not giving Nicole a chance to speak. “We felt that, while you’re a good trainer, you’re not quite ready to take on this role, which will eventually grow into its own department. Once Rebecca grows her program and is ready to hire some trainers of her own, I could see you easily stepping into that role.” Shelly paused. “We also felt you didn’t express much passion for training.”

  “How so?” Jeremy felt rage bubbling inside, but kept his composure.

  “When we asked why you were interested in training, all you talked about was making a change for yourself.”

  Bullshit. If I wasn’t passionate, I wouldn’t have applied. He knew he’d talked about the aspects of training he enjoyed. He couldn’t hide the look of disgust on his face.

  “I know your friends on the team will be upset about this decision, so I’m looking to you to lead by example and welcome and embrace Rebecca,” Shelly said. Nicole finally looked Jeremy in the eye, and he could see her sorrow from behind the stare.