High Potential

by Ber Carroll

  Katie got into her car as dusk began to smudge the sky. She hoped there wouldn’t be any traffic delays – she was cutting it fine as it was. She didn’t turn on the car radio. She needed quiet to sort out her thoughts, her feelings.

  All day long she had felt on edge, conscious of every movement Jim made, every word he said. She’d watched his interactions with the rest of the team and seen how he found common ground with David, who was awkward at the best of times, and Carole, who had been nicknamed the Ice Maiden by Oliver.

  ‘Jim, you base your decisions mostly on values,’ Angela had said when talking about the results of his personality test. ‘You’re tuned in to the emotions and motivations of others . . .’

  Angela had then turned her attention to Katie. ‘Now, with you we have the extreme opposite. You base your decisions entirely on logic. You tend to have a very black and white view . . .’

  A few of the others chuckled.

  Katie smiled self-consciously. ‘I thought there were no right or wrong answers in the test.’

  Angela returned her smile. ‘True – but it does help to know your blind spots. And there’s a lot of grey in life, Katie. You need to learn not to get frustrated by that . . .’

  Darkness fell quickly as Katie drove along the vine-lined country roads. She eventually reached the freeway and eased into the long line of red tail-lights. As she picked up speed, she began to relax.

  There’s nothing at all wrong with being slightly attracted to Jim. All it means is that I’m finally getting over Geoff.

  Katie was greeted like a movie star by the SDS executives, and they whisked her around the room to meet every single one of the thirty-odd distinguished guests. She smiled for the cameras, accepted congratulations and drank mineral water rather than champagne. It was hard to find the appropriate moment to take her leave, and she ended up staying far longer than she’d planned. By the time she escaped, her face ached from smiling and she was totally out of small talk.

  She checked her phone as she waited for her car to be brought around to the door of the hotel. There were two new messages. The first was from Stephen, his voice as loud as ever.

  ‘Hi, stranger. Sorry I missed you on Sunday – had a Saturday-night date that overran. Might catch you this weekend. Take care.’

  Katie was pleased to hear that Stephen had a date. Maybe, just maybe, this time he had found the right girl.

  Katie listened to the second message. It was Isabelle.

  ‘Hi, Katie. A few of us have decided to meet in the bar for a drink. Have a look for us when you get back – that’s if you’re not too tired.’

  Katie turned the radio up loud to keep herself alert on the return journey. She knew she shouldn’t even consider having a drink in the bar; there would be a horde of new email messages she should attend to, not to mention Friday’s presentation. But Jim would be there and she wanted to see him.

  It was after eleven when she drove up the gravelled driveway of the resort. She entered the bar, but it was immediately evident that she was too late.

  ‘Sorry, we’re closed,’ said the barman as he wiped down the empty tables.

  Katie turned back the way she came and made for her room. She refused to acknowledge that the feeling in the pit of her stomach was disappointment.

  Chapter 8

  Katie made sure that she left enough time for breakfast the next morning; no way was she going to eat a chocolate muffin in front of Jim again. Carole and David were sitting together in the breakfast room and she joined them at their table.

  ‘We missed you last night,’ said Carole, prodding some rock-melon with her fork.

  ‘I checked the bar when I got back, but you were all gone,’ Katie replied with a shrug.

  ‘The bar stopped serving drinks at ten-thirty,’ David explained, his sandy hair neatly combed and parted at the side. ‘I think they must be under instructions not to let us have too much fun.’

  Katie laughed. ‘Yeah, that sounds like Brent all right,’ she agreed just as the waiter asked for her order. ‘Poached eggs and bacon, please.’

  She noticed Carole’s eyebrows arching.

  ‘I burn it off,’ she said defensively.

  ‘I haven’t seen you in the gym,’ was Carole’s reply. She looked genuinely puzzled.

  ‘Let’s just say I’m lucky with my metabolism.’

  ‘I was hoping to spend some time at the gym,’ David sighed, patting his protruding stomach. ‘But you know how it is – trying to keep up with work as well as the course. The printer and fax in the suite have made things much easier, though.’

  ‘You have a printer and fax machine?’ asked Carole and David nodded. She turned her eyes to Katie. ‘Do you?’

  ‘No,’ Katie answered. ‘But at least I know where I can print a copy of my presentation now!’

  ‘Have you done much work for it?’ asked David, his puffy face anxious.

  ‘Not really. I have an idea but I haven’t pulled it together yet. How about you?’

  ‘I’ve got the basic slides. It’s hard, though, not knowing what they’re after –’

  ‘They’re not after anything, David,’ Carole interrupted. ‘Angela was perfectly clear – the partners want you to surprise them. What is it that you don’t understand?’

  Katie had thought she’d never see the day when she felt sorry for David Smythe.

  He virtually wilted under Carole’s open scorn as he mumbled, ‘Surprises are not my forte.’

  Carole pushed her chair back from the table and said, ‘See you there,’ before Katie had the chance to tell her that her attitude sucked.

  ‘Good morning,’ Angela called out to Katie and David when they entered the classroom some thirty minutes later. ‘Don’t sit just yet – some of you will be leaving soon. Now that we’re all here, I’ll let you know the teams for the business simulation.’

  Katie glanced discreetly at Jim. He had a dark shadow on his jaw and she liked the rugged effect of the stubble. Her heart quickened at the thought of being paired with him.

  ‘Team 1: Jim and Carole. Team 2: Isabelle and Oliver. Team 3: Katie and David. Now, please stand next to your team-mates.’

  Katie obediently moved to stand next to David. They had never been the best of friends, and the thought of working with him exclusively for two days was not at all appealing.

  ‘Here is your data.’ Angela handed a heavy folder to each team. ‘Everything you need to know about your organisation, the X Company, is in here, including staff profiles, products and market share. Remember, your aim is to maximise net profit and share price over two years. Jim and Carole, you can stay in this room. Isabelle and Oliver, you are in the room next door. Katie and David, across the hall.’

  Working with David was every bit as difficult as Katie expected. She read the documentation in half an hour, skipping over what looked to be unimportant. However, David insisted on reading every single word, slowly and carefully.

  ‘I wish I could see these chips that X Company are selling,’ he said when he finally came to the end.

  ‘You don’t need to see them to make a decision,’ replied Katie, barely hanging on to her patience. ‘The data in the pack tells us that the chip is technologically ahead of the competitors. It has the highest bandwidth, that’s all we need to know.’

  ‘I don’t understand things I can’t see,’ he said obstinately.

  ‘For God’s sake, David,’ she snapped. ‘We’ll never get finished if that’s the case!’

  David withdrew into himself, in the same way he had at the breakfast table that morning. ‘I’m sorry that I’m slowing you down . . .’

  Katie ashamedly realised that she was no better than Carole; she had belittled David just because he worked differently to her.

  ‘I’ll draw you one,’ she said, keen to make amends. She sketched out the chip and did her best to explain in very basic terms how it worked. ‘Okay, you have the processor, the memory and the cache, and data flows between all three. Bandwidth
is the term used to describe how fast the data travels.’

  ‘How do you know this?’ David asked, looking at her handiwork with admiration.

  ‘My brother. He was always taking our computer apart – seeing what went where so he could build it again. I suppose some of it stuck in my head.’

  They got on better after that, but progress through the industry and competitor analysis was still very slow. How slow became evident when they broke for lunch. The other teams had already completed their strategic plans, and Angela was sounding them out on a 3 pm presentation.

  ‘Sorry, we won’t be ready by then,’ said Katie. She refused to look at Carole, knowing she would be wearing her most disdainful expression.

  ‘Will 4 pm be okay?’ asked Angela.

  Katie doubted it but had to say yes.

  She and David decided to eat back in their classroom in order to catch up. David increased his pace, and his earlier attention to detail paid off with some well-grounded strategies.

  ‘That should do it,’ said Katie at ten minutes to four. ‘Now, we just have to decide on who should deliver the presentation.’

  ‘You,’ replied David as if the answer was obvious.

  Carole was the first presenter. She brimmed with confidence and authority and was very believable as the CEO of the fictitious X Company. More than once she said ‘Jim and I’ as she explained each strategic initiative.

  Why did I get stuck with David? thought Katie. If it had been Jim, or any of the others, I’d have a real chance of winning.

  Even though Katie was somewhat ashamed of her thoughts, she couldn’t make them go away. Winning had always been important to her. It helped her hold her head high at university and at MFJ. In the end, it had given her the motivation to walk away from Geoff. It was ingrained in her to win, even when the odds were stacked against her.

  Oliver was every bit as good as Carole and it was with a certain degree of despondence that Katie got to her feet.

  ‘Within two years the X Company will have obtained sixty per cent of the overall market by concentrating our energies on the booming educational sector and by outperforming our competitors on technology and price.’ Katie found her rhythm and spoke with conviction about the opportunities in the educational sector. ‘The X Company is already on the preferred-supplier list for the Department of Education. The new minister is technologically astute and has ambitious plans for the schools across the country. The X Company can make his plans a reality . . .’

  By the time she reached the end, Katie had almost forgotten that the X Company and the Minister for Education weren’t for real.

  ‘Well done,’ whispered David as she sat down.

  ‘Thanks.’

  Angela told them they were free to leave. ‘Remember, Year 1 budget allocations are due at 9 pm,’ she warned as they filed out of the room. ‘I’ll collect them at the bar. No rainchecks.’

  ‘I think we had better get straight down to it,’ Katie said to David. ‘No free hour tonight.’

  ‘I was hoping to catch up on my emails,’ he replied, looking stressed.

  ‘Do you want to win this or not?’

  ‘Of course I do.’

  ‘Then send your team an email to let them know that your course commitments will make you unavailable for the next two nights.’

  ‘Is that what you’re going to do?’

  She hesitated. Neil would go ballistic if she went incommunicado, but it just might teach him a lesson.

  ‘Yes.’

  They decided to work in David’s room. Katie was impressed when she saw the separate office and lounge area.

  ‘I didn’t realise you actually had a suite,’ she said as she photocopied the budget-allocation sheet. ‘The rest of us mere mortals have a standard room.’

  ‘I think there’s been a mix-up somewhere. But I’m not complaining.’

  He smiled his first smile of the day as he sank into the sofa. She handed him his copy of the allocation sheet and sat down opposite.

  ‘Okay, Research and Development budget first,’ she said. ‘Obviously, we must invest heavily in the chip in order to stay ahead of the competition.’

  David didn’t quite agree, and that set the tone for the evening. The marketing, training and project budgets each involved intense debate before a reluctant compromise. A few times Katie had to scrunch up her sheet of paper and start afresh. Once, when she was feeling particularly frustrated, she imagined that it was David’s head she was scrunching.

  They laboured through each item on the budget sheet and somehow had half an hour to spare at the end.

  ‘Let’s see if we can get something to eat at the bar while we wait for Angela,’ said Katie. ‘I’m starving.’

  Much to her surprise, David shook his head. ‘No, I need to work on my presentation.’

  ‘Oh, come on – live a little.’ Katie smiled coaxingly.

  ‘I have to work hard to get ahead,’ he replied. ‘I’m not like you.’

  She made a funny face at him. ‘Are you implying that I don’t work hard?’

  He was deadly serious as he said, ‘I’m saying that you have more natural talent than me and consequently it takes you less effort to achieve the same result.’

  Katie got serious too. ‘I think you’re being rather tough on yourself, David.’

  He didn’t reply. When he started up his laptop, Katie took it as her cue to leave.

  ‘Make sure that you at least order some food in,’ she told him on her way out.

  Another conference group had arrived at the resort and the bar was full. Log fires blazed at either end of the room, and Katie unbuttoned her woollen jacket as she walked through the crowd. She noticed Isabelle and Oliver over by the window, a bottle of wine tilted sideways in an ice-bucket at the centre of their table. Oliver saw her and jokingly put his hand over the budget sheet as if it was top secret.

  They look as if they’ve had a lot more fun than David and me, thought Katie a little enviously. Though she had to admit that working with David had become easier as the day progressed. In many ways their working styles were complementary. Her impulsiveness was reigned in by his caution, and her top-level view was substantiated by his detailed analysis. It hadn’t taken her long to realise that she had been wrong to assume he was arrogant. The truth was that he had very low self-esteem and the little he had was riding on his career.

  Katie ordered a beer and a bowl of hot chips at the bar. She was paying the barman when she heard Jim’s voice.

  ‘All finished?’

  She turned and noticed that his jaw line was now smooth instead of stubbled. She knew if she got close enough she would be able to smell his aftershave.

  Carole pushed forward. ‘Where’s David?’

  Katie jerked back to reality. ‘Doing his homework for Friday’s presentation.’

  ‘Slogging is no substitute for aptitude.’

  Katie stared straight at her. ‘What exactly do you mean by that?’

  Carole shrugged. ‘He’s not the brightest, is he?’

  ‘I beg to differ.’ Katie felt her face colouring with anger. ‘David tends to undersell himself – unlike some people around here.’

  She took her beer and bowl of chips and walked away. There were no free tables. She had no option but to gatecrash Oliver and Isabelle.

  ‘Sorry, I know you’re still finishing up but I’m seeking asylum,’ she said sotto voce.

  Oliver smirked. ‘From the Ice Maiden?’

  ‘Ssshh, she’s not deaf!’ hissed Isabelle. ‘Sit down, Katie. You can help us decide what to do with the two thousand dollars we have left over in our budget.’

  ‘Invest it in the education market,’ declared Katie, blowing on one of the hot chips before popping it in her mouth.

  ‘You mean the Educom contact list?’ asked Oliver.

  Educom was a fictitious agency that published a pricey Who’s Who in Education.

  She nodded and swallowed before saying, ‘It will pay off. I guarantee i
t.’

  Oliver agreed. ‘Slot it in, Isabelle. Katie is always right.’

  Katie made a mock swing for him and he ducked.

  Isabelle saw Angela come in and said, ‘Just in time.’

  Angela was dressed for the cold evening in a red ankle-length coat.

  ‘She really likes red, doesn’t she?’ remarked Oliver.

  Angela stopped by Jim and Carole at the bar before making her way to their table.

  ‘Like a drink, Angela?’ asked Oliver.

  ‘No – got a lot of work to do tonight.’

  ‘Maybe tomorrow night?’ he asked, a mischievous glint in his eye.

  ‘Maybe.’

  She put their allocation sheets in her tote bag before she bade them goodnight.

  Isabelle sighed deeply. ‘I’m afraid that I must also go. I promised a client that I would call tonight.’

  ‘I’ve made a pact with David not to check email or voice messages for the next two days,’ said Katie as Isabelle gathered her things.

  ‘I’m not that brave,’ Isabelle answered with a grimace. ‘See you tomorrow.’

  ‘Neil won’t like not being able to contact you,’ commented Oliver when they were alone.

  Katie reached for her beer. ‘I’ve had enough of Neil lately. To be honest, I’m looking forward to my overseas assignment.’

  ‘Me too,’ said Oliver. ‘I’ve heard that Brent will be making the announcement on Friday. I hope I’m sent somewhere exciting.’

  ‘Will Crystelle go with you?’

  ‘She has her bags packed already!’

  Crystelle was Oliver’s wife of four months. She was a pretty blonde with a loud laugh and Katie had liked her right from the start. Geoff hadn’t felt the same way.

  ‘She’s an airhead,’ he declared when he heard of his friend’s engagement.

  ‘Just because Crystelle likes to have fun doesn’t mean she’s an airhead,’ Katie objected.

  Geoff wasn’t listening. ‘I didn’t think Oliver was the kind to go for a trophy wife.’

  ‘I think she’s good for Oliver,’ Katie insisted. ‘He’s not as reserved as he used to be.’

  ‘There was nothing wrong with the way he was.’

  ‘You’re just jealous of her,’ Katie laughed. ‘You’re used to being the life and soul of the party and now Crystelle has pushed you off your perch.’