The New Regime

Nate stood at the from of the conference room, looking at the faces of his employee. He had called a meeting with the company's employee to tell them about the new changes he wants to implement.

“As you all know, my grandfather had been concerned about the rate at which the company's finance is growing, he's not satisfied”. Nate, began,

“I totally agree with him, we ought to have passed this level by now, so we need to put in more effort so that we can pass this stage and maintain our position of being at the top in business”, Nate explained.

The employees looked at themselves, they sensed that something was off, they have really worked hard for their position in their respective offices and they felt Nate was not being fair to tell them thet he was not satisfied with their growth level.

The last time they checked they have passed their competitors records and have remained at the position of being the best for the past four years.

“From now on, we all are going to put in more effort like I said which requires coming an extra hour earlier than we resume and spending extra hours in the office. I know it won't be easy to adapt to this changes but I'm confident we can do it”. Nate added.

The employees looked at each other in dismay, but no one spoke up. They knew that it was the visit of Nate's grandfather, Mr Richmond that caused Nate to bring up this new changes, they knew Mr Richmond to be a powerful man and one one dare question his demands.

He was really tough on them when he was the CEO, coming earlier than they normally resume and working extra hours was one of the discipline they went through.

Mitchel who sat with Ben at the back of the room felt a sense of unease. She had always known that Mr Richmond was a demanding man, but she has never seen Nate like this before. He sounded different.

The meeting elapsed and the employees began to leave the room, the sound of murmuring could be heard as they were not pleased with the new changes.

They expected their salaries to be increased as a compensation for the extra hours they will be working but they were annoyed as Nate didn't mention anything like that. He only talked about the extra hours they will be working, he felt he was not being considerate as they all have families they were to look after.

Mitchel walked up to Nate and asked,

“Nate, please can I talk to you for a minute?”. She said.

“What's is it”, Nate asked as his expression turned cold.

“I just wanted to ask if you are okay, in the meeting today, you sounded kinda different, this is unlike you”. She said as she looked concerned this time.

Nate expression didn't change, but Mitchel knew something was wrong. She sensed that it was because of Mr Richmond visit.

Nate always appreciates them for their efforts towards the company and their achievements in every meeting but today's meeting was a different one, he sounded like he was upset with them and was not pleased with their performance.

“I'm fine Mitchel, just a little stressed, that's all”. Nate replied after some minutes of silence.

Mitchel nodded, but she wasn't satisfied with the answer Nate gave. She knew they were not that close for Nate to discuss his family issues with her but she expected him to discuss this one with her as she was one of his personal secretary and also cause the issue concerned the company.

Sophia could feel the pains of the other staff and she was going to be more affected by the new changes as she planned on spending more time with her son, Jason.

As she turned to leave, Nate called her back,

“Mitchel”, he called.

“Yes”, she replied turning to face him.

“I will be needing you and Ben to stay longer today, I have some work that needs to be done and I will be needing some help”, He said.

“Okay sir, I will inform Ben immediately”, Mitchel replied as she walked away.

Her mind quickly ran to her son, she was tired of giving excuses of why she was always coming late. She wished she had another source of income that was not this demanding, she miss picking up her son from school. But she couldn't do anything about it as her job is her only source of income.

She taught about the risk of loosing her job if doesn't comply with the new rules. She can't imagine herself going back to the street in search of a new job, besides the pay was more than enough to take care of herself and her son and it would be really difficult to find another job like this her current job.

She walked into Ben's office to tell him about the extra hours they will be spending in the office.

She sat down on her desk after returning from Ben's office. She tried to focus on her work but her mind kept racing with questions. She wondered what the future holds and if she would be able to survive the changes.

She now has to resume one hour earlier that is 7am and still spend extra hours in the office. This would really affect her relationship with her son.

Her phone buzzed with a notification, this brought her back to reality as she was lost in thought. The email was from Nate, she wondered what he wanted this time. She quickly picked up her phone to look at it.

“Mitchel, I need to see you in my office. Now”.

Mitchel's heart sank, she wondered what she has done as she quickly got up and left for his office.

She said a little prayer on her way,

“God, please help me, I don't want to get into any trouble”.

She got to his office and met him looking at the window, something he does whenever his upset.

“Mitchel”, he called without turning back to look at her.

“Yes sir” she said as her voice was shaking.

“Take the envelope on my table and read the content”, He said.

Sophia felt really uncomfortable we she wondered what the content of the envelope would be.