Manny’s POV

I’m beginning to think Wifey and Leadership Core think I’m smarter than I actually am. I’m grateful they have so much belief in me, but I’m not quite sure where to start here.

RangeMan NYC is a mess.

I’ve been here for three weeks, and I’ve been able to determine that Javier has some deficiencies. Not the kind that gets you fired but definitely the kind that make life difficult for him. Because of this, I’m not quite sure how I want to define him as a leader. At first, I wanted to term him ’timid’ but that wasn’t right. I’m thinking ‘cautious’. He sticks to his guns once he makes a decision, but he definitely moves slowly making up his mind.

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Hector’s POV

We are all gathered here today to join these men and this woman together…

Dios, where is my brain today?

We are gathered together in the garage, me, Hal, Woody, Zip, Zero, and Junior, to accompany Angelita to dinner at her Mama’s house. We are cautiously optimistic. They waited until Ranger was gone to tell the story of what is now being termed the ‘Announcement Dinner’ and, under normal circumstances, I would’ve made them pay for gossiping about Ranger in a way that made him look bad. However, I too was astonished by the story.

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A/N: This chapter begins on Wednesday and ends on Friday night.

Steph’s POV

Today is officially the beginning of my third month in charge. Ryan tells me that in the past two months, the company has grown 3.5% and is poised for more growth, which is making the accountants happy. Turns out, he and Danny are really close (Finance guys!) and Danny tells me that Ryan’s told his staff to quit leaking info or he’ll fire them. He wants everyone in the company to wonder about what I’m doing, and it works better if they don’t realize that I’m succeeding like I am.

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Steph’s POV

My return from Atlanta was confusing. Immediately upon arrival, Hal presented me with a list of duties that he claimed needed coverage. My spidey-senses were calling that one false. After four days of mind-numbing monitor duty, I promised him that the next time I sent anyone anywhere, he would know well in advance. I think he was upset about the fact that I sent Manny to NYC and Ram wouldn’t return until Friday. On Friday, I received another bouquet of yellow roses and Ram returned, so Hal was happy again.

Friday morning, I wheel myself down to 5 and run right into Hal. He grins. “Wanna get out for a while?”

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Hal’s POV

Steph and I are going to have to have a talk.

A serious talk.

A talk about Trenton branch.

She can’t keep doing this to me. She keeps poaching my team! I’m working with Woody and Zip as Ram’s and Manny’s backups, but Ram and Manny and me, we’re a unit. A team. I miss my comrades-in-arms. She can’t keep deploying them away from me. I’ve barely had the fun of having them to myself.

Am I permitted to put the CO on monitor duty?

Can I get away with it?

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Javier’s POV

Two o’clock and everyone is on the call.

Even the uninvited. 

“Mark?”

No response.

“Steph,” I reply, “Mark isn’t on this call.”

“Oh yes he is,” Steph replies. Really? Nosy fucker. “Hector has picked up his signal. Mark, I sincerely advise you to drop from this call and refrain from attempting to attend meetings and discussions to which you have not been specifically invited. Otherwise, I’m going to dispatch the company electronics man to Boston to permanently modify your ability to attend these calls.”

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Javier’s POV

I slump back in my seat and consider what I’ve heard. Everyone knows I’ve had a bad year. Lester is probably ready to hand me my ass. The general consensus is that Shane has to go. I don’t know what decision to make.

One of the founding principles of RangeMan, one of the reasons I signed on, was the idea that loyalty was important. That once we hired a man, we didn’t fire him unless we were looking at gross incompetence or misconduct. We coach him, motivate him, and/or kick him in the ass as appropriate, but you do everything you can to get him performing at standard. That’s part of the reason why I won’t fire Shane.

It makes me wonder which one of those I’ll get.

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Danny’s POV

So far, Steph’s visit has gone extremely well. We’ve been to half the satellite offices and she’s agreed with my plans for each one. I’ve been able to show improvement in my budgets and forecasting, and we finally have the reserves issues straight. We got on a conference call with Bobby, who was pleased with all the progress we’ve made here. Man, talk about relief; I hated disappointing Bobby. Having her here, in front, allowed me to land four more Hospitality contracts. She’s charmed just about everyone who has met her.

It’s official. My office loves the CO. Forget Trenton; we’ll take her any day.

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