INSIDE THE C-SUITE

The hours had gone by at a slow pace. It was a sharp contrast to the violent blizzard that had enveloped the financial capital of the country. She had hoped the blizzard would blow over so she could return home to her ailing husband, but it had intensified instead. 

She’d tried watching a movie but she got bored minutes into it. She tried to take care of her nails – for the first time in months –but she quickly tired of it too. She tried going through the paperwork that had kept her past her regular work hours, but she couldn’t follow through with it because she was confident that she had done a good-enough job. She played make-believe with the stapler and pens on her table, but the story quickly went off track and so she abandoned it. Two slow hours later, the only thing left to do was stare at the roof, and she only did it because it could not not be done.

It was while she was staring at the roof that the idea occurred to her. 

She had worked at the company for over a decade and she’d never really explored the building. Her travel path from the time she arrived at the building had already become routinized. From her car to her desk, and back.

She thought it would be nice to explore the building. Her retirement was already looming on the horizon, and she would never have such an opportunity to be alone in the building again – at least she hoped not.

She didn’t even consider her boss’ office. She’d been inside enough times to know there was nothing of interest there. It was a cluttered mess of files and paper. An outward manifestation of the man himself. The only floor of interest was the eighth floor.

She gingerly approached the elevator, scanning the walls around for CCTV cameras. There had been rumors that the CCTV system was out of service, and that, as with other things, management was taking its time getting it fixed, despite the risk not having one posed. She scanned the inside of the elevator for cameras, and when she found none, she pressed the button for the eighth floor and felt her heart rise to her throat along with the climbing elevator.

She expected a surprise when the door opened, but she was met with a shocker. She had heard rumors and gossip about the opulent lifestyles of the C-Suite, but what she saw was beyond her imagination. She stared at her surroundings with her eyes and mouth wide open. It was a sharp contrast to the seven floors beneath it. Everything about the interior was exquisite. Everything was so shiny she could clearly see her reflection in them, a sharp contrast to the faded and aging seven floors. Even the air was so good that she could swear she felt her lungs being rid of the filth that had accumulated inside them from spending so much time on the seventh floor. 

She didn’t bother with exploring the other offices. Her focus was the office at the end of the corridor. She had heard so much about the office and she was eager to see it for herself. The storm could abate at any moment.

She homed in on the door to his office and gave herself up to its pull. She felt herself float in its direction, and in a blink of an eye, she was right in front of it. She felt her legs shake as she slowly reached for the doorknob. A part of her tried to stop her. It enfeebled her hands. It recruited the pores all over her body and repeated its warning by way of profuse sweat. It convinced her heart to side with it, and it joined the protest by beating harder and faster. But all that wasn’t enough to stop her. She was desperate to know what was behind the door. She had heard too many stories to hold back. She had heard rumors about lavish parties in remote locations. She had watched numerous discussions on TV. She had read numerous articles on the digital pages of newspapers. She just had to know if they were true.

She reached for the door, believing that the contents of the office behind the door would answer all of her questions. She reached for the door, believing that basking in its glory would reveal to her the path to a comfortable and certain retirement. She reached for the door, believing the office held the key to her future.

She gasped when she took in the entirety of the office. It looked more like something the CEO of a luxury goods company would operate from. It was nothing like what she expected of the office the CEO of a paper mill in a digital age.

Every part of the office sparkled. From the floor, to the walls, to the ceiling, and even to the table where the CEO did his job. The office was a mix of three colors: gold, black, and white. The interior was beautifully done, designed to ensure the occupant of the office had all the comforts he believed he needed to do his job. She ran a finger across the wall as she meticulously inspected the shelves that ran along the wall and the ornaments that adorned them. 

Her exploration ended at the table of the CEO. She touched it. She sat on-top of it and admired the view from the floor-to-ceiling expanse of glass behind it. She walked around it. And when she could no longer hold back, she sat in his chair. She reclined in the chair, raised her closed eyes to the ceiling, and breathed deeply as she enjoyed the feel of the chair and the office surrounding it. 

“It’s very comfortable, isn’t it?” a voice said from across the room. She froze in the spot and the consequences of her actions flashed through her mind. She slowly lowered her head and turned to her right, where she found a man standing by the door in what seemed like a very expensive suit. He was a very good-looking middle-aged man. The suit fit his frame perfectly, highlighting his athletic body. He flashed her a smile and gently ran his palm over his slicked-back jet-black hair. There was something ethereal about him. “This office contains the best the world has to offer.” He walked over to a mini-bar in the wall across the table. “He loves this office more than his life. It is a symbol of his success. That is why he ensured he only installed the best of the best here, for all who visit this office to see that he has reached the pinnacle of his career.”

“I know I shouldn’t be here,” she raised herself from the chair. “I just had some free time and I mistakenly pressed the button for this floor instead of my floor…” she made for the door. “I’ll leave now, I promise. I haven’t touched anything. In fact, I just got here...”

“Relax.” He interrupted. He took a swig of the whiskey he’d poured himself and rested his back on the mini-bar. “I won’t tell anyone. I promise. You have absolutely nothing to fear.” He flashed a broad grin. She didn’t know if she should trust him, but his demeanor made her relax.

“I’m really sorry. Thank you for your discretion. I will leave immediately.” She made for the door again, but he stopped her with a wave of his hand. 

“I told you to relax.” He said, forcefully. “I’m happy to have the company. I’ve been here for a while now. It gets lonely here at night. I don’t mind having you here, and neither will he. He listens to everything I tell him.” He headed in the direction of the table and motioned for her to follow him. She obeyed.

“So you’re his advisor? Or what do you do here? And why are you here at this time?”

He sat atop the table and set his cup on the table beside him. “I am his closest ally and most trusted advisor.” He undid the buttons of his jacket and flashed a grin at her. “He listens to everything I say and he trusts me with his affairs. I am always here with him. You don’t work on this floor, otherwise we would have been acquainted with each other a long time ago.” He exhaled. “Sit.” He said, motioning in the direction of the chair she’d been sitting in. He spoke with such authority that she knew it was a bad idea to debate with him. Despite her fear for the consequences of being caught in the office, she reclined in the chair and enjoyed its softness. He looked up thoughtfully, then he said, “You’ve worked here for a very long time. You’ve given your life to this company. Not a day has gone by without you mulling over things that could be done to improve the company’s prospects.”

She scowled. “How do you know this? We have never met before, yet you sound so sure.”

He chuckled. He raised the cup to his lips again and took a sip of its contents. “I know you. I know everyone who works for this company. I am the CEO’s ears and eyes, I keep tabs on everyone because that helps me give him good advice. I know everything. I see everything.”

“Then why haven’t you told him to stop dipping his hands into the staff pension fund?” she retorted. “If you’re such a good advisor, if you know so much, if you’re so trusted and trustworthy, you should advice your principal to prioritize the future of the staff who have given their lives to this company. If he keeps on dipping his fingers into that fund, there will be little left there for us when we retire!” Before she could stop herself, she blurted out, “And he will be off on an island somewhere with one or more of his numerous whores, living it up. That is unfair to us!” she silenced herself and put her repressed anger in check.

He chuckled.

“It’s not funny! I’ve been here for over fifteen years of my life. I have given this company everything I have to give, but the management keeps rewarding our sacrifices with salaries below that of our industry peers, unpaid overtime, no possibility of owning the company’s erratic stock, and despite all that, they still go so far as to dip into our pension fund to purchase worthless companies that have no bearing on the future of this company! That is the height of wickedness! That is evil!” she jumped out of the chair and banged her hand on the table. “If you know me so well, and if you know the staff so well, you should have given this advice to your principal. He is putting our lives in danger and that is very unfair! I don’t care what games he plays with the financial reports but it is unfair to us to touch our pensions. At this point, that is the only reason we keep returning here each day to work! Things need to change around here!”

He chuckled. “Do you think the occupants of the c-suite don’t know this?” She was horrified that he would make such a statement. “It’s not a problem of not knowing what is happening or what to do. It’s that they don’t care. You know this as much as I do. And we both know it’s too late for things to change. Large chunks of the pension fund have been depleted, and more will be spent in the coming weeks. It will be explained away to investors that the only way to recover the lost funds is to invest more money in very risky but high-yielding ventures.”

“What does that mean? You mean I won’t get my pension?!”

He shrugged. “You know how to get it if you really want it. You could retire earlier than you should and you will be qualified to receive your pension, the company executives would even be happy about it – one less mouth to feed. We both know why you don’t want to do it now. If you keep stalling you may end up with nothing – you know this. Then you will have to stay home with your ailing husband and an empty bank account too.” He shrugged.

“That is none of your business. I will do what is best for me. All I want from the company is my pension when I am ready to leave.”

He sneered. “Is that really all you want? Is that the only reason why you hold on to a dead-end job? We both know that beneath the surface, there are deeper reasons why you are still here. Will this pension you’re so passionate about be enough to fund the lavish lifestyle you’ve dreamt of for decades now? Will it buy you the SUV? Will it fund the travels to exotic places? Will it cover the mounting medical bills? Will it settle the student loans and mortgage payments? Will it?”

She backed away from him. He knew too much. “It doesn’t matter.” She shrugged. “All that matters is that I get my due. I have done my job and I deserve my pension.”

He downed the remaining contents of his cup, then he turned and locked eyes with her. “We both know what you want. We both know why you’re here. We both know the storm had been forecast days in a row before today.” He sneered. “Why is it today of all days you chose to handle paperwork nobody really cares about?”

She lowered her eyes. 

“The occupant of this room got to his position by being smart. He played the game. He outsmarted everyone and won the prize.” He pushed himself off the table and turned his entire body in her direction. “You’ve been a bystander for too long. It’s time for you to also play the game, and play to win.”

She gnashed her teeth. There was no longer a need to keep up appearances. “I can’t continue living this way. I’ve sacrificed enough. It is time to get my due.”

He grinned. “Now, that’s the spirit.”

“What do I do?” She knew the answer.

“You came here for a reason. Do what you came here to do. It’s the only way.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, looking around cautiously. There were still no cameras or people in sight.

He nodded. “I run things in this town. I am a key advisor to the wealthiest men in this city. This is a variation on how a lot of them started out. If you take this first step and execute on it perfectly, I will make you rich.” He said, definitively.

She carefully emptied the bag in the garbage bin and headed in the direction of the shelves chock full of shiny and expensive ornaments. There were so many of them that she was convinced that the few she would take would not be missed. As she reached for her first ornament, a gold-plated figurine, something occurred to her. She turned to him and said, “You seem to know so much about me, but I don’t even know your name.”

He smirked. “People call me all sorts of names, but I would rather be referred to as ‘Mr. G’.” 

“Interesting…” she turned back and grabbed the figurine. “What does the ‘G’ stand for?”

“Greed.” He replied.