TEAMWORK

The room stank, but only to outsiders. For the six men who had taken up residence in the room, nothing seemed unusual as far as the air in the room was concerned. It was only when they took the occasional break that they noticed something was off, but even then, it was quickly nudged to the back of their minds by more pressing issues.

It had been eight days since they moved into the conference room.

It was not unusual to find team members staring longingly at family photos stashed in their wallets; on one occasion, Drew swore he saw Max cry. The others found it hard to believe. Max was the macho-man of the group, scarcely a conversation went by without him discussing dieting, his workout regimen and his workout goals. And so when Drew reported that he saw Max cry, no one believed him. 

Max? Cry? Impossible! 

That was like predicting the company was dying just because there’d been a long string of layoffs in recent times. 

Genesis Corporation? Die? Impossible!

Over time, the leadership at Genesis became more demanding. Sometime in the distant past it was impossible to find people hanging around the office during after-hours, but of late, it had become the norm. Drew’s team was one of ten teams that had cooped-up in conference rooms around the company tower for eight days and counting. While outsiders claimed the company was overworking its staff and underpaying because it was on its way to bankruptcy, insiders saw it differently.

“What do you expect from the fake news media?” James would ask rhetorically whenever discussions arose about yet another article in a business journal or magazine. “They love sensation! So if they have to claim a company somewhere is on the way to its grave to get readers juiced up, they’ll do it. That’s what they’re most concerned with. More readers equals more money! Its common sense, guys!”

They all agreed with James. He was one of the smartest people in the company, so he had to be right. It had to be fake news.

Drew, Max, James, Levi, Tom and Jake were grouped together to develop a proposal for the revamp of the international division of the business. The leadership directed them to focus exclusively on the economic situation in the countries where the company had its operations. The economy, and nothing else, was at fault for the lackluster performance of the company in recent times, they said. There could be no other reason.

During the course of their research, the team had discovered that some of the company’s competitors on the international scene were doing quite well. When Drew broached the issue with the rest of the team, right after a coffee break during which they’d each downed at least 4 cups of caffeinated coffee to stay awake, James led the way again.

“They must be playing some tricks in those countries. Something is not right. If we’re doing things the right way and the economy is having such adverse effects on us, then they must be doing something we’re not doing.” Then he whispered, with a sinister tone, “Something illegal.”

“There is no indication that they’re doing anything illegal,” Drew started. “They just…”

“Are you saying the leadership is wrong in their assessment?” Levi cut in. The entire team watched Drew suspiciously.

“Are you saying you know better than the leadership of the company?” Tom added as he folded his arms in-front of him and reclined in his chair.

“The leadership is never wrong.” James said, matter-of-factly. “They brought us this far, they will take us to the Promised Land.” He had a hateful look as he locked eyes with Drew.

Drew cleared his throat. “I said I had seen no indications, that doesn’t mean they’re off the hook.” He corrected himself. “They seem to have some questionable dealings. I agree with you on that.” He quickly added.

James clapped his hands together and smiled. “Good, we’re all in agreement. We have to figure out what they’re doing and propose they be reported to the authorities.”

***

After working all-day long for ten days, the team completed their research and compiled a proposal which they believed would significantly improve the international arm of the business.

If the step-by-step plan was carefully followed by all stakeholders, the team believed the company would see improvements to its bottom-line in a matter of months.

The team was excited to present the proposal to the leadership of the company. They’d toiled for ten days and they were proud of the final result. They were confident that the leadership of Genesis would be proud of them for producing such a wonderful plan-of-action. There was even talk about promotions and bonuses being in order.

***

The team was invited to the conference room on the 21st floor of the tower to present their proposal to the leadership for discussion and possible approval. The people who worked below the 20th floor rarely had cause to visit the 21st-25th floors of the company. Those floors were reserved for the top echelon of the company, there were even special elevators dedicated to those floors. Some said they were built to ensure the senior leadership of the company didn’t mix with ‘the commoners’.

It was truly an honor for the team. Many of them had worked with Genesis for over a decade and it was the first time they were making use of the special elevator.

After the doors of the elevator closed and James pressed the button for the 21st floor, Drew felt beads of sweat form on his forehead. He felt his collar tighten, making it hard for him to breathe. His hands were drenched in sweat and he had to wipe them on his pants to avoid wetting his copy of the proposal. He wasn’t claustrophobic, so he knew the reason for this feeling was different.

He’d felt this way from time to time, but never in this magnitude. 

As he tried to handle the other symptoms, he suddenly felt a thirst for water. His throat felt very dry, and no amount of clearing and swallowing saliva helped.

“Is everything alright, Drew?” James asked cunningly.

Drew turned to him, forced a smile, and said, “Yes. Just clearing my throat to ensure my voice comes across clearly.” He cleared his throat again and tugged at his collar.

James chuckled. “Well, I think your voice is clear as it will ever be.” He flashed a grin and turned to the other guys. “What do you say guys? Don’t you think his voice is very clear?” They all nodded in agreement, but none said a word. They all shared Drew’s feelings, but they manifested different symptoms.

“Thanks.” Drew replied and then he turned back to his reflection on the door of the elevator. His body was burned. He couldn’t understand it, was it the suit he was wearing? Or was there something else causing the sweat to pour out of his pores. He looked up at the air-conditioning vents, they were still functional but they did nothing to cool him down. He dipped his hand into his pockets, pulled out his handkerchief, and patted the sweat streaming down his face and neck. He didn’t mind looking this way in-front of the guys, but it would look bad if it happened while he was discussing with the executives.

When the door to the elevator slid apart, it let in a gust of fresh air. The doors had barely opened completely before Drew rushed out. The air-conditioning in the lobby of the 21st floor seemed to do a better job than the ones in the elevator, he felt cooler than before. So cool that goose-bumps developed on his skin.

The floor-map on the wall opposite the elevator informed them that the conference room was to their right. As they walked toward the bold sign that said ‘Conference Room’ at the end of the corridor, Drew felt the sweat begin to ooze out again. He dabbed his face with the handkerchief as quickly as he could and unbuttoned his suit jacket, hoping that would do the trick.

James he held the door open for the rest of the team to enter the conference room. The temperature changed drastically when Drew stepped into the room. He was no longer sweating, instead, he felt a chill spread all around his body and he began to shake. 

For some reason unknown to them, the CEO of the company was chairing the meeting. It was the first time the team members saw Gregory Genesis up close. The other times they had seen him, he was up on stage, wobbling by on his way to the elevator, or on the rare occasion, speaking on TV.

Greg was as famous for his love of junk food as he was for the impact he had had on the company since assuming the position of CEO. He was the forth-generation of the Genesis family to take control of the company, and while a number of aggrieved shareholders had criticized him publically for leading the company astray, he was a demi-god to insiders. They worshiped at his feet because of what they believed to be vast wisdom and foresight.

Greg sat at the end of the table on the largest seat in the room. The other executives sat to his left and to his right. The team took the seats on the left side of the table, close to the door.

After Drew shared copies of the executive summary of the proposal to the executives, he stood at the opposite end of the table from Greg and said, to no one in particular, “After you go through the executive summary, I’ll make a presentation of the full proposal.”

Gregory eyed Drew as he shifted his mass in his chair. Drew watched as his body quaked and then finally settled in a droopy position. His head was almost twice the size of Drew’s; his chin was made up of as much skin as Drew’s face. Drew didn’t know what to think, so he decided to focus on the task at hand. 

Gregory opened the report and spent a few seconds skimming through the first page before breezing through the remaining three pages. The other executives were barely done with the first page when he threw the document on the table and slammed his palm on it. The executives raised their eyes from their copies of the document, Gregory met their eyes one-by-one, they understood what the look meant, and so they closed the document and dropped it on the table too.

“This is the most stupid proposal I’ve ever seen!” Gregory shouted as loudly as his body would let him. “The most stupid thing I’ve seen, in my entire life!” he screamed with added emphasis. All that effort resulted in a shortness of breath. He reclined in his chair to breathe deeply.

Drew felt like a deer staring at the headlights of an oncoming vehicle. He was watching an accident happen. He looked around the room, hoping to find some support. The first person he turned his gaze to was his boss, the Chief Strategy Officer of the company, but like other executives, his head was bowed in deference to Gregory. He was just bobbing his head to everything Gregory said.

“It looks as if you did a quick Google search and compiled the things you found into a proposal. This is nonsense! This is trash!” Gregory thundered. “I can’t believe we pay you so much to do this nonsense!” he screamed, sending saliva projectiles in every direction.

“Sir,” Drew started, defiantly. “You barely read the…”

“Shut your mouth!” came the snappy reply. “You don’t speak when I’m speaking!” he took another breather. “This is complete rubbish! Its guys like you that give my company a bad name! Guys like you!” he pushed a thick finger in Drew’s direction.

The executives continued to nod. They said some things but they came out as murmurs no one could understand.

Greg was starting to breathe heavily, which signaled that the situation in the conference room was reaching its climax. Drew had heard stories about staff members who had faced this situation in the past so he knew what was coming. His job was so obscure that he never thought he would ever be in the line of fire, but there he was, facing the one-man firing squad.

“Who is responsible for 'this ‘Google-search proposal’?!” Gregory asked, scanning the faces of the executives seated at the table. The CSO raised his hand in the blink of an eye and pointed in the direction of the team. Gregory turned to them. “Which one of you is responsible for this?”

“We all…” the words faded as Drew saw something he hadn’t expected but wasn’t surprised to see. It started with James, and then one-by-one, his other colleagues followed suit. In a matter of seconds, the hands of his entire team had a finger pointed in his direction.

Drew watched as Gregory’s malicious glare moved from his colleagues towards his direction.

He felt the beads of sweat forming again, but this time they formed all over his body. As his body heated up, he was surprised to see the goose-bumps make a return simultaneously. His collar strengthened its chokehold on his neck, while his shirt squeezed out the air left in his lungs. He tried to swallow, but his throat refused to accept any more deposits. He tried to breathe, but oxygen made itself scarce.

Greg’s hands formed into fists on the table as he said, “So it is you…”