=Normal POV=
(Sunday, 6/16/19-5:00 pm)
(Berk, Archia Isle)
(Raven Point Park)
Today was just supposed to be a celebration of the friends graduating high school yesterday and had invited their parents to come along and be part of things and yet, it turned into whatever took place when Hector finally arrived. As it turned out, Hector had arrived late and wasn't answering people because he ended up at work to handle a situation that no one knew about since Hector claimed it didn't matter and had been taken care of now. However, such information sprung Marcus and Spencer into confusion as to why they were not called as owners of the business and it came out that due to never receiving the notifications they were needed, Hector got called to reach them and when that failed and time was running out to stop an issue that could have hurt the company, Hector signed his spot on the documents to transfer him into the position needed to make big decisions and solve the problem. But it also came out that because of Spencer and Marcus's rushing in everything to get the merge finalized and ready for June, they neglected a key factor in going over the documents they had drawn up and inadvertently signed over the entire company to Hector, not just the position of CEO. Hector now owned Dreki-Viking Enterprise and refused to work with his father and father-in-law to set the situation to how it had been intended. And Hector took his chance to reveal that Karma seemed to be the reason such a thing took place, because of their choices to only think about themselves and they now had to live with what happened.
Hector was serious, firm, and calm in his explanations and he did not care if he ticked off or upset anyone present. It was clear Hector took some enjoyment in calling out his father, father-in-law, even his mom and mother-in-law for their choices. And he ended the entire thing by bringing up where everything started, last June. A year ago when the choice was made to secure the merged contract with the marriage of himself to Astrid. And Hector went off everything since that point to lay into his and Astrid's parents about their decisions being the cause of losing the company they merged together. Hector now stood still, staring at his parents and in-laws after having finished his rant with as the saying goes; Karma only gives you what you deserve. And that was Hector's way of telling them that their selfishness over the business to take their children's ability to choose their own path in life away brought them bad Karma in the form of losing what they had built. In some ways, Hector wasn't wrong; if they hadn't rushed everything, the detail of going over the transfer documents wouldn't have been missed and they would have seen that it wasn't drawn up to reflect what they wanted. And it seemed Hector was extremely unwilling to sit down with them and the company lawyers to fix the error.
Now, everyone was just standing there quietly after what was said. Marcus, Angela, Vivian, and Spencer were probably in the most shock while the rest couldn't do anything. Hector only did, with some extra, what he was asked and explained why he said that he owned the company.
"Now…If you'd like to continue this discussion, I will advise you to call the office and speak with my assistant to set that up. As it stands, my shift was over at 4:30 and as this conversation is business-related, it has no place outside of the workplace and ends here. I don't mix my professional and personal affairs." Hector finally spoke after five minutes of silence. "So with that all settled, what have I missed?" It was like Hector flipped a switch, and he went from angry and stern to calm and smiling in the blink of an eye.
"U-Uh…Not much, brother," Drew spoke up quickly, going over to throw his arm around Hector's shoulders. "We were just getting ready to make dinner! So you're right on time," He grinned.
"Sounds great. I'm starving," Hector nodded. It was clear to the friends what Drew was doing, just trying to settle the awkwardness of Hector arriving and instantly getting into an argument with his dad and father-in-law. In the past, when Hector got into it with his dad, he'd walk away and that would be the end of things because the gathering would be tense and Hector removed himself from situations like that because it meant there would be anger and tension the rest of the time. Drew was trying to pull Hector away from anger by just getting on with the party.
It seemed that Marcus and Spencer, along with Vivian and Angela snapped out of their stupor and were getting ready to speak out about Hector's attitude with them, but Glenn stepped in front of them, hands up and shaking his head. It was the silent but obvious signal for them to just be quiet before they set Hector off again. Glenn led them away, and the other parents went too. The friends just took a deep breath and relaxed. As long as no one brought up what just went down, everything would be fine and this could still potentially be a good day. Rather, evening since it was 5 pm.
. . .
(6:00 pm)
Things were pretty okay after Hector's rant. The parents were all talking in one spot, and the new graduates in another. Everyone enjoyed their dinner of burgers, hot dogs, and chicken. There were some sides too and the snack table was still up and had stuff on it. Everyone was getting along and talking, even Hector was having a good time.
"So what kind of hours are you working now, Hector?" Syrus asked.
Hector shrugged. "I don't know, still working all that out." He admitted honestly. "Not looking to go in ridiculously early, nor get out super late. But I know that can happen depending on what's going on that particular day," He shrugged.
"But do you get to pick your own hours?" Evan questioned.
"Basically, but given where I sit in the company as owner and CEO; I'll end up there a lot," Hector stated.
"A-Am I gonna be there a lot?" Astrid wondered.
"Your schedule won't be changing unless you feel it needs to," Hector informed. "Your shifts now are set to at student hours, so if you want anything to change; that's on you. Just take it up with HR,"
"Can't I just run it by you?" Astrid blinked. "I mean…As the owner, doesn't everything go through you anyway?"
"Owner means I own the company and CEO means I make the final decisions regarding big business aspects. Partners, products, and so on. It's my job to keep everything on track and running smoothly. It's not my job to manage everything, even though that is exactly what I do," Hector mentioned.
"I'm confused…" Roxanne stated.
"Businesses run on what is considered a corporate ladder. Think of it like…A fast-food chain. There is an hourly employee, crew trainer, shift supervisor, manager, general manager, district manager, and so on up to the owner. Businesses work the same way, but way more in between. In fast food, there's always a bunch of restaurants and then a main office," Flynn began. "Each restaurant is a branch of the company. Each branch has employees, trainers, supervisors, managers, and usually one general manager. They are all there to keep that individual branch running. But when you consider the main office, that holds the district manager, who runs all the stores. Then you get into the executive officers, the people who work together to make sure those branches are operating correctly and taking big things to the owner," He explained.
"In this case, Astrid…" Hector sighed. "Something so small as the scheduling of hourly employees is not something I need to do. I have people who work under me in the company branches who are there to handle that. So if you have to change your scheduling availability, you take it to the person who does the scheduling in the Berk branch. It's probably the GM," He mentioned. "The only thing I have to know about regarding branches is how many people work there and that everyone is doing their job. All that gets reported to me through the proper department channels. It's a chain of command, and the only time you would ever need to associate with me at work is if you went through all of the management in your branch, including HR, and also got nowhere with the HR of the main building. If you went through all of that with a problem and still nothing was done to remedy it…Then you come to me."
"Okay…I'm sorry," Astrid looked down a little.
"You're not in trouble and I'm not mad at you. I'm just letting you know how it works, Ast. You are my wife, yes…But I can't give you special treatment at work. Which means you can't have an issue at work and bypass everyone else in the chain and come straight to me." Hector told her calmly.
"So, like…She couldn't come to see you on her lunch break or whatever?" Cassandra inquired.
"That's a different situation. If she's coming to see me to bring me something I asked for, which is unlikely given where she sits as a receptionist for a branch I'm not working in, or perhaps if we planned to have lunch together…That's fine. It would have been pre-planned at home or throughout the day. I'm referring to maybe…I don't know, she and another coworker aren't getting along. She can't just come home from work to tell me that the other person gave her trouble and expect me to pull this person into my office to scold them. Employee problems go through management, and if that doesn't fix anything, then HR." Hector explained lightly.
"What if it was something big that you as the boss and her husband would have to handle?" Heather wondered.
"Such as?" Hector looked at her.
"What about…Another employee hitting her? Verbal disagreement that turned physical? You come home from work and see that she has a mark on her face? Or she tells you about the situation over dinner? You still wouldn't do anything then?" Alexa questioned.
"That's…Still something Astrid could take to HR and they would handle things from there whether it be warning or termination. I would be notified about the situation, but it's still not something I would need to step in on," Hector shrugged.
"And…Asking hypothetically for the sake of knowing when you'd step in…What if Astrid got sexually harassed at work?" Madison asked gently. "Does that still go through management and branch to HR?"
"That one is on the fence because there could be many scenarios to decide if I had to step in. Factors being if it was just the one time, or happened several. Other factors would be if she tells me about it at home, or decided to keep it to herself for the sake of not stressing me out. More reasoning would also fall under if it was verbal or physical." Hector said. "I'd be informed no matter what, but most of these situations don't call for me to personally handle it as boss."
"Okay, on the same example of Astrid being sexually harassed…What would be a situation that you do step in?" Syrus decided to ask.
"I literally just answered that, Sy," Hector sighed. "Even if she worked in the central hub, it doesn't change that protocol is for the employee to go to human resources and report it. From there, depending on factors mentioned before, the person who committed the act would likely end up terminated, or if the employee chose to press charges, the police get called. Again…I would be notified that there was a situation involving my wife at work, and I would make sure everything was handled. That's my job, making sure everything is taken care of and everyone is good." He added.
"Even though she's your wife, you'd have to act professional? You wouldn't immediately leave work, go to and check on her?" Heather stared with wide eyes.
"Just get a phone call that something happened to your wife, ask that things were good, and go back to work?" Alexia sounded offended.
"Okay, no one said that." Hector folded his arms. "Let me put this in a way you'll get…" He paused. "If this situation were to occur, because Astrid is my wife, I would be more involved. But it wouldn't change that she still has to go to HR and I'll tell you why…If Astrid dealt with something like that at work, on the clock and came right to me; it could heavily look like she just didn't like someone at work and went to her husband to get the person fired. This person could turn around and try to sue the company, calling it favoritism and claiming they did nothing wrong. Just clashing personalities and Astrid jumped over everyone with her position as my wife, and got him fired. There would obviously be an investigation and if no reports were filed, courts have ruled in favor of the guilty person. That's a huge financial loss, and it would make the business look bad." Hector explained.
"Guess that makes sense. You said you'd be more involved, so if she went to her manager at Berk branch, they call you?" Evan blinked.
"Because Astrid is my wife and everyone in the company knows it, if someone was fool enough to try anything…As long as Astrid covers her ass by following protocol, there aren't problems. This means that she could jump over her manager and general manager, going right to HR in her branch. Astrid will still have to make a report with them, and they will still have to bring in the person responsible. If Astrid presses charges, authorities are called and the person is placed with security. At this point, police would come, get their statement and take the person away. However…The added step would be that after Astrid speaks to HR about whatever happened and makes the report, I would be immediately notified directly from the branch's HR department. And yes, I would leave the main office to go to her. At that mark of things…My CEO job is making sure HR did their job right, that the report is filled out and dealing with the person who did it. When I arrive at the branch and get to Astrid, I'm no longer there to assert my position as CEO or owner…I'm there as her husband to make sure she's okay." Hector informed.
"Even in a meeting? Or in another town? If you got a call that something happened to Astrid at work, you'd immediately go to her?" TJ inquired.
"The call would go to my assistant as I may not always be at my desk or have my cell phone on me. But he always knows where I am, so if a call reached him that something happened; he informs me and then I go. And it's not like it takes me long to get anywhere on Toothless," Hector chuckled. "These same measures would be considered if Astrid were to get hurt, need a hospital, or whatever."
"Such a caring husband I have," Astrid joked.
"I'd go with attentive," Hector stated calmly. "Because Odin only knows how bad it would look if I didn't immediately come to my wife's side when something happened." He added. "I'm just playing my role because we're in public…" He muttered. Astrid heard it, so did the friends. Toothless bounded over to him and nudged his side. "Hey, bud. What's up?" Hector smiled. Toothless motioned his snout to the saddlebag as Hector opened the zipper and looked inside, feeling vibration and locating his phone. "Bringing me my phone?" Toothless nodded to him. "Thanks, Toothless," Hector rubbed his head and checked the phone as Toothless ran back to be with the other dragons. "Odd…Jason called a few minutes ago,"
"He's your assistant, isn't he?" Flynn questioned.
"Yeah, and there he is again," Hector noticed the incoming call. He slid it to answer and put it to his ear. "Yes, Jay?" Hector said. He listened as Jason talked. "Why did he come to you about time off?" Hector wondered now. "Wait, is this happening right now and he's asking?" He asked. "Odin above." He sighed. "No, that's unacceptable. Make a note for me to deal with that first thing tomorrow morning when I come in, and as for him…Are the documents he has a final draft and ready to be sent?" He listened. "Then tell him I said leave the files with you and to go. Time off request, verbally, approved." Hector stated. "Was that all?" He said after a moment. "Good. Are you on your way out now?" Hector questioned. "No, we can do that tomorrow. Just do me a favor and drop those files off at the Quiets branch on your way home, please?" He asked. "Thank you." Then he pulled the phone down and ended the call before slipping it away into his pocket.
"What was that all about?" Vivian questioned.
"Work things that I'm handling," Hector replied calmly. "Now, shall we get back to the party?" Everyone nodded and went back to what they were doing before Hector got the phone call from his assistant. So far, it seemed the night was going alright and everyone was having a good time. Astrid still had a lot on her mind, but she wasn't going to let it ruin her night. Hector too had a lot going on in his head, but he figured that beyond tonight's party; he would have plenty of time to sort things out. For now, it was best to enjoy things. High school was officially over and they were graduates. Hector didn't know what his friends' plans were, but he knew that tomorrow, he started his first, full-day as owner and CEO of Dreki-Viking Enterprise.
