A Talk with the Boss

Tigress walked in, closing the door behind her. She noticed Po's desk still had a ton of papers but it was organized. The panda rounded his desk and stood with his hands in his pockets. He wasn't smiling like usual, making Tigress narrow her eyes with suspicion. "I see you cleaned up your desk," she said, attempting polite talk.

"I'm learning," Po sighed shortly. "Tigress, why do you hate me?"

Her eyes shot wide open. "What? I don't-"

"Tigress, you and I both know that what you're about to say is a lie," Po firmly stated.

"What makes you think I hate you?"

"The fake smiles, the whispers, the sharp deep breaths you do whenever you're trying your hardest not to snap my neck in half, your conversations with Song-"

"You were eavesdropping?!"

"I was getting my lunch and you two said my name. I didn't want to intrude."

"And yet you did," Tigress grumbled, crossing her arms.

"Hey, I'm not the one being questioned. Just tell me the truth. Why do you hate me?"

"No, I don't hate you."

"Then why the whole fake routine? You never do that."

The tiger gritted her teeth as a small growl exited her mouth. "Okay, okay. You want to know why? Honestly, I don't hate you. I hate the fact that you're in the position that I've been working for so long to get! I've been in this same position for three years working hard to get the position you now sit in!" Tigress came closer to the desk, standing two feet away from Po's face. "And then there's you. You who's only been here for 9 months and already took that position from me. Why?! Is it because I'm a woman?"

"I... I don't-"

"I know you wouldn't know! Oogway's the only person that has that information," Tigress quickly said. "But it's the simple fact that you're not qualified or even meant for this job, Po. You don't know what you're doing half the time, and if I'm being honest, it feels like I have to do all of your work. A leader should have some idea of what he's doing so he's not completely blindsided by literally everything!"

"I'm trying my best," Po argued.

"And yet, your best isn't good enough for this position," Tigress practically growled, "This company doesn't need your best, it needs competence."

"Well I didn't want this job in the first place! But I wasn't going to turn it down!"

"Why not?"

"It's complicated."

"Give me the short version."

"To...To shut up people around me." He softly said.

"You... you took this job because you needed your ego stroked?!"

"What? No! I just... ugh." The panda plopped into his chair. "Look, I didn't want this job. But I'm here now. And I need help. Your help. So you can drop the act of liking me especially when you don't. I don't need fake smiles. I already have enough of that. I need someone that's honest. Unfortunately, you're the closest person I've got, much to your annoyance."

"Why are you asking me this?"

Po leaned back in his office chair, looking at the ceiling for a moment. He gave a long sigh, "I've seen... sides of this company that I really don't like. Sides I can't unsee and things I can't trust. The more I see, the more I'm starting to understand why Oogway suddenly left."

Tigress's eyes widened. She assumed that Oogway's departure was because of age. He had been working at Zainan for 40+ years. "What does that have to do with anything?" She asked.

"There are a lot of major things that's hurting our productivity. And other things," Po groaned loudly, "And it's obvious now that Oogway didn't have the strength to deal with them while he was here. So the burden falls on me as the new CEO." The panda stood up and gave Tigress a low even stare. "Look, I don't need you to like me. What I need is help. I am sorry for taking this job away from you. If I could give it to you, I would, but not right now. You're right. I'm not a good leader, I'm not qualified for this job. But I'm all you've got, okay?"

Po rubbed his eyes. Tigress couldn't help noticing the redness in his jade eyes. "So let's try our best to be professional about this. You can hate me all you want, but I need your honest help. You're the most qualified person to help me right now. But I don't need politeness or fake smiles. I need honesty from you, okay?"

"Why me?"

Po let out a deep breath of air. "Because you hating me is the one thing that I can trust in this company right now. I know that at the very least you are not going to trick me right now. And you're brutally honest. That's why."

Tigress said nothing, but her head churned. Willingly working with someone who you knew didn't like you was a weird power move. And a desperate one. If Po was willing to be allies with an enemy, what did he know about the company to make this play? Just how much did Oogway hide from everyone?

"Until I can get things back on track," Po continued, "I need your help. I'll try my best not to be in your fur, but I need your honesty, not your 'professional smiles'." He stretched out his hand. "Do we have a deal?"

Tigress pursed her lips a bit. She slowly grabbed his hand and shook it. "Deal."

"Good. I really need it. That will be all." Tigress quietly left the office and returned to her seat. She gave a small puff of air.

Whether Po intended it or not, the discussion was therapeutic for her. She got her frustrations out. Additionally, she didn't have to keep acting around Po. Something that she honestly couldn't say was true of Oogway. Tigress shook her head. She couldn't think about that right now. Why Po did this at all was troubling her more. What exactly did Oogway forget to tell them? She remembered what Lei Lei said.

Maybe you're supposed to be there.

She grunted a bit, shaking her head. That couldn't be the reason. And even if it was, why now? And why with someone like Po? Sighing, the tiger filed the issue under 'can't deal with that now' in her brain.

There was a lot of work to do.

Continued...