Oh Thank God 6/28/24

William Darcy stared at the numbers on his tablet. Wow! These looked too good to be true. But, since they came from his CFO, he was inclined to believe them. She never fudged numbers. She was never anything but brutally honest with her interpretations. He knew he could trust her judgment.

It was getting late in the day, most of the staff had gone home and he decided just to walk over to her office to have her verify what he was looking at. He smiled as he thought of her. The bright spot in his day most of the time. She had been hired six months ago after a head hunter brought her to his attention. They had been looking for a CFO who could help Pemberley Inc. keep all their varied industries working as a cohesive unit. She had turned around Longbourn Capital in two years and did the same with Netherfield Properties just as quickly. When she was asked why she was jumping ship, she inferred that she was bored. Of course she didn't say it that way, but he could read between the lines of her business jargon.

When she had walked through the door for her final interview, the point where he got involved, he was stunned. This was what the buzz was all about? His COO had gone on and on about her. She was smart, savvy, knew her way around a spreadsheet. What he didn't mention was that she was beautiful. Not in a 5 foot 10, blond bombshell way. No, not at all. She was 5 foot 2, maybe 110 soaking wet, with chestnut curls that seemed to have a life of their own. But her smile. Oh goodness, her smile. It took all his will power to plaster a professional look on his face and complete the interview. A mere formality at this point.

The door was closed to Miss Bennet's office so he gave a perfunctory knock and opened the door. "Are these numbers real?" he said on his way through the door frame. He stopped.

Elizabeth Bennet, CFO of Pemberley Inc. was sitting at her desk bawling her eyes out. Her head snapped up as he entered and she quickly reached for a tissue.

"Sorry," William said. "I'm sorry, I should have waited for an answer when I knocked. Forgive me."

"No, no problem at all," she said as she furiously wiped her eyes. "How can I help?"

"No, how can I help you?" he replied. "What's wrong? Are you well? Is something wrong with your family? Something here at work that I can help with?"

"No, nothing is wrong. I was just, um, just, um. I should have waited until I got home. Sorry about being a watering pot. Now, what can I help you with?"

"That can wait. Come, let us talk." He motioned her over to the comfy chairs in her office. "Something is definitely wrong. I have never seen you come apart like this. In the six months you've worked for Pemberley, you have been a rock. The person everyone else goes to with their problems. Now spill." William said gently.

"I can't." she said, wringing the tissue in her hand. "It would be inappropriate."

"How so?" he asked. "What could be inappropriate for a CEO to discuss with his CFO? Are you having problems with someone here? Is someone not treating you well here? I promise, I can help."

"That's not the problem at all. It is fine. I can handle it on my own. I have to handle this on my own." Elizabeth replied.

"I don't doubt that you can handle just about anything, Miss Bennet. But something has you upset. Please, let me help." he unconsciously had reached over and taken her hand. She looked up at him when he did that. He quickly pulled his hand away and apologized.

He continued to try to get to the bottom of what upset her. "Is there a problem with any of your staff? Are any of the officers making your life difficult? The Colonel? Bingley? Collins?" She had no response. "Me?" Her eyes froze on him, then quickly looked away.

"Please, tell me what's bothering you. What can I do to help?"

"There is nothing you can do about this. I just need to sort it out in my head and get over it." She looked so sad when she uttered the last line.

"Get over what? Is there someone here that is giving you unease? Has someone said something inappropriate to you? I won't allow it. I can fix it. That's what CEOs do, fix things."

"You can't fix this. I work here. I like my job. This is my problem to fix."

He thought they were getting closer to the truth. "Do I need to involve HR?"

"No!" she almost shouted as she looked in his eyes, then she looked down. "No, there is nothing that HR needs to be involved with. I've read the employee manual. There are rules for the good of the company. Just let it go please."

"No. I will not just let it go." He wracked his brain trying to figure out why she referred to the employee manual. There were all sorts of rules about employee conduct. Then it hit him. There was a section of the manual concerning interpersonal relationships, the infamous Section 15B that was the brunt of jokes in the office. If someone made an off color joke, someone else was bound to quip "I'm gonna file a Form 15B on that!"

"Do you need to file a Form 15B?" he said light heartedly, hoping she would either laugh or open up about what was going on.

She would not look at him. "No. Nothing has happened. You don't have to worry about that. Nothing is going to happen." She looked up at him and she looked very sad.

Now he was worried. She was trying to deflect his questions, but something was bothering her and he meant to get to the bottom of it. Could it be that there was someone in the company that she took a liking to, but was unwilling to bring that up? There was a section in the employee manual covering that also, section 15A. Dating someone from the company was not prohibited, but HR wanted to make sure that no one was being harassed or being taken advantage of. As long as both people were happy, HR stayed out if it. That could be what she meant by inappropriate. Or at least awkward. Oh, he hoped not. He so very much hoped that she wasn't forming an attachment to one of the other officers.

"Is there someone in the company that, um" he didn't know how to ask the question that popped into his mind. He couldn't ask her directly. He thought through the principle players in the office. Could one of them be the object of her thoughts?

"Has the Colonel been too overt with his banter? He can be kind of crude." he asked. He thought she liked the Colonel, the COO, his cousin who was his other 'right hand man' besides her.

She waved her hand, "No, the Colonel is harmless. I think he sometimes forgets that he's not back at the Officers club holding court with the Lieutenants. Don't worry about him, he doesn't offend me. We get along fine."

"Bingley? I know he's a bit exuberant, but if he has said anything inappropriate, I can talk to him about it."

She laughed. "Did you know he is dating my sister? He's a lot of fun, but he has never said anything inappropriate to me. He wouldn't dare; I would sic my sister on him. Now, his sister... Oh never mind."

"Has Collins been bothering you? I know he's a bit much, but he has a brain for PR, loquacious as he is." The look on her face was one of mortification.

"Ewww!" was all she said.

"So, that leaves me. Have I done something to offend you?" she did not reply.

"Miss Bennet." she looked up at him. "Have I done something to offend you?"

She was looking very nervous. "No, of course not. You have always been the perfect gentleman to me. You are the last person I would ever file a 15B on." She tried to smile, but she just looked very sad.

It struck him like a lightning bolt. Could he hope? Was HE her problem? He knew that she would never approach him if she felt anything for him. She would consider it to be unprofessional and inappropriate. He thought back over the times they spent together. They had a good rapport, he thought. There were a lot of meetings with just the two of them, working on reports for the board and solving financial issues. He had enjoyed them. His thoughts wandered to her perfume. Um, maybe he enjoyed them too much.

He often had to remind himself that she was his employee and anything between them would be, um, complicated. But that didn't mean he wouldn't like to pursue something with her. He had never interpreted her smiles and friendliness as anything other than her being a kind person, but maybe he was wrong. He never had thought she paid him any special attention, other than the deference she felt for him as her direct boss, but now he was unsure.

Now what? How does a CEO ask his CFO out on a date? Whoa there. Don't get the cart in front of the horse. He couldn't even be sure that they were discussing the same problem.

"Miss Bennet." She looked up at him. "I want you to be truthful."

"Yes sir."

"Promise?"

"Of course."

"Am I your problem?"

She was silent for a moment. Then she looked down and softly said. "Yes."

"Oh thank God!" was his response. Her head snapped up and they locked eyes.

"I was afraid that you had fallen in love with the Colonel, or Bingley. I was afraid that there was someone else who held your attention."

"No sir. There isn't someone else. That's why I was crying. I didn't know what to do. My feelings had been coming on so gradually that I was in deep before I even noticed it. It has been hard. Every day, trying to keep it together. After the meeting with you this afternoon, I just couldn't do it anymore. I should have gone home. I apologize for my unprofessional display."

"No, I apologize for barging into your office, unannounced. This is your office, you should have privacy here if you desire it." he paused. "But, I can't regret barging into your office today. I am glad we can finally talk about this."

"Finally? What do you mean?" she asked.

"What I mean is," he paused to get his thoughts together. "It has been hard for me too. I almost asked you out to dinner last week when we both worked late on the quarterly report for the board. But, I didn't know if you would have wanted to. I didn't want you to think that I expected you to do anything after hours just because I was your boss. That would be inappropriate."

They both looked at each other with questions in their eyes.

"Now what?" she asked quietly.

"Now, I think I will have a little talk with HR tomorrow to make sure everything is done above board. I think that I will suggest that you report directly to The Colonel. He would do your performance reviews, things like that. They will want to talk to you too, to make sure you are okay with wherever we go with this. I don't want things to get awkward between us."

"Thank you. I am also glad you barged into my office. I feel a lot better with this out in the air between us. I had been thinking about giving my notice."

"No! Don't do that. No matter what happens between us in the future, I need you here as CFO. You saved our bacon on that last fiasco with the board."

"Alright boss." She paused. "It's getting late, I should get home. My sister worries about me working in the big city. She doesn't like that I take the train when it gets late at night."

"Let me give you a ride home."

"That's not necessary."

"Of course it isn't, you're a big girl. But I would like to. Nothing wrong with a boss giving his right hand a ride home after a long day."

"Thank you." she said quietly as she picked up her coat and purse.

"I think I will have a little chat with the Colonel before I go to HR tomorrow. Somehow, based on little comments he has made recently, I don't think he will be much surprised."

"Oh!" Elizabeth said with surprise. "Oh, goodness, now some of his comments make a lot more sense. He saw it before we did." she buried her face in her palms. "How will I ever face him again!" she said as the elevator doors closed behind them.

The End.