Chapter 9: Confident and fiesty.

GIOVANNI.

"I thought they weren't supposed to know that I'm going to be here? Why are they running helter skelter then?" I questioned my personal assistant, Judy.

"Well sir, news like this is easy to get out and someone must have seen us go up the elevator and circulated the news. It's hard to hide sir." She replied while I just scoffed and rolled my eyes.

We came down through each floor, checking on each department as they all greeted way too jovially. I was not satisfied with everything I saw so far. The arrangements, unorganizations and all, I was definitely changing all of that.

We finally got to the last floor of the building which was the retail store and the one rumored to be the most unorganized one ever. I honestly hope I get to fire some people so I can let new authentic workers in, hence why I instructed them not to let anyone know because I wanted to catch them all in their element but that has just been ruined. However, things like that can't be hidden for long so I'm sure they will make mistakes very soon.

"Good morning sir." The workers all chorused all lined up horizontally, some had way too much makeup done and buttons opened but I just decided to ignore. I immediately noticed the same lady from earlier amidst them, my eyes unconsciously went to her feet and I was not surprised to see that she was in slippers. She looked quite uncomfortable as she tried to hide in between two other ladies as if she as hoping not to be seen at all. A brief smile crossed my lips as I could only wonder how she expected to fit into the crowd when her body and beauty is literally screaming 'look at me.'

A man who I'd assumed to be the head of the department stepped forward, "Welcome to our department sir, we are so glad to meet you and we hope you have a good time here in our branch." He said.

"Well, I'm pretty sure I didn't come here to just have a good time, I'm here to refurbish since you all aren't doing your jobs properly." I said accusively.

"Not this department sir, we always try our best, I've been working for this branch for over six years now and I've done way better than my predecessors in managing this floor."

"Really, you won't be the judge of that, I will. And your coworkers will be the one to tell me that. So who wants to say a thing or two, are there any problems or issues you have been facing in this department?" I questioned, as they all started to look at eachother as if wondering if they should even make a sound.

I sighed, getting frustrated by this act of them all not wanting to say a thing or even contribute.

"I would like you all to know that I won't be able to proffer solutions if you do not tender your problems. So it would actually be in your own best interest to let it all out, it'll help our productivity which will in turn help the company." I said as I looked straight at who I was now unconsciously calling Beauty, she wiggled her toes in response.

"Uhm..."

Finally, some red head decided to speak, she was one of the associates with extra makeup and too little clothes.

"Yes?" I urged on.

"Sir, there's no problem at all in this department, Sam has been taking very good care of us all. He treats us like his siblings and relates so well with us, he's also strict when he needs to be." She concluded, batting her eyelashes more times than necessary.

Everything about her screamed lies. It was just so obvious that all she said was not true.

"Do you all agree with what she said?" I asked further as the others started to whisper amongst eachother before majority of them decided to just nod in return.

I was on the verge of increasing the tempo of my voice when I heard a voice speak, it was Beauty.

"Uhm, Sir. I'd like to say something contrary to what they both said."

"Good, go ahead."

"Sir, first of all, we have a lot of problems in this department, most of which stems from the boss sir."

"Which boss?" I questioned.

"I mean the head of this floor sir. Sam has been frustrating most of us for years now. There are issues like favoritism, harassment, overworking and unnecessary unfairness." She stated very confidently as I almost felt like urging her on by clapping as loudly as I could but instead just calmly told her to buttress her points.

"Alright sir. I would like you to know that this man has harassed me sexually for years, he keeps pestering me about sex telling me to give him that in exchange for some work related favors..."

"Why are you lying..." the boss interrupted as I immediately held my hands up to shut him up.

"Let her finish, you'll have your turn and you can counter her then." I simply stated as I even my hand at her to continue speaking.

"And I'm very sure it's not just me, thats for a fact. Another thing is he chooses to let certain people here do whatever they like simply because they are together or something. For instance, there's a particular worker that shows up for her shift at least thirty minutes later than when her shift starts and she does it almost everytime yet not once has she been queried talk more of corrected. Might I also add that this isn't the case for others who aren't this special coworker, we get queried for as little as not cleaning a spot properly."

At this point, most of the other workers were already nodding in agreement to everything she was saying, intentionally or unconsciously, she continued, "Also, I don't know if this is from him alone or some kind of instruction passed from bosses above him but sir why should customers always be right? We get looked down day by day, we get insulted and all and do you want to know who Sam supports each time, well, unless it involves his favorite by the way? Sir, he supports the customers even when they go too far and are actually the ones who did wrong. I was recently insulted by a customer who accused me of flashing my boobs at her boyfriend even though her man was actually the one who kept looking at me funny. Sam had to tell me that I was the one at fault nonetheless without even bothering to check the CCTV for the truth. I'd like to say that customers should be able to get put in check too instead of just licking their asses just because they are here to spend thousands of dollars."

More nodding of heads followed.

"Also sir, there's the issue of making it compulsory for us to wear heels even though our job includes standing and moving up and down for hours. Why should heels be compulsory sir, why should we as ladies have to suffer leg pain every single day just because we have a job? There are various options, there are flat shoes and sandals, we should be able to wear those. Not everyone is comfortable with heels, that should be put in check."

"We should probably stop her now cos she seems to have so much to say, people like her see issues with every little thing." Judy whispered to me as I immediately turned to glare at her.

"If those are little things then you have all been running this company in the wrong way for years." I replied her sternly.

"Go ahead, uh.. what's your name?" I directed to Beauty who had stopped talking due to Judy's interruption.

"Kiki sir." Finally, a name to the face, I thought.

"Sir, I would also like to point out the issue of overworking. I've brought that up to our boss several times which he always dismissed. We get overworked day in day out in this department, I don't see any reason why we are so short staffed, it's not as if being short staffed gets us more pay, we get paid peanuts yet we get overworked, some of us even have to work overtime sometimes and whenever we complain about these things, we get dismissed rudely without solutions. And lastly but definitely not the least is the issue of having us buy some items like the company's t-shirts at ridiculous prices despite the discounts and even making it compulsory. These clothes are so expensive yet they don't even last so much, it's like getting ripped, I don't even get it. I hope the company puts everything into consideration, this toxic work environment affects us a lot and we hope to have a friendly environment. Once this is done, you are sure to see a good improvement in productivity, I assure you. Thank you very much for giving me the audience to speak what is on every one of our minds today sir, it was way overdue."

To say I was so surprised at her confidence and outspoken behavior will be an understatement, I was flabbergasted. This is exactly what I need, someone who isn't afraid to say the truth at all no matter the pressure and circumstance. I then faced the head of the department as he struggled to even look me in the eyes, "So, uhm Sam? What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Its all a lie sir..." he started as I interrupted him immediately.

"Oh, so all the workers are lying and you're the only one saying the truth?"

"All the workers?" He questioned as he looked around him confused.

Looks like someone is about to be investigated.