Chapter 6 - The Shutdown
Two minutes later, Greg returned, carrying a velvet-lined wooden box containing the master keys and digital authorization cards for The Meridian Room. His hands shook so violently the keys clinked loudly inside the box.
Julian took the box, set it on the table, and opened his suit jacket. He pulled out a sleek silver pen and a stack of printed legal documents.
He turned to face Charles Price.
“Charles,” Julian said flatly. “Effective at seven o'clock tonight, your employment as Senior Vice President of Calder Hospitality Group is terminated for gross ethical violations, corporate misconduct, and breach of fiduciary responsibility.”
Charles gasped, staggering back a step. “Julian! You can't do this! I’ve been with this company for eighteen years! I own four percent of the subsidiary voting stock!”
“And according to paragraph twelve of your executive contract,” Julian replied smoothly, flipping to a highlighted page on his document, “the board retains the immediate right to buy back all subsidiary stock at base value in the event of an executive termination for cause involving reputational damage.”
Julian signed the page with a swift, sharp stroke of his pen and slid it across the table.
“Your company car has already been cleared out by corporate security,” Julian added, looking Charles dead in the eye. “Your access badge to the headquarters building was deactivated twenty minutes ago. You have until eight tomorrow morning to clear your personal items from your desk under security supervision.”
“Julian, please!” Charles begged, sweat rolling down his face as his entire life broke apart in seconds. “My daughter made a mistake! Don't ruin my career over a stupid argument with a waitress!”
“She didn't make a mistake, Charles,” Julian said softly. “She revealed what you taught her. And I will not have my family’s name associated with people who view humanity through a balance sheet.”
Julian then turned his gaze onto Vanessa. She shrank back under his look, tears of humiliation finally spilling over her mascara.
“As for you, Ms. Price,” Julian continued, “your family’s executive dining privileges across all seventeen Calder properties are permanently revoked. If you ever set foot inside a Calder venue again and harass an employee or a guest, I will personally file an injunction for trespass and public nuisance.”
Vanessa covered her mouth with her hands, letting out a stifled sob, before grabbing her coat and fleeing through the front doors of the restaurant into the cold rain. Her father stood frozen for five seconds, looking at Julian, then at Arthur, before hanging his head in absolute defeat and shuffling out behind his daughter.
The restaurant was dead silent.
The staff along the wall stood frozen in terror, wondering whose turn was next.
Julian turned his attention to Greg Holloway.
“Mr. Holloway,” Julian said.
Greg fell to his knees right there on the parquet floor, his hands clasped together in pathetic supplication. “Mr. Calder! Please! I have three children! I was just trying to protect the restaurant’s revenue! Ms. Price threatened to call her father! I didn't know what to do!”
“You knew exactly what to do, Holloway,” Julian said, looking down at him with cold disdain. “You were presented with a choice between protecting an innocent customer or bowing to money. You chose money. You stripped a dedicated employee of her apron because she possessed the integrity you lacked.”
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Julian picked up the master key box from the table.
“You are fired, Greg,” Julian said smoothly. “And as of seven fifteen tonight, The Meridian Room is officially closed.”
