The COO & The CEO
465 Words
Day 1 with Victor Hale as COO.
It was a disaster.
“Your first order as CEO?” he said, dropping a stack of files on my desk at 7:03AM. “Fire half of accounting. They were loyal to your father.”
I didn’t look up. “No.”
“Excuse me?”
“You don’t get to come in and burn my company down on day one,” I said. “We audit. Then we decide.”
Victor leaned on my desk. Gray suit. No tie today. Annoying. “Audit takes weeks. We have 72 hours before those three firms move again.”
“Then we work fast,” I said. “Not reckless.”
He stared. “You’re not like other CEOs.”
“You’re not like other COOs,” I said. “You’re still here.”
We both knew why. He wanted to see me fall. I wanted to see if he’d help me stand.
At 9PM, we were still in the boardroom. Empty coffee cups. Red eyes.
“Your father buried debt in three shell companies,” Victor said, pointing. “Here. Here. And here.”
I took the pen from him. Our fingers brushed. Neither of us moved.
“Victor,” I said. “Why did you really take the job?”
He didn’t answer for a long time. Then: “Because at the steakhouse, you didn’t cry.”
I looked up.
“Everyone cries,” he said. “Even billionaires. You just… signed. And walked out.”
“That’s not a reason to follow me.”
“No,” he said. “It’s a reason not to let you drown alone.”
The room went quiet. Not corporate quiet. Real quiet.
My phone buzzed.
*Alert: Unknown number. _Lexa. It’s your mother. Please call.*_
I deleted it.
Victor saw. “You don’t have to—”
“I don’t,” I said. “Not anymore.”
He nodded. Then slid a file to me. “Last thing. For tomorrow.”
_Proposal: Hale & DeMarco – Joint Venture. 50/50._
I frowned. “You want to merge?”
“I want to make you untouchable,” he said. “And I want in.”
Not just the company.
The word hung between us.
I stood. “I’ll read it. Alone.”
He stood too. “Lexa.”
I stopped at the door.
“If you say no,” he said, “I leave. If you say yes… I stay.”
I didn’t turn around. “Then go home, COO. I’ll decide by 8AM.”
The door closed behind me.
Alone in my office, I opened the file.
50/50. His name next to mine. On everything.
For the first time since Bench Four…
I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be alone anymore.
- Writer
