Heart's Dilemma

Project Lead

Chapter 4

Anna Francis reached home late after the gala was wound off. She was very tired. She walked towards the fridge and ate. Before going to bed, she assured herself to be meticulous in all her dealings with the workers and not to be distracted by sparks she witnesses at the gala. She was determined to handle her job professionally.

“Good morning ladies and gentlemen,” Mr Jonathan Peters said. He had just called for a board meeting with Anna Francis also in attendance. “This morning, we are here to discuss the Savvy Tech Initiative. It is a project that would change our company for better and engender a higher financial strength of this company,” he stopped, wanting to see whether they are all listening with rapt attention. He continued, “I have waited a long time thinking hard about who should be Project Lead of this initiative.” He scanned through the eyes of the executives and continued. “After serious thinking, I have decided to appoint Anna Francis to be the Project Lead.”

For view seconds, there was silence in the room. Miss G. Grace, the Chief Operating Officer, Mr R. Richard, the Human Resource Manager and Mr B. Biggs, the Finance Manager were all speechless. They had expected the CEO to appoint any of them as the Project Lead due to their experience and higher number of years spent in the company.

“Anna Francis, how come? She just joined the company in less than a year. Mr Peters, with due respect, she lacks the executive experience to lead a project of this magnitude,” Mr Richard said angrily.

“Yes, she may lack the executive experience but she has a vision about this project which you all fail to demonstrate. Remember that she is the brain behind the proposal of this project. Therefore, I believe she is the right person for this project to lead it,” the CEO responded.

Anna never imagined that the project would lead to this. She had committed all her energy into the proposal. She was extremely happy to hear this good news coming her way.

Anna was short of words. She did not know where to start expressing her gratitude to the CEO. “Thank you so much, Mr Peters for this opportunity. I will not disappoint the company,” she timidly said despite the joy in her.

The meeting was adjourned till further notice and all the executives filed out of the boardroom in disgrace.

In the evening of the following day, the two men among the three executives formed an alliance. They agreed to gather at a club house in the town to discuss the matter.

“This is totally unacceptable. It is never done anywhere in a corporate company that a junior staff member is placed above the executives. It is laughable,” Mr Richard stammered after drinking a bottle of beer.

“You are right, Mr Richard but the CEO had made his decision and there is nothing we can do about it,’’ Mr Biggs answered with a coarse tone.

“Don't say that! There is something we can do. Leave that to me to handle. We will just make sure she fails at the end,” Richard grinned.

As Miss Anna Francis was still in her office late at night, trying to analyse again the project plan, the CEO entered her office standing for some seconds at the door.

When she looked up, she was shocked.

“Mr Peters, I never knew that you were still in the office. I thought you would have left for home. Thank you again for believing in me that I can handle the job. I just hope I will not disappoint you,” she said.

“Well, I just deemed it fit to check you in your office before I go. I know that you are now in the midst of the enemies who are powerful. I know that it is not going to be easy. Therefore, handle the job very professionally,” he said assuringly.

“You remind me of someone I knew some time in the past. Someone that was very dear to me. Just try to get some rest, Anna. There are days ahead of you to executive the project,” he added and left for home.

As he left, she could not understand. She was confused. She thought within herself that there was a meaning attached to his message. She had to be prepared to face any opposition.

As months were running out, she observed that key stakeholders in the project started boycotting the scheduled meetings. She did not understand why. Later, it dawned on her that her proposal had been secretly and mysteriously leaked to the rival company. Also, she noticed that someone had tampered with her system. “Ah somebody is trying to sabotage me,” she screamed.

Immediately, she swung into serious investigation when none of the team members of the project gave an answer about the leaked document.

As she began to dig deeper into the source of the anonymous e-mail on her system, what she found out shocked her. The IP address of the origin of the e-mail was traced to Mr Richard, the Human Resource Manager.

The result of her investigation was immediately made known to the CEO. “You have done well to uncover the truth of this game. However, there is more to this as you realized,” the CEO said.

“What are you driving at?” she asked.

“Miss Grace, Mr Richard and Mr Biggs are the ones playing games with me. You may not understand why I have not taken action against them. You will get to understand later. All you need to do is to focus on the project. You can leave the rest to me to handle,” he replied

Anna was shocked to know that the CEO was aware of the sabotage but did not take action against them to stop them.

As she left his office, she began to feel that she was the one left in the middle of the game. Why would he let the executive sabotage her? What was the game about?

Because she was determined to succeed in the project, everyday and every night, she would scrutinizingly review every detail to make sure that there were no more room for sabotage.

To her surprise, she realized the following day that the news about her incompetence and inexperience had been circulated to all the employees in the company. It was a calculated attempt to distract and discourage her. She suspected Grace, Richard and Biggs of fuelling and peddling the scandal.