GREEN STATUS

THE FIRST TEST

7 30 AM Floor 50 Executive Wing

Elma arrived to find Richard’s office door already open He was on a call and waved her in without looking up

You’re on Elma he said covering the phone I need you to handle a client complaint Vendor Y is threatening to pull out of the contract over payment delays Fix it

The call ended before she could ask questions

Vendor Y Elma said Pulling up the file

Richard nodded They handle IT maintenance for floors 30 to 40 We can’t afford to lose them

Elma scanned the notes Payment was delayed 22 days Invoice flagged for overbilling by Procurement They stopped work last week

Richard leaned back That’s the summary Now fix it

Elma nodded and headed to her desk

She started with the invoice Cross referencing it with the contract terms The overbilling was real 18000 dollars for services never rendered But the delay was on Hayes Corp’s end Accounting had sat on the approval for three weeks

By 9 15 AM she had a plan

She called Vendor Y and spoke to the account manager

I’m Elma Okonkwo from the Chairman’s office she said I’ve reviewed your account We owe you for the work you did We don’t owe you for the work you didn’t

There was silence on the line

I’m authorizing payment for the verified amount today Elma continued The overbilling will be removed and we’ll update the contract to prevent this happening again

The manager hesitated That’s not what we were told

That’s what I’m telling you now Elma said Can we get your team back on site by tomorrow

Another pause Then Yes

Elma ended the call and sent the approval to Finance She flagged the contract for review

At 11 00 AM Richard looked up from his desk

Done he said Not a question

Done Elma said Vendor Y is back online Payment sent Contract flagged for revision

Richard nodded That was your first test You passed

Elma sat down and exhaled She hadn’t realized how tense she was

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2 00 PM Floor 50

Elma was in the middle of drafting the new vendor policy when Linda called again

Elma Linda said Lower voice This time it’s not floor 12 It’s HR They’re reopening your old file

Elma froze What do you mean

They’re calling it a compliance review Linda said But I heard Catherine’s lawyer filed something Claiming your USB drive was obtained illegally

Elma’s jaw tightened I had permission from IT

I know Linda said But they’re trying

Elma ended the call and walked straight to Richard’s office

They’re coming for the USB she said

Richard didn’t look surprised I expected it He opened a drawer and pulled out a sealed envelope It’s already handled IT logged your access Legal cleared it If they push this in court they lose

Elma took the envelope Thank you

Don’t thank me Richard said Thank yourself You kept everything clean

Elma nodded and left

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5 30 PM Floor 50

Elma was the last one left again The building was quiet The only sound was the hum of the AC and the soft click of her keyboard

She was finalizing the vendor policy when Nathan walked in

Still here he said

Always Elma said Without looking up

Nathan set a coffee on her desk You did good today

Elma glanced up Vendor Y

And with HR Nathan said I heard what they tried

It won’t work Elma said

No Nathan said It won’t

He sat on the edge of her desk You’re handling this better than most people would

Elma saved the file and closed the laptop Maybe I’m just used to fighting

Nathan smiled You’re good at it

Elma stood up Grabbing her bag Thanks for the coffee

Nathan followed her to the elevator You eating tonight

I should Elma said

Then eat with me Nathan said Not as work As Nathan

Elma hesitated Then nodded Okay

The elevator doors opened and they stepped inside

Outside the city was dark and quiet

Inside Hayes Corp things were still shifting

But for the first time Elma felt like she was the one shifting them