Chapter 2
The Talk
After arriving at the office, he arranged his laptop on the table, hung up his coat, and went straight to the CEO’s office, which was on the fifth floor of the ten-story office building consisting of glass on the outside. Two companies, Exsee and Exsee C. The Exsee occupied the building, handled the daily and administrative tasks, Exsee C was the primary development and research company, and had limited access only for the C suite; Kron wasn’t one of them. He has never visited the fifth floor, where all C-suite personnel are, and they did not introduce him to the CEO or the CLO. His workplace was on the second floor with other legal associates; they were based in the open office space with other colleagues, such as accounting and HR. After a while, he arrived on the fifth floor, everything around was, how to say it, more expensive - the furniture, technology, and even exclusive products, vitamins seen on every corner. The comfort level was, to say the least, higher than that on the second floor, which had only semi-quality coffee and water vending machines.
After three knocks on the door, Kron spoke, “Hello,” and went through the door to the office of the CEO. Three people - the CEO, CLO, and CHRO occupied the cabinet. The tension in this tight space was suffocating, and all eyes were on him. They were discussing something that Kron shouldn’t hear, and they fell silent after he knocked.
“Come in, and make yourself comfortable,” the CEO said, showing with his hands the couch that was not occupied by either of the present colleagues.
He made his way to the couch, feeling the heaviness of the room, but didn’t let it affect him in any way; only his walk was a little awkward, as he forgot how to make a move further. From the faces around Kron, everyone involved was awaiting the CEO to talk with Kron.
Silence continued for a few seconds, and the CEO stated, “We have a task for you, which will be for a few weeks only, tasks that would need to be focused on. As you can see, we have already informed your direct manager, Kleio Veinstein, who is present with us in this room, and we talked to her. Your colleagues are now handling all your existing tasks.
“Do you have questions about the task to be assigned?” He asked Kron.
“What is this case about? Why is this task assigned to me?” Kron asked the CEO and present colleagues.
“The case is very confidential, and all the information and tasks are in this folder,” he said, pointing at the documents. “Kleio is impressed by your thought process and resolution skills in dealing with legal problems on daily mandatory tasks, and therefore she recommended you to be the primary subject to take over this case.” We have also reviewed other colleagues, but they have skills in other areas, and we have your specific skills on this.”
This was something new for Kron; Kleio had never allowed herself to compliment Kron’s work, nor his attitude. She mostly focused on the areas that needed improvement. Kron was on alert.
He already understood that he couldn’t reject this case. Therefore, the answer was “Yes”. After accepting the proposition, he took the document batch and left the room. The CEO made one last comment: “Please, do not discuss this case with anyone except Kleio. Nobody needs to know. Lastly, we will provide you with everything you need, and you should work from home for a few weeks.”