Now, Emily liked to think of herself as a sensible person. She wore flat shoes to work in a company where stilletos were the norm because she did not like her chances of staying on her feet in anything that took her heels off the ground. She took public transport to work, because even though she had enough money saved to buy a car of her own. She knew that she would not be able to afford the maintenance costs.
Those were not the actions of a person who often took a leave of their senses. But somehow, all of the sensible logic. That common sense, had taken a nose dive right out of the window when Emily had seen Derek facing down the angry crowd with only a flare gun on him. She had somehow found herself standing next to him, her voice coming out calm and strong. The exact opposite of how she was feeling.
But somehow, what they had said had worked. The crowd had calmed enough to allow for there to be more talking, and less chances of them being beaten to death. A turn of events that had been great news for Emily and Derek, but some of the reporters had looked as though they had been robbed of the chance to watch a great show. Which was why Emily had not bothered to hide her cheery smile when the vultures'd had to stop right outside the factory gates. Unable to go forward since they would be trespassing.
But now they were finally within the solar panel plant and it was time to get down to business. When Derek had been planning his speech, he had made it thinking that he would be talking to just a few of the bosses and doing so in a small office. But now things had changed, rather than going somewhere private, they were led to the plant's cafeteria, and given seats up front.
The lady who had introduced herself as Brenda, turned out to be Brenda Jones, the worker chosen to represent all the others. As far as people went, Emily like Brenda Jones within just a few minutes of knowing her.
Steady. As solid as a rock, that was the best way that Emily could describe her.
There were no sugar-coated words with her. There was no unnecessary pomp and drama. She did not string them along, and she also did not try to rile up the people. She had things that she wanted to say, and she got straight to the point and said them. Years in corporate, at the heart of it all at Haven Group headquarters, had almost made Emily forget that such no nonsense people still existed.
It was refreshing to see, and looking over at Derek, despite his cold mask, she could tell the he too appreciated the older woman's frank nature. They did not come across people who spoke their minds often enough.
When Derek stood to address the workers, he left his phone with her. To the plant workers, it might not have seemed like anything significant, but for Emily it meant a whole lot. Leaving his phone behind was a big risk. It meant that Derek would not be saying something that he had rehearsed. It meant that he would be speaking from the heart.
When he reached the temporary stage, which was really just a stack of crates, his eyes sought hers.
' Are you sure?' She silently asked.
'Trust me,' His eyes said, and Emily gave him a thumbs up, he could do this. A smile, so brief only she caught it, flashed across his face. In the next moment he was as serious as always, his eyes on the crowd.
"Good evening," He called, and got only a few mumbled replies in return.
"I take it all of you are here tonight because you fear for your futures as employees of Haven Group," This time, the replies were more enthusiastic.
"I am the CEO of Haven Group, and under my leadership, a serious error was made. The message that all of you received should have never been created, let alone sent. I am deeply sorry, that it caused you distress…" He began, and Emily was reminded of why she had so much faith in the man.
It was such a small thing, starting with an apology. But not many leaders would do that, let alone mean every word they said.
"…Haven Group will ensure that nothing written in that communication will ever come to pass," Someone from the crowd, a tall young man, who introduced himself as Scott raised his hand. At Derek's acknowledgement he spoke his piece.
"Does that mean you won't be making us turn snitch on each other?" That got a few laughs and even a small smile from Derek.
"Yes, Mr Scott, there will be no need for 'snitching'" He said, and moved on to the next person. This time it was a middle aged woman named Rebecca.
"What about the issue of our productivity? How can we be sure that at some point in the future, say next year, you won't decide to fire all of us and bring in machines. We have seen it happen in other companies, why should we trust that the same will not happen here?" And Rebecca was absolutely right to ask. The board had been pushing for that for a while, but what the other woman did not know was that Derek was vehemently against such a move, and that each time it was brought up, he fought tooth and nail until the issue was dropped.
"Haven Group appreciates the work that machines do, and their productivity. But we also know of the irreplaceable value of the human touch. Which is why, so long as I am the Chief Executive Officer, you need not worry about being replaced. In fact, to thank you all for your hard work, you will be getting a little extra something along with your regular salaries,"
With that announcement, there was no longer talking that could be done. The crowd went wild.
"Haven! Haven! Haven!" They cheered, and once again Emily and Derek's eyes met. This time they smiled freely at each other.
Victory, at last.