“You’re still going to fire me.”
“I told you what happens next.”
“Review.”
“Yes.”
“And if there are other complaints?”
“Then the review will show them.”
He looked toward Victor.
Victor finally spoke.
“There are others.”
Elliot stared.
“What?”
Victor’s face carried regret.
“Not formal.”
“What does that mean?”
“Notes.”
“Client feedback.”
“Two junior associates requested not to shadow you because they felt uncomfortable with how you screened walk-ins.”
Elliot looked betrayed.
“Why was I never told?”
Victor answered quietly:
“You were.”
“When?”
“Three years ago.”
“That was about conversion rates.”
“It was about assumptions.”
“You turned it into conversion rates.”
Elliot stood.
“This is unbelievable.”
Naomi did not react.
He paced once.
“I’ve made this company millions.”
Victor said:
“Yes.”
“I built relationships with half the major collectors on the East Coast.”
“Yes.”
“I took calls at two in the morning.”
“Yes.”
“I flew to Geneva with twelve hours’ notice.”
“Yes.”
“I saved the Van Houten account.”
“Yes.”
Elliot looked toward Naomi.
“And none of that matters?”
Naomi answered:
“It all matters.”
He stopped.
She continued.
“So does this.”
The sentence quieted him.
“You do not lose credit for good work because you did something harmful.”
“You also do not erase harm by presenting a résumé.”
Elliot slowly sat again.
Naomi looked toward Victor.
“That principle applies to ownership too.”
Victor knew immediately.
“You’re asking why I tolerated it.”
“Yes.”
He rubbed his thumb along the edge of the velvet case.
“Because he was profitable.”
Silence.
Victor continued.
“And because I told myself he was difficult, not discriminatory.”
Elliot looked toward him sharply.
Victor did not retract it.
“I had language available that protected me from examining what was happening.”
Naomi nodded.
“That is what I found in the personnel file.”
Victor looked ashamed.
“Selective interpersonal style.”
“Yes.”
“I wrote that.”
“I know.”
He exhaled.
“I should have written what I actually meant.”
“What did you actually mean?”
Victor looked toward Elliot.
Then Naomi.
“He respected people after he decided they were valuable.”
Nobody spoke.
Victor continued.
“And I let revenue substitute for character.”