Immediate.
Not excuse.
Important.
Jim looked toward Derek.
“Why did you pour the drink?”
Derek opened his mouth.
No answer survived.
Samantha tried:
“Mr. Reynolds, she was claiming she had an appointment with you.”
Jim looked toward her.
“She did.”
Silence.
Samantha’s face collapsed.
Jim continued:
“I made the appointment.”
Derek stared.
“You…”
Jim’s voice remained calm.
“I scheduled it yesterday.”
Derek looked toward the computer.
Then Jenna.
Then Wendy.
The appointment had always been real.
That realization alone might have been survivable.
The next one would not be.
Jim looked toward the gathering employees.
Then Wendy.
He hesitated.
Wendy saw the question.
Reveal now?
The public announcement had been scheduled for noon.
This was not the plan.
She nodded once.
Jim turned toward the lobby.
“Everyone.”
His voice carried naturally.
Conversations stopped across the entire space.
Employees near elevator banks turned.
A group entering through revolving doors paused.
Jim placed one hand gently against Wendy’s upper back.
“This is Wendy Anderson.”
Derek looked as though the name should mean something.
It still did not.
Jim continued:
“Seven weeks ago, our board unanimously selected her to become the next chief executive officer of JR Enterprises.”
The world inside the lobby seemed to stop.
No laughter.
No elevator noise seemed loud enough to matter.
Samantha covered her mouth.
Jenna’s eyes widened.
Michael closed his eyes.
Derek simply stared.
Jim continued:
“The announcement was scheduled for noon.”
He looked toward Wendy.
“Apparently we’re slightly early.”
A few people almost smiled.
Nobody dared laugh.
Derek shook his head.
“No.”
Not denial exactly.
Shock.
“This…”
He looked at Wendy.
“You’re the CEO?”
Wendy corrected:
“Incoming CEO until noon.”
Jim said:
“Not anymore.”
Wendy looked over.
He smiled without humor.
“Consider yourself early.”
Eleanor Shaw stepped forward.
The board chair.
“Wendy’s appointment is effective immediately.”
Helen Park, the general counsel, looked toward Derek.
Then toward the phone still recording on the counter.
“Preserve that recording.”
Derek’s face went white.
Wendy said:
“All recordings.”
Samantha looked toward her own phone.
Wendy saw.
“Yes.”
“Yours too.”
Samantha swallowed.
Jim looked at Derek.
“What happened before I walked in?”
Derek started:
“Sir—”
Wendy interrupted.
“No.”
Everyone looked at her.
She removed Jim’s jacket carefully from her shoulders and held it closed around herself anyway.
“I’ll explain later.”
Jim frowned.
“Wendy.”
“I want the observation preserved.”
“Not converted into performance because everyone now knows who I am.”
Jim understood.
He stepped back.
Wendy turned toward Derek.
His face had changed completely.
The arrogance vanished.
His shoulders were smaller.