She nodded.
“Yes.”
“I thought you were facilities.”
“Yes.”
The answer seemed to frustrate him.
He wanted something he could argue against.
She gave him nothing.
He straightened his jacket.
“If I had known—”
The CEO lifted one hand.
“That sentence is exactly why we are going to have a problem.”
He stopped.
She looked directly at him.
“If you had known I was the CEO, you would have spoken differently.”
“Of course.”
The word escaped before he could reconsider.
The CEO nodded again.
“Thank you.”
He frowned.
“For what?”
“For answering honestly.”
His mouth tightened.
She turned toward the people standing behind him.
“Did anyone here believe I was behaving dangerously?”
Nobody answered.
She waited.
A junior executive shook his head.
“No.”
“Was I yelling?”
“No.”
“Threatening anyone?”
“No.”
“Refusing to work?”
Another assistant spoke softly.
“No.”
The CEO looked toward the vice-chairman.
“Then why was security mentioned?”
He stiffened.
“Because you were insubordinate.”
The word landed heavily.
The CEO’s expression did not change.
“Insubordinate to whom?”
“To me.”
“You were not my supervisor.”
“I was senior leadership.”
“And?”
His jaw tightened.
The CEO continued.
“Facilities employees do not become your personal subordinates simply because your office is above theirs.”
“I was enforcing standards.”
“By kicking equipment toward someone?”
“I moved it.”
“You kicked it.”
“It was not at you.”
The CEO looked down at the brush.
Then back at him.
“I was kneeling beside it.”
He said nothing.
She continued.
“You pointed at me.”
“You told me to stop asking questions.”
“You told me to clean something that was already clean.”
“You threatened to have me removed when I asked whether you normally spoke this way to facilities staff.”
The vice-chairman took a breath.
“The executive floor has standards.”
“I agree.”
That stopped him.
The CEO stepped away from the counter.
“Cleanliness standards.”
“Security standards.”
“Professional standards.”
“I support all three.”
She paused.
“I do not support humiliation as a management technique.”
Behind them, the board secretary looked toward the clock.
Nine minutes until the scheduled board session.
She approached carefully.
“We need to move.”
The CEO nodded.
Then looked toward the vice-chairman.
“You’re coming.”
His eyebrows rose.
“You still want me in the board meeting?”
“Yes.”
He seemed almost relieved.
The relief disappeared when she added:
“And everyone who witnessed what just happened is coming for the first fifteen minutes.”
The communications director blinked.
“Everyone?”
The CEO looked at her.
“Yes.”
The vice-chairman stepped forward.
“That is unnecessary.”
The CEO turned back.
“Why?”
“This was an internal misunderstanding.”
“No.”
“It was a public interaction inside the company.”
“We can handle it privately.”
The CEO considered him for a moment.
“You had no concern about privacy when you believed I cleaned bathrooms.”