67- Truly Bittersweet

“Aww…” Tears misted my eyes. “He really did let me get away with way too much. And then he would call me—“
She chorused it with me. “My winkle star.” I laugh again.
She places her hand on her waist. “Then Mom would say, it’s twinkle star Byron! Ugh, she was so irritated.”
“I know,” I squeal, tears in my eyes. “But then he would ignore everyone and say to me, ‘winkles get over here, recite that poem for me again,’ and then I would do a whole performance.”
“Damn. I hated you both,” however she quickly corrects herself and lifts her gaze to the ceiling. “I mean I love you Daddy. She was the problem. Still is.” She says pointing at me.
“Hey!” I exclaim.
She blows me a kiss and returns to the kitchen.
Our reminiscing however continues to bring a ton of memories to mind. “Remember when you called me Bla instead of Blair for a whole year?”
She chuckles as she stirs the soup on the stove, and so did I.

“You were so mean.” I wipe the tears from my eyes. “You were like thirteen then right?” she asks.
“Yes, and you were twenty-one. You were too mean.” “You deserved it. You were too bratty.”
“True,” I agree, and pull her blanket over my frame to dream of my dad that literally had stars in his eyes every single time he laid eyes on me.
My sigh is heavy as my eyes sting with tears one again. I truly miss him.
And what a truly bittersweet day it has been.


’m reviewing our security culture framework when I hear the voices beyond my door. The sounds are muffled so I can’t hear a single word until the door is slightly pushed open.
“You failed the test? A mere baseline test?”
I lift my gaze from my screen as silence fills both rooms. Allen still has my door slightly ajar, his intention to come in completely halted by the news he has just received. I hear her soft voice mumble some form of a response, and a low laugh rumbles from his throat.
My door is left ajar as he goes back out to the reception to speak to her, but I don’t miss her haste in coming over to close it shut. I’m not sure though if it’s because she doesn’t want me to be disturbed, or if it’s because she feels shame at the progressing conversation.
More muffled laughter follows from beyond the door, before it is eventually pulled open once again. Allen walks in with eyes sparkling with amusement, and shuts it behind him. “Do you know about this?” he asks in a lowered tone.
My brows furrow with partial disinterest, especially since I can already guess what the jesting is all about. “About what?”
“That Blair failed the simulated phishing test? The fact that she works in one of the biggest Cybersecurity companies in the country and she’s your secretary makes it a hundred times funnier and tragic.”
“You hired her,” I respond, although I feel a slight prick at my conscience for the indirect jab at her abilities.
“Are you saying that I erred in choosing her?” “Erred? Really?”
He takes his seat. “What can I say? I am ah, sophisti-cat.”

Despite the difficulty, I’m somehow able to hold back my smile at his rendition of Theodore Bagwell. I return my gaze to my screen, but I do however consider the question.
Before I can reply, he slams a folder on my desk. “Four hundred and thirty two new corporate accounts and more than eighty percent of these are from the conference you two attended last week.”
I meet his gaze. “And?”
“She had a hand in that by suggesting the email spyware demo. Previously your headlined speeches have only had at most, a sixty-five percent conversion rate but this time around, it shattered our five year history, because of her suggestion.”
I take my hands off my keyboard and lean back into my chair. “So the point you’re making is that I’m not a good salesman?”
“Oh, you are.” He smiles, enjoying himself a bit too much in my opinion. “But you have to acknowledge that even though she failed the phishing test, her value to the company is already gaining traction and she’s only been here like what? Two weeks?” His grin is wide and his bearing pompous.
I don’t want to talk about her, especially with Allen because things are sure to be dragged into murky waters. I can’t help but shake my head. “Where did you get these numbers from?”
He scoffs. “Of course, David handed them to me to process. I know you’re aware of the math, so how can all of this be brought in without my involvement?”
He is right but I don’t foster his already untamable ego.
“All in all, you have to admit that she is a great hire and this brings me to the main reason why I’m here. Vasiliev just called.”
At the mention of the CEO of the biggest digital solutions provider in the country, my attention is completely seized. “What does she have to do with Vasiliev?”
“Well first of all, the Vasiliev that called is not Harold Vasiliev, but the chairman himself, Sasha. Apparently, their VP was at the Breckenridge event last week and after your keynote address, he returned to them bearing good tidings. They want to sign with us, but his father still has a stick up his ass, so he wants to meet with you first.”
I take a few moments of silence to process all the information. “Who did he call? And why wasn’t it immediately forwarded to my office?”
“I have no clue. Your secretary should know the answer to this.”

The inefficiency bothers me immensely, so I immediately pick up the intercom phone. “Blair, why didn’t the call from Cognizant come directly to my office?”
The line goes completely silent, so it’s clear to me then that she is probably not even aware of whom Cognizant is. “Fix this,” I say and end the call.
“Could you be a bit more polite when you speak to her?”
This commentary completely takes me by surprise. At first, I feel concern that my curtness to her borderlines on rude but when I realize just how much anxiety this concern stirs inside of me, I immediately check myself. My irritation is then directed at Allen. “Are you kidding me? Is this kindergarten?”
“No, sir,” Allen replies with a smile, completely unfazed.
I wonder how he almost always remains so carefree. I have only ever seen him gloomy once, and that was when his father passed away. At the time, it had immensely worried me that his loss would keep him in that state permanently but thankfully he had bounced back. Thus, I have learned to appreciate his cheer as a part of who he is, where once I used to be somewhat irritated.
I’m about to return to work when I realize that he still has not answered my question so I repeat it, “What does Vasiliev have to do with her?”
“Oh, that. I just thought to bring up the idea that perhaps you should allow her to play a major role in this one. Sasha is notorious for being especially difficult when he’s dealing with men, but I hear that when women are involved, he folds like a cheap chair.