a drink?” she asked from her kitchen. “Is this going to be a long lecture?”
“I’m not here to lecture you,” I said.
I sat down at the kitchen table and felt something sticky. I got up and moved to a different seat. I rubbed at the sticky part on my hand.
“Oh shit,” she muttered. “We had pancakes this morning.”
She ripped off a paper towel, got it wet and then handed it to me. “Thanks,” I said and wiped away the sticky stuff.
She cleaned off the table and then came back to sit down. “All right, you’re here. Why?”
“I wanted to talk about the letter you left,” I said.
“It was a resignation letter,” she said.
“Yes and that’s what I want to discuss.”
“There’s nothing to discuss. I quit. I’m sorry I couldn’t give you a full two-week notice, but it became critical that I leave. I explained that to you.”
“I need you back at the company,” I stated.
“No.”
“You’re not being reasonable,” I said.
She rolled her eyes. “You’re not being reasonable. I quit. You can’t just tell me I have to go back.”
“It’s a job you love.”
“Used to love,” she corrected. “I don’t want to work there anymore.”
“Are you angling for a pay raise?”
She slowly shook her head. “Nope. I don’t work there.”
“Why would you walk away from the firm I know you loved? From your people, as you called them.”
She leaned forward. “I didn’t walk away from them. I walked away from you.”
That was kind of harsh. “It’s a job,” I shot back.
“It was a little more than a job to me. It is more than a job to the people that work there.”
“Then we’ll pretend this didn’t happen,” I said. “You can come back tomorrow.”
She looked at me with frustration. “Are you out of your mind? No. I quit. I will not work for you. Your management style is atrocious. You managed to turn a successful company on its head in a matter of weeks. That is one very special talent. Not a talent I admire, but a talent nonetheless.”
“I might have made some decisions that you didn’t appreciate, but that does not mean they were bad decisions.”
“In your opinion,” she shot back.
“You can run the business,” I offered. “I will leave the daily decisions to you. My hands are full, and I don’t have the time to handle the stuff at the tax firm.”
“You should hire someone to run it for you,” she said with a smile.
“I have someone that runs it. You.”
“No. You don’t have me. I don’t work for you. I gave you plenty of opportunities to pull back, but you didn’t listen. You know it’s only a matter of time before the others leave.”
I shot her a hard look. “Are you trying to convince them to quit?”
“I haven’t spoken to any of them.”
“You know you want the job,” I said with a hint of disgust.
“No, I wanted the job. I liked the job. Then you bought the company.”
“I am making improvements,” I said. “You might not be able to appreciate the changes, but they are for the best. They will make the company run smoother. Profits will increase. The firm will grow.”
“Congrats,” she said in a snide tone. “Sounds like you don’t need me.”
“No one has to know you tried to quit,” I told her. “I haven’t discussed it with anyone at the office. You’ll come back and nobody will know.”
“No, I won’t go back.”
She was being extra stubborn. “Are you asking me for a raise?”
“No. I’m not asking for you anything. I don’t want anything from you.”
I couldn’t believe she was being so damn ridiculous. I was sitting in her house and it was pretty clear she wasn’t wealthy. Then it hit me. “You’ve got another job!” I accused. “That’s why you quit! Who? Who poached you?”
“No one poached me,” she said with disgust. “You’re paranoid.”
“I’m not paranoid. Did you go to another firm?”
“That’s none of your business,” she shot back.
“What are they paying you?” I asked. “I’ll match it.”
She shook her head. “No thanks.”
“So, you are working somewhere else?”
“No, I’m not. I don’t have a job. I will not work for you. I do not and will not work in an office you own. And seriously, I feel like I’m reading a Dr. Seuss book. Are you really so used to people doing whatever you ask?”
“I am used to that, yes, but that’s not what I think this is,” I said. “No one else can do that job like you did. You know you are the