Rising (Anderson Special Ops #2) - Melody Anne Page 0,93
was a joke of a position for someone who was in the middle of starting his second company when the call to join the special operations came in. In the real world, Green would go toe-to-toe in a boardroom or a battlefield, but in the position he currently had, he had to act as if he didn’t know anything about business. It drove him to the precipice of ripping out his well-maintained hair.
Over the weekend Green’s boss had asked him to come in and help with an unscheduled unloading of almost four hundred Conex trailers. That was nothing more than a mission for Green, but the kid boss loved every minute of his job — or more accurately loved being a lord over his minions. It was very difficult for Green not to punch him in the face. The kid was a pampered, know-less-than-nothing, mid-twenty-year-old kid of one of the big bosses upstairs. His arrogance grated on every nerve in Green’s body, and he needed the weekends to get away from his whiny voice. A man could only be responsible for so long before he snapped — and Green might snap.
“That jackass actually asked the IT department to shut down our computers so we could learn to do it the old school way and do all of the billing and inventory on paper,” Green moaned. “Thankfully the IT department supervisor isn’t an idiot and told his boss, who told his boss, who told the kid’s dad. Daddy wasn’t happy with him and told the kid to stop being a f’ing idiot and do what he’s supposed to do.”
Chad smiled at the sight of Green tensing as he talked about the kid boss. It was funny to see any of the men become so frustrated with peons. Chad himself had known some of the same frustrations but had been brought back to reality by knowing how many people were never taught excellence, let alone were able to achieve it.
Those at the tip of the pyramid were a small fraction for a reason. While a lot of individuals wanted to join the top, they were aware it didn’t happen for all, or even most of humanity. It didn’t mean there weren’t frustrations with others, but knowing they could only pull people so far before making them be responsible for their own forward movement was a must. The more Green was involved in these missions, the more he learned about the average, everyday Joe out there. He’d been at the top so long, he’d forgotten what it looked like from down below.
“That being said, I’ve made inroads with a few of the workers on site, and I’ve been able to get into a few meetings that only senior level managers normally attend. Of course, I chatted them up just enough to remember me, but not be super impressed or leave negative impressions,” Green finished.
“That isn’t all, Green,” Eyes reminded him when he went silent.
“Oh yeah,” Green said. “I joined the company’s political action committee. It’s made up of mostly executives and front-office peeps, but I paid my initiation dues and signed up. Last week there was a meeting where invitations were being sold to a fundraising gala put on by Senator Anna Miller. It’s happening tonight. Yes, the same senator who was with Damien Whitfield at the veteran’s center. And, before you ask, we checked and confirmed; Damien will be in attendance. I signed myself and Smoke up to attend at ten thousand dollars a ticket,” he said, as if a little disgusted. He didn’t do many political donations on his own dollar because he was blown away when people paid that much to attend an event for politics. Maybe all politicians were dirty. People paid those prices because they expected to get something out of it. It disgusted him, and he didn’t think it should be allowed.
“I told Green that having him or me there would raise a flag since both the senator and Damien met us at the veteran’s center. I told him to take Smoke. We’ll have to be careful to not let Damien see us all together or he might realize we’re trailing him,” Eyes said.
“That was good thinking,” Chad told them then smiled as he slapped his hand down on the table. He was excited. “This is great. There will be a lot of heavy hitters at the event, some very deep pockets for sure. All of those fundraisers bring out people wanting to use their money to