Up and Down the Corporate Ladder

by Zoe Storm

After his parents die unexpectedly, Cameron has to take the helm of his family's multi-billion company, Samson Enterprises, and he's soon informed of a shocking fact: a significant amount of money, several million pounds, in fact, is missing from the accounts.

And so, Cameron steps out of his comfort zone and into the high-heeled shoes of a mid-level secretary at his own company, to try and find who's been embezzling from Samson Enterprises.

Walking as quickly as I could in my heels, I followed Leon Duncan, Chief Financial Officer of Samson Enterprises, as he strode huffing and puffing out of the elevator and through the lobby of the executive offices.

He walked briskly in front of the desk behind which Eleni sat; Eleni gave a start of surprise, and then started to stand up. “Mr. Duncan!” she exclaimed. “I’m sorry, Mr. Duncan, but Mrs. Phillips is in a meeting. Please take a seat and–” she began.

“Mrs. Phillips will see me now,” Duncan said, pushing open the door to the CEO’s office and storming in. “Lara!” he bellowed.

Lara Phillips, Acting Chief Executive Officer, stopped mid-conversation – she’d apparently been talking to two investors, whom I recognised as two of my late father’s business partners – and turned her head to look at him. “Leon?” she asked, raising an eyebrow in our general direction, which was joined by a second eyebrow when she spotted me trailing behind him. “Can I do something for you?”

“I demand you fire her!” Duncan said, half-turning to point at me.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Phillips, but–” Eleni began, but stopped when Phillips raised a hand.

“Will you excuse us, gentlemen?” Phillips said. “It appears something needs my attention. We’ll resume shortly.”

The two men nodded, stood up from their chairs, and filed out of the room. “Not you, Eleni,” Phillips said, when the secretary started to walk out, too. “We probably need a witness for this.” She gestured to the recently-vacated chairs in front of her desk. “Take a seat, Leon. And you too,” she added. She smiled in amusement as I sat down, being careful to smooth my skirt, cross my legs at the ankle, and keep my knees together, like I’d been taught to do.

Eleni took up position beside me and looked down at me worriedly as Phillips nodded.

“Alright then. Care to tell me what’s all this about?” she asked.

Duncan nodded, and I could see his rage had subsided a bit – but he was still red in the face. “This b– This girl,” he said, stabbing an accusing finger towards me, “has slapped me. She dared slap me. Me!” He took a deep breath, and let it out in a hiss: “Fire her. I demand you fire her.”

“I see,” Phillips said, and she turned her eyes to me. “Do you have anything to say in your defence, Audrey?” she asked with a smirk.

I looked up at her and gulped.

Lara Phillips. Right-hand woman of my father Elmer Samson, CEO and president of Samson Enterprises, she’d taken me under her wing upon his untimely death, and now sat in the chair which, as my father’s heir, was rightfully mine: through her plotting and scheming, she’d been responsible for me having taken a ‘leave of absence’ from my position as CEO and she’d instead found me a place in the company’s secretarial pool.

I licked my lips.

I nodded.

“Yes, I do have something to say,” I replied.

And I thought about the events which had brought me there. About how everything had begun.