EPISODE 60

I looked at Bosco and I realized that I was sneering at him.  I could feel my eyes squint and my lips turn upward into a grimace.  "It sounds like I’m getting a pay cut, right?" I taunted.

"Calm down, Michael!" Bosco admonished.  "You need to hear Keith out on this."

"Fine!" I said angrily and I turned back to face Keith.  He was still in front of his desk, his hands folded near his waist.  He had been looking down at them and he slowly raised his head to meet my gaze.

"Okay, Michael," Keith continued.  "I understand that all of this comes as a bit of a surprise, but you have to understand that while it was great that you closed all of these new accounts, we would likely have gotten them anyway."

"How do you figure that?" I barked.

"Jesus!  They were all low-lying fruit! All we're trying to do is give you a little direction, show you where we want new territories opened up.  This is a hell of an opportunity for you.  You will have exclusivity.  No one else will be allowed to mine the leads in the part of the country we're giving you.  You’ll have the chance to really make a difference in this company.  I know you’ve worked hard, Michael and I respect that you guard your client list.  Bosco warned me that you’d be a bit ‘hostile’ to this whole idea.  I also realize that you were promised the commissions on the income stream from each of the new clients you signed up for the first year, but things have changed.  If you’re not going to be maintaining those accounts, you can’t expect me to pay you for work you’re no longer actually doing.”

“I see,” I replied.  “So I set things up for you and then you welsh on the deal we made?”

“I think that’s a bit harsh.  You’ve made some pretty good money from those accounts already and you never expected that you’d get paid on them forever, did you?”

“I had hoped you might make good on them for the first year.”

“Really?” Keith said.

Now I was really ticked off.  I could feel the fury building up inside me.  In some perverse way, there's something I've always liked about that sensation.  You know that if you give in to it that it will just have to escape and you will explode with rage.  That release is a self-destructive orgasm.  It's also not something you want to engage in all that often either (no matter how perversely good it might feel), particularly not when you're speaking with the nice man who signs all of your checks.  But I was gradually listening less and less to the trained salesman inside me that Bosco had helped to nurture, that guy who could tune out when a client ragged on him without ever making a sound in response.  No, my outwardly calm and inwardly detached persona, the one who could isolate a concern with a question and then turn an objection into an affirmation was drowning.  My own self-pity and my growing hostility toward Keith for what I saw he was doing to me began to take control.  I felt like I was overheating and discovered that I was indeed sweating. 

“Yes, Keith!” I said, my voice rising.  “I seriously expected you to keep your word to me.  My deal was very clear as to how long I was to be paid on the business I brought in and I see no reason why you shouldn’t live up to your part.”

“Sure, Michael.  But we’re changing your job description.  Those accounts don’t belong to you anymore.  I’ve already told you that we can’t pay you for maintaining accounts that you no longer manage.”

“You’ve already reassigned them?”

Keith looked at Bosco quickly and then, back at me.  “That’s right,” he said.

“Fuck you, Keith!”  I practically spat the words at him.

“Now, Michael!” Bosco scolded.  “You can’t say that.”

“I sure as hell can!” I replied angrily.  “And I can say ‘Fuck you’ to you too Bosco if you had anything to do with this.”

“No it wasn’t Bosco,” Keith said quickly.  “Richard and I have been looking at the numbers and we can’t afford to pay you what we estimate will be your commissions over the coming year.”

“What in the hell are you talking about?” My voice was shaking a bit.  “I bring the money to you and you pay me my share. Are you saying you don’t have the money I gave you anymore?”

“Of course not!  Jesus, Michael!  Stop making this so hard on everybody!”

“Then explain to me why you can’t pay me.”

Keith stepped away from the front of his desk and walked behind it.  He slowly sat down in his chair and then leaned forward.  “Because you’re making too much money.  Do you realize that you’re pulling in more in commissions than anyone else here?  I have salespeople who’ve been with the company for 5, 10, 15 years now and they don’t get paid what you do.  You’ve only been working with us for what, a year and a half maybe?  I can’t have my sales staff grumbling about what you’re making all the time.  It’s hurting morale.  I want a happy crew and right now, they’re jealous of you. You’re the only person that I’ve ever paid to sell marketing media. Like I said, everyone else packages the media sales in with their product deals and they don’t make anything extra on it.  Something had to give, Michael.”

“Keith?” I asked, almost whispering.  “How do they know what I’m being paid?”

“What do you mean?”

“Who told them what I’ve been making?”

Bosco turned to me and put his hand on my shoulder.  “Don’t push this Michael.  Remember where your bread is buttered.”

I jerked away from him and exploded.  “Who uses a bullshit phrase like that?  What are you, my grandfather?  Some asshole has been telling people what my salary and commissions are and that’s completely fucked!  It’s supposed to be confidential!  Why the hell am I being asked to pay for the fact that some dipshit in bookkeeping, or sales, or maybe even someone in fucking management has seen fit to leak this?”

I stood up.  Both Keith and Bosco hurried to their feet, Bosco placing himself in front of the desk, blocking my way.  I took a look at the two of them and laughed derisively.

“What did you think was going to happen, Bosco?” I said.  “You figured I was going to hit Keith?  Really?  Either one of you guys could take me out, easy as shit.  That’s not what this is about.”

I pulled a slip of paper out of my pocket, reached around Bosco and snatched a pen from Keith’s desk.  I quickly jotted some numbers down and then placed the paper on the desk.  “That’s how much money this conversation has cost me, Keith.  I’ve had it.  If you need me for anything, I’ll be in my office.”

I took the stairs down to my floor, so as to avoid running into anyone.  I was in a foul mood and I didn’t want to vent anymore than I already had in front of Keith and Bosco.  I couldn’t even handle George, who likely would have slept through the entire ride to my floor anyway.  Even though the walk had helped me calm down, I needed to get my mind off this mess.  I sat down at my desk and opened the drawer on the left hand side that always held a bottle of Ron del Barrilito 3-Star rum.  I poured a healthy serving into an empty coffee mug, returned the bottle to its drawer and took a long, slow swallow. I looked out my window onto the street and wondered how long I could stay holed up in my office before anyone would bother me.   Before I could take another belt, the phone rang. 

It was Bosco.

The next episode of SlipNot will be published on October 20th.

If you'd like to read SlipNot in its entirety, GO HERE.