Chapter 10: The Empty Office
Arthur arrived at his downtown office building at nine-thirty. The lobby was quiet, smelling of floor wax and freshly printed paper. As he rode the elevator to the fourteenth floor, he rehearsed his explanation for his department head, Mr. Henderson—a man who valued punctuality above almost all other virtues.
When Arthur pushed open the heavy glass door to the compliance division, he found his desk buried under a stack of unfiled compliance folders. Henderson was standing by the corner window, looking out over the grey expanse of the morning skyline. He didn't turn around when Arthur walked in.
"You missed the executive review yesterday afternoon, Arthur," Henderson said, his voice dry and devoid of inflection.
"I had a family emergency, Mr. Henderson," Arthur said, hanging his suit jacket on the coat tree by the door. "An urgent situation involving my brother that required my immediate presence."
Henderson turned slowly, his sharp grey eyes assessing Arthur from behind wire-rimmed glasses. "Your brother’s name has come up in this department before, hasn't it? Three years ago, when we did the internal audit on the municipal archives contract?"
Arthur froze, his hand still resting on the back of his chair. "That was a personal matter. It had nothing to do with my work here."
"Everything is connected in compliance, Arthur," Henderson said, walking slowly toward his desk and picking up a blue folder. "When a man’s personal life is in a state of perpetual crisis, his attention tends to wander. The quarterly report that was supposed to be on my desk yesterday morning contained three significant accounting discrepancies in the municipal grant allocations."
Arthur swallowed hard. "I can fix those by this afternoon. I'll stay late."
"No," Henderson said softly, closing the folder with a definitive snap. "You won't be staying late today, Arthur. In fact, I think you need to take the rest of the week off to sort out your personal affairs."
May you like
Arthur stared at him in disbelief. "Are you suspending me?"
"I’m giving you time to decide where your priorities lie," Henderson said, his tone unwavering. "This firm requires absolute focus. If you cannot give us that focus because you are constantly running interference for family members who refuse to abide by the rules, then perhaps this isn't the right environment for you."
