Миранда Джеймс - No Cats Allowed

Lisa Krause stood. “We’re with you, Charlie.” She glanced around the room. “I think I speak for all of us when I say we’re happy to have someone who actually knows how to run a library in charge.”

That brought a round of enthusiastic applause, and I did my best not to blush. This kind of attention always made me squirm.

“Thank you all,” I said. “I appreciate your support. I’d like to ask the department heads to remain with me for a few minutes, but everyone else is free to go.”

They began to file out quickly, until only Lisa Krause, Delbert Winston, and Cassandra Brownley remained with me. I pulled out a chair and turned it to face them. Normally there would have been a fourth department head, for serials and electronic resources, but that position was vacant. These three people constituted my management team, and I hoped we could work well together. Only Cassandra really concerned me, because she was always difficult about everything.

I had been aware of her baleful gaze the entire time I spoke to the staff, and I braced myself for whatever it was she was practically bursting to say to me.

“Cassandra, do you have any concerns you’d like to share?” I asked.

She stood, pushing back her chair so hard it knocked over another one. “ Public librarian . ” She managed to load both venom and contempt into those two words. “What do you know about running an academic library?” She stalked out of the room without waiting for a response.

TWENTY-FOUR

Cassandra’s unpleasant behavior disconcerted me. I’d had no idea of the depth of her animosity toward me, nor did I understand the reason for it.

Lisa and Delbert exchanged an uneasy glance. Lisa said, “She’s bitter, Charlie. She’s been here for twenty years and, in her mind anyway, she keeps getting passed over for promotion. Apparently she applied for the director’s job when Peter was hired and obviously didn’t get it. Then, a few years ago, when Peter decided to appoint an associate director, he hired from outside. She never forgave him for that.”

“When the associate director left”—Delbert took up the thread—“the year after you came, I think it was, Charlie, she thought Peter would promote her then. But he decided not to fill the position because of budget issues. Of course, when Peter left so suddenly, she thought she’d be named the interim director.”

“She’s been nursing these grievances for years,” Lisa said. “I don’t think it’s really personal. She wouldn’t be happy with anybody in the position, because it’s not her who’s in it.” She shook her head. “The problem is, she can’t see that she isn’t being promoted because she doesn’t have the right people skills to be a manager at that level.”

“We’ve had problems with turnover in her department for years,” Delbert said. “Her staff doesn’t like her, and she’s rude to them all the time.”

“If she’s so unhappy here, why hasn’t she looked for another job?” I asked. “She might stand a better chance elsewhere.”

Delbert emitted a short bark of laughter. “She has looked, even gone for a few interviews, but nobody else will hire her. Can you imagine that she’s any more pleasant when she interviews than she is on a daily basis here?” He grimaced. “She just doesn’t get it.”

“Thank you for the background information,” I said. “I’m going to have to talk to her about her behavior, and it’s good to know the history. Now, on to other matters. I need to get up to speed on what’s going on in your departments. What I’d like is to have a meeting with each of you, separately, to go over your budgets, any personnel issues you might have, and discuss any concerns you and your staff have. I want to understand the workflow in your areas, too, so information on that will be helpful. This is the end of the week, and I’m not expecting you to pull everything together today. How about Wednesday?”

“That’s fine with me,” Lisa said. Delbert nodded.

“Excellent,” I said. “If you will, e-mail Melba and set up a time. I don’t know offhand what my schedule might be for Wednesday, but she will get it sorted out. Now, before we get back to work, is there anything you’d like to ask?”

“How detailed do you want the budget information to be?” Delbert asked. “I mean, I’ve got spreadsheets like you wouldn’t believe, thanks to Reilly, who wanted the same information presented seventeen different ways.” He snorted. “I think he did it just to be difficult.”

Lisa nodded. “I’ve never spent so much time on a budget in my life.”

Was Reilly being purposely difficult? I wondered. Or was he hoping to find discrepancies, evidence of financial malfeasance? I kept those thoughts to myself when I answered.

“I’d like to see your most recent figures, with expenses to date for the year, plus, let’s say, the last three years. Can you pull that together by Wednesday?”

Both Lisa and Delbert nodded.

“Thanks very much.” I rose. “I know that, with your help, we’ll get through the next few months in good fashion. I’ll be on the search committee for the new director, and I’m hopeful we’ll find someone outstanding.”

“That would be a nice change,” Delbert said. “See you later.” He loped off, and Lisa, after a quick smile, followed him out of the room.

I stared at the wall for a moment. I didn’t relish my next task, but I couldn’t put it off. I had to talk to Cassandra and let her know I was not going to tolerate her behavior. I had dealt with recalcitrant employees before, and though I didn’t like confrontations, I also wouldn’t shrink from one, especially in cases like this.

I picked up my briefcase and wended my way through the public areas to the staff-only section in the southeast corner of the building. The librarians’ offices formed a row against the outside wall. The wall of each office facing the common area was floor-to-ceiling glass, and that allowed the occupants to see the activity in the staff cubicles and work areas. I spotted Cassandra, phone to her ear, and I headed for her office. I smiled and greeted staff members as I passed.

I knocked on Cassandra’s closed door, then opened it without waiting for an invitation to enter. I was determined to have the upper hand and keep it. If this action put her off balance, all the better.

Cassandra glared when I walked in.

“I’ll have to call you back,” she said, then hung up the phone.

I stopped in front of her desk and stared down at her.

“Forrest Wyatt asked me to serve as interim director of this library,” I said. “I agreed to do it, and however long I hold this position, I expect complete cooperation from every single staff member in the library. I will not tolerate anything else, and I will not tolerate the kind of behavior you exhibited a few minutes ago. If there are any further incidents like that, then you and I will be sitting down with Penny Sisson in HR and deciding what action to take. I will be going through all the personnel files and examining performance appraisals, staff turnover, and budgets in minute detail. I will not tolerate any obstacles.”

Cassandra looked shell-shocked, and I had to wonder whether anyone had ever stood up to her bullying behavior. I doubted Peter had. He shrank from confrontation much more than I did and was inclined to let problems fester until they became worse. I wasn’t fond of confrontation, either, but in my management roles in Houston I’d had to be tough on occasion.

“I will be meeting with you on Wednesday to go over your budget, your staff, and any ongoing issues in your department that need attention. Please e-mail Melba to arrange a time. I don’t know yet what my schedule for that day will be, but I expect to see your appointment with me on it by the end of the day. Is that clear?”