Page 15 of Miss Treated

“She’s your father’s sister?”

“No. Sister-in-law. My mother’s older sister. She’s been in charge of accounting the last twenty-odd years and, as you could see, is very protective of her department.”

“What did she say to you in the other language?”

I could lie but wouldn’t. “It was Italian, and she complained about your inexperience.”

“How did you respond?”

“I told her she was out of line.” My grandmother was full Italian, and as kids we’d been expected to learn the language. “It was rude, even for her.”

She stopped typing and regarded me. “I wasn’t the only one she was rude to.”

“Yeah, well, it’s no secret how I got my job.”

“The same could be said about how she got her job.”

Good point. I’d never thought of it that way, probably because while Sophia was an excellent accountant, I had no experience.

“Does your mother work here too?”

“No. She stopped helping my father once the business got bigger and she had us kids. Now she does a lot of charity work.”

“If your aunt and father don’t get along, why does she continue to work here?”

I took a seat, contemplating her question. “They respect one another. My aunt helped grow the business back in the early days. There’s something to be said about showing loyalty to those who were with my father before the company became profitable. It’s not as if she needs the money, but she enjoys having a separate career from my uncle.”

“What does he do?”

“He’s in commercial real estate. My cousin works for him, so as you can see, we are a family of family businesses.”

“I have what I need for the rest of this week, but on Monday, I’ll probably request your help to facilitate the meetings with the accounting leads.”

“Anything you need. Unless it’s tequila. I’ve learned HR frowns upon shots before noon.”

Her lips tipped up in a smile. “Good to know.”

“I’ll let you get back to it.” I realized it would take more than an intermediary when it came to my aunt. I needed to explain the situation to my father.

On Thursday morning I did just that, walking in for our daily morning meeting.

“How did the meeting with the tech director go yesterday?” he started out.

“Great. We’ve signed the contract for a new project management system which will allow us to look at the progress of all of our internal projects.” There was nothing more frustrating to a COO than to have no measurable way of tracking a project or its progress to completion. I hoped this new adoption would paint a picture of the time spent on projects and if we needed to add resources.

“Good. How about the meeting with HR?”

“I’m working with the director on revamping the yearly review process.”

“Why?” My father hated the idea of change.

“Because it’s time. The system is antiquated, employees don’t do self-evaluations, and managers have had little to no training on what constitutes a thorough review.”

His eyes narrowed. “Did Gabe put you up to this?”

It was a compliment to hear my suggestion was something my older brother would have recommended. But it was also a dig reminding me that my dad didn’t think I could have come up with it on my own. “No. It was my idea after going through the current process.”

“Fine. But I want to see it and approve it before it goes out.”