I sighed. I had hoped Nash would change his mind. “Mr. Aarons said he was going to make some changes,” I said.
“Changes?” I heard someone else say. I was drawing a crowd in the center of our cubicle maze.
“Guys, I have a meeting. I promise I will get into this when I get back. For now, just try and focus on the work.”
“He took the Keurig,” Arthur complained. “I had to wait several minutes and brew coffee.”
“I’m sorry. We all have to accept there are going to be changes coming and we aren’t going to like them all. I’m doing what I can, but this is out of my control. I promise I will talk to him and see if we can come to some kind of compromise.”
“Is he a former warden?” someone muttered.
I didn’t laugh, but I had the same opinion of his rather strict ways of running a business. “I’ll work on it, guys,” I said. “Please just try and stay focused. We can’t lose sight of the bigger picture here, which is our clients that are counting on us. We hold their futures in our hands. They don’t deserve to suffer because we are having some struggles here.”
They didn’t look happy but there was little I could do about it. I left the office and took my first breath of fresh air. It was silly, but the cubicles made the office feel stifled, like the air changed. I was going to burn sage or have some kind of exorcism to get rid of the bad juju.
I caught a cab to the business I was courting. I would worry about the office environment when I got back. No matter what Nash thought of my abilities to lead my team, I knew I was good at my job. I was almost solely responsible for bringing in new clients. People trusted me. I capitalized on my girl next door looks and used my years of experience to reel them in. I was proud of our stellar client rating.
When I arrived at the electronics store, I was quickly escorted to a suite of offices above the flagship store. There was music blaring from somewhere down the hall. It wasn’t good music. It was noise.
“You must be Saige,” a portly man said with a wide smile. “I’m Hal, the owner of this very loud business. I’m sorry, I’m not sure what’s going on. I’m sure someone is testing some equipment. Come into my office.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Hal,” I said with a friendly smile. “It’s a little like walking into a candy store downstairs. I can never bring my son here. He’d have me buying every gadget and gizmo you sell.”
He laughed and walked into a very large office with a window that faced the street. “We do try to appeal to the youngsters. Honestly, they are our targets. They are the ones that convince mom and dad they need the latest toys on the market.”
“And they probably have to show mom and dad how to use said toys.” I laughed.
“Have a seat please.”
“Thank you,” I said and took a seat on the comfortable couch in his office.
“Can I get you some water? Coffee?”
“Water would be nice.”
He opened a minifridge and pulled out two bottles of water. “It’s warm today,” he commented. “I think we’re in for a hot one.”
“I think it is going to be an early summer and I’m not sad,” I replied. The small talk was part of the pitch. I could make small talk all day. Whatever it took to put the client at ease. After all, they had to trust me to handle their money. That was a big ask and I wanted my clients to feel comfortable talking to me.
“I appreciate you coming to my office,” he said. “I know you’re probably up to your eyeballs in tax forms and panicking clients.”
I laughed. “We do have some worried clients, but I always tell them we’ve got it handled and we always do.”
He nodded as he leaned back in his chair. “I’ve heard that about your company. I’ve found myself in a bit of a pickle this tax year and I don’t want to have it happen again. I think someone, somewhere dropped the ball. Maybe it’s my fault for not following up, but when I pay for a service, it seems like I shouldn’t have to.”
“Absolutely not,” I agreed with him. “We handle everything when it comes to keeping the books straight and identifying tax-savings opportunities. We do quarterly reviews and look for any places we could do better for the client. Our clients are always looped into the meetings. We encourage feedback as well.”
“What do you do if I’m audited?”
I smiled. It was a common question I often got from clients. “If that were to happen, we would handle the bulk of the process. I can assure you we are all very organized. I have a team of CPAs that I oversee. Nothing is ever just one pair of eyes. I check and doublecheck. Audits happen, but I am happy to say our clients have never found themselves in hot water with the IRS for the years we’ve handled their business.”
He nodded and digested the information. “I like to think I’m an honest man,” he said. “I don’t like games and I don’t do cheating. I may not agree with all the taxes I have to pay, but I don’t want to cheat my government either. I have been dealing with some unscrupulous people and I don’t like it. It gives me and my company a bad name.”
“I absolutely agree,” I told him. I pulled out the prepared portfolio and handed it to him while I went into my spiel. I knew I was winning him over. I kept going, sprinkling bits of laughter into my speech to keep him engaged. It was going to be a good account. I could feel it.
“You sure do know your stuff,” he said when I was done giving my speech.
“I’ve been doing this for ten years, and while I might not have as much experience as some of the other accountants, I do know my stuff. I make it my mission to know every tax law. Our firm is small enough that I get to know all my clients and big enough to handle companies like yours.”
“I like what I’m hearing, Saige.”
“I’m not going to give you any high-pressure sales tactics, Hal. I don’t work like that, but I will tell you I know we would be a good fit for your company. I will personally be handling your account with the help of a few of my trusted staff members. You’re not going to get pushed off onto some first-year kid. I’ve got your back.”
He smiled. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that. I need to meet with my board, but I will definitely be in touch.”
I got to my feet and shook his hand. “I look forward to hearing from you. Feel free to stop by the office if you’d like to see things firsthand.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he said and walked me to the door. I left the business knowing I just landed another client. A big client at that.
When I got back to the office, I was riding high. For one short hour, I had forgotten about the chaos my office was in. It was just a little depressing. I went from feeling great to feeling dread.
“There you are,” I heard Nash say.
I turned to see him walking toward me. “Here I am,” I said.
“I went to your office and you weren’t there. Are you late?”
“No, I’ve been at a meeting,” I answered tersely. I kept walking. I was not going to have it out with him in front of the staff. Things were bad enough as it was.
“Why would you go to a meeting?” he asked incredulously. “A business meeting?”