Belinda looked at her, trying to keep her frustration from showing on her face. There was no way to refuse with Pedro standing at her side. “No. It’s already on everyone’s schedule. I have meetings all week…”
“I’ll reschedule the ones in the future myself,” Sharon assured her quickly.
Belinda pulled her schedule up on her tablet and blinked. Sharon had scheduled Pedro in every single meeting she had. What the…
“Sharon, I think Belinda and I need to talk privately to develop a strategy to make the most of this situation. I will call you with our decision for the future meetings,” Pedro interjected smoothly. He escorted Sharon from the room and closed the door once again.
“My apologies, Belinda. I understand how this must have looked to you.”
“I may not be the director of cybersecurity, but I have excelled in all my positions at Edgewater Industries and was chosen to lead the technology department.” Belinda established her credentials with a steely look. She was not backing down. Even if he was the yummiest specimen of man flesh she’d ever met and stood in front of her and claiming to be her Daddy.
“Exactly. My job has a fancy title and is on the firing line if something happens. Your job ensures that Edgewater Industries functions on all levels and at all times. We have fifteen minutes before we need to leave for your first meeting. Let’s figure out how to make this work.” Pedro waved her into a chair. He jogged to his desk and grabbed an old-fashioned notepad and a pen before joining her.
Pulling up her checklist of items she had established when scheduling these meetings, Belinda looked at the time frame she had estimated and divided it by half. She shook her head. There was no way to accomplish her goals in such a limited time frame.
“This is your meeting. How much time did you allot for the division leader to ask questions?” Pedro asked.
“Ten minutes of each hour-long meeting,” she snapped. Belinda didn’t wish to give up that time. Their questions would tell her information she needed to know about lack of communication or training.
“The people you’re meeting with have met you?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Could you take one minute to introduce me and then move on to your plan?” Pedro suggested. “I’ll use part of that minute to state that I’m joining you simply to meet everyone, be time efficient, and gather overlapping information between our two departments.”
“And you’re going to be quiet for the rest of the time?” she scoffed.
“Watch it, Little girl. I know you’re angry, but remember, I did not cause this situation.”
“I am not a Little girl at work,” she hissed.
“You’re a Little girl all the time,” he corrected her with the first stern look she’d received since closing the door to talk to him. “I will make notes and only ask questions if there is a dead space of time.”
Belinda rolled her eyes. Sure he would.
“Can I see your list of topics?” he asked.
She handed it to him silently, waiting for him to criticize something.
“Perfect. I would ask several of those questions myself. If time allows, I will ask this question, ‘what security gap have you found or worry about?’”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it,” he confirmed. “As we move from meeting to meeting, I could benefit from your knowledge of the person next on your schedule.”
Somewhere in a small segment of Belinda’s attention, she noticed that he always referred to these as her meetings, her schedule, and her agenda. She wasn’t ready to trust him yet. As her mom always said, ‘The proof’s in the pudding.’ That first meeting would tell her all she needed to know.
“It’s time to leave,” she snapped.
“Let’s go.”
Pedro preceded her to the door and opened it. Gallantly ushering her through, he joined her at the elevator when she didn’t pause so he could walk with her. They stepped into the car and when it started down, she tried to relax the tension building between her shoulder blades. She glanced down at her notes and gathered her thoughts.
When they reached the fourth floor, she stepped confidently out of the elevator and paused for Pedro to join her. As they walked through the floor Belinda had worked on for years, many employees looked up from their cubicles to wave and call hello. She was equally pleased to see them as well. Belinda would have remained there, but she knew Easton was correct in stationing the chiefs of the department on a different floor. She would be less efficient if people could just drop in to see her. There were others in charge of the jobs she’d held before. She needed to let them do their work without interference.
“Belinda, I’ve been looking forward to our meeting,” John commented as he welcomed the duo into his office. He smiled at the man behind her.
“Thank you for your time, John. This is Pedro Morales. He’s the new chief of cybersecurity. As you can imagine, there’s an overlap between overall technology at Edgewater and cybersecurity. We decided it would be most efficient of your time if we met with you together. Mr. Morales will schedule further meetings with you as needed,” Belinda said smoothly, keeping her emotions from showing on her face.