Courage & Resolve
1.6 - The Beauchamp's Apology
The following day, Amelia hummed to herself as she cooked breakfast for Cory and Jamira. It was a little song Samson had introduced her to back when they’d first started dating. He’d called it their song, and it became the soundtrack to many of their date nights. For the longest time, Amelia couldn’t listen to it. Then, the day had come when she heard Jamira humming it. Jamira didn't remember any of the words, but Amelia recognized that she was humming the sweet little melody because she was happy. Ever since then, Amelia had now come to associate that tune with her children, and happiness.
Both Cory and Jamira picked up on her sudden change in mood that morning. It’d been a while since either of them had heard their mother humming that melody.
“Mom? Did something happen at work?” Cory asked.
“Another promotion?” Jamira guessed.
Amelia smiled to herself, and shook her head. “Not a promotion, no. But something good did happen. And I think we’re all going to be better off because of it.”
Amelia hummed that little song to herself through the bus ride and the following walk to work that day. She knew that whatever happened at work, Stefan would have finally gotten what he so richly deserved. And that would be enough for her, even if her own employment was put in jeopardy. She'd saved up enough to keep her family afloat while she looked for something new.
The moment she stepped into the building, she could sense that something was different. The very air seemed to have changed, it felt like everyone was holding their breath. The person working at the front desk that morning wouldn’t even make eye contact.
Amelia didn’t let it phase her. She walked confidently to her office, and sat down in her chair. She logged into her computer, pulled up the latest case info she had to sort through, and got to work. She had a strong feeling that Stefan wouldn’t be pushing through her office door today.
After a few minutes of working, there came a sudden rapid knock at her door. Amelia told herself that unless Stefan had learned how to knock overnight, there was no way that was him. He always made his entrance, and only announced his presence once he was already in the room. So, she told the person outside to come in.
Genevieve walked quickly into the office.
“Amelia!” she said loudly and cheerfully, shutting the door behind her. “How are you today?”
“Better than I have been in a long time, Genevieve,” Amelia said casually.
“Well,” Genevieve went on, forcing a smile. “I think your day is about to get a whole lot better! Remember how you really wanted to see Felix yesterday? He finally has the time to see you! So, if you’ll follow me…”
Genevieve opened Amelia’s door, and gestured for Amelia to follow her. Unsure if this was her being fired or not, Amelia locked her computer, then followed Genevieve upstairs to Felix’s office.
Genevieve knocked on the door to Felix’s office.
“Come on in!” a voice called out.
Amelia tried to ignore the eyes of her coworkers boring into her back as she and Genevieve headed into Felix’s office.
She found it to be very telling that he suddenly had time in his supposedly busy schedule to meet with employees in his office the second she created a pressing issue for him. Yet, for a man who held himself so high that he refused to meet with anyone outside of his wife, Amelia was surprised to find that his office was rather modest. His appearance too.
“Amelia Brown,” Felix said, standing up. He walked over to her and shook her hand. “I’m glad we finally have the chance to meet.”
“It’s nice to finally have a conversation face to face, Felix,” Amelia agreed.
Felix ignored the jab at his unavailability. “Please, make yourself comfortable,” he said, gesturing towards a pair of chairs he'd set up in front of his desk.
Amelia did so, and Genevieve sat down beside her. Genevieve briefly grabbed Amelia’s forearm and gave it an encouraging little squeeze.
“To begin, you’ll be pleased to know that the employee who made your experience working here unpleasant is no longer employed here," Felix said carefully.
“You mean, Stefan, the man who harassed me for being a woman who found greater success than him, has been fired? Let’s not leave things vague here, Felix. This aura of mysteriousity you continue exuding here is going to do nothing but erode the faith your employees have in you, and eventually, the same will be true for your citizens, assuming you succeed in your presidential campaign. Transparency is important.”
“Amelia!” Genevieve gasped.
Felix looked taken aback, but he quickly regained his composure. “Ah, yes, of course Amelia. I'll spell it all out plainly. Stefan Barrens had been let go from Beauchamp Law for his misogynistic and frankly gross and unacceptable behavior towards you, as well as his lackluster work performance… and I’ll take some of that guidance to heart. As… as head of this company, I’d like to personally apologize for our inability to recognize that he was harassing you, and our failure to put a stop to it earlier."
“That’s very much appreciated,” Amelia smiled.
“If I could interrupt,” Genevieve cut in. “Amelia, I don’t think you should be talking to Felix, your boss, that way. I think you-“
“Genevieve,” Felix said calmly, cutting her off. “Please, let her be. I actually think she's right. I failed her, and Stefan should have never been employed here for as long as he was."
"And I told Amelia she could come to me with anything!" Genevieve exclaimed. "Honestly, I'm a little hurt. My job here is to act as your intermediary, and if Amelia had told me about Stefan, I would have stressed how important it was that we let him go, and I'm certain you would've made it a top priority."
"Exactly, Genevieve," Felix said, with a small shake of the head. "You've done an excellent job helping me run this firm, but I shouldn't have you running around doing everything here for me. The concerns of my employees shouldn't all be placed behind my own personal projects on some priority list. It’s good for me to finally hear someone else’s opinion. Especially when she’s completely correct. Staying locked in my office... it's going to prevent my employees from ever seeing me in a positive light, and if I refuse to interact with others, my view of the world will become even more narrow minded. This... it's all been a bit of a wakeup call for me. So, thank you Amelia.”
Amelia nodded, rather shocked that this was how this meeting was going.
“It’s hard for an introvert like myself to see much joy or benefit in socializing, so that’s always been Genevieve’s role. But it’s time things change around here. I’m sorry that it came to you having to post a video of Stefan harassing you online for me to finally meet one of my employees, but what’s done is done.”
He stood up, and walked towards the door. Pushing it open, he stepped out in front of all of his employees. Amelia and Genevieve turned around in the chairs, and watched as he began to address his employees for the first time in all the years Beauchamp Law had been operating.
“Good morning, everyone,” he said cautiously. “It’s about time you finally got to know the man in charge of this company. My name is Felix Beauchamp, and from this moment on, I want you all to know that my office door is open. We’re starting a new era of transparency here, thanks to your peer, Amelia Brown, and I hope you can all come to trust me.”
He then flashed a smile and quickly ducked back into his office.
"Thank you, Amelia," Felix smiled. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to take a call. I can assure you, Genevieve never lied when she told you I was busy, but I'm going to dedicate more time to my employees and my company from here on out.
"I'm glad to hear it."
Amelia and Genevieve then left Felix's office, and watched through the office window as he dialed a number on his phone, and a serious expression returned to his face.
“Well,” Genevieve chuckled. “Can’t believe someone finally convinced him to actually do something so public facing.”
“Has he always been bad at talking to people?” Amelia asked.
Genevieve nodded. “Going all the way back to when we first met in college. Took him a whole month to finally initiate a conversation with me, and I was the one who had to propose cause I knew he’d never get around to it. I certainly tried to get him to talk to people when we first started this company, but when he made it clear he wasn’t comfortable, I started making excuses for him. He gets really bad when it's face to face, let alone in front of a crowd. So, what he did today? That was huge for him. I need to thank you too, Amelia.”
“All I did was speak my mind.”
“Well, I’m sure glad you did! Just in the future, try to speak up in a way that’s less… confrontational? I was so worried about how Felix would react to your outburst, Amelia, I really was. Not because he'd get angry or anything, I was actually fully expecting him to start crying or having one of his infamous panic attacks. And, well, he’s the love of my life, so I’m used to sticking up for him. But once again, thank you, all the same. If this actually results in him stepping out of his comfort zone more often, I'm sure it's going to bring a lot of positive change to the company.”
“You’re incredible Amelia, you know that?” Jo chuckled.
The first thing Amelia had done when she got home from work that day was invite Jo over for tea. Jamira and Cory were still at school, and she was eager to tell Jo everything while she still had the house to herself.
“You really walked in there and changed the whole social dynamic of that workplace,” Jo went on, shaking her head.
"I really got myself going!" Amelia exclaimed. "I couldn't believe that I actually got into my thoughts about Felix being unavailable and the ridiculous policy of having to schedule meetings with him that never happen through Genevieve."
“You’re bold, Amelia. Speaking up to Felix like that, when he’s the one who employs you?”
“I was worried about it at first, but when I thought about the optics a little more, I felt invincible,” Amelia laughed. “With that video of Stefan all over the internet, if he fired me, people would have come for his head. And Beauchamp Law would have crashed and burned.”
“Maybe it was less of you being invincible, and more about you making some really excellent points. Don’t lessen the importance of your accomplishments. We should be taking this time to celebrate them!”
Amelia smiled. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, Jo.”
Jo nodded and went on. “Cheers to you, Amelia! You got a sexist pig fired and flipped that place's backwards policies all in one day.”
“You’re right, that is something to celebrate.”