Chapter 23: Terminated
The conference room at Sterling Motors had glass on one wall, and Walter watched Chad Merrick walk down the corridor past the turntable. Chad's shoulders were squared. His tie was perfect. He still believed this was a meeting about a sales target.
Elena rose when he entered. "Chad, sit down."
Chad sat across from them, eyes flicking to Dana, then to Walter. "Mr. Sterling. Is this about the Desert Palms order? Because I didn't know the man was a buyer."
"This is Dana Reese," Elena said. "She's our employment counsel. She's here so everything that happens in this room is done correctly."
Chad's jaw tightened. "Counsel. That's a good sign, really good."
"Nobody's here to humiliate you, Chad," Walter said.
"Could have fooled me." Chad leaned forward, palms flat on the table. "I blew a sale. A big one. I've already owned that. But I've been top closer here three quarters running. You don't throw that away over one missed read."
Elena opened the folder in front of her. "This is not about one missed read. I want you to hear me out, because due process matters in this store. On March twelfth, you told Edith Larson, quote, 'the cars on this floor are a little beyond your budget, sweetheart,' and you walked her to the door. That's documented in her complaint letter and Denise's statement."
"I remember that differently."
"On October sixth," Elena continued, "you told Walter Sterling, and I quote, 'the pre-owned lot is across the street.' And on October fifteenth you dismissed Tom Beckett, a fleet buyer prepared to place a nine hundred thousand dollar order, because he wore a windbreaker."
Chad's face had gone red. "He shows up dressed like he's here to fix the air conditioning. What was I supposed to do, run a background check on every walk-in?"
"You're supposed to treat them like customers," Walter said.
Dana cleared her throat. "Chad, Ms. Vargas issued you a written improvement plan on October ninth. It listed specific conduct requirements, including a prohibition on dismissing any visitor without offering a full consultation. You signed it."
"I signed it because I was told to sign it."
"You sabotaged a colleague's customer a week later," Elena said. "Denise Park saw you intercept Maya Chen's follow-up appointment and try to poach him onto your book."
Chad stood up so fast his chair rolled back and hit the glass. "That's it? You're firing me? You have got to be kidding me. I built this floor's numbers this year. Ask anybody. Ask Pryce. You need closers like me, Walter. You need people who can read a room."
"We read the room," Walter said. "That's the problem."
Chad stared at him. Something in his face was shifting, anger thinning at the edges, something raw underneath. "This is insane. You're making an example of me because you got your feelings hurt that morning. Because I didn't recognize you."
"No," Walter said. "I'm doing this because Edith Larson cried in her kitchen when I apologized to her, because Tom Beckett told Elena he would never set foot in a Sterling store again, and because I gave you every chance I could give you."
Chad sat back down heavily. He looked at Elena. "Is there a second option here. Is there a suspension or something."
Elena glanced at Walter. "Termination for cause," she said gently. "Effective today. Your final pay, unused vacation, and benefits information are in the packet Dana will give you."
Chad nodded at the table. He was blinking too fast.
"One more thing," Walter said. "If you complete the respect training, I'll personally serve as your reference. Any dealership that calls, I'll tell them you did the work."
Chad let out a sound that was almost a laugh. "You'd do that."
"I'd do that."
"Why," Chad said. His voice cracked on the word, and he hated it, Walter could see him hating it. "Why would you help me."
Walter thought of Ruth, of the photo in his wallet, of the old sales manager who had taught him, a nineteen-year-old lot attendant, that the man in the stained shirt might be the one signing the papers.
"Because I've been wrong about people before," Walter said. "And because the training works if you let it. It's your choice whether you let it."
Dana slid the paperwork across the table. Chad signed where she pointed, his hand less steady than when he had entered. At the door he stopped.
"I'm sorry about Edith," he said, very quietly. "I actually am."
"I know," Walter said. Watching him go, Walter felt no satisfaction, only the heavy sadness of closing a door on a man who had been handed every key.
After Chad had gone, Elena sat down and exhaled. "That was awful."
"Doing it right usually is," Walter said.