Friend of the Enemy

Today I was faced with daunting task of explaining Julius' firing to the employees of the branch. I called a meeting in the boardroom with all the employees. As everyone arrived, I could hear people whispering about different things. As I stepped behind the podium, everyone became silent. I cleared my throat and began to speak. At first, I was unsure of what to tell the people. But as I spoke, I gained confidence. Words flowed straight from my head to my mouth. I told the employees that it was Julius ambition that was his biggest flaw. I said that he wanted to do too much with the company. He was trying to take sole control, which was against the principles of the company. Finally, I asked for anyone with objections to raise their hands. Not a single hand was raised. I stepped down from the podium, my mind filled with relief. I motioned to Anthony that he could come up and speak. Feeling confident and triumphant, I left the room and went back into my office. Having nothing to do, I took a look at my emails. The first was a memo from corporate. I was going to skip it, but it was labeled urgent, so I figured I'd read it. My jaw dropped. The email was labeled internal investigation. It said that an investigation was underway to examine possible corrupt motives in the firing of employee Julius Caesar.

Just as I finished reading it, Caius burst into my office. He told me that Anthony had turned on us. He praised Julius and turned the workers against the conspiracy. He warned that they were about ready to take our heads. Anthony had also told everyone that Julius had left a large amount of shares of the company stock and decided to split them among all the employees. Most of the office was in support of Anthony and Julius. Just by looking out my office window, I could tell that few people were happy with our actions. Caius' expression was grim. He looked over at my screen and shut his eyes, not wanting to believe what was happening.

Just as Caius opened his eyes, a new email came in. It said that new evidence had been turned up which pointed directly to several veteran employees, including Casca, Trebonius, and several other members of the conspiracy. The next sentence read, "These employees have already been terminated." I looked up in shock. I picked up the phone and placed all three men on a conference call line. I listened as their office phones rang. There was no answer. When the answering machine picked up, three identical voices simultaneously said, "The employee you are trying to reach is no longer employed at Smith & Smith Enterprises. Thank you for calling." Caius and I eyed each other nervously. We knew that everyone who had been revealed must have left behind some evidence proving their guilt. All we can do now is remove that evidence. Then it will just be Anthony's word against that of Caius and I. Then we will have a chance.