The Taming of the Shrew

Chapter 1

1
Miriam Jacobson was a bitch, and she knew it.  As a matter of fact, she loved it.  I mean, you gotta do what’s necessary when you’re the Assistant Vice President, Finance of Knightons, a major manufacturing firm specializing in home based chemical products.  With its base in London, Knightons had already been touted as a company to look out for, and was definitely considered a threat to the established companies in the UK.  Knightons was also a threat to companies who wished to retain their best and brightest.  With its generous compensation packages and stimulating job descriptions, it was a dream come true for persons with ambition.  Employees working for Knightons generally rated high in job satisfaction, neither wanted to trade their jobs nor their superiors.  And then there came Miriam.

Miriam was a prodigy in finance.  It was no small feat to become the Assistant VP Finance at the tender age of 26, but somehow she managed.  Of course, in a case like this, sacrifices had to be made.  Her social life suffered a huge blow.  Relationships crumbled and her social graces dwindled, but to her, those were trivial.  Who could boast about running a huge department in a fast growing company with- and I quote her performance review- ‘an efficiency and timeliness that surpasses any of her predecessors’?  Precious few, I’ll wager.  She loved the way her subordinates scattered for cover once they heard the unmistakable ‘tock tock’ of her stilettos as she walked through the corridors of the department towards her office.  She knew they talked about her behind her back; most underlings did.  ‘Let them say it too my face, I’d love to see them even try,’ she thought, a self satisfied smirk snaking across her lips.

Today was no different, she thought, as she made her way to her office.  She was dressed impeccably, as always, for how would it look to have an Assistant VP dressed like a slob?  She observed, with grim amusement, the way her staff scuttled from their positions by the water cooler towards their desks/ cubicles/ offices, smiling sheepishly.  ‘Gossip,’ she thought with a sneer, ‘how abhorrent and childish.’  As she thought on these things, she was unceremoniously bumped into a wall.  Fixing her clothes and an appropriate expression, she turned to face the culprit.
 
She sighed internally as she recognized the awkward figure.  Emeril Sanford was one of the interns that they hired a few months ago, and aside from being extremely intelligent, he was also extremely clumsy.  He was quite tall, towering over her 5 feet 11 inch frame by a good few inches, but with such atrocious posture that it actually shortened him.  His face was a mask of contrition as he bent over to scoop up the papers that scattered during the collision. He was about to open his mouth to apologize but Miriam silenced him with her hand.
“Just be careful next time Sanford,” she said wearily.  He nodded and beat a hasty exit.  ‘Now, where was I,’ she thought.  ‘Oh right, gossip is so trivial, so childish.’  She continued on that stream of thought as she approached her office.

Waiting for her in her office was her superior and mentor, Mark Donovan.  For a man in his early forties, he looked just as good as men in their early to mid thirties, if not better.  He was the closest that Miriam had to a friend; he tolerated her mood swings and understood her better than most people did.  He was tall and very good-looking, easy to smile but had serious blue eyes.  Right now he was very serious as he waited for Miriam to arrive.  Actually, the correct emotion would be nervous.  He ran a hand through his thick chestnut brown hair as he ran through the different ways he could break the news to her.  It was news he knew she wouldn’t take too well.

Miriam breezed into her office, grinning evilly as she dropped her purse onto a chair and hung up her coat.  She accepted her coffee from Mark, who had plastered a false smile onto his face.
“Had them pissing their pants Donny darling.  I swear that’ll never get old.  Although,” she mused, “that little ass of an intern is making it too much of a habit bumping into me.  If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear he’s doing it on purpose.”  Mark’s smile became more genuine.  He’d heard from his secretary that an intern was obsessed with Miriam, and got his ‘fix’ by physical contact.  He chuckled to himself.  He’d tell her about it, but not right now.  Let the little loser have his fun.

“So this is nice, getting my morning coffee from the boss and so on.  What’s going on?” asked Miriam shrewdly.  Mark sighed.  He’d forgotten how perceptive she could be at times.
“Now this is not bad news,” he began slowly.  Miriam interrupted him.
“But it’s not good, is it?” she said, her top lip threatening to curl into her trademark sneer. 
“Just shut up and listen!” Mark snapped heatedly.  Miriam clamped her lips shut, surprised at his outburst.  It was unlike him to take umbrage at her usual barbs.  ‘It must really be bad,’ she thought.
“As I was saying, this is not bad news, just a bit of a change,” he said.  “We heads conferred about a few weeks concerning ways to lift performance.”  Miriam nodded.  When it came to performance, nobody compared to her.  ‘It really isn’t bad news,’ she thought.
“We came to a decision at the end of our meeting.  You know that we’re looking to launch a full scale campaign into the U.S. market.  We decided that the best way to prepare ourselves for it is to hire consultants.”
“So, what does that have to do with me?” Miriam asked, taking a sip of her coffee and grimacing.  Not hot enough, she thought as she went towards the percolator.
“It means, my dear Mary, that you shall have a consultant.”  Mary was his nickname for her.
She grinned.  “No worries.  Someone else to boss over.”
Mark coughed, “Actually, he’ll be sharing your position with you.”
“WHAT!!!!”  Mark winced at her high pitched screech.  He’d anticipated this.
“Now now,” he soothed, “it’ll only be for a while.”
“How long is a while?” she demanded.
“At least a year,” he said wincing again, anticipating another outburst.  She didn’t disappoint.
“Do you know what this means for me?” she snarled.  “It will take less than a year for those things outside there to lose respect for me.”  Mark cocked an eyebrow.
“I’d hardly retain any iota of respect for someone who thought of me as merely a ‘thing’, far less for one who verbalizes it.”  Duly chastened, Miriam apologized.
“But still,” she protested, “you know how I run things around here.  You even praised it.  Why change things now?”
“Mary darling, I think you’re worrying too much.  What’s the worst that can happen?  Besides, I already told you, we want to be prepared for the new market. It’s right now Mary,” he gripped her by her shoulders and stared down into her eyes, “now and more than ever, that your firm needs you the most.”
Miriam sighed.  Mark, as usual, knew which buttons to push.  Gently disengaging his fingers from her shoulders, she asked, “When are they coming?”
Mark took a deep breath and mentally steeled himself for what was coming, “Tomorrow."