The Worst First Day

Evan Carter - First Person

My first day at Wolfe Capital ended with my boss trying to fire me.

I guess that should have been my first indication that my life was about to get very complicated.

I stepped out of the elevator and onto the forty-second floor with my laptop pressed to my chest and my heart thudding with a rapidity that was probably not healthy for someone who had spent four years preparing for this moment.

Wolfe Capital was the biggest investment firm downtown and everyone knew it.

The glass walls, the tension that hung in the air like a challenge, the speed with which everyone moved without ever quite looking at anyone else—it was all very intimidating.

Very powerful, rich, and scary.

I had just made my way past the reception desk when someone thrust a bunch of files at me.

“New Analyst?”

I smiled and nodded “Yeah.”

“Nice. Conference room three. Now.”

I went in expecting to see some kind of orientation.

What I saw was a room full of senior executives seated around a long black table with a giant screen behind them that was projecting financial charts and graphs for a merger between two technology firms that was worth more money than I had ever seen in my life.

But then I saw him. He was tall, had broad shoulders, and wore a black business suit that was pressed to perfection, with a perpetual scowl on his face.

Adrian Wolfe.

The CEO.

My boss.

The most feared man in the entire building—allergic to smiling.

I stood frozen just inside the doorway but no one told me to leave, so I slid silently into the last empty chair and set up my laptop while attempting to make myself as invisible as possible.

The presentation went on for another five minutes before something on the screen caused my stomach to clench uncomfortably.

The numbers were wrong.

A child could have done better.

Not just wrong, but wrong on a catastrophic level.

I looked at the screen again, my heart beating faster as I realized that if these projections went out to the investors, the company would lose billions of dollars in the first year alone.

I reminded myself to keep quiet.

I was a new hire, after all. New hires did not interrupt the CEO.

However, the longer the presentation went on, the more the projections looked like they would be wrong.

Nah, screw it. What's the worst that could happen?

And before I could stop myself, the words came out of my mouth like a warning.

Those numbers won’t hold.

The room fell silent immediately, the man giving the presentation stopping mid-sentence as the executives turned to me. Adrian Wolfe looked up at me, his eyes locking onto mine as the room fell silent.

“Excuse me?” he said, his voice low and controlled, which made it worse.

I swallowed, but then went on, unable to stop myself now that I had started.

“The acquisition model is based on a thirty-eight percent growth rate after the merger, but the tech company’s actual rate of expansion is only twelve percent. And no matter how much capital is thrown at it, the infrastructure simply cannot handle that kind of jump.”

I looked out at the room, but no one said a word. My hands were sweating, but now that I had started, there was no way for me to stop myself.

“You’re basing the investor confidence level on a rate of expansion that physically cannot occur. If the board approves this merger, the company will hemorrhage money in eighteen months.”

Adrian Wolfe looked at me, seemingly weighing my bravery or stupidity.

Probably both.

“And you are?” he asked, his tone dripping with disdain.

“Evan Carter. Junior financial analyst.”

He repeated my title, his jaw clenching.

“A junior analyst.”

He turned his attention back to the screen.

“Show me the model.”

The presenter looked at Adrian, then at the remote control, before handing it over to him.

I stood up, walked over to the screen, and opened the projection files, the entire room waiting for me to fail.

My hands danced across the keyboard as I adjusted the growth projections, replacing the unrealistic projections with more realistic figures for expansion.

The screen flickered, then went still once more.

The room fell silent again, this time because the business deal was no longer profitable at all.

One executive muttered under his breath, while another leaned forward, his eyes disbelieving what he was seeing.

I stepped away from the screen, forcing myself to lock eyes with Adrian Wolfe once more.

“If you go forward with the acquisition, the way it is structured, the company will lose three hundred million dollars the first year.”

The room was silent, the executives waiting for me to say more, for the lie to continue.

Adrian looked at the screen, his eyes studying the figures, the projections, the reality of the business deal before him.

Then he turned his head, his eyes locking onto mine, his voice dripping with contempt.

“You’re fired.”

I should have kept my mouth shut. Ahhh. Getting fired on the first day.

The room erupted at his statement, my stomach dropping, my mind reeling at what he’d just said.

I opened my mouth to protest, but he held up his hand, his single word stopping the entire room.

“This company runs on discipline,” he said coldly. “Not on first-day analysts interrupting executive meetings.”

My chest felt tight.

Insult and injury was the new perfect combination to send me off. Fine. I'm leaving anyway, but I'm not going down alone.

“With respect, sir,” I said carefully, “I prevented a three hundred million dollar mistake.”

His eyes darkened, and everyone's gaze went like I had spoken to the devil.

“You embarrassed my executive team.”

The silence in the room was so heavy with tension, no one dared breathe.

Adrian moved closer to me, and I could now see how tall he actually was.

He looked down on me as if I were a problem he intended to eradicate.

“You start work today and within one hour you think you know more than my senior strategists,” he went on quietly. “That kind of arrogance does not belong in this company.”

My throat felt tight, but I didn’t back off.

“Then run the numbers again,” I suggested.

A second wave of silence enveloped us.

One of the executives actually choked on his coffee.

The murmuring started.

“He's bold.”

“Does he have a death wish?”

“The boss won't like this.”

Adrian glared at me as if I’d challenged him.

For a while, no one spoke.

Then, “Recalculate the projections,” he ordered the presenter.

They recalculated.

And they were exactly the same as mine. Three hundred million dollars. Lost.

Slowly, whispers filled the room.

Adrian’s jaw locked.

Then…

“Everyone, out,” he ordered.

And they left in a hurry as if they didn’t want to witness whatever was about to happen.

In a matter of seconds, the huge conference room emptied, leaving only me and him.

Adrian Wolfe closed the door.

The sound of it clicking into place filled the room.

He turned back to me, moving very slowly.

He looked like a man with a mission.

And I knew I was in trouble.

He moved back to me, and I could now see how tall he actually was.

He looked down on me as if I were a problem he intended to eradicate.

“You start work today and within one hour you think you know more than my senior strategists,” he went on quietly. “That kind of arrogance does not belong in this company.”

My throat felt tight, but I didn’t back off.

“I saved the company money.”

His eyes narrowed.

“You challenged me.”

Something dark flickered in his eyes and suddenly I saw something that made my heart skip a beat.

He wasn’t just annoyed with me. He was intrigued by me.

He took another step closer so that there was only a foot between us.

“You’re either the most reckless employee I’ve ever hired,” he whispered, “or the most valuable.”

My heart was racing faster now.

“So which is it?”

His eyes scanned my face leisurely and the air between us changed into something more charged.

Something we weren’t acknowledging.

Then he said something that made my heart drop into my stomach.

“You’re coming with me tonight.”

I blinked at him. “What?”

He took the file from the table and walked towards the door.

“The board is having a meeting with our largest investors in two hours’ time,” he announced. “You’re going to present the new model.”

I stared at him. “I’m a junior analyst.”

“You’re not tonight.”

He opened the door and stood there.

Then he turned back to look at me. “And Carter?”

“Yes, Sir?”

“If you embarrass me in front of my investors…” His voice had dropped to a whisper. “You’ll not only lose your job.”

My heart was racing with anticipation. “What else will I lose?”

Adrian Wolfe’s eyes locked with mine and he held my gaze for a second or so.

Then he said something that made my heart slam against my ribs. “My fiancée will be there tonight.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Why does that matter?”

A small, unreadable smile crept onto his lips.

“Because,” he went on softly, “she’s the reason this merger exists.”

And then he threw in one last line before leaving. “And if your numbers are right…”

My heart was racing.

“…you’re about to destroy her family’s company in front of the entire board.”

A calm little smile appeared on his face and disappeared before I could catch it.

That's when I realized something.

My first day at Wolfe Capital wasn’t about getting fired.

It was about starting a war.

And Adrian Wolfe had just put me right in the middle of it.