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All Chapters of The Team-Building Disaster: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

On my first day back after Labor Day weekend, I'd barely walked through the front doors when I spotted a cluster of employees gathered in the lobby, deep in some kind of discussion.Leading the pack was Brittany Tipton, the intern who was about to be brought on full-time."What? We seriously never do team-building? God, does Asher even know how to run a company? I can't believe I'm working under such a clueless boss. What a waste of my potential."Carl Stewart, from the business department, chimed in loudly. "Tell me about it. I heard headquarters sends down a team-building budget for every branch office every single month. I bet Mr. Jordis has just been pocketing it."Brittany pulled out her phone and scrolled through her social feed to show them."Look at my best friend's company. Before the holiday, they went to some upscale Italian place for their team dinner, and the time before that it was Mediterranean. Look at these photos; everybody looks thrilled."I make more than she

Chapter 2

"He can't run a company to save his life, but making life hard for a pretty intern like me? Now that he's got a real talent for. Is he one of those creepy guys from the novels who does this because he's secretly obsessed with me?" Brittany said in her video.In under ten minutes, the comments and shares had climbed into the thousands.Every comment was aimed at me: Old creep. Pervert. A company like that deserves to go under."Don't waste your breath arguing with someone who won't argue fair. She's been running that account for four years and has over a million followers. She knows exactly how to steer a narrative."Just then, my office door was shoved open.Brittany sauntered in like she owned the place, with several employees peeking through the doorway behind her.I asked her, a faint smile on my lips, "Brittany, I imagine it's pretty hard for you to land a boyfriend, isn't it?"She blinked, thrown off. "What's that supposed to mean?""You don't even know the basic courtesy

Chapter 3

Carl backed Brittany up. "Mr. Jordis, you make plenty of money. 500 dollars a month is nothing to you. You didn't need to bring that up in front of everyone. It's humiliating."I could shrug off whatever Brittany said, but Carl's comment actually got under my skin.My smile vanished instantly."Right, 200 dollars isn't much, because the company already built that money into your base salary. Did none of you realize your pay runs higher than the industry average? That 200 dollars is on top of that. You can't have it both ways."A few people dropped their heads and went quiet, but others spoke up in support. "Mr. Jordis, think about it, we've all been grinding away together for years. What's wrong with grabbing a meal and a few drinks to bond a little?"The ones speaking up were the same people who'd just landed a fat bonus working with Nico on a big project before the holiday.200 dollars really was pocket change to them.I smiled and told my assistant, "Post a notice to the grou

Chapter 4

Brittany ignored them all entirely and just kept clinging to Nico's arm, chattering away."Nico, what do you like to eat? French? Italian?"Nico didn't even look at her.But she pressed on, undeterred. "Let's do Italian. You're so fit, you must work out a lot, and it's all protein at an Italian place. You could eat as much as you want and never gain a pound."I scanned every employee's face carefully, one by one, and filed each expression away in my memory.Then I clapped my hands. "All right, today's topic is team-building. But let me say this first: 200 dollars a month might not mean much to some of the people in this room."But for most of you, that amount is your commute for the whole month. It's whether you can buy your kid an extra container of formula. It's a week's worth of groceries for a family of three."And another thing: you come to a company to earn a living, not to make friends. If two people genuinely hit it off, they're always free to grab a meal on their own ti

Chapter 5

Brittany didn't so much as glance at Carl's stricken face and kept arguing her case with me. "Pyatt Group has more money than it knows what to do with. I don't buy that this piddling stipend is all we get! We all want to eat somewhere nice. Right, everybody?"Several people immediately chimed in, agreeing loudly.I smiled and nodded. "Fine, we'll go with Brittany's suggestion. Everyone's pay gets cut back down to the industry average, and whatever we save from that goes straight into the team-building fund. Settled."We'll hold the first one tonight, right after work."With that, I turned to leave.Brittany scrambled to call after me in a panic.But her voice was instantly drowned out by a chorus of furious shouting."Brittany, shut your mouth! You're just an intern. If you want a fancy meal, pay for it yourself!"The room dissolved into chaos, and every employee who'd been keeping quiet suddenly turned on Brittany."Who asked some lousy intern to open her mouth about this?!

Chapter 6

Toward the end of the day, the office manager reported that the staff had finally settled on the grill stand for team-building. None of them could stomach the pay cut.I gave a flat, indifferent hum in response.The office manager had just stepped out when another employee knocked and came in.It was a top performer from the tech department, someone who'd been with us a year. He wore a pair of black-framed glasses."Mr. Jordis, I'd like to opt out of the team-building. I don't need the money back either. I just don't want to go."I asked him, "When I asked for everyone's input earlier, you didn't look happy about it, but you never actually spoke up against it. Why are you suddenly against it now?"He pushed his glasses up. "The reason I joined this company is that I know this firm has the best environment in all of Kensford City for the research I want to do. I'm here for my own future."If I want to build relationships with people, I can take a few coworkers I actually respect

Chapter 7

Just picturing the look on Brittany's face later was enough to make me want to laugh.I hurried ahead to the grill stand first.I'd already had the office manager rent out the whole place, and before long, employees started trickling in.Carl plopped himself right down in the seat Brittany had deliberately left empty beside her.Brittany shrieked and shoved him away. "Who told you to sit there? That seat's for Nico!"Carl didn't seem bothered and just moved to an empty spot next to it.The food was mostly out by then, and most people had already started eating and drinking, but Nico was still nowhere in sight.Brittany frowned at me. "Mr. Jordis, where's Nico?"I took a sip of my beer and said flatly, "He's not coming.""Why not? Didn't you say everyone had to be here? Why does he get to skip it?"I let out a cold huff. "He's got money. A pay cut doesn't scare him."That answer left Brittany stuck with nothing to say. Furious, she grabbed her bag and made to leave.But I im

Chapter 8

Nico glanced at me and said nothing.Brittany didn't seem to notice or care. She leaned right in close to Nico's ear. "It's my birthday today. I booked a restaurant for tonight. Will you spend it with me?"Just then, Carl sidled up with a grin."I stood in line all night just to get us a table at that trendy place. I heard the food's amazing. Nico, why don't you and I both celebrate Brittany's birthday with her?"He shyly pulled a pink gift box out from behind his back."Brittany, I picked this out for you myself. Happy birthday."Brittany's expression went dark instantly. She smacked the box right out of his hands."Who asked you to butt in? When did I ever say I wanted you at my birthday? I was inviting Nico!"The box hit the ground and burst open, and a handbag tumbled out.Brittany got even angrier at the sight of it. She snatched it up and hurled it straight at Carl's face."You actually bought me a fake bag as a gift? Are you doing this on purpose to humiliate me?"Car

Chapter 9

Everyone caught on immediately."Oh my god, you two are unbelievable! Do you know how long I spent in the bathroom after eating those skewers last night!""Mr. Jordis, please, just fire these two already. I told my family my pay dropped this month, and my mother-in-law chewed me out all night over it. If you want to chase each other, do it on your own time somewhere else. Stop dragging the rest of us into it!"Just then, a group of police officers walked up to Brittany.Carl panicked. "Why are the police here? I… I just bought a fake bag; that can't get me arrested."Brittany looked just as bewildered. "Fine, I admit I did all this, but none of it is actually illegal! Asher Jordis, what is the meaning of this?!"The next second, panicked voices erupted from the crowd.It wasn't just the two of them. Several other employees were being handcuffed too.Under everyone's stunned, frightened stares, I laid it out for them."Brittany, your personal conduct isn't a crime, no. But leak

Chapter 10

"Turns out every lesson you ever gave me really did stick, brother," Nico said.That's right. I'm engaged to his sister. I might not come from money, but I earned every inch of what I have, climbing up from nothing on my own.His sister had already said yes to my proposal, and things between us were genuinely good.But as her younger brother, Nico had always held something back with me.After everything that happened, he finally trusted me completely.While the two of us were making plans to have dinner together at the Pyatt family home, Carl knocked and came in.He handed me a resignation letter.Confused, I asked him, "You were a victim in all this too. You were just too naive. I never intended to let you go."And now this whole thing is public knowledge. If you leave here, you're going to have a hard time finding work anywhere else. You've got a bedridden mother to support too. Have you thought about how you're going to get by?"He gave me a bashful smile."I'm sorry. This

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