Corporate Punishment

Start of launch

Sunday, Sam gets to the airport early. Once through security, he heads to the restroom and locks himself up. He debated not sending a pic to Ms. Wallace, but figured it was best not to rock the boat any. As he was waiting for the flight to board, an announcement is made about needing volunteers for reseating. Curious, Sam goes to the counter. There was a family that was trying to go to Seattle as well, but got split up because of an issue at a layover. They were offering a seat upgrade on a slightly later flight, as well as a meal voucher and $200 in vouchers towards a future booking. Since he would still make it there for the meeting, he said that he will make the trade with the family. The gate agent took his name and asked him to sit to the side and they would take care of everything once the flight had boarded.

Sam sits down and starts reading a book on his phone. They call for the plane to board and he looks up to see Sally running toward the gate. She sees Sam and reaches out to grab his arm. Not moving, she almost falls on to him as she comes to an abrupt stop. "Sam, what are you doing? They are boarding our plane."

"Oh. I'm not on this flight."

Sally looks confused and panicked. "What do you mean? Tiffany said we were on the same flight."

"I'm on a different flight now and arriving a bit later. I'll see you in the morning."

They announced the last call for boarding. "Macy is going to hear about this."

"I'm sure she doesn't mind how I get there, as long as I'm there for the first meeting tomorrow. Have a pleasant flight."

Sally scowls and rushes for the gate.

Once the gate is closed, the agent calls him over, gives him his new tickets, as well as the vouchers. With a couple hours to burn, he gets a small meal and a beer. On the flight, he takes advantage of the upgrade and gets a rum and coke.

At the hotel, he doesn't make it to the desk before Sally waylays him. "Where have you been? Is that booze I smell on you?"

Sam sighs. "As I told you, I got on a different flight. It was something that was done at the counter. I'm not sure why it would matter, but I took advantage of the free drinks on my flight."

"Free drinks? What type of change was this?"

"I took a later flight so a family could fly together. If you'll excuse me, I would like to check in."

Sally firmly grabs his upper arm. "I'm going to tell Macy that you are drunk."

Sam can see that she is attracting some attention. "Sally, it is getting late and I would like to go to my room. If you want to report my drinking to Ms. Wallace, then I can't stop you. Please let me go."

Sally squeezes his arm. "I'm going to tell her. I bet you'll never get a good project again."

A large man stands behind Sally. "Is there a problem here?"

Sally spins around, almost pulling Sam off his feet. "No, nothing is wrong. I have just been waiting for my friend and I am happy to see him."

Sam looks from Sally to the man and back. "Sally, you are my coworker. I wouldn't call you my friend. I have also asked you to let go of my arm."

Sally glares at Sam and then puts on a sweet face for the man. "See, we know each other. There is no need for alarm."

Sam forces himself to talk evenly. "Sally, for the last time please let go of my arm." Sally hesitates and then lets go. "Thank you. I'm going to check-in and then head to my room. I'll see you in the morning." Sam wondered what trouble Sally was going to cause him. The worst case is that he has to find a new job. Considering how things are going with Sally and Ms. Wallace, that may not be a bad thing.

Sam gets up early to spend some time in the gym before getting a shower, breakfast and sending his proof pic. He is waiting in the lobby for Sally at 8:30. Whitney had sent a car to pick them up. He and the driver were having a delightful conversation when Sally rushes out of the elevator and runs over to them. "Sam, why didn't you wake me?" She turns to the driver. "I hope we won't be late."

The driver gives Sam a questioning look. "We should be fine. Ms. Lawrenceson asked me to let her know when we were leaving."

They arrive at the office building a few minutes before 9:00. Sam thanks the driver for his time and they enter the building. The receptionist, a young man probably about 20, stood and introduced himself as Thomas. "It is a pleasure to meet you both. Please follow me. Ms. Lawrenceson has a conference room setup for you two to use this week." The room has a large table, a couple of whiteboards and some chairs. "Ms. Lawrenceson will be by in a little while to see how things are going. There is a break room with coffee and soft drinks in the middle of the floor. If you ended anything else. Please ask me."

Sam and Sally set up their computers and made some notes about the deployment schedule on one whiteboard. On the other, they made a checklist. They were just finishing up when Whitney walked in. Sam deferred to Sally, even when Whitney talked to him directly. They spent the rest of the day preparing for the launch for the marketing campaign.

Back at the hotel, Sam went to his room and changed before heading down to the dining room to have a burger and fries. He saw Sally heading out the front door of the hotel and figured that she was going to head off-site for dinner. After dinner, Sam spent several hours at the bar relaxing, drinking sodas and reading on his tablet.

The next morning, Sam wakes up early again. He spends a little more time at the gym before showering and taking his proof pic. Once dressed, he sends off the picture and heads down to wait for the driver. Again, he and the driver have a pleasant conversation; today's topic is each other's jobs. Sally is running late again and about the time Sam is going to text her, she comes rushing out of the elevator. In the car, she berates Sam for not waking her and making her late. Sam apologizes and asks for her number so that he can make sure that she is up early enough tomorrow.

As they pull up to the door of the building, Sam's phone goes off. He sees he has gotten a series of messages from his boss. He has a bad feeling about this, especially when he sees a smug look cross Sally's face. Sam thanks the driver for his service and follows Sally to their conference room. Sam excuses himself to get some coffee. While it is brewing, he reads the messages from Ms. Wallace. They said that she had been getting reports about his behavior and that they would have a phone call at 7:00 this evening. He was to be in his room, or some other private space.

Back with his coffee and a sinking feeling in his gut, Sam and Sally go over the launch and all the steps. Everything seemed in order and the launch was to happen in just over an hour. Knowing that the launch and verification would take a few hours, Sam took a quick walk around the block.