For Better or Worse | Choni

A Second Take

"You're promoting me to head of the lab?"

Everyone was so shocked by Veronica's decision that I could almost hear a pin drop in the environmental lab.

"Yes. Now I have things to do and money to make, so.."

Veronica headed for the exit and every one's eyes turned to me,

"But Toni's only been here a few months!"

"Must be nice to have your future in-laws own the company."

Archie placed his hand gently on my shoulder, "Toni, you should probably say something."

I nodded once and stood up,

"Um.. this wasn't how anyone imagined the day going, and I know you probably have questions but we'll adapt to this. Our team has the best people in the industry, so I know we'll pull together and make it work."

My colleagues gave a smattering of applause and the tension in the room started to dissipate as they returned to work.

"Congratulations, Toni.

"I knew you'd make big moves here." Kai and Charles offered.

I smiled awkwardly, "Well, we'll see. I still have some questions for Veronica. Speaking of which.."

I dashed out of the lab, trying to catch up with the woman in question to get some answers. Luckily I found her before she left the building,

"Veronica, wait! You can't just fire someone and then walk away!"

I was slightly out of breath, and Veronica spinned around, her eyes already rolling,

"I didn't fire Forsythe, I demoted him. And as CEO, I absolutely can."

I crossed my arms and squinted my eyes at her,

"What's your game? Why did you pick me to replace Forysthe?"

"Veronica scoffed, "Usually people are excited to get a promotion."

She said simply, walking off once more.

I followed her onto the elevator and she sighed exasperatedly as she realised I wasn't about to let this go.

"I'm running a company, Antoinette. I'm not gonna let some petulant man-child stop me from making the right business decisions."

The elevator doors opened, and I resolutely followed her into her office --formerly Cheryl's office.

"So tell me, are you the right decision?" She leaned againt the door, blocking my path.

I groaned loudly, "You're missing the point! No one's gonna believe I'm the right person when you didn't even try to find someone else! How am I supposed to work with people who don't respect me?"

"You're an annoying tenacious woman, Toni. I'm sure you'll figure it out." Veronica brushed off,

"Now, I have a lot of work to do, as do you. HR will contact you by the end of the day."

The door shut in my face, signalling her departure and the end of our converstion.

. . .

After a long day of reviewing Forsythe's neglected work, I headed back to the penthouse to share the news with Cheryl.

"Hello? Anybody home?"

After no response, I walked to the twins' bedroom. Three heads looked up,

"Toni!"

"Just in time. We're about to say goodnight."