The Christmas Elf, A Secret-Santa Story

Chapter 2 - Deadlines

Thursday 15 December

"Are those drafts ready for my review, Eileen?" Peter Graham poked his head into the board room for the second time in as many hours. She gave him the look that said she knew he knew it was obviously not, waiting until he shook his head and said, "Okay, well let me know as soon as it is. I'm waiting to review."

She turned back to her screen, re-focusing on the work-program she was reviewing. The feeling of being watched had her looking up again. This time it was her entire team.

Usually they did most of their audit work at the client where the information was located and where they needed access to the Finance teams. This close to the deadline, all the information had been obtained and all discussions had, It was a matter of reviewing the audit information, documenting it in the files and officially signing-off as reviewed. Unless something came up in the review, of course...which was always possible.

They had all been deeply engrossed in that process when Peter interrupted. Again. Four pairs of eyes were looking up from the files scattered over the desk and from their laptops, expressions ranging from little bemused to outright shock.

"Doesn't it bother you that a Partner is asking for something and you're not providing it?" Kayla asked hesitantly. The young Manager was always bending over backwards trying to please everyone.

"Yeah," Kevin chimed in. "I'd be like totally losing it if someone was breathing down my neck for something. Particularly if that person is a partner." The Senior Associate was new to the audit engagement but had more than pulled his weight. The two associates, Jenna and Carol, chimed their agreement.

"Guys," responded Eileen with a wry smile, "Peter will be fine. He always gets a little edgy close to the sign-off. He'll also be the first to have my head if any of the information provided is inaccurate and he knows this entire thing is a process. Those financials are not ready for his review – we're still finding errors as we close out on the various steps in the work-papers. The Financial Controller is making each change as we ask for them, but it will take a while to get there."

She paused, noting the energy levels of her people, assessing whether they needed anything. This team was one of the best she had worked with, their attitude and work ethic were phenomenal. "You guys have done an amazing job so far and we are nearing the finish line. Peter will have his financials to review by end of day today – as I told him first thing this morning.

Everyone okay to work until this is done? As I originally promised you guys – I don't plan to let this go beyond the end of this week. I also already spoke to Human Resources and got compensatory days approved for all of you for all the overtime you've been putting in. I told them you will all be out of office from the day we finish until January second."

It was no surprise when their eyes lit up, "You're amazing Eileen!" said Kayla. "I have worked a lot of overtime in my time and I have never had my Senior decide to organize the comp days in advance. Usually it's something that I have to initiate."

Eileen shrugged off the praise, "It's the least I could do. We wouldn't be at this stage without the great work you guys put in." She pointed her pen at the laptop in front her, "Now, if you don't mind? We're not quite there yet..."

They took the hint and dived back in to work. Pages turned, fingers flew over keyboards. Every now and then someone would say, "I am done with a couple more steps – they're on your dashboard Eileen." She would nod and there would be silence for a while longer.

Kevin and Carol collected cash when it was time and made the lunch run to the closest deli. Eileen handed over cash and Jenna did the coffee run in the afternoon when energy levels started to fall. The Financial Controller was on the phone every hour, confirming and making changes, until he jokingly said, "Maybe I should have worked at your offices today!"

At five-thirty, as promised, a clean-enough draft of the Financials were ready and Eileen walked them over to Peter's office. "How's the file coming?" he asked.

"There are a few things on your dashboard for review," she said. "The last two should be there for you by seven. Overall, we still have a fair number of minor items the team is wrapping up so we will probably still be doing that tomorrow."

"So we are on track for the opinion to be signed tomorrow?" he leaned back in his chair.

"Yes," she asserted, "absolutely. But we don't want to take the chance that we have to work until midnight tomorrow to clear the file, so we are trying to do the bulk of it tonight."

"Gotcha," he said. "I will have final comments on these in the morning. It's a good thing you spent the up-front time with the client and I did a first review of the draft. Trust all my comments have been addressed in this version?"

"Yes, there were a few the Financial Controller missed in the first draft but it should be fairly clean now. I have someone doing a final casting and cross-reference check. The agreement to the file part has been completed by the team."

"Great," he dismissed her, "back to the file then."

As she turned and walked away, she wondered if it ever occurred to him that he was working with humans and that it might have been nice to ask said humans if they needed anything. Like dinner or coffee or to ensure they got home safe.

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Author's note: I feel like you're gonna be anxious to meet our hero soon.

Have patience with me please! I need you to get to know Eileen and her world a little better first.