Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3)(88)

Krista smirked to herself. It was a shout-out of sorts. Also, it made him sound worldly. You’re welcome, dude. Let’s see if you’ll follow that advice.

“Great Ron. Good advice. Next is the trophy for the up-and-comer. Or shining star, as I think of him. I met him a few years ago in a smallish company that was trying to win an account with the big dogs. Us. He put together a team of people that, under his guidance, did great things.” Sean sat very still. Stone gathering moss type still. Obviously this was for him. “After he proved he could make the impossible possible, I decided to give him a chance. And this weekend, as in daily operations, he is showing he has a great idea of how to reach goals and fulfill his aspirations. This one is for you, Sean from L.A.!”

Sean gave Krista a look of triumph and got up with a large smile. If he was nervous, no one could tell. He sauntered up and shook Tory’s hand. “Thanks everyone. And thank you, Tory, for giving me a shot. Like Ron said before me, I couldn’t have gotten anywhere without a hard working team to support me. Nor would I have gotten anywhere without excellence to look up to! Tory, Ron, and all the guys, you are all an inspiration. Thanks!”

Sean came back to the table beaming. He didn’t win the one he wanted, but he didn’t do too bad.

“Next we come to the MVP of the weekend,” Tory said. “This individual came to us full of fire and shook things up all weekend. Whether it was charging forward through opposition, gunning people down, changing the rules, or even threatening our sensibilities, this person never said die. And we hope we can house such fierce determination for years to come. Come on up, Krista from L.A.!”

Krista froze. Faces were turning her way, many as shocked as she. Some angry. Sean was smiling and clapping, as was Tory up on the stage.

“Unexpected,” Krista said quietly as she got up.

She walked up to the stage, not trying to hide her surprise. She made sure not to fall going up the steps, and took her weird little trophy. It was plastic and had a star mold at the top. Tory stepped away so she could make a speech.

“Wow,” she said stupidly, looking at the trophy then out at everyone. “This is unexpected. Umm.” She laughed nervously. “Thank you for this. I know it probably hasn’t been easy for the boys’ club to have a woman come through and reorganize everything. I’m sure you hate when your wives do it.” There was a spatter of laughter. “To put you at ease a little, I’m not trying to shake things up so much. It’s just that I don’t know your man rules. Like the dunk tank—I didn’t realize sitting in the tank was man-code for earning your stripes and showing off your plumage.” Ron smiled. “I wanted to win, so I figured I could help the best by harassing people. Sean, being the excellent boss he is, knew that and gave up his right to show his tail feathers so I wouldn’t be made a fool of.

“And that’s the big thing. With Sean and Tory, and Phil when I was under him…that sounded bad, don’t start rumors…” more laughter that time, “but they all have been so supportive—or tolerant at least. They push me to better things. I tried as hard as I did this weekend because it meant something to Sean. My bosses give me room to be…different, and for that reason, I excel. Then of course, there is Janice and Marcus and all the support people to catch me when I fall. Which is often. So thank you to all those who are either pushing or catching!”

Krista held up the trophy again and exited the stage. There was a lot more clapping than when she came up. Ron even stood up to clap for her, which surprised her even more than actually getting the trophy in the first place. She sat down in embarrassment and faced Sean’s beaming, proud smile.

He was probably taking credit for her win, the douche.

“Okay, now for the big finale,” Tory said, once again reclaiming the mic. “You know, of course, that usually we have best team trophy, then competition winner, but this year it is one in the same. Something of note, though, we did things a bit differently this year. Instead of just taking totals of the management team, we included points earned for the support staff. The total overall score is what counted in the competition.”

Sean looked back at Marcus and his face dropped. He knew that he probably cost himself the trophy by having Marcus come. Marcus was friendly, but he was no admin.

Sean looked at Krista next, his green eyes troubled. She shrugged then looked back at Tory. No one cared as much as him about winning. Everyone just wanted the money, except Krista, who just wanted to go home.

Tory continued. “Each person on the winning team gets $100 American Express gift card. Their region gets a victory lunch on the date of their choice.” Everyone murmured. Pretty good prizes. “This year the winner won by one point! For that reason, I’ll announce the runner up, which did an outstanding job, and, I should add, beat the previous record for management points…New York!”

Everyone clapped, including Ron. They didn’t get squat, though, so how happy could they be? They were second by one point, but they were still second.

“And the winner, setting the new record for management competition points, and also the best team award, is…………….Los Angeles!”

Sean’s smile took up his whole face it was so big. This was what he wanted. This is what they all worked so hard for. It did feel good that they got something for their achievement. They were the most screwed up region arriving at the competition and would leave as a unit. They won even though they were down an admin. That was impressive.