The Ghosts' Empty Office

[Ghosts]

Niihama, Japan - 1 February, 2031
Something was… off as Vanessa Chambers exited the elevator to the executive level. The level featured a oblong rotunda hall with executive offices on either side, at the end of which was the owner’s office. Her pseudo-office abutted its ornate mahogany doors. She felt the same sinking feeling she would as a child any time she knew she’d done wrong. You’re being a child. Get a damn grip, Vanessa, you don’t need to feel guilty for solving a problem. You did the organization a favor hosting last night’s intrasquad game. Her inner monologue did little to quell her unease. That’s odd, is Vanni here already? Vanessa hadn’t seen the Ghosts owner in the office before 8am since the move was announced. The inner shades were drawn, however, which only happened when he was present and trying to sequester himself – usually because he was “too-a-damn emotional to think straight”, in his own words. “Well that’s probably not a coincidence,” Vanessa announced to no one.
“Ms. Chambers, a word?” The unexpected voice startled her. Vanessa turned and saw the born-again Ghosts GM, Dan Vail, standing in his office doorway, gesturing for her to enter his office. “Please?” he added, as if she had a choice. As she entered the office, she felt her usual distaste for the casual disorganization of his desktop. It wasn’t slovenly, but it was nowhere near her preferred level of tidiness and order. How the hell does he find anything in these heaps of papers?
“Vanessa, Vanni and I know what happened here last night. You hosted an intrasquad game. You sold tickets. Vanni is somewhere in between irate and devastated – he feels like you violated his trust.” Vail laid out the facts as they were aware of them. Apparently, Vanni chose last night of all nights to show off his office view to some floozy date - only to realize a game was in progress. He was so furious that he’d threatened his new GM’s job, only to learn it wasn’t his show. A late-night interview with the head groundskeeper shed most of the light on the event.
“I didn’t pocket any funds. Everything I spent and took in is recorded. We earned a slight profit, which I used to tip out the staff,” Vanessa defended herself coolly. “Victor Torres burst in here early yesterday morning and wanted to demand a trade. I did what I had to do to disarm our best prospect’s anger at being sent to the reserve roster – something he wasn’t expecting. That was your call not to inform or discuss that move with him, by the way” Vanessa added the emphasis on the last point.
“So, this is really my fault?” Vail asked plainly.
“We had a problem and I solved it. I don’t see the issue,” Vanessa stopped short of shirking responsibility. It wasn’t the right call.
Vail paused and looked at Vanessa flatly. His expression was not one she was used to seeing. It offered no sign of distress. It hinted at friendliness, but felt like it could be the kind of social mask a psychopath might adopt. “Maybe I’m overreacting,” Vanessa thought to herself. He’s never been anything but direct with me.
After a moment that made Vanessa much more uncomfortable than she’d been in some time, Vail asked simply, “can we stop this?”
“Stop what?”
The GM sighed lightly, and spoke deliberately, “you’ve been made to jockey for position and fight every executive this organization has ever had during your tenure. Every one of them either feared you or hated you, and so you learned to defeat them.” Vail continued, “I don’t want to fight you. Or fear you. Or be defeated.”
Vanessa studied him for a moment before replying. She still couldn’t read his face. Vexing. “I’m unclear as to what you’re asking of me, Mr. Vail.”
Vail chuckled and rubbed his temples singlehandedly. “Again, ‘Dan’, please, if you would,” Vail pointed across the hall toward the unoccupied assistant GM office. “Do you see that empty office? Know why it’s empty?”
Vanessa fought her urge to parry the presumed attack and studied the man before her. Normally, she could identify a competitor’s next several moves before he even thought of them, but this wasn’t the case here. All she saw before her was earnestness. And it was unsettling, but she’d been unsettled before. In the moment, she did something rare, and answered forthrightly, “I presumed initially that it was a power thing. You left Bakersfield abruptly and the only rumor that makes any sense was that it was a power struggle with Novak. The other possibility was laziness, but having worked with you a bit, I don’t consider that realistic. The power thing, though, is still very much on the table.”
“Reasonable. I won’t comment on Bakersfield. That’s in the past. What I will say is this – I’m a team-oriented person. I believe in organizational cohesiveness, and not just by means of a hierarchy. The best organizations hire smart people and are wise enough to listen to them at all levels. That room is empty, because before I even arrived here, it was apparent to me that the Ghosts already had an ideal candidate to occupy it. With almost every description of organizational strife from Vanni’s mouth, I found myself siding with your point of view, even when Vanni was supporting another. You are an asset to this club, and if I can earn your trust, you will be one to me as well,” Vail paused briefly to check if any of this was landing. He was being truthful, but if he detected subterfuge from Ms. Chambers here, he might never be able to trust her. To his relief, she appeared disarmed, though, and so he continued.
“I can’t offer you the title – only Vanni can – and at least for now it’s too early to suggest it. We’ll probably need to wait a little longer than we might have had to otherwise given his stumbling on to your… solution, as it were, but Vanessa – hear me on this – if you work WITH me, and not just around me, we can right this ship. Once we start to get it right, I will use whatever influence I’ve earned to move you into that office. Vanni loves you – that’s why you weren’t barred at the door and it’s why he’s shuttered away like some heartbroken teen – so it won’t be hard to convince him. We’re on the same team,” Vail threw his hands up in surrender.
“And the issue at hand?” Vanessa asked, genuinely curious as to how this would play out.
“I’ll smooth it over with Vanni. It was a good play, but it would have been much better if you had buy-in. We could have filled the stadium with kids from the children’s hospital or something, not drunken thugs. I’m told one of them threatened you?” Vail asked, seemingly sincerely.
“It was nothing, and that small man will bother none of us again – he’s banned from the grounds,” Vanessa responded casually. “The players will want to play for an audience again.”
“I should hope so. Make it happen, and please, use the discretionary budget to pay for real security. One game a week through Spring Training, then twice a week thereafter, schedule permitting. Half normal ticket price for general admission, and reserve 5000 tickets for charity per game. Half price concessions. Anything else is your call, but keep me in the loop. Deal?” The question was for far more than agreement to terms on intrasquad games – it was for her buy in to his sales pitch. Vanessa was on the spot, and she hated making important decisions on the fly. Still, it was a solid pitch, and without a risk, she might never make it past her current station.
“Deal,” Vanessa replied, extending her hand. Vail shook it briefly.
“Great, I don’t have the time, energy, or inclination to battle you in interoffice politics. As rarely as I hope anything like that becomes an issue, I would strongly prefer to have you in my corner than in anyone else’s. Now, help me find some PEBA scraps to field a team this year.”