Issy rose up to her full height, grateful for the extra inch she got from her platform trainers, and stared into the sea of faces. Was she imagining the hard edge she saw there? The steely stares? Hopefully it was in her head; a hangover from the bizarre incident in the café, perhaps. Or maybe they were just wary of newcomers.
She cleared her throat, but the low rumble of voices continued. She looked at Warwick.
‘Oi!’ he shouted. There was a hush as everyone fell quiet. Warwick looked at her. ‘Over to you.’
‘Thanks, Warwick.’ Her face felt hot. ‘Hello, everyone. I’m Isobel Ashworth. I’m down here to—’
‘Speak up!’ someone called out. ‘We can’t hear you!’
‘Sorry.’ Issy projected her voice as loudly as possible without shouting. ‘I was saying, I’m down here to oversee the final stage of the project on behalf of Ashworth Property.’ There were murmurs across the group. She tried to ignore them and went on. ‘I’ve had a tour just now—’
‘What’s your experience, if you don’t mind me asking?’ The question came from a skinny man with an eyebrow ring.
‘Of course. I’ve been working for the Ashworth Group for six years in various roles. Most recently I’ve been in the marketing team—’
‘Marketing?’ someone scoffed. ‘Jesus Christ.’
‘What about construction projects?’ someone else interjected.
‘I’ve worked on a number of our residential developments in Sydney,’ Issy said, striving for an authoritative tone. It was technically true. Obviously she didn’t tell them that the number was one and her role had been purely administrative. She’d never even been on site. There was more chat now, especially from the men at the back.
‘Okay! Guys!’ Issy called out, trying to restore order. ‘Can I have everyone’s attention, please?’
God. What a nightmare. It was a total free-for-all. No wonder the project wasn’t meeting milestones. Clearly this whole site was out of hand. She tried again. ‘Hello? Hello! I need a bit of quiet!’ A bit of quiet? She sounded like her high school music teacher, who’d had to take medical leave after a nervous breakdown and was never seen again. ‘Please!’
No one was listening.
Cathy stepped forward. ‘Thank you!’ she snapped.
The voices stopped.
‘Like it or not, Isobel is here to work with Warwick to get this project delivered.’
No one spoke. Some of the more vocal tradies looked at the ground in front of them.
‘You will show her respect. You will listen when she speaks. Do you understand?’
There were some nods, mumbles of agreement.
Issy swallowed, her face burning. ‘Thank you, Cathy.’ Right. It was time to assert some control. ‘I’ve just had a tour of the site and I’m more than a little concerned about some of the things I’m seeing. At this rate, the project is at risk of missing the deadline. Things need to change around here. The work rate needs to increase. Pub lunches will have to wait until after the launch, when we can celebrate delivering the project on time.’
Warwick cleared his throat. ‘Yeah nah, you can’t actually say that.’
‘Pardon?’
‘Breaks are legislated in the industrial agreement. They can go to the pub if they want to, they just can’t drink grog if they’re coming back to the site.’
‘Right, of course.’ Her face felt like it was on fire. ‘That’s what I meant.’
How dare he undermine her like that in front of the team! She would need to have a conversation with him about this later.
She turned back to address the group. ‘Obviously you can take the breaks you’re entitled to, but when you’re on site, I expect to see people working hard, not standing around having a chat. You can save that for the pub, over your lemonade.’
DNA Sleuths Facebook Group
Bec McKenna:Im on a quest to find my biological father but I think Ive found a half-sibling instead! I was born in Brisbane in 1986 and put up for adoption at birth. I got my mothers name from my birth records but sadly she died in 2014 :( My father wasnt listed. So Ive just got my DNA results thru and I have a strong match in the range of half-sibling! Im literally shaking. What do I do now?
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