“I love the way this turned out. I think this has been a very successful way to hear everyone and make improvements. This is why I turned senior management positions into this same process. It’s not just about who I think is going to do a good job, but also who you, the employees working under them, feel because you’re going to be dealing with them far more than I am.”
I lean forward to peek at Laiken. His eyes flicker to mine, a smile touching his lips. I love that the employees at the bar chose him. It makes my chest warm with pride.
“However,” Mr. Calloway continues, “I began running into the same problem that my grandfather did. There are too many departments and thus too many managers for me to keep up with personally. I decided I needed someone to run interference, if you will. I needed someone to give me an abridged version of events. I need highlights, bullet points, and to know where we are with every subject. My mistake was straying from my tried-and-true method of selection. I named my son-in-law that person without outside input.
“Why did I do this? Because Taylor’s passion and love for Kala are as big as his heart. I was sure his love for Kala was as great as mine, and I was confident he would do everything with Kala’s best interest at heart. However, because I closed down so many avenues of information coming in, bottlenecking them, to get my information from one source as a means to savemyselftime and energy, I’ve created an environment of dissent, and I’m very sorry about that.”
Hands flew into the air, including Cash’s.
Mr. Calloway smiles. “Do you know what I love right now?” he asks. People look around, as if the answer is going to pop up in bright letters. “I love how even our young residents are here and actively involved.” He nods at Cash. “Young man. Please tell me who you are and ask your question.”
Cash jumps to his feet with a big smile. He waves all cutely. “Hi. I’m Cash Ellis. I’ve been raised on Kala nearly my entire life by my parents.” He points to them, and Mr. Calloway inclines his head in their direction. “I currently work on the boat tours—you should join us on one, Mr. Calloway.”
“I will do that, Cash. What’s your question?”
“I want to know if you’re changing this input of information from a bottleneck to maybe the six officials of the islands? Are you replacing Taylor? Also, for the record, Taylor might be a little… extreme and… uh…” He looks at me for a second as he tries to find the right word. “A little intense, but he’s always very nice. Always. Just wanted to tell you that.”
Cash takes his seat beside me. He grips my hand, cheeks red.
Mr. Calloway smiles, his gaze remaining on Cash for a long minute. He looks at Taylor, which makes us all look at Taylor. I can see Taylor’s heart in his eyes as he looks at Cash thankfully. Then Mr. Calloway looks at Cash’s parents.
“You have raised an amazing young man. You should be very proud.”
“We are,” Cash’s dad says, looking over other heads at Cash. “Very, very proud of our boy.”
Cash’s shoulders rise, embarrassed by all the attention on him, though his smile remains wide.
“To answer your questions, yes. To most of that. I’m going to turn over the floor for Taylor, and I’d like for all of you to listen to him, just as you have been listening to me. If your questions aren’t answered once Taylor speaks, Cash, I will more fully address your questions.”
Cash nods. “Thank you,” he calls.
Mr. Calloway steps aside and takes a seat after gripping Taylor’s forearm in support.
“Thank you,” Taylor says, his cheeks flushed. “Hello. Good evening.”
A quieter, less enthusiastic chorus of greeting meets him.
“I’m sorry,” Taylor says. “I didn’t realize I was so troublesome or that all my concerns—those of which I thought were very important—felt trivial and nitpicky when you felt there were bigger things that should have been addressed. This isn’t me telling you I disagree. I’m trying to explain that I don’tthink that the color on the walls of the school classrooms is any less significant than which flowers are planted under the sign at the airport. I want Kala to be viewed as the most special place in the world by everyone. Everywhere they go, I want them to see that no detail is insignificant. I’m very sorry that my intensity and focus on things that you didn’t necessarily want an opinion on took up so much real estate and pushed things away that youdowant opinions on.”
“To be fair, we do want opinions on some of those things,” Sally, one of the ex-managers, says. “We just don’t appreciate how you bring things up like wedon’thave an opinion.”
“For instance, from the last meeting you ran,tellingus we need to have our grass height between one and three inches isa lotextreme,” Joshua Pierre, the principal of the school, says. “It’s also not something that should be measured or have so much attention put on. We all cut our grass. Policing how high it is?” He shakes his head. “The energy put into that would be better served elsewhere.”
Taylor inclines his head. “Heard. Thank you.”
Silence fills the room as Taylor waits to be attacked again. When no one speaks, he clears his throat. “I would like to ask you for a second chance,withmodifications in my responsibilities. I will be hands-off management staff. I am, of course, always at your disposal should you need support, but you will no longer answer to me. There will now be a modified chain of command that you will follow. My position will be only as a public servant, but I will work more closely with the island representatives, and together, the seven of us will report to Mr. Calloway.”
He pauses to look around. “Idolove Kala. It’s the absolute best place in the entire world, and I want to keep it amazing for us. I promise that’s always where my intent has been in all the, uh, ridiculous things I brought up. Please consider giving me asecond chance. Let me prove to you that my heart is where my mouth is. I want to make you proud.”
“He knows how to pull at heartstrings,” Dad murmurs as a surge of voices rises.
“I’ll vote for Taylor,” Cash calls over the crowd. He taps my leg.
“So will I,” I say, waving my hand. I grip Dad’s arm and glance at Laiken.
Both give me bemused expressions. My heart swells when Laiken sighs. “I’ll give Taylor a second chance, too,” Laiken says. “As long as I don’t have to work for him, but as a public servant, I’m willing to see where this goes.”
“Same,” Dad says.
