Episode 1233: Born This Way

Ryley and his colleague, Damita, looked at each other, not usually simpatico without a lot of debate first, but this weirdness, they immediately agreed on. This was unlike their boss’s standard reaction, it was unlike him to admit his ambitions were too lofty for any mere human to reach.

“You’re decent enough employees, obviously, or I wouldn’t have kept you on as long as I have.”

Ryley and Damita shared another glance, and subtle nods, this was more like the Phillip Marques they knew, a quasi-compliment wrapped in an insult.

“I won’t speak for Ryley, sir, as we do have different personal standards,” Damita said. “But I for one aim for far better than decent at all times. I’m hugely disappointed in myself that I’ve underachieved in your estimation, sir. I can and will do better, just lay out what you want from me and I’ll deliver.”

“So will I,” Ryley chimed in, even though his heart wasn’t really in it, his response felt more like a reflex. In truth, he was so tired of this game. The demands for more and more, raising the bar to increasingly impossible heights.

He was good at his job, so was Damita, actually, they were both great at it, and their different approaches, had, with time, made them a successful team. When Marques had first paired them, he’d seemingly done so out of malice, a desire to make his son-in-law miserable, payback for supporting the choices Adria had made that defied her parents. Over time though, he and Damita had hit upon a partnership that worked. But of course, Marques thought if you were comfortable, you weren’t doing as much as you could.

That not good enough attitude had invaded his homelife, now, too. Adria and her obsession with ticket sales. He was so tired of it, tired of this Marques quest for better that had no ceiling on it. He wished he could talk some sense into Adria about it, but so far it was like reasoning with a brick wall.

Listening to Adria’s father, he could see why, he could hear where his wife got it from. “You shouldn’t need to have it laid out for you, you should instinctively know what we need here. Fortunately I won’t need to count on you two to be better than decent for much longer. It’s not in you to truly grasp how to grow this company. You can’t help it that you weren’t born with the drive that’s born into my family. I couldn’t be happier that another Marques will finally be returning to the fold.”

“What? What does that mean? Where does that leave us?” Damita asked. “Is this your way of saying we’re fired?”

“Which family member is back in the fold?” Ryley asked with a rapidly growing knot in his stomach, suddenly uncertain of just how far his wife might go, who she’d align with to achieve her goals.

Episode 1234: Family Business