The return / Возвращение

I did become a great CEO (sorry for bragging but it’s true!). I carefully studied every single document left behind by Mr. Glater’s folders, I learned everything about AFM products and services, partner projects, domestic and international operations, data resources, and fluctuations of global market trends. I made sure that all projects that had been stalled since Mr. Glater’s resignation were resumed, all lost contacts were reestablished, all data reports were submitted on time, and all press releases continued to be published with no interruption.

I also learned (that was probably my biggest achievement!) how to calm the ever-furious Rich Gustavsson, how to make Claire Starkoff skip the idle talk and get to the point, and how to keep Caesar Rey focused on an assigned task and not let him become carried away by millions of new ideas.

Finally, I handled the toughest of all the business projects – I talked to Mom. Mom was so astonished by my news that her first response consisted only of a few words: “Oh, Liza! Oh, no! Oh, my God! Oh, Liza!” This lasted for quite a while; so I began to wonder how long I would have to wait until Mom would actually begin to speak.

“Okay, Liza,” Mom finally took a deep breath, “I don’t know. On the one hand, I can’t believe you did something like that. It’s great. It’s very mature of you. I’m proud of having such a wonderful caring daughter! But on the other hand, this feels wrong! You are no longer at school and you’ve lied about my job relocation - nothing good starts with a lie!”

“Mom, please!!!” I pleaded, “I don’t know what else I can say to convince you. But I feel it – everything will be just great! Do you hear me?! Just great!” I meant this “just great” with all my voice, and looks, and heart, and mind. And maybe if Mom had not been so exhausted by the never-ending job search and all the interviews she had in the past several months, she would have refused to follow my plan. But this time, she gave in. And the president of AFM did I remain!

Now I was completely and totally happy. Well, maybe almost completely and totally. There was one tiny speck of discomfort that constantly distracted me from everyday work – those strange sounds in the server room I had heard on my first day at AFM. Despite the assurance from the information technology director that “everything is just top-notch with their equipment,” I heard the chilling “Sh-sh-sh-s-s-s-d-d-d-d-s-s-s-s-d-d-d-d-r-r-r-r!” every time I would pass by the server room. Sometimes it was just an incomprehensible mishmash of noises, but sometimes I seemed to catch a part of a word or maybe even a piece of some mysterious message: “Dr-r-r-r-ah-drah-drah! Br-r-r-r-ah-brah-brah! D-d-d-dr-r-r-r-rah-ah-ah!”

It was just ridiculous – the sounds were on my mind ALL THE TIME. Once I even caught myself thinking about them in the middle of an executive meeting on marketing strategies. So, I made a pledge. I said to myself: “Dear Liza, next time, when you feel like thinking about these silly sounds, just . . . just name all the partner companies AFM ever worked with; or, all the products AFM ever advertised, promoted, and manufactured!” Surprisingly, the pledge worked. I managed to keep the strange “r-r-r-rahs” and “dr-r-r-rahs” off my mind for almost a week until one morning when I walked into the lunch room for a cup of coffee…