The Apple of My Eye novel Chapter 1151

"Don't be silly, Sher. There's no need for us to be so formal with each other!" Isla shook her head fondly and smiled happily at Sheryl. Then her face grew serious, and she asked Sheryl, "Thank God you're here. The company is in a really bad state at the moment. I really don't know what to do. What do you plan to do?"

"First things first, how many staff do we still have?" Sheryl asked. She knew the situation wasn't good, but she wanted to know how bad it was. That was why she had come to Cloud Advertising Company.

"We've lost about two thirds of our staff. The ones who are still here seem unreliable too. I don't think they are planning to stay; they just haven't found a better place yet. Either for that reason or for another, they are still undecided over what they want to do. I don't think any of them is still here because they sincerely believe in us." Isla's face turned even gloomier, for part of her had been hoping that Sheryl could miraculously come up with a solution to settle their problem. This felt like a nightmare. In fact, not even in her worst nightmares could she imagine the company being reduced to such a bad situation.

"Okay Isla, here's what I need you to do. Send out a notice and get everyone to gather in the meeting room in 5 minutes. I have an announcement to make," Sheryl said firmly.

"Okay." Isla agreed, without thinking any further. She didn't doubt Sheryl's judgement at all, so she didn't ask why. She just nodded and went to notify their staff. While Sheryl was gone, she had been running the company and dealing with the problems all by herself. She felt as if she might collapse in exhaustion at any time, and now she was glad to hand over the reins to Sheryl.

She was so grateful that Sheryl was here to have her back. Even though her own issues hadn't been settled, but at least she could help take some of the pressure off Isla's back, giving her much needed relief.

Truth be told, Isla knew perfectly well that there was nothing that Sheryl could do to reverse the problem. Once the word spread, it was impossible to undo the gossip. If she wanted to be selfish, she could easily stay away and there was nothing Isla could do to force her to help. All they could do was to wait and let the gossip be replaced by other hot news and eventually die by itself.

After all, time heals all wounds, and that included wounded reputations as well, not just emotional but also physical wounds.

Five minutes later, the few remaining staff were gathered in the meeting room.

"I believe everyone knows about the recent events, so I'm not going to go into further details about it. Nor am I gathering all of you here so I can tell my side of the story and try to make all of you believe me. I don't expect any of you to trust me blindly. What I do want to tell you though, is that I'm not leaving this company. So if any of you think that staying at this company and still being associated with me will be harmful to your careers or personal life, then by all means, please hand in your resignation letter as soon as possible. I'm not forcing anyone to stay." Sheryl chose her words carefully and spoke in a clear, crisp tone. When she was done, she looked at everyone in the room, checking if her message had been heard.

She wasn't surprised to find everyone avoiding her eyes. Some played with their pens, twirling and clicking them. Others simply looked down at their hands or at the table, showing no indication at all that they were listening to her. It was a huge difference from when she used to have meetings with her staff, when all of them used to look at her attentively and took down notes eagerly.

Nobody wanted to acknowledge her. In fact, the way they were acting was as if she wasn't even standing in the room. But Sheryl knew that they had heard her words loud and clear.

"Let me repeat myself. If you have lost faith in me and the company, feel free to step forward. I will not judge or penalize you. I will even help to make the process easier and inform the financial department to pay your salary immediately. All you have to do is be brave enough to reveal your stands."

Everyone was silent. Not a single person would tell her whether they were planning to stay or to leave. None of them wanted to be the first to make a stand.

Sheryl scanned the room again, observing the body languages of the staff. When the news first broke, some of the people in the room had even comforted her and told her that everything would be okay. Now, she had obviously lost their support. To make things worse, they wouldn't even look at her!

Sheryl couldn't help feeling disappointed. She thought she knew her staff well and even considered some of them as her friends, but in that instant, she saw their true colors. She didn't blame them though as it was only human nature. She knew reality was always cruel.

"Very well. Since no one has said anything, then I take your silence as your decision to stay!" Sheryl said loudly and provocatively. She knew what all of them were thinking and wanted to push them to speak their minds. They all wanted to leave, yet none of them wanted to be the first person to speak up. Even now, they were scared of what other people would think. She was done with all these pretence. Didn't they understand that the more straightforward they were, the more she would respect them?

She paused again and looked closely at everyone in the room. She noted that they got a bit more restless.

Finally, some of them looked up at her. Their faces were fretful and almost panicked, and she knew she was close to breaking them. Still, they remained quiet. They didn't know where Sheryl was going with this. They feared that it was all just a test and Sheryl actually had a plan to save them and the company. If they walked out now, it would be such a waste.

"I must say, I'm touched by your loyalty. Even in these darkest times, you still have faith in Cloud Advertising Company. With all of you by my side, I am certain the sun will shine on us again. To show my gratitude to those of you who are willing to stay, I have an exclusive offer for you. I will prepare a lifelong contract for you. Once you sign it, you will automatically receive more company benefits."