Noreen, the confrontation and an unavoidable invitation to the lion's den.

Noreen finished climbing the stairs to the top floor. She found herself staring down a short hallway with three doors on each side and a double set at the end of it all made of polished dark wood. The corridor was empty and dead quiet. She marveled at the soundproofing as she was certain there was a gathering in the far room. She shrugged, checked her phone to confirm the invitation was to the party through the double doors and walked towards them. The floor was clad in shiny white tiles of some sort, they made a distinct clicking noise when her heels came into contact with them. The walls were the same creme color she's seen elsewhere in the manor, non-descript and a bit boring.

She stopped in front of the imposing doors for a moment looking for a button or something that would open them. When she found nothing, Noreen gently pushed the left one and it glided open easily, surprising her. There was loud conversation coming from inside but she couldn't make out exactly what it was about. She decided to go in, they invited her after all. She walked straight inside and straight into a noisy ruckus.

The room itself is a gaudy wonder. It appeared to be 20 feet long and 16 feet wide. The floor was a checkerboard pattern with black and white stone tiles alternating from one side to the other. The walls were divided with white wood paneling covering the bottom half and mirrored glass across the top half. She could see four tables set up each with seating for six, clustered together in a square in the center of the room. Three ornate crystal chandeliers dominated the ceiling providing the room with adequate light but dimmed a bit to keep from overwhelming guests through the mirror reflections. There were a few people sitting at the tables but the big event was obviously on the far side of the room.

There were five people standing there in front of the decorative marble fireplace and she recognized them all. One was the director she worked for, his nose was buried in his phone and a tall, visibly upset Brian Vandergraft standing a few feet in front of him flanked by three board members. The young businessman was impeccably dressed in a white tie and matching tailcoat, contrasting with his dark hair and brown eyes. At 6'4" he towered over the rest of the party. She was mildly impressed by how he dominated the group with just a glance at the subject of his ire.

She knew of but had never met Ester Thorngrave, Richard Applegrove, and Frederick Dinuffer. All are Vandergraft stalwarts specially placed on the hospital board by the elder Vandergraft to safeguard the family's interests. All in the group but the director were dressed in fine formalwear. Thorngrave was wearing an elegant designer blue gown, it worked incredibly well with her long blonde hair and pale azure eyes. If she were a decade younger, people might wonder if she'd escaped the Disney movie Frozen. All three boardsmen were wearing black ties and formal suits. In contrast, the director was in his boring grey work suit and she could see a fine glean of sweat on his brow. Then Noreen noticed John the PR guy who invited her to the party, wave her over to the table he's sitting at. Noreen walked over and sat next to him. John immediately began whispering to her.

"This is bad, Noreen. Vandergraft has been questioning the director for 30 minutes and he's very unhappy with the answers and dodgy replies he's been getting."

"What have you gotten me into, John? The looks on their faces are ghastly. Did you invite me up here so I could watch my job disappear?"

"I swear Noreen, I had no idea this was going to happen. I didn't even know the director would be here. I just figured inviting you to the grandest celebration at the manor would. . ."

Noreen cut him off with a wicked look at that point. It's obvious John thought he'd impress her with his access to the rich and the powerful. She had a pretty good idea why too but that wasn't important at this point. She stood and took a moment to straighten and smooth her gown.

"Noreen I don't think. . ."

"Yes, you don't think much John. Sit there and do your best to avoid notice. Let me see if this can be salvaged."

Noreen paid him no further mind as she walked around the tables and approached the conflict. She wasn't sure what she could do to defuse this but had to try. Her position as a personal assistant to the director carried a nice salary bump, the last thing she wanted was to go back to the general secretarial pool. The PA had worked much too hard to allow all the expertise and influence she'd strived so hard to accumulate disappear in one evening. That is exactly what will happen if her conflict adverse boss were left to his own devices, she feared. She heard Vandergraft demand the director explain the patient backlog in oncology. The director sputtered something about the board while continuing to try and find answers on his phone as his inquisitor's face grew darker and angrier. Everyone in the gaggle shifted their eyes to a determined Noreen as she strode up, glanced at her iPhone, and addressed the question.

"Sir, Oncology has a 12% backlog at the moment. It was a foreseeable and addressable situation. A month ago the director sent a request to the board for a 25,000-pound bonus to try to hire Dr. Stevens away from Dorchester General. The backlog was only 3% then but Doctors Meercant and Devonford were scheduled for vacation this month. When the board voted the supplemental down, Dr. Stevens decided to stay put. It's a dreadful business but one we are muddling through. The newest report on the situation won't be ready until Friday though, so it's sadly too early for the director to have the figures at his fingertips."

Brian Vandergraft turned his furious gaze in Noreen's direction but his expression began to soften a bit. He was not prepared for whomever this new arrival was. Brian did notice his three allies were staring daggers at the young lady. He took a moment to admire her figure. Noreen's light brown skin and long dark hair were showcased well in the red gown that was hugging her attractive curves. The bottom was cut well up her side giving the group a peek at her shapely legs and the bodice of her dress did an excellent job drawing attention to her ample cleavage. He wasn't sure if she was insane or crafty with the way she'd successfully pulled the group's attention from the director. She sounded knowledgeable and was pleasant to look at so he decided he'd allow it.

"And who might you be, Madam?"

"My name is Noreen Karimi, sir. I am the director's assistant. It's my job to keep him appraised of these situations. The reports I file are all due Friday though. Had this function been on the weekend, you would have had all the answers you wished from him. Sadly, this isn't the weekend. So while I have gathered most of the information and data, it isn't compiled in to an easy to digest report."

Noreen hoped Vandergraft would take the admission as an invitation to concentrate his attention on her. She was certain she was in a much better position to handle his inquiry anyway. At worst, she could expect a glowing letter of recommendation from the director if **** to search for other employment. Brian was warming up to the idea of engaging the newcomer though. She was surely a more interesting subject than the old man he'd been dealing with up until now. Meanwhile, Thorngrave looked down her nose at the intruding Persian lady intending to shoo her off.

"You weren't addressed Ms. Karimi and frankly aren't welcome here. We don't waste our time with mere functionaries."

Vandergraft glanced at his companion and shook his head.

"Ester be quiet, please. I'm here for information and if this young lady has it, I'd hear from her... unless you have it at your fingertips?"

Thorngrave's face registered a shocked look for a second before wiping it off and replacing it with a more sullen expression. The blonde was beside herself at the abrupt countermand and use of her first name in front of subordinates. She took a half step back to escape his steady gaze. The man let her retreat as he eyed Noreen up and down again.

"What of the ICU excess situation? I'm led to believe we have a lot of idle beds that cost quite a bit of operating cash but are not producing revenue as projected."

Noreen nodded and looked at her phone. She recalled discussions on this from a Thursday meeting last week but wanted to be sure she was remembering the details correctly. After a moment of reviewing her notes, she looked back over toward her interrogator.

"Yes, sir. ICU is running about 28% below projections right now. I had checked with their managing team last week and was informed that was almost entirely due to a delay in the beginning of the influenza season. There are several bulletins on record from Public Health England that the season is beginning later than expected. The ICU, Infectious Diseases, and Accounting departments concurred that taking the operating hit was the proper decision. If we attempt to fill those beds and get an abrupt uptick, it will cost a lot more to convert beds on the fly. The season will start, that is 100% guaranteed. We just do not know exactly when. It's a situation that is being watched and is due to be briefed to the board next week."

"And there is no way to bring that expense down until it starts?"

"I've been advised it's not a prudent thing to attempt. To be frank sir, we can cut those expenses however much the board demands. When the hit comes though, the spin-up will be quite costly. I've been told it will be about 300% per bed if we have to do it with no notice and 200% with a few day's notice. All the principles are in agreement it is best to hold it as is. All of this will be in the Friday report. I suspect remaining as-is will be the director's recommendation at the next meeting. Of course, the board makes the final decision here, not the director or myself."

"And you aren't running a line of malarky by me are you, Ms. Karimi? All this data and such can be independently confirmed?"

"Yes, sir. Either you can wait for the properly footnoted Friday report or send an aide to the office tomorrow morning and I'll walk them through the methodology and who to contact about whatever questions they have. I don't do 'malarky' sir, whatever that may be."

Vandergraft looked Noreen straight in the eye and she did her level best not to flinch. She knew she was walking a very fine line and he didn't need a single reason to have her packing her desk in the morning. Still, she had way too much pride to back down now. She knew her figures were correct and she was certain any research would bear her out.

"Do you believe you can satisfy my hunger for hospital information, Ms. Karimi?"

"I do. It's my job to ferret that data out at the director's request. If I cannot hunt it down, it doesn't exist."

Brian Vandergraft looked from the three board members to the nervous director and then rested his gaze straight on Noreen. He'd learned to read people to a degree from his years engaged in shipping negotiations and she was far from emotionally guarded. The set of her shoulders and eye to eye engagement told him she was very confident in her ability. When she was holding the phone looking for information though, her left index finger kept rubbing up and down the back of the device telling him she was at least a bit uncomfortable with the situation. She was driven to charge into this, perhaps by loyalty to her boss, he guessed? Still, he could use that he figured.

"Then let us test your job performance. Come with me, Ms. Karimi. We will be retiring to the study for further discussions."

Noreen took a deep breath, offered the director a nervous smile, and he gave her a stern nod. The brothers are both well known for their womanizing ways so she wasn't happy with the turn of events here at all. Still, she valued the perks of her position too much to object, so she followed her boss's boss through the door on the north side of the room and into the office beyond.