The Show Goes On

Time For Some Changes

Jordan was back as quickly as he was gone and Donnie wouldn't have wanted it any other way. He came back with him and they stormed the office firing college drop outs faster than they could leave. The entire office buzzed with protests and screaming as Jordan stopped by Brandi's desk and knocked his fist on it twice. It was his way of saying hello.
She looked up and gathered her hair away from her face.
"How are my candidates?"
"I've got two NYU grads and an ex-employee from L.F Rothschild willing to come in today and about a dozen series 7 graduates that should be ready to leave their posts by next week."
Jordan grinned in admiration of how fast she worked.
"Thank you, Brandi."
She pretended not to notice his silent compliment but stifled a grin. She clicked her pen a few times.
"No problem. How many do we need?"
"I would say about a dozen more. Donnie's pushing them out in herds."
The two of them glanced up to the crowd of shouting men in tailored suits being shoved out the door.
"I left Yale for this! I have a kid on the way!" A blond man with slicked back hair screamed behind him.
"Get yourself cleaned up and you might have another chance. Until then, get the fuck out of my office," Donnie yelled back.
One woman started to cry and threatened to sue.
"You can't do this! I need this job!"
Kimmy had to escort her out.
"You already spent some time here - everyone's gonna wanna hire you. Be grateful. OUT."
By the end of the day, almost two thirds of the office had been cleared out to make space for more people. Professionals. Everyone was a little rattled from how crazy things had gotten and Jordan took this time to order everyone some scotch and explain himself. He went up to the microphone and everyone looked up at him.

"Everyone, I think I owe you an explanation as to why we had to let so many of our Strattonites go today."
Brandi stood up from her chair and leaned against her desk to listen. Everyone was watching.
"Working here takes sacrifices. It takes... dedication. It takes commitment. Sometimes you have to be willing to do things for your job. You have to be willing to do..." Jordan looked at the room. "Whatever it takes."
The room looked back at him.
"And loyalty. You have to know who you're loyal to." Brandi blinked. It clicked. She knew what he was saying. Everyone else knew too.
Jordan wasn't firing people because it was time for a change. He was firing people because among his company was a snitch.
"It takes courage! To stand up against the people who push you down!"
Donnie stood up. Rugrat and Chester followed.
"You have to be fearless! You have to never back down, no matter what!"
Otter and Kimmy and Danielle rose up. The rows of desks behind him also got to their feet. Jordan stood tall at the podium.
"We are a company based on loyalty. You will get rich here. . . If you have what it takes. Do you have what it takes?"
The whole room was standing now.
"We are the wealthy. We are the men and women of tomorrow. We are New York and we are America. We are Stratton Oakmont!"
Applause exploded throughout the building.
"LONG LIVE STRATTON!" Jordan shouted over the room of people standing before him in collective awe.
"LONG LIVE STRATTON! LONG LIVE STRATTON! LONG LIVE STRATTON!" The room chanted and screamed. Jordan still had them. They all still believed. Amid the chaos of another riot of chanting, Jordan left the podium and headed into his office.
Donnie, Rugrat, Otter and Chester followed. Brandi wasn't sure if she should go too, so she stayed at her desk and kept typing emails. She heard some muffled talking from the thick glass that surrounded Jordan's private office. Jordan and Donnie were trying to explain something to the other men.
"Why didn't you tell us?" Brandi could just barely hear Rugrat demand to Jordan.
"We had to be sure, we couldn't have any doubt. Things will be different," he explained. Brandi swiveled around in her chair and clicked her pen a few times.
If there really was a snitch, or likely a whole ring of snitches, how much did they know? How much could they have already told? She rubbed her eyes in worry and started ticking off everything she could think of.
•The fake pink sheets
•The stock fraud
•The coke
•The booze
•The hookers (EJ Entertainment?)
Brandi felt cold sweat droplets on her forehead. She couldn't lose this job. She couldn't lose this company. This. . . was her everything. She had given it her all and there was no way she'd let it go under. The sound of a door giving away snapped her out of her thoughts and she saw Jordan in the doorway, lighting a cigarette. She got up and walked to him.
"Jordan," she took a shaky breath. "What's going on?"

Jordan was afraid. He would never allow himself to seem like it but he was terrified. There was a snitch, a bunch of them and they were all little college kids. Greedy sons of bitches, as if they weren't being payed enough. They made so much money - but that wasn't enough for them.
"Come inside," he said quietly and shut the door behind them. Outside, the commotion was still going and everyone was still riled up from Jordan's talk.
"You already know, don't you?" He asked her softly.
"Yeah. Just - are we going to be okay? Is everyone else?"
"Yeah, we took care of getting rid of them. I, uh, normally don't like to handle things this way but I'll have to ask some other people for help."
Brandi was shaking a little because she knew what that meant. Jordan was rich. He had to know some of those guys. The ones everyone feared. The ones who made people disappear. Brandi's family knew those guys from the old neighborhood they used to live in when she was a little kid. They moved out as soon as they could.
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
He nodded quietly and looked at the window.
And Brandi suddenly got this feeling. She hadn't felt it since she was a kid, maybe 5. When she had stolen a gum packet from the store, and she told her mom the next day, crying. And her mom just tried to calm her down and tell her it was okay, but it wasn't, it wasn't.
It was as far back as she could remember that she had a conscience. And now it suddenly hit her that everything she stood for was wrong. Or twisted. She'd always known it, but it started to hit her like a slap in the face. So she started to cry.
She covered her face with her hand and her shoulders shook. Jordan walked over to her and was about to hug her, but hesitated. Truthfully, he was a little nervous. He had never seen Brandi cry before - she had always been so strong and ruthless in the face of adversity, something that wasn't new to them. But right now... It was as though her spirit had broken. He as afraid to touch her. He needed to know if it was okay. He put his hand on her arm and waited for her to recoil. But she didn't. In fact, she pushed her face past his arms into his chest. So he hugged her and made her believe that he knew they were going to be okay. He knew they were. But things were getting riskier by the minute. However, for right now, all he wanted was to keep his hands on Brandi. It was like she felt so good he wondered how he hadn't done it sooner.

It was such a relief when he touched her. Jordan was a rock when Brandi couldn't be.