“Don’t create a punishment system around appearance. Don’t start sending managers running every time somebody feels overlooked. Fix assignment transparency. Sample lost customers.
Track abandoned contacts. Review discount authority. And make sure new people get actual opportunities, not only cleanup work.”
Diane made notes.
“And Trent?”
“You manage him.”
“You really don’t want a recommendation?”
Frank shook his head.
“No. If I decide his employment because he happened to mistreat me, then I’m using status to create the exact special standard I’m criticizing.”
Diane considered that.
“If the review shows a pattern?”
“Then act on the pattern.”
“If it doesn’t?”
“Train him and watch what he does when he thinks nobody important is around.”
Diane smiled faintly.
“Helen?”
Frank looked at the reports.
“Helen.”
There was a knock at the conference-room door.
Trent stood outside.
Diane looked at Frank.
He shrugged. “Your employee.”
She opened the door.
Trent entered slowly.
His suit jacket was gone now, folded over one arm. Without it, he looked younger and less imposing, like someone who had removed part of the costume he wore to work.
“Can I speak with Mr. Dalton?” he asked.
Diane looked at Frank.
Frank gestured toward the chair.
Trent sat.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he placed a folded piece of paper on the table.
“I wrote down every assumption I made this morning.”
Frank did not reach for the paper.
“Why?”
“Diane told me to reconstruct the interaction in order.”
“That sounds like Diane.”
Trent glanced toward her, then back to Frank.
“I saw your truck and assumed you were price-sensitive. I saw Emily’s age and assumed she had no credit. I saw the car she liked and assumed it was above your budget. I saw Marcus talking to you and assumed he was wasting a good part of the morning on a low-probability customer.”
He paused.
“I never asked a single question that would have told me whether any of that was true.”
Frank said nothing.
Trent looked uncomfortable but continued.
“Then when you pushed back, I decided you were trying to act important because you were embarrassed about money. So I got more aggressive.”
Emily’s description echoed in Frank’s mind: You made me feel stupid for liking a car.
“And the market adjustment?” Frank asked.
Trent looked down.
“I added it because I thought if you were bluffing, you’d leave. If you weren’t, it gave me room to negotiate.”
“Was it authorized?”
“No.”
“That is separate from judging us.”
“I know.”
“Good. Don’t let one moral failure hide another operational one.”