TRUST VIOLATED
Just the other day I was betrayed by a couple of people that I know. Nothing huge, nothing life shattering, nothing none of you probably haven't been through. No, I am not going to cry or whine about it either. However the sting of that betrayal has not worn off. I thought the weekend would come and go and I would forget about it. That's not the case. The incident reminded me of a former employer of mine named Pete (real name). Peter owned a manufacturing company and a limousine company. The company he had made limousines out of sedans. Most limos are made this way--brand new sedans are literally chopped in half and extended and re-made to be luxurious limousines. That was the business we were in. Since he had access to the limos already, he started using them to cart clients for business, nights on the town, weddings, etc. This side of the business would eventually be an endless source of stories for me since I would meet a great deal of celebrities and very prominent people. Anyway I was the Office Manager for Pete for both of these businesses. Pete was a nice guy, a fair guy, but a hard guy to work for sometimes. Much of the why would come to light as time progressed. Much of what I have to say almost makes my stomach unsettled and me practically nauseous right now. There was another side of Pete that others in the office didn't know about, it only came about when I started seeing employees come back from the bank without being able to cash their paychecks. I would immediately confront the accountant in payroll to find out why this was happening. The accountant was a childhood friend of Petes, so he covered for Pete. To give you the Readers Digest version of this whole sordid story since it would literally take 5 days to tell it--the company wasn't doing well, it wasn't doing well because the owner of this company, Pete, was using the money to fund his severe cocaine habit. I confronted Pete about it and of course he denied it at first but he finally confessed. I told him that he needed to change before the company went under and I would leave. He said he would but he didn't, for a couple of more weeks employees came back to the office with uncashable checks. This created grief for me in dealing with employees and total anarchy in the company. True to my word, I left. A week later, a former close assistant of mine, told me Pete died of a heart attack from a cocaine overdose. Pete was 35 years old. Well the other day it came to light that a couple of folks that I know who have told me that they were not using cocaine--are in fact still using cocaine. How I found out is not something I am comfortable divulging--lets say I spoke to a reliable "source". There is no doubt that what I found out is true and it has disturbed me most of the weekend. I now feel I have a decision to make since it may effect my family as well as myself. Whatever I decide I know it will be for the best.
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