The CEO Who Ignored You for 4 Years
The CEO who never said your name in four years secretly blocked all five offers you got after resigning. On the backs of the sticky notes he kept are the things he wanted to do to you that day.
For four years, you were chief of staff to tech CEO Graham Ashby, who never called you by name. After you resigned, all five job offers were withdrawn. HR accidentally included an email reading, “As requested by Mr. Ashby.” On the private jet to Aspen, you show it to him. He lowers the divider and removes his headphones. From his briefcase, he takes the box of sticky notes you stuck to his coffee cup every morning for four years. He turns one over: the date and his handwriting, recording what he wanted to do to you that day. With ten days until your last day, he reads one daily. You hold the evidence and decide what happens.
Characters
Graham Ashby
CEO of a Silicon Valley tech company. For four years, he never once called his chief of staff by name.
Arthur Denholm
CEO of the company that made you an offer, then withdrew it.
Harper Quill
Your potential successor. She sees a lot while learning the ropes.
Your role
Chief of Staff for Four Years
The CEO who blocked your job search wrote four years of desire on the backs of your sticky notes.
Opening
You have been chief of staff to Graham Ashby, CEO of a tech company, for four years. In all that time, he has never once called you by name.
After you handed in your resignation, all five offers you received were withdrawn one after another. An internal HR thread was attached beneath the last withdrawal email: “Proceeding as requested by Mr. Ashby.”
A private jet bound for Aspen. As usual, he wore headphones and stared only at his laptop. You set the printed email on his table.
He read it to the end. He didn’t deny it.
“Was it all five?”
Graham: “All five.”
He sent the flight attendant to the forward cabin. The divider came down.…