Chapter 28: No Comment

The media waited.

But before any of them even reached the barricaded gate outside Mercer Group’s headquarters, most had already accumulated their own horror stories about getting there.

Traffic around the area had been particularly unforgiving that morning. With several roads affected by ongoing construction, some of the reporters and photographers had eventually given up on finding transportation that could take them any closer.

"I swear, we walked forever," one reporter complained as he finally reached the others. He loosened his tie and wiped the sweat from his forehead. "My overtime and hazard pay aren’t enough for this."

The photographer trudging behind him looked even more miserable.

"You walked forever?" He lifted the heavy camera hanging from his neck. "Try doing it while carrying this thing."

The reporter glanced at the well-worn equipment.

"Didn’t your company promise to replace that?"

"Three budget meetings ago."

"And you’re still using it?"

"Apparently, carrying equipment old enough to qualify for its own retirement plan builds character."

Someone nearby snorted.

"Stop complaining. You’ll forget all about it if Mercer actually gives us something."

That was apparently enough to revive everyone.

Their complaints sounded considerably less impressive, however, when they noticed the people making the same long walk beside them.

A student hurried past with a backpack bouncing against his shoulders.

"If they don’t finish this bridge soon, I’m going to have to start leaving home before sunrise just to make my first class."

"You think you have it bad?" An older man walking nearby chuckled and pointed toward a visibly pregnant woman carefully making her way along the temporary pedestrian route. "At least your legs are young."

The woman laughed despite looking tired.

"I just want it finished before this one comes out." She patted her stomach. "But properly finished, please. I don’t want to cross a bridge they rushed just because everyone complained."

"Hear, hear," said another man carrying a large bundle of goods on his back. "Every extra hour on the road costs me money, but having the bridge close again because somebody did a bad job would cost even more."

The photographer glanced at his supposedly unbearable camera.

Then at the man’s load.

He quietly adjusted the strap on his shoulder.

Maybe the camera wasn’t that heavy.

Because despite the traffic, the long walk, and at least one photographer quietly reconsidering his career choices, journalists had been gathering outside Mercer Group’s headquarters since early morning.

They were apparently hoping that enough patience and caffeine would eventually earn them an exclusive statement from the man who’d somehow become another major character in Alexander Vance and Dominic Sebastian’s increasingly public breakup.

Then someone near the barricade suddenly straightened.

"There."

Every complaint immediately stopped.

Giovanni Mercer had arrived.

The questions started flying the moment Giovanni appeared.

"Mr. Mercer!"

"Did Mercer Group take advantage of Sebastian Group’s situation?"

"Were negotiations with Vance Holdings already underway before the engagement collapsed?"

"What’s your response to Dominic Sebastian’s claim that he was the victim?"

Giovanni never stopped walking.

He didn’t even look particularly tempted to.

Zandro, long accustomed to handling the questions his boss had absolutely no intention of answering himself, stepped in without missing a beat.

"No comment."

The glass doors closed behind them.

And just like that, Giovanni Mercer went to work.

The first working day of every week was reserved for project updates. Workforce, materials, schedules, costs, and anything else that required management attention before it became a real problem.

Whatever else was attracting considerable attention outside Mercer Group’s headquarters that morning had very little to do with any of those things.

Giovanni entered the executive conference room, took his seat, and signaled for the presentations to begin.

The first three projects were uneventful.

No major problems requiring his intervention, no significant delays, and nothing that threatened their approved budgets.

Project Four was different.

It was one of the former Vance-Sebastian joint projects recently transferred to Mercer Group.

After the inspection and formal handover of the completed portions, Mercer immediately began taking over the remaining work. Skilled workers had already been hired, additional equipment was being brought in, and limited overtime had been approved to recover several days lost to bad weather.

Despite the transition, the projected completion date hadn’t moved.

The Project Director finished his report.

Giovanni studied the schedule for a moment longer.

"Can we finish ahead of schedule?"

"Yes."

"Without compromising quality?"

The Project Director didn’t hesitate.

"Yes."

Giovanni closed the folder.

"Do it."

And that, apparently, was the closest the media would get to a statement from Giovanni Mercer that morning.

It didn’t stop them from trying.

When Mercer Group’s executives refused to talk, journalists eventually changed tactics and began approaching the people actually working on the company’s projects instead.

Employees were caught on their way out after their shifts, while contractors and suppliers suddenly found microphones pointed at them, from employment concerns to outstanding invoices.

One construction worker, still wearing his reflective vest, seemed surprised when a reporter stopped him outside the site.

"Were you worried about losing your job after the Vance-Sebastian partnership ended?"

"Of course." The man adjusted the bag hanging from his shoulder. "Most of us didn’t know what would happen at first."

"And now?"

"Skilled workers needed for the project were absorbed almost immediately under Mercer Group. The others were scheduled for skills training before they could be onboarded."

"So no mass layoffs?"

"Not that I know of." He shrugged. "I’m still reporting for work tomorrow."

A supplier gave a similarly practical answer when asked whether Sebastian Group had left behind any unpaid obligations.

"Sure, there were outstanding billings."

"Has that caused problems with the transition?"

"Not so far. Mercer took over the processing of validated pending invoices, and the new purchase orders are already coming through them."

"Have you been paid?"

The supplier laughed.

"Ask me again when the payment clears."

The reporter laughed with him. "Fair enough."

"But they gave us a schedule," the man added. "That’s already better than wondering who we’re supposed to call."

Other answers followed much the same pattern.

There had been uncertainty, certainly, but people were still working. Suppliers knew where to send their invoices, and the transition that had looked like the beginning of another corporate disaster was starting to resemble something considerably less exciting.

Business as usual.

Before long, the headlines began changing.

VANCE-MERCER COLLABORATION APPROVED

Then:

MERCER GROUP BEGINS TRANSITION WORK ON FORMER JOINT PROJECT

And eventually:

NO LAYOFFS EXPECTED DURING TRANSITION

Slowly, the conversation shifted away from who had said what, who had betrayed whom, and which side of the increasingly public mess people were supposed to believe.

Giovanni Mercer never issued the statement everyone had been waiting for.

Apparently, he didn’t need to.

While everyone else had been busy talking, Mercer Group had simply gone to work.

And sometimes, that said considerably more.