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“If you were so inclined, yes.”
She frowned at the page.
“I want to talk to a lawyer,” she said after another moment.
“Of course. I’m sure you do not want a repeat of what happened at New England Digital Marketing.”
Melinda gave a start at that. “You know about that?”
“We do our research, Ms. Norris.”
“God, please don’t call me that. Melinda is fine.”
“Whatever you would like, Melinda.” I gestured. “There is a laptop waiting in the lounge on the first deck. It has digital copies of the contracts on them, which you can send to your attorney, as well as a VPN-protected connection for any phone calls you may need to make. I will be waiting here when you are done.”
Melinda got up, then hesitated. “Can you show me how to get to the lounge?”
I smiled. “It is a very large ship. Right this way.”
I led her back down the hall and up the stairs. When we reached the open-air lounge, she turned around and squinted at me.
“Why do you work for Pierce?” she demanded.
“I do not see how that is relevant to the present contract negotiation.”
“It’s relevant because your boss is asking me to do something insane,” she replied. “People seem to like him, but that’s easy to fake. You, however, see him all the time. You know the real Pierce Benning. Tell me why you work for him, or I’m not signing anything.” She emphasized the point by tapping me on the chest with a finger.
I sighed. She was stubborn. “Mr. Benning and I were roommates at university.”
“That tells me how you know him, but not why you work for him. And please don’t insult me by saying money. Give me a real answer.”
As the personal assistant for a billionaire, I rarely had to talk about myself. People saw me as an extension of Pierce Benning himself. An avatar sent out to do his bidding. Melinda’s question took me by surprise. I was not sure how to answer it; I did not have a rehearsed response prepared.
I could tell by the look in her eyes that she wouldn’t budge. It was the same expression Pierce, himself, so often wore. So I decided to tell her the truth.
“There are few great men in history,” I explained. “And when I say great, I truly mean great. Alexander. Julius Caesar. Napoleon. These men warp the air around them, changing lives as they go. Sweeping up men and women in their wake. Those who are swept up by such men are lucky, truly lucky in a way that is difficult to understand.
“Well, I have found my Caesar,” I said proudly. “And it is to him that I have hitched my wagon, so to speak. I have been alongside him for all of his ventures thus far in life, and my life is better for it. Whatever else he does in this life, I do not intend to miss. That is why I work with Mr. Benning,” I finished. “With him. Not for him. Are you satisfied by this answer?”
“I am,” she said in a thoughtful voice.
I gestured at the laptop in the lounge. “Please do not hesitate to call for me if you need anything else. Oh, and do remember the NDA you signed. You can discuss these contracts with your attorney, of course. But if you gossip about it with anyone else, I can assure you that Mr. Benning’s team of lawyers is quite ruthless.”
I was still annoyed by the situation as I returned below deck. I still believed, firmly, that we needed a surrogate who was enthusiastic about these offers. But I could not dispel a new feeling. A feeling about Melinda Norris herself. The way she looked, her charm, and even that stubbornness that reminded me so much of Pierce himself.
Andrew was right. There is something about her. Something special.
7
Melinda
Using a phone program on the laptop, I called my lawyer and let her know that I had some time-sensitive documents for her to review. It felt good to be contacting her about something positive, rather than the mess with the Bobs two weeks ago.
“You caught me at a good time,” she said. “I’ll review these immediately and call you back shortly.”
While I waited, I used the laptop to do some other research on Pierce Benning. I knew that the internet traffic was probably monitored on this device, but I didn’t care. Of course I was researching Pierce Benning. He was a fucking billionaire, and I was about to sign a contract to carry his baby.
Most of what I found about him was positive. The only negative opinions came from people who were clearly biased, or from talking-head contrarians who wanted to go against popular opinion. One thing was consistent, however: everyone wanted to know what his next big venture was. The rumors were already circulating: self-driving cars, artificial intelligence, even nanobot technology.
