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“The Amirmoez estate in Bahrain.”
“Amirmoez?” Mr. Brandt’s brow furrowed. “That name sounds familiar.”
“They have large holdings across economic sectors internationally,” Richards said.
“Sounds like a bit of a big job for you, little lady,” Mr. Brandt said. “Why don’t we team you up with Richards and Jenkins for this? They can work on location, and you can coordinate from here.”
“Aziz asked for me personally. He’s not going to book us if you send two strangers to his house,” Laine said.
“Excuse me?” Mr. Brandt straightened his shoulders. “Who is Aziz?”
“Aziz is the head of the Amirmoez estate, with whom I met yesterday. I’ll have to be on location for the initial planning, but I’m sure in the end, with what Aziz has promised in way of my fee, it will be worth it to the team,” she added.
Mr. Brandt seemed to be torn between anger and flashing dollar signs in his eyes.
“Maybe we should have a meeting with Mr. Amirmoez,” Richards suggested.
“Maybe you should, John,” Laine snapped. “Maybe if you heard it from him, then you would believe what I am telling you. If I am not the one on that plane with him, he will go with another company. He made the appointment looking specifically for my work, not my secretarial skills. So while it seems like none of you can bear to acknowledge the success I’ve brought to this business, Aziz is more than willing to see it.”
“Laine, you are on thin ice,” Mr. Brandt warned.
Laine looked up at the right corner of the room. It was where she stared every time he handed off a case or diminished some accomplishment she had made. Why had she ever expected a payoff for her efforts?
The rest of her coworkers were sitting in uncomfortable silence. Aside from Adrian, who was practically bursting with words that wouldn’t be appropriate to say aloud.
“I need at least two weeks,” Laine said. “And I think it would be beyond foolish to let this account get away, just because you don’t believe I can handle it. It would almost literally be like tossing a million dollars into a pile and setting it on fire.” She rose from her chair. “I can have my assistant send you the information.”
“Miss McConnell, you and I need to have a talk in my office,” Mr. Brandt said in a low voice.
“I suppose we do.”
As Laine made her way back to her office, she ruffled a hand through her hair and took deep breaths. If she still had a job, it was only by the skin of her teeth, and perhaps the subconscious realization from Mr. Brandt that his new hires wouldn’t be able to compensate for the money Laine regularly brought in. An intern started across her path but then skittered back to a cubicle on the far side of the room. What Laine needed now was some time alone to think. She just wanted to go home, take a hot bath, and mull over that bar brawl of a meeting with a glass of wine.
Laine stopped and fixed her eyes on a tall figure perched on the desk of the pretty temp outside of her office. She hadn’t caught this one’s name. They tended to cycle through the office since Mr. Brandt was too cheap to spring for the kind of assistant that might actually last here. The young woman had a full wave of blonde hair and looked up at Aziz with stars in her eyes, giggling and covering her mouth as he spoke.
Laine rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth. She picked up her pace and closed in on the desk, causing the new temp to jump.
“I was just thinking about you,” Laine said to Aziz.
“You were? Excellent. I hope you were thinking about my offer.” Aziz looked at her and smiled beatifically.
It annoyed Laine even more that she suspected he knew she was bothered.
“Come into my office. We have some things to discuss.” Laine stepped toward the door and then gave the temp a pointed look. “Go down to the mailroom to check on packages for the Madison account, would you? They need to be delivered to Joel Pratt ASAP.”
The temp hopped up with a nod and hurried away. Laine went into her office.
“I don’t like that expression,” Aziz said as he followed her. “Have you decided not to come with me? I don’t intend to give up so easily.”
“You’re completely wrong. I just talked to my boss in our weekly staff meeting. I’m all yours,” Laine replied tersely.
Aziz lifted his brows. “That’s excellent!”
Laine walked around him to close the door. “I’ll need you to talk to Mr. Brandt about your expectations. Honestly, it’s either that or he’s going to change his mind in the next two weeks and just fire me.”
“Fire you? I don’t imagine any of your coworkers has brought in a client offering what I am.”
