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“Lester.” I frowned. Lester Richardson was one of the managing partners at the firm. Lester was an ex-Marine. He was the kind of guy who would argue a point tooth and nail, if he felt strongly enough about it. Curse you out and then invite you out for coffee when he was done.
“Yes, Lester. The next day they announced that you were acting office manager. So we pulled up.”
“Why?”
“Lester likes you, Tavarus. And it just seemed too coincidental that the day after he walks in on us that they stepped to you like that. Like they were calming you or whatever. Then, the way you handled the job, we didn’t know where your head was after that. “
“The way I handled the job. What are you talking about, Linda? What did y’all think, I sold out or something?”
“Not in so many words.”
“But that was the point, right?”
“But after a while, they began to see that you were really handling the job. You know what I mean. You’ve done an excellent job. You should be proud of the way you’ve handled the job. I know you made me proud.
I made them see that we needed you with us.”
“Why tell me now?”
“We wanted our offer on the table along with theirs.”
“What exactly is your offer?”
“A partnership between the four of us, silly. What did you think I was talking about all this time?”
“I just wanted to hear it.”
“Well, there it is. We just want you to consider it.”
“I accept,” I said without hesitation. “But that has no bearing on whether I’ll consider their offer. If there is an offer to consider.”
“I didn’t think it would. None of us expect you to.”
“I didn’t think you would. My having the job only strengthens your position with the clients you plan on kidnapping.”
“Exactly.”
Chapter Seven
Zack
I had been pursuing a major prospect, which had the potential to generate four hundred thousand dollars in annual revenue for the company. Closing this deal would virtually guarantee my being Sales Representative of the Year, and the trip to St. Martin would be mine. And I’m ready to go, too. The closer it gets, the more Angelique asks how my sales are. Before this whole trip thing came up she would never care, but I ain’t sayin’ nothin’. I’m really looking forward to us going. But even if I don’t win, we’re going somewhere. I’m glad that she’s at least thinking about Rio.
I picked up the lead at a convention in Chicago four months ago. I overheard these two guys talking in the men’s room about how dissatisfied they were with their current supplier and were thinking about making a change. I heard one say that he told Cabot to start shopping around for a new supplier. Now I had a contact name. Somebody named Cabot. All I needed now was the name of the company. So I followed them through the hotel and around the exhibition hall until I could get a good look at their nametags. Carlton Banks, President, Bandexx Corporation, San Diego, California. I immediately made a mad dash back to my room to follow up. Within an hour I had spoken to Dean Cabot and had e-mailed him information.
It had been a particularly busy day, as days after holidays usually are. I spent the entire day in the office. Around eleven o’clock I had a free minute, so I called Angelique, but she was away from her desk. I left her a message and I called Tavarus. He had called earlier, but I was in a meeting. “Just wanted to know if you wanted to meet me after work for happy hour at the Double Tree on Peachtree Dunwoody.”
“Can’t do it. I’m supposed to be meeting Lana tonight.”
“So I’ll see you there, ’cause you know she’s lying. Some people steal, some people gotta drink. Lana gotta tell lies. She can’t help herself.”
“I’ll talk to you later.” I hung up the phone and got back to work. I skipped lunch for a conference call and ordered Chinese food around three, half eating it between calls. It was six o’clock before I realized it. Everyone in the office had gone or was leaving for the day and I still hadn’t heard from Lana. No surprise there, I thought, while I finished my paperwork and called it a night. When I passed the receptionist’s desk on the way out, I noticed that there was a message slip in my box. It was from Lana, saying she wouldn’t be able to make it tonight. “She’s getting better. At least it was the same day.”
I got in my car and decided to meet Tavarus at the Double Tree. When I got there, Tavarus was already there and had found a table close to the buffet. As soon as he saw me come through the door, he stood up and started laughing. All I could do was smile and drop my head. “Okay, so she stood me up.”
“Correction, again. She stood you up again.” Tavarus stuffed another shrimp in his mouth. “She stood your dumb ass up again. I don’t know why you bother making plans with her. She’ll call you when she wants you.”
“Yeah but, this time it was her idea.”
