AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She barely even notices Nicole and I take that as an offense. Maybe it’s her outfit, the one that’s dripping with seduction, with her low cut neckline and tiny skirt. This woman would not be wise to dismiss Nicole like that, because she’s my sharpest employee.
I do the honors of introducing her myself, “Carmella, this is my assistant Nicole, I think you’ll find she has a very healthy perspective on politics. She helps to determine all our future clients.”
“Oh, nice to meet you,” she says lacking any kind of emotion or sincerity and barely glancing away from me to Nicole.
Nicole and I both take in the look of this woman. She’s extremely eccentric—but not in a good way. Her outfit is haphazard, and she seems a little bit like she’s doesn’t know what she’s doing.
Nicole is reading over the paperwork, and she’s probably absorbing the fact that this woman has a very colorful and inconsistent, but long political history. She’s not exactly gonna be a dream to take on.
“Please, Carmella, have a seat. May I offer you some water or another beverage?”
“Some coffee would be nice, please,” she says.
I call for the secretary to bring in a hot pot of coffee. Anything to satisfy this woman, I guess.
Carmella is still turning up her nose at Nicole, and it pisses me off. I could reject her on this alone. She needs to be more careful how she treats the people that I surround myself with.
The coffee arrives, and Carmella helps herself. Then she starts talking and talking away.
“I started my career in the 90s when I was campaigning for certain miners to have more rights in the coal production industry. And I have to say I was the best political person they have. I mean you guys would be lucky to have me.”
Nicole and I both have glassy eyes as the woman just goes on and on talking about herself. None of it’s pertinent to the meeting and most of it we already know. This meeting is a disaster.
I squeeze Nicole’s thigh to the table, and it makes her smile, but I still need to wrap up this dastardly meeting.
I hit right to the point, “Carmela, first of all before we decide to represent you we need to go over our price.”
The woman looks at me like she’s offended. That’s not a good sign. That means she probably doesn’t have the money to afford our firm.
I hand her a piece of paper that lays out our terms. She looks it over with a shocked expression.
“Well, Cameron, I think that you and I can both agree that this price is astronomical. Your firm is worth nowhere near this much money. Besides, when I get elected, I’ll have more power—and that should be the fee you charge. If you get me elected, I’ll grant you favors.”
I pause a minute and wait to see if Nicole’s gonna jump in here. She can certainly shut this thing down quickly if she wants to. As it is, she says nothing.
So I say it, “We are not a firm that operates off of favors. We provide the best political backing that you could ever ask for, but it comes at a price. And we’ll need you to pay that price if were to work together.”
“But you’re being unreasonable,” she argues with me. “No one else in town charges this much. I think that you’re holding yourself above the rest when you’re obviously not worth it,” she says as she looks Nicole up and down.
I can see that she thinks Nicole is my little tartlet. My little office treat. Nicole is definitely that, but she’s also so much more.
Again I pause, waiting for Nicole to jump in, and again she’s silent.
“I think you’ll find in politics, Carmella, that nothing comes for free. Especially at Holt, Banks, and Shea. We’re a firm above all the rest—and for the right price. If we decide to accept you, we can take your campaign very far.”
The woman looks disgruntled. She obviously doesn’t want to pay price, and she probably can’t afford it anyway.
This entire meeting has just been a waste of my time. And there’s nothing more I hate than my time being wasted by people who aren’t serious. Time is money after all.
I look at Nicole with a hardened gaze, and she finally understands I’m waiting for her to jump in.
“We think,” Nicole says to the woman, “that you are not the right fit for this firm. Anybody who has to ask about prices is not fully prepared to work with us. There’s a number of methods you can go about paying us, from campaigning and fundraising to holding private dinners with big donors.
“The fact that you don’t know about these avenues of monetary replenishment worries us. I don’t think this is gonna work out, and I don’t see us working together in the future. Thank you for your time.”
