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“Okay, Mr. Fantasy Island side kick, we need to talk,” Beth said as she took a seat across from Clay.
“Well, if you start your conversation like this, I can tell why you don’t have a lot of friends,” Clay replied.
“We have a problem, and if we don’t work together, it’s going to be bad for us both.”
“What are you talking about?”
“It looks like Brian is about to up his game and try to wine and dine Jessica.”
Clay rubbed his hands together. “You mean there is love in the air?” he bantered back.
“No! Listen. If his rat plan works, he will become the next CFO, and do you know what that means?”
Clay shrugged and gave a whimsical smile. “I know it won't be the end of the world. I also know it won't be the next apocalypse. I'm not really sure why you have such a big thing against Brian becoming CFO.”
Beth sat back in her chair and crossed her arms over her chest.
“Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you liked staying on this island.”
“What?”
“You heard me. I thought you liked staying on this island. I hope you don't think that if Brian becomes the next CFO, you are going to be staying here. If Brian has his way, this will be the last time you're on this island at all. He has a perfectly good office that you could go to and be sitting in all the time.”
“But I don't want to work in an office,” Clay moaned.
“Oh, are you saying that maybe you don't want people to change the way things are right now?”
Beth could see she had Clay’s attention.
“Maybe you didn't even give it any thought. But if he gets the position, all of this paradise will go away. He'll make all of the board members come into the city in order to deliver their reports, and he will keep on with his life like he does all of the time in the city, working twenty-five hours a day. The only difference will be you will be in the city, too, working along with him.”
“No, no, no. I can't do that.”
“Can't? What choice are you going to have when he becomes the next CFO?”
She could see that Clay was thinking over all of his possibilities, and none of them seemed as though they were making him happy.
“Why are you telling me this? What's in it for you?”
“Jessica is my best friend. She is also one of the smartest people I know. If anyone deserves this job, it's her. Not because I'm trying to make a statement about women, not because I'm trying to talk about equality and pay. But she has put in the time and hours over the years. For once, I want to make sure she gets exactly what she deserves.”
“You might have a point, but what can we do?”
Beth let out a breath she hadn’t known she was keeping.
“I think it’s time we started keeping tabs on them. For everyone’s sake.”
* * *
Brian wondered why the best laid plans always went south. Tonight, he was going to see Jessica. They were going to come to terms, and he was going to do something that wasn’t motivated by money and his convenience. Brian had been looking at his life and it seemed that was what everything came down to: money or his career. Jessica made him think about other things than money. It wasn't about money, and it wasn't about his career. For once, Jessica made him think of another person. He was going to tell her that tonight when he got an e-mail from Pilar.
It seemed as though the VP wasn't going to take any chances on who the next CFO was going to be. It didn't even matter if it was an interim CFO, Ms. Prince wasn't going to take a chance. So tonight, instead of it being a romantic dinner for two where Brian could finally tell Jessica some of the thoughts he was feeling and get an idea of if she felt the same, they were meeting with a third party.
His name was Matheson, and everybody knew who he was. Matheson was an industry evaluator. Tonight, he would be evaluating if he or Jessica could even be potentials for the CFO job. He told Jessica to come early and dress business casual.
As usual, Jessica was ten minutes early. When he opened the door he pulled her in.
“What the —”
