Cocotte

by David Manoa

  I exhaled and we arrived at the bar and restaurant and parked in the adjacent car park. I turned to her as she put her glasses back on. She had her notepad and tablet ready on her lap. She used the last tissue to wipe off the lipstick and her tongue to moisten her lips. I raised my eyebrows and nodded. “I want you to take note of anything that might be of importance to us. Sherry is a ruthless and shrewd woman, who will try and knock me down on the redundancy packages. I need you to look through the files so I can concentrate on finding out more about her intentions.”

  Emily nodded and swallowed. I got out of the car to adjust my suit and cufflinks.

  “Another thing. You are my extra eyes and ears when we are out there. You will pick up on things that might be missed by me so I need you to stay sharp.

  Ready?”

  Emily walked beside me and adjusted her dress, pulling the hem down she held her notepad and tablet and raised her head. She looked so cute. “Let’s go.”

  ***

  The entrance to Garrison’s was staffed by two burly bouncers. They let me through but stopped Emily and asked for her I.D. I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself while I waited for her, my smirk perhaps irritating Emily.

  “If I wore my lipstick and had no glasses. I would have waltzed in.” She said, annoyed.

  I said nothing and angled my head above the crowd, to spot Sherry at the bar. Emily started tugging at my arm because she couldn’t see a thing because of the dim light. The place was packed with people in there. It was disorientating with the loud rock music and people shouting. I leaned down and parted her hair by her ear so she could hear me. The scent of her made me inhale deeper. “I spotted Sherry, follow me.”

  As we walked through the crowd Emily started to fall behind, people pushing in front of her. I waited for her and held out my hand when she grabbed it. My body tingled from her touch. She appeared uncomfortable, her eyes darting around.

  We arrived at the bar and Sherry was there, holding her flute of wine. Her head angled over her shoulder when she locked in on me. She had the most-piercing grey eyes and full red lips. She wore a black low-cut singlet and had on a pair of blue skinny jeans and black high heels.

  I felt Emily’s hand loosen and I turned back to her. She had her arms crossed, and shot an angry look at me. I moved closer to Sherry when she turned around, with her back to the bar, and greeted me with a smile.

  “Hello Oliver...”

  I stood in front of her, she took her time in checking me out. She had that gaze that felt like it was undressing me, it sent shivers up my spine.

  “You said this was a business dinner?” I said.

  “It is. The restaurant is upstairs, we can have dinner shortly. I thought we could have a few drinks…you know, get to know each other better.”

  I glanced at my watch to see it was nine fifteen p.m. I noticed Sherry shift her eyes onto Emily. While they were engaged in an intense stare down, I looked at my phone to see a number of missed calls from Marc.

  “Sherry, I’m pressed for time could we get on with it?” I said, avoiding eye contact.

  She sat up straight, while those steely grey cougar eyes went on quietly judging me. Sherry stood up, disappointed, and we followed her upstairs. Emily nudged my arm and I turned to her to see her doing this circular motion with her fingers, on her lips.

  Sherry had booked one of the private function rooms. There was a circular table in the middle with two chairs. Her laptop was open and her folders placed right next to it. The long fluorescent light was the only thing on. It was quite an intimidating atmosphere.

  “Let’s get business out of the way shall we?” she said. I nodded and introduced Emily.

  “Sherry, this is my executive assistant, Emily Arden. My right-hand man.”

  “You mean, Woman.” Sherry corrected.

  “Apologies, Woman.

  “Emily is helping with the acquisition, taking the load off, till this is all completed.”

  Sherry took another calculated look at Emily. “Well, I hope you’re not just fetching coffees for him,” She said.

  Emily said nothing but bit her lip.

  Sherry raised an eyebrow. “Where is your partner? I would have expected Marc to be at this meeting, no?”

  My mind shifted to all those missed calls from Marc I needed to return. “Unfortunately, he’s busy tonight but he has full confidence in me representing him.”

  “I hope so.” Sherry said.

  I noticed Emily smirking, probably thinking, Yeah Marc’s real busy tonight at Showgirls.

  I seated Emily first, and went to grab a chair on the other side of the room. I took out my phone to read the text message from Marc to pick him up. From the place we guessed he would be at, Showgirls. Irony at its finest. I overheard murmurs of Sherry’s conversation with Emily. My ears pricked up and I stayed in the shadows, pretending to be on a call.

  “How long have you worked with Oliver?” Sherry said.

  “A couple of weeks…”

  “Have you fucked him yet?”

  “Excuse me?”

  The moment was getting awkward so I walked back with a chair. Emily was gobsmacked and Sherry had a mischievous grin on her face. I sat down, trying be unaware of the exchange they just had.

  Sherry handed me the files and I gave it to Emily to look over. The whole feeling at the table was like we were playing poker trying to read each other’s body language. “I’m disappointed you reneged on our agreement.” I said.

  “It’s business Oliver, nothing personal.”

  “Its personal to me, next week I will have to tell all my whole sales force they won’t have a job and they won’t get a proper payout!”

  Sherry just glazed over, unresponsive.

  “Again, Business. Besides you are well compensated for your stress.”

  My eyes blinked twice and I leaned back in my chair to analyse her. Sherry took out another document and pushed it in front of me.

  “What’s this?”

  I read the document where my name and Marc’s were on the redundancy list. I balked and pushed the paper back.

  “That was the reason why we pro-rated it. So we could pay you two more. We don’t want your sales force. Our business has no place for inferior workers…”

  Emily froze and stopped reading while I ground my teeth. Sherry was emotionless in her statement but watched with careful eyes how I would react. The waiters arrived with all the food and placed it on the table. I kept staring at Sherry, trying to find words to describe her.

  Sherry picked a chip off a plate and bit into it, keeping her eye on me.

  “You are a heartless woman, you know that?”

  “I wouldn’t be good at my job if I weren’t. Stepping on men, to get to the top, got me to where I am.”

  Sherry picked up her knife and fork and sliced into her steak cutting away the fat, then cutting a slither to put in her mouth. I took the file off Emily and nodded to her that it was okay for her to eat. I didn’t have an appetite, but I checked the redundancy payments on the account managers.

  “Their pay-outs are worse than what we agreed to!”

  Sherry chewed slowly, then grabbed her glass of red wine. “I maybe a heartless, but I am fair.”

  I scratched my head, puzzled.

  She shook her head. “You have absolutely no clue, do you Oliver?”

  “Explain.”

  “Your account managers were the laziest, I have ever seen. You had duplicates within a duplicate. Your structures were inefficient.”

  “I decided on the payments based on who did the sale, not the aggregate system you had in place everyone was just clipping the ticket."

  "If you’re smart you two will sign the document, sooner rather than later. This is the best offer you will ever get.”

  I ground my teeth again when Sherry held out the piece of paper. I grabbed it, scrunched it and stood up. Emily put her fork down half way through her steak and tried to stand.

  “Emily, you stay a
nd finish your food. I’ll arrange a taxi to take you home, I’m headed over to see Marc.”

  Sherry just grinned.

  “We’re not signing that document. You’re not kicking us out.”

  I slammed the door.

  I got back on the motorway and gunned it back to town. I was so pissed off, I didn’t realise I was speeding. I downshifted to slow down, each gear change jolting me a number of times till I was at legal speed. I pulled up in front of Showgirls and saw Marc trying to fight the bouncers outside. The idiot had his shirt off, beating his chest like King Kong, trying to start something.

  “Come on! You big for nothing cunt!” He shouted. “Let’s go one on one! Yeah, you know! Chicken shit!”

  The looks on the bouncer’s faces at some scrawny man trying to step them out for a fight, showed it was frustrating for them. They pointed to the alley way started walking over to the area. Damn, they'd pummel the crap out of Marc.

  I ran out and dragged him to the car.

  “Ah, what are you doing? I had those fat fucks!”

  “Shut up Marc! What’s wrong with you? “You are going to get us in trouble!”

  I indicated right and drove off. We got back on the motorway and Marc was taking deep long breaths to sober up. I took out some tissues so he could tend to his bleeding nose.

  “What the hell happened Marc?”

  Marc snorted and stuck pieces of tissue up his nose, he looked like a mammoth with two large tusks.

  “They kicked me out, when the lady I chose rejected me.” He snorted. “Stupid bitch, I had $3000 dollars too.”

  “I don’t understand, why do you keep going there Marc? You have a family for god’s sake.”

  Marc shrugged his shoulders and went all silent. When we pulled up at the lights, he grumbled, "Having a family doesn’t mean shit, if your wife doesn’t desire you… fuck her.”

  I drove for a few meters when I pulled over. “What do you mean?”

  “Do you have any idea what it’s like to come back home to a single bed?”

  He'd clicked on my single situation. I raised my eyebrows at him;

  “I mean, to come home and find that your wife wants sleep in the same room as our daughter downstairs and I’m stuck in the bedroom…”

  “Marc I didn’t know, you were having problems…”

  “The bitch is only staying with me because my daughter is too young. The divorce, will shatter the kid. I don’t want a divorce because I still love them both.”

  “Then why the hell do you keep cheating on her then?”

  Marc paused and looked down in shame.

  “Loneliness. Revenge, hurt… it’s hard to explain Oliver...it’s fucked up.”

  “Be honest, what was the real reason you got kicked out of Showgirls?”

  “I tried to kiss her… and kept trying to kiss her, till she screamed out for help.”

  I smoothed my hand over my face, realising he'd broken the number one rule. I felt sorry for the guy. “Marc, you need to sort your issues…”

  “I know...”

  “I mean you really need to sort your issues, seek marriage counselling.” I stressed.

  He exhaled out of his mouth, then he nodded. “How did the meeting go?”

  I shook my head and started the car. “I’ll talk to you about it on Monday, it’s going to get messy.”

  ***

  I held my cup of coffee to reflect while staring out the window. It’s a shame, I’m going to miss this office, if we end up signing. Especially with a view like this.

  Emily had rung in and taken the day off, sick. My office door flung open and Marc stormed in with a rage.

  “Oliver you son of a bitch!”

  “What?”

  “You motherfucker!”

  Marc was moving at a blistering pace when he grabbed my collar and shoved me into the window. My cup of coffee fell out my hand and shattered all over the floor. There was a pool of brown liquid by our feet and on our trousers.

  “Why the fuck did you tell Sherry?” he shouted, pushing me again so the back of my head hit the window.

  “Ow! About what? The hell are you on about, Marc?”

  “About the women I’m seeing at Showgirls…”

  “I didn’t say anything, I swear!”

  “You were the only one that knew.”

  I pushed him off me and he fell back into my desk.”

  “I swear to god, I did not say anything to Sherry. What the hell happened?”

  "She arranged a private meeting with me, but I declined the offer the money wasn’t enough. I wasn’t going to give up my job."

  I got pissed off. "Why didn’t you tell me? Why waste my time meeting with her and putting me through the meat grinder?"

  "Because I wanted to be sure too, I wanted to know what she would offer you. I thought a second perspective would flush her real intentions out, only it backfired cause of you."

  “Marc, get this through your thick skull. I did not say anything. What does this have to do with anything?”

  Marc sighed and smoothed his face over.

  “If we don’t sign the document, she threatened to tell Gemma, that I am cheating on her.”

  “Sherry has no evidence.”

  “I can’t risk it. Everything is already shaky with Gemma as it is. This will be the nail in the coffin.”

  I put my hand on my hips and looked at Marc. His eyes were bloodshot.

  “Oliver, I have no choice. I have to sign. That’s why I’m asking you to sign as well. I can’t afford to go through a divorce with Gemma, she will take my daughter. I lose everything.” with bloodshot eyes.

  My business mind calculated that with the assets Marc had, which was over five million not including the house, Gemma would have half of it. Sure he’s not poor by any standard, but the loss of his daughter and the effect on her and Marc would be devastating. I took out a piece of paper and readout aloud our entitlements.

  “We sign this we get two million dollar pay out each.” I said.

  “Sucks, I know the I.P alone is worth over ten million, perhaps more if they decide to keep funding our research.”

  “You know that won’t happen Marc.”

  I signed next to Marc’s signature and handed it back. “So much for the gravy train huh?” Marc said.

  “Yeah, take it and hand the document back to Sherry. I can’t stand the sight of her,” I said. I walked over to the cupboard and took out the bottle of scotch and put the two glasses on my desk. I filled them both up to the brim. We took our glasses and sat on my desk and stared out the windows as the amber liquid quenched our stresses.

  “Oliver, if you didn’t tell Sherry who did?”

  I gulped down half the glass, I was so pissed off. “Emily was there at the meeting. When I left to pick you up, she was still there with Sherry.”

  Marc’s jaw was grinding. “That fucking bitch! Just wait till I get my hands on her!”

  “You won’t do any of that. I stuffed up, by bringing her along…” I sighed. “It’s on me.”

  Marc’s anger subsided. “What’s done is done. I guess we will be unemployed in six months huh?” he said.

  “Yeah… You know Marc, I trusted her.”

  “I knew the whore was bad news from the start. I want to be there when you fire her ass! Donald trump style.”

  I took in a deep breath and stood up. “I can’t…”

  “What do mean, can’t? I’ll fire the bitch myself if you can’t do it!”

  “Marc, despite this indiscretion, she is halfway through all the documentation, for this acquisition. Getting someone else in will put us back.”

  Before Marc could open his mouth, I added, “Face it. We are all pretty unemployed anyway in six months. She’s in tomorrow I’ll deal with her personally.”

  I watched Marc grin, realising everything. But I felt let down by Emily, she should have known better.

  Perhaps, I should have known better.

  ***

  The sun
gleamed through my office and I held my hands behind my back, trying to show some restraint. My shoes were sticking to the black granite floor from the coffee cup that was smashed. It was eight thirty a.m. and I knew Emily will be in soon. The reality of losing all that you worked hard for, kicked in. The countless hours, to get the business to where it was and to lose it entirely, because of Emily’s loose lips.

  I couldn’t help but be so disappointed because of something petty like this. The age old saying rings true – loose lips, really do sink ships.

  “Good morning Oliver. How are you?”

  I didn’t respond, but I heard the click of her heels approach my desk. I squinted then closed my eyes, when a bright ray of light hit me in the face. All I could see was the red, from the blood in my eyelids.

  “Sit down.” I said, in strict school teacher type tone.

  “Is something wrong?”

  My back was still turned against her when I said, “You.”

  I turned around and walked slowly to the front of my desk. My shadow had imposed on her before I sat looking down on her. Emily looked terrified the way her hands were shaking. She held her notebook against her chest.

  “Emily… This is one of those moments, where you need to be honest with me.”

  She nodded vigorously. “What happen-”

  “Let me finish.”

  Her eyes widened and she sat straighter. She started to bunch up.

  “When I left Garrison’s, what happened after?”

  “Oliver… We finished our meal and we got talking.”

  “About what!”

  She flinched and shivered. “We didn’t talk about business I swear! Sherry told me about her life. How she struggled to get to the top. How the corporate life was twice as hard for a woman, she gave me an insight on what to expect.”

  “And you trusted her.”

  Emily looked down, then side to side.

  “I guess I did. Oliver tell me... What is –

  “Keep going. What happened after?”

  “Our conversation shifted to me, where she asked about my life and how I met you.”