I exhale, waiting for the next slide, and when it comes up, even I am taken aback.
“By simply using Port 5486 instead of 2987, we can cut a day from our travels and save roughly 20%. Furthermore…”
Remi keeps talking, but her voice is now a murmur as all I can see are the numbers before me. How could we be wasting so much money from shipping alone?
When Remi is done, everyone looks to each other, talking in hushed murmurs.
Lindel is looking to me, grimly, and I don’t know what to say.
Barry begins to speak. “I have a cousin at Port 2987—” he begins, but Remi cuts him off.
“Mr. Casteel,” she addresses Barry, “I’m aware that your cousin manages at Port 2987, but I’m sure you can agree that our losing three-million from utilizing that port alone is a justified reason for the switch.”
It’s not many that would dare to interrupt one of the Big 5, or rather now the Remaining 3. We are all but revered around Icor Tech, and for good reason.
Barry is white-faced, his eyes lit with anger. He’s clearly unsure of what to say.
A small smirk plays on Lindel’s lips. She’s enjoying this. She likes Remi.
Barry’s stammering, about to speak, but then a bold clap sounds at the head of the room, coming from Tom.
What has me on edge is the thunderous applause sounds more menacing than congratulatory. I should be happy—thrilled the upstart mouse will be put in her place.
But I’m not.
“Bravo, Remi. Good work. I can see you’ve done your homework.”
“Why, thank you, Tom,” she says uneasily.
“Oh, don’t thank me yet. I’ve done my homework as well.”
All eyes are on Tom now, and I feel a sinking sensation in my gut.
“It appears that the port you want to use, Port 5486, is controlled by people associated with Gabriel Icor’s future father-in-law.”
Gabriel’s head jerks up, a look of surprise on his face.
Remi’s brows draws inward as she glances at Gabriel.
Why is he saying this? Very few are supposed to know about Gabriel’s upcoming nuptials. I don’t even think Tom is supposed to know at this point. The directors sure don’t.
“So you can shame Barry all you want, but don’t act like there isn’t a similar political agenda in the works.”
Remi looks confused, her hand clutching her chest. “I…I—”
Gabriel rises, his jaw shifting, but Tom cuts him off.
“Furthermore, Port 5486 brings us further away from our eventual destination by taking us inland. We would have to account for land travel, which can be just as tedious and even more costly than shipping by sea.”
People are looking between Tom and Remi, talking amongst themselves. When Remi fails to respond, the whispers grow to murmurs, and soon it’s hard to even hear myself think.
Tom turns to Remi. “I think we can all agree that the nature of your relationship with Mr. Icor has hampered your judgment, or at the very least, your research skills.”
“Tom,” Gabriel cuts in, “we need to take this into my office—now!”
“Why, Gabe? You don’t want people finding out you’re diddling a director? Feeding her ideas? Does the rest of the board know she’ll do everything you ask of her.”
“No!” Remi blurts out, eyes wide with fear. “That’s not it at all. Just look at the numbers. Everything is accounted for.”
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I think we’ve heard enough. Along with tabling this proposal, I think we should call off today’s vote and see beyond the information presented on these slides, thrown together by a woman lovesick under the influence of a megalomaniac.”
Gabriel is seething, glaring at Tom, but it’s of little use. Tom has the room’s attention. Their trust.
Remi is standing by the podium, openly sobbing. Tom stands opposite her, a look of hard hatred in his eyes, and I immediately realize this whole debacle isn’t about shipping routes.
Lindel is standing now. “This meeting is adjourned. Voting is postponed. Tom, I expect to see you in my office, stat. Remi, I will be meeting with you—”
“No,” Remi says, walking to the door. “I’m done here.”
Remi exits the room in a fit of tears, Tom smiling, reveling in his win.
Gabriel seats himself again, burying his head in his hands.
I realize now the balance Tom had been to Gabriel was never out of necessity. It was because Tom was never a friend of Icor Tech.
He’s most certainly an enemy.
CHAPTER 27
Gabriel phones a friend…
I spend the afternoon with my phone off, computer shut down. No one knows where I am or how to reach me. I should be trying to undo the clusterfuck from this morning’s meeting, but instead, I’m drinking scotch and trying to figure out how the fuck Tom Wellington knows I’m getting married. How the fuck he knows what ports my future father-in-law is associated with. And how the fuck he knows I’m fucking Remi Stone. Or was fucking Remi Stone. Chances are, I won’t be seeing her again.
Remi left straight after she exited the meeting, not even stopping at her office. She’s probably back at her vacant apartment by now, which will have no furniture.
It makes me sick knowing that I caused her any strife, and I’m fully planning on making it up to her. I’ll issue out a huge severance, and now that everyone knows I was screwing her, HR can’t really say no. Unless they want Icor Tech to get sued. I can also put in a good word for her with several other companies. She can have her pick. This doesn’t have to be a low-point in her career.
I know I should be thinking about the future of my company—but I’m not.
All I can think about is Remi. Two weeks ago, she stumbled into my heart, causing chaos only she could create. Now, I’ve lost her. She’s humiliated, and it’s all my fault. I can’t say I blame her for walking out. The CFO of Icor Tech practically interrogated her in front of the board, accusing her of fucking the CEO, which she did, and then accused her of making decisions based on politics, which she wasn’t.
I wanted desperately to come to her aid, but I knew how that would look. I knew it would only fan the flames.
She’s probably furious I never told her about my engagement to Sayo. But—I couldn’t. Details are being hammered out, and all parties involved are practicing discretion. Only a handful of people at Icor Tech knew about the upcoming union. Tom was not one of them.
I think about the way Remi felt in my arms, her soft skin, her warm affections. I had toyed with the idea of giving this all up, running away, and being with only her, but that would be selfish.
Thousands of people would lose their jobs. My happiness is nothing compared to the meals my company puts on the tables of its employees.
Why didn’t Tom come to me? Why did he pull this shit at a board meeting? He wants to shame me—to shame Remi. He’s never cared this much about a girl before. Somehow he found out about us. Somehow, he knows about Sayo. But how?
I turn on my phone and dial a number I very rarely contact. The phone picks up on the third ring.
Sayo: Hello, Gabriel.
Gabriel: Hey.
Sayo: I heard what happened at your morning meeting.
Gabriel: Holy shit, is it on the news or something?
Sayo: No, but we have ears over there.
So, Sayo’s family knows what goes on in my meetings, great.
Sayo: Do you like her?
Gabriel: Pardon.
Sayo: This Remi girl. I’m looking at her picture now. Certainly not who I would have chosen.
I laugh, remembering once again that Sayo is a lesbian in addition to my fiancé, and she’s looking at a picture of my lover.
Gabriel: She’s wonderful, but I’m not going to discuss her.
Sayo: That’s fair.
Gabriel: I can’t figure out for the life of me what the fuck happened.
Sayo: Would you like me to tell you?
Gabriel: So, you know?
Sayo: You haven’t been present enough at your board meetings. You’ve mismanaged.
Gabriel: Wow, well, good thing I have you to tell me what I’m doing wrong.
Sayo: Well, just think, soon I’ll have a place on your board, and you won’t have to worry so much.
Her words catch me off guard, and for a moment, I wonder if I heard her right, so I clarify.
Gabriel: Excuse me? A place on my board?
Sayo: Yes, the original three you have left are aging, and the rules state two of the same blood cannot be on the board serving, but we are not of the same blood. Who better to appoint than me? Cregor is the oldest and most likely to retire soon. When he does, I will take his place. It says in your bylaws that when any of the original five leaves, you can pick their replacement. You have three picks left.
Gabriel: His daughter Ana will be taking his place.
Sayo: We’ll see.
In that moment, I’m so angry I’m scared of what I might say next. I take deep breaths, reminding myself of just who I am talking to. It takes me a full minute before I can talk again.
Gabriel: Well, Sayo, I have to go, but I look forward to seeing you.
I disconnect before she has a chance to reply, not wanting to cause the first fight in our relationship.
First, Tom blindsides me during a board meeting, and now Sayo’s gunning for a place on the board. None of this makes any sense.
I see a message from Analise, and I open it.
Analise: You okay?
I’m not okay. I am in no way okay. I’m angry, hurt, depressed, and now I’ve inadvertently created a shit storm that I’m going to have to deal with over the next several weeks. Nothing is okay.
There’s no use replying to Ana. I’m sure she has already heard all the details, and there’s nothing she can say to make it better.
I turn on my system, not looking forward to the barrage of emails I will have to suffer. I’ve been putting them off all day, but it’s evening now, and they aren’t just going to disappear.
A message with an attachment catches my attention. The sender’s handle reads: A Concerned Board Member
I open the message, scanning the attached documents.
Suddenly, the events at the board meeting make total sense.
Holy fucking shit!
CHAPTER 28
Meghan doesn’t let Remi stay down…
“I’m so sorry this happened to you,” Meghan says, arms wrapped around my shaking body.
“I just can’t believe he did this to me. He seemed so genuine. Everything about him was perfect. He volunteers at a fucking children’s hospitals and pays their medical bills. And what he did to me—oh my God.” I erupt into another bout of uncontrollable sobs.
I’ve been like this for two days, shaking, crying, a complete and utter mess. I don’t know how Meghan tolerates me, but she’s somehow become my rock.
“Maybe he wasn’t really that great in bed after all. I mean, it’s not like you have much to compare him to.”
“I was fucking numb, Meghan. Fucking numb. It was damn good.”
“Okay, okay.”
“I didn’t care if he just wanted to be a bachelor, but to have a fiancé? What a fucking scum bag.”
“I know. I hate him for you.”
“And to have me of all people present a plan that will give his father-in-law business? I mean, that’s tacky, right? Tell me it’s tacky.”
“Super fucking tacky. The tackiest.”
“How stupid am I to think a fucking hot, sexy, smart, billionaire would ever really want me? I was manipulated the whole time. So he could get a fucking shipping route for his father-in-law. He fucked me for a shipping route!”
Meghan smooths my hair from my face and plants a kiss on my forehead.
“Remi, he may be a scumbag, but he also may have really liked you. He knew what you were going to present, and he knew you’d do it without sex. He wanted you, if at least for that.”
“And then there’s Tom. I feel bad. So fucking bad. Tom wanted to take me out. He wanted to fucking date me. And look at what happened.”
Meghan pulls away, eyeing me critically. “I wouldn’t feel so badly for Tom. I mean, look at how he went about things.”
“He took me out to the hottest new restaurant. Bought me a ton of flowers. Gave me a gift card. Asked his fucking boss if he could date me.”
“And yet you say he never mentioned his criticisms when viewing your presentation.”
“Just little things, nothing major. It’s weird. And, something doesn’t make sense.”
“What?”
“What really has me angry is that I couldn’t even properly respond to his criticism. Some of the plans, like for the pop-up shops, aren’t released yet. They’re ‘need to know.’ I built my argument around other aspects of the plan, but he tore them apart.”
“And he knew about the pop-up shops?” Meghan asked.
“Yeah.”
“And you absolutely couldn’t brief them in the meeting?”
“I couldn’t. If it had been just board members, then maybe. The directors can be opportunists. They will often go from company to company, trying to elevate their position. They could use information like that to get a foot in the door somewhere else. Or even just sell the information to the highest bidder. If the locations for all the pop-up shops get bought up, they could charge Icor Tech twice the price.”
“So, he took advantage of your discretion. What criticism did he mention?”
“He mentioned a conflict of interest with Dingle.”
“Dingle?”
“Yeah, Dingle Barry. One of the Big 5 that can’t let go. He encouraged me to present boldly, essentially shutting Dingle down.”
“So he created a wedge between you and Dingle, then went on an affront against you, knowing you were making enemies with the Big 5.”
“Oh…”
“Something more is going on here. You’re just too involved to see it clearly.”
“What do you mean?”
“Let’s start from the beginning: The first meeting you presented two weeks ago, you went into some fancy meeting, gave a presentation, shook a few souls, and got a promotion. He’s nice to you and invites you to dinner, which you go to.”
“Yes.”
“You go to get coffee. He decides on his own he wants to take a relationship with you to HR.”
“Yes.”
“At some point before the second meeting, he sees your plans and says they’re fine. Warns you about Dingle.”
“Actually, he saw them twice, but yeah.”
“Exactly, he had two opportunities to point out the flaw, and instead, he encouraged you to present. This isn’t a heartbroken, lovesick guy—he’s a conniving manipulator.”
“You think?”
“God, you are the stupidest smart person I know. You’re just too close to see it. Another thing you fail to see, he’s not out for you, he’s out for Gabriel.”
My brows scrunches in confusion.
“Based on what you’re saying, these are things that Gabriel has been trying to approach for some time, with little luck.”
“Yeah, he’s given up on even presenting his findings because he knows they will get vetoed. Which is why Gabriel asked me to present them as my own findings.”
“So, being the CFO, Tom should know more than anyone about the financial state of Icor Tech, and he’s smacking down a plan he knows will lead to saving a shit ton of money. He knows about those whatever they are shops that are going to solve the issue, an important detail you weren’t allowed to brief, and he exploited it.”
“I guess.”
“He also exploited Gabriel’s engagement—weaponizing it against him.”
“Stop!” I gasp, bile filling my throat.
Meghan exhales. “Too soon? I get it.”
It will always be too soon.
Meghan gets up and disappears into the bathroom, coming out again with containers full o
f makeup.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“First, we are going to make you look cute. Then, we’re making plans for a video.”
“A video? Oh, hell—”
“Yes. Hell, yes. Trust me.”
“I can’t!”
“You can. You’re going to be looking for a new job, and we have over two million views on the last video we did together. I owe you big! My audience is dying to see you in real life. This one won’t be like the last. We are going to have you looking professional. We will talk about what it’s like being a woman in business. We will casually allude that you will be looking for employment soon, while not making you look thirsty.”
“Why would we do that?”
“Because I can guarantee you, you’re going to get offers.”
“Based on a fucking video?”
“Based on the fact that you were promoted to a director position at Icor Tech at the age of twenty-three, and you decided to leave the position to explore your options. We’ll put some spin on it.”
As stupid as it sounds, it might not be a bad idea. In a single video, I could reach thousands of potential employers, and it may balance the video of me in the muumuu galavanting around a cat tower.
This may be my best shot at finding a new job.
CHAPTER 29
Cregor gets his groove back…
After Barry enters my office, I bid him to close the door and take a seat.
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