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“Mr. Armstrong, good afternoon,” I say, shaking his hand.
Lucas follows with his own platitude, and we are ushered in to the office.
I deliver my proposal, which is a knockout punch to my competition. Focusing on the reason he started this company, which was the attempted abduction of his daughter, and the lack of protocols in place in schools today to prevent personal information from becoming public knowledge. How a person can learn a child’s schedule and plan their attack. This seemed to drive great interest from those in attendance. I also share stories of school officials who were able to partner with law enforcement and track down potential threats discreetly. Wrapping up my pitch, I take my seat and listen as Lucas presents his. Sweat forms on my palms, and I swallow several times when he lists a few cost points I missed during my research. I compose myself, refusing to let that be a factor. When he finishes, we’re both dismissed while they discuss the presentations.
The afternoon crawls along, and I continuously buzz Tanya to see if she’s heard anything. I even take my shoes off so I won’t wear the soles down from my pacing.
“You know, maybe if you want to relax a bit, go fake nice with Lucas so there won’t be any hard feelings when it is announced who will manage the Clemet account,” Tanya suggests as she brings me my mail for the day.
I won’t even take calls until I find out my fate. Looking at my calendar, I realize I have to pick my mother up from the airport tomorrow. With all the events over the past day, it slipped my mind she’s visiting. I haven’t seen her since she went on her singles cruise a few months ago.
“I don’t know. You think that’ll help?”
“Just clear the air. At the end of the day, one of you will not get it. No need to gloat. Be humble.”
Fuck, I hate when she’s right. I take a deep breath, slide my heels back on, and go to Lucas’ office to make nice. “Hey, Weathers, I stopped by to wish you good luck. May the best person win.”
“Oh, I will, and then take a partnership leap over you.”
One thing that pisses me off is arrogance. I’m trying to be the bigger person, but he always manages to bring the mean girl out of me. “All I wanted to do is come clear the air between us, but your pompous ass can’t even allow it to happen. So, you know what, fuck you, Lucas.”
“Really, Simone? Fuck me. You wish I would even let you get close enough to see what it’s like to fuck me, so fuck you. With your snobbish ass.”
“Oh, I’m a fucking snob? I’m not the one driving around in an extension of my penis, you pretentious asswipe.”
Our argument becomes so heated, I don’t realize we have the attention of the entire office, including Mr. Armstrong and our beloved guests, until Armstrong politely shouts, “In my office, NOW!”
I shake my head as I saunter off to his office to get my immediate pink slip and Lucas follows. Why do I let him get under my skin? Mr. Armstrong is a very calm man, but the look in his eyes would give cyclops a run for his money.
“In all my years, I have never seen such an outrageous display of unethical, unprofessional behavior than what you two have showed here today. I am outright appalled. My two top managers going at each other like a pack of ravenous wolves.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Armstrong. I allowed my passion to rule me instead of keeping a cooler head.”
“Yeah, me, too. I goaded Simone and I shouldn’t have.”
“I appreciate you for admitting your failures. But nonetheless, the damage has been done. Both proposals were good, but unfortunately, Clemet’s accounting was here and witnessed the blowout. They are impressed with our offers and reputation but simply do not have the trust in the professionalism we promised. I hate to have to say this, but neither of you get the account. I’ll have to give it to Edwards.”
“But—” I try to interject, but it’s immediately shot down.
“I don’t want to hear it. You bought this on yourself. Be glad we didn’t lose the contract completely or we’d be having an entirely different conversation. I will say, Simone, your proposal was the one they were going to go with, so Edwards will use it to model his strategies. I’ll make sure you get a portion of the bonus associated but no credit. We won’t even talk about your promotionprobability. For either of you. You are hereby placed on a thirty-day notice to clean up your act and work together without killing each other. You are dismissed.”
Lucas blows right past me, and I fight to hold back my emotions.Closing the door as I enter my office, I sink in my chair and let out low, inaudible sobs. I was such an idiot falling for his trap. I clean my face and pull up the accounts I do have and check on their performance. Throughout the rest of the day, I work to keep my sanity. I’m so glad it’s Friday, because I need to go get a drink and put this week behind me.
