Page 11 of Yours, Truly

This was the settlement which would determine if the client would take the payout or if we would be having another long battle, only this time in the courtrooms.

From overhearing her conversation with Nate, it seemed the client had demanded a new NDA signed prior to the settlement meeting to ‘protect’ himself and his brand. I hadn’t caught the name of the client who was suing us but from what I could make out from the conversation at present was he had filed the lawsuit for contract disputes, misrepresentation and data breach of confidentiality, naming Francine as the representative.

This would explain why she hadn’t been at work, she was on suspension while the investigation was underway. I had worked beside her for years and not once had I seen that she would jeopardise her job, she loved it too much, we all did. Francine did have a bit of a mouth on her but she was harmless and knew the serious implications of breaching confidentiality, I did, however, wonder about the contract disputes.

I thought back, remembering a heated conversation on the phone between her and her client weeks ago, before my trip to Barcelona.Was it something I should have picked up being a Deputy Manager?

My colleagues sometimes had to be a little forceful on calls when speaking with businesses or we would be walked all over. It resulted that we had the occasional client disrespect us. Angelina always encouraged us to reprimand them in a professional manner without taking bullshit, that it seemed normal to me when conversations became a little intense.

I twisted the hem of my blazer as I waited for her to finish the paperwork so I could fax them over to Nate in the morning; Angelina had another off-site meeting until lunch tomorrow. I assumed it would be part of Francine’s investigation with head office.

Angelina had switched on the fancy coffee machine sitting in the corner of her office on top of a white mini fridge. She poured us both a cup, placing it on a free space on her paperwork-filled desk before she sighed, taking her seat and guesting me to join her.

“So what's the update with this lawsuit?” I asked, curious and now up to date with the commotion. I was surprised Angelina had finally looped me in with the whole case.

“Nothing,” she sighed. “We are going round in circles. The client believes we leaked something huge that’s ‘damaged’ his sales and brand. The contract disputes seem to be fixed as well as they can be, but the misrepresentation and data breech iswhere we are fucked. He won't stop until he gets a vast pay out, he made that clear.” She took a breath, inhaling the fresh smell of coffee to ground herself before continuing.

“As you know rumours are spreading, not just in the office but outside too. I can’t contain it and it’s affecting business. We had 10 more clients terminate their contract with us this week alone. We need to try and dissolve this before it escalates. I need you and Jennifer to reassure our existing clients and staff that this is nothing more than an attention ploy. A con man.”

“Wow, that’s a lot.” I replied, watching the relief wash over Angelina as she got everything off her chest and out in the open. She leaned back and filled me in on all the details of the investigation and court case that she was allowed to share.

“Yep, and the client is threatening to sell the story and blacklist… you know… certain employees which could not only damage the company but the individual involved." She nervously laughed, shaking her head at the situation.

“Shit, thank you for telling me this Angelina. Please if there is anything at all I can do, please let me know. I want to help.”

We sat there in silence for a little while letting all the information sink in as coffee fuelled both our exhaustion. I began to think about different ways I could help, how we could deal with the damage. We couldn’t change the past but we could plan for the future.

“Erm…Why don't we make him sign an NDA which states that if he sells any information we can counter sue?” I suggested, I had no idea what I was talking about but I had seen enough law shows over the years.

Maybe we needed to play this man at his own game. Angelina looked up at me in amazement, quickly thinking over the one action I had proposed to help her and save all our jobs.

“You know what, that's a good idea!" She speed-dialled our legal team, proposing the idea to draft us up an NDA too, prior to the meeting, and see what else we could place in the clause. If any more rumours spread around, that could cost him more than it would cost us. For the first time in the last month Angelina looked hopeful as the legal team rolled off the idea, she placed them on speaker phone and looped me into the conversation.

“Any tarnishing of our company name could damage his reputation, as we can then sue for wrongful information. We can also put in a new clause with any new contracts about this too that way we have full protection going forward. Plus, we can send out to existing clients an updated contract with the NDA added section,” the legal team expressed, "Let me speak to John in the morning. We will send the draft to you tomorrow when you're back in the office to check over it and add anything else. Oh, and Miss Henley, Good work.”

Nate popped by the office on Friday afternoon to update Angelina on the decision from the settlement meeting after he and his clients had discussed the proposal terms. I assumed John was on the other line too. The client refused the settlement, calling our offer offensive, which meant we neededto buckle up; this lawsuit had revved up and court was on the horizon.

Nate strolled out of the office and stole a glance in my direction, smiling my way before leaving.

All week I couldn't stop thinking about him, the interaction in the office, his loose promise of punishing me for my attitude; it gave me a thrill. It was the highlight of my week to see him in yet another suit, even if it was just a split-second glance. I couldn't help but blush and think about him even more, he was drawing me in, driving me crazy. As much as I wanted to stop thinking about him, I couldn’t. He was implanted in every aspect of my life. He was impossible to shake.

9

ALL EYES ON YOU

I slipped into the long-sleeved, champagne, cross over dress, fluffing my newly curled tangerine hair before sweeping it in a high ponytail. I kept my makeup as natural as I could; winged black liner and instead of a red lipstick, despite that being my favourite go-to, I opted for a clear gloss to make my natural colour shine and plump. I wanted to keep everything neutral tonight, to blend into the background. The cross over neckline enhanced my best feature, finished with a small diamond necklace that rested in between my collarbone. The dress hugged my figure and stopped at my knees, met again with a crossover skirt which matched the neckline. I paired it with a faux diamond bracelet and earrings before grabbing my tiny black clutch, stepping out to call a taxi to the party instead of taking the dirty, busy trains.

Ivy and Jude greeted me at the door to the venue as I pulled up. She was wearing a beautiful, white, skin tight dress that split at the knee and Jude had matched in a white suit. They looked like they had stepped out of a magazine and onto the redcarpet.

“Oh, Gi! You look incredible,” Ivy said, checking me out. I blushed a little, playfully twirling so she could get the full view. Jude smiled at me before pulling me in for a hug.

“Hello, trouble, nice to see you,” he said. Jude was like the brother I never had. We got on so well and had a similar personality in terms of our humour.

When I met Jude, I gave him the big sister talk, to never break Ivy’s heart or I’d kill him and impressed him with my speech so we got on. Jude was extremely laid back and easy to get along with but the most important thing was he loved Ivy with all of him and you could see it; he treated her like a queen and I hoped, one day, I would have a love like that.

“Don't you be stealing my girl tonight,” he teased, nodding towards Ivy, he knew me and Ivy were inseparable.

“No promises,” I winked at Ivy, “I'm going to marry her instead,” I sassed before we all laughed and I made my way into the party, letting them welcome more guests.

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