Page 11 of How to Get Even

Yes you are!!

Astrid

You go, girl!

2

[She] will win who, prepared [herself], waits to take the enemy unprepared.

THE ART OF WAR, SUN TZU

OPERATION TROJAN HORSE

Lull CM into false sense of security.

Identify key players.

Become likeable.

Become invaluable.

Bella had identified the location of the gallery fifteen minutes ahead of her arrival, had visited the highest rated coffee shop within a four-minute walking radius, and was now standing on West 30th, on a very cold January morning in New York, in front of what would be the Nayak Gallery.

A glass-fronted ground floor framed in thick black metal with gold edges created a stark contrast with the classic New York limestone building. Central enough for decent foot traffic, and certainly in the right district for art, the gallery was well positioned between culture and cuisine to make it an attractive prospect for visitors and that was without Nayak’s name already making it worth a look.

Chase Miller as gallery director drew even more notoriety. His reputation as an artist, albeit slightly longer than a New York minute ago, was still impressive and one that some artists would be uncomfortable vying for attention with. But then again, notoriety was notoriety and in the art world, that meant money.

Her fingers gripped the stacked cardboard trays holding enough coffee cups to allow for nearly every possible permutation of coffee possible.

Chase Miller.

It had been one thing to look him up online and another all together to see him in person.

Being forced to listen to the litany of her perceived inadequacies by a man who had cheated on his wife and dragged another woman unwittingly in to the mire with him, had been nothing short of galling. By the time she had exited the elevator and reached her door, she’d been almost trembling with rage.

Until she’d put down the boxes and turned to find all six-foot-four, sweaty, toned inches of the man looking somewhat embarrassed at having been caught bad-mouthing his new direct report.

And then she’d been trembling for a whole different reason.

But her initial, and momentarily confusing, response to him had only been – she decided at some point around 2a.m. the following morning – because she had expected Chase Miller to have devil horns and crimson skin.

So, seeing him dressed in sweaty workout gear that showed off a physique she would admit only on pain of death was nothing short of spectacular, had been simply that: the difference between expectation and reality.

Usually, Bella would urge on the side of charitable. He clearly hadn’t known it was her, and she could concede that he had every right – as director – to question the qualifications, or lack thereof, of his new staff member. But Bella was done being charitable.

No, she was here to declare war on Chase Miller and his ilk. Sun Tzu-level war.

She glanced up. The number seventy-two was placed in simple, but elegant gold typography. The thick glass door, sandwiched in between two large front windows, with a thick strip of frost running across both, afforded a little privacy while creating curiosity too.

Nerves unfurled within her. What if she wasn’t good at the job? What if the other staff didn’t like her?

And then, a very Paige-sounding voice said,You got the job. We didn’t lie on your CV.

Astrid mentally chimed in too.Listen love, you handled that press storm around your wedding, you can sure as shit handle the comms for a gallery. At least until you need to that is.

One month ago, she hadn’t even known these women existed. And now she knew them well enough to hear them in her head!

But they were right. She wasn’t here to do agoodjob. She was here to do acertainjob. And that job was to secure the downfall of Chase Miller by any means necessary. AndthatBella was certain shecoulddo.

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