Page 15 of How to Get Even

Ali clapped and did a little jiggle in her seat, and Maurice scowled a little less.

She had been eloquent, humble, affable and sincere – and even managed to put him in his place without everyone knowing it. As such, Chase was pretty sure that she would do exactly what she said she would. Be an asset to the team.

So why was it that Chase felt there was something he was missing?

3

[She] will win, who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.

THE ART OF WAR, SUN TZU

OPERATION TROJAN HORSE

Secure access to CM’s office.

Make MB Smile. Once.

Get A to stop smiling so much.

Find a better coffee shop.

Bella frowned at the website’s welcome page, not happy with it. The marketing company had developed some great-looking mock-ups, but the content was stilted and performative.

‘Ali, who wrote the copy for the website’s landing page?’ she asked, without taking her eyes from her screen.

‘Julia did, just before Christmas.’

Maurice was returning from lunch with an old colleague, ostensibly ‘catching up’, but instead actually trying to uncover the industry gossip on Nayak New York. The gallery was working with Magenta, a marketing and PR firm, but it was Bella’s job to oversee both internal and external comms and until she could develop the business contacts she had to rely on a still reticent Maurice for ‘on the ground’ information.

She caught his gaze as he took a seat and Maurice grimaced. Clearly the gossip was not good. Bella internally groaned. She might be determined to tank their boss, but she still had a job to do in the meantime and to do it convincingly too.

‘What doyouthink of the home page copy?’ Bella said, swivelling in her chair to face him as he took a seat at his desk.

He sniffed. ‘It’s not my job to think about the copy of the website.’

Despite his words, the single raised eyebrow of disdain had her convinced that he thought the same as she did.

The copy was awful.

Over the last four days, she’d been kept busy enough by what she was beginning to think of as her ‘day job’, Operation Trojan Horse had been put on the back burner. Between getting up to speed with half completed plans for the gallery opening, website copy, mailing lists, advertising slots, Magenta’s marketing plans, and working with Maurice on the brochure content, she’d actually not seen much of Chase since Monday’s team meeting.

But that was about to change. She gathered her tablet and made her way to Chase’s office, knocking on the glass door.

He was staring at his computer.

Bella frowned. Had he not heard her? She knocked again a little louder and when there was still no response from him, she pushed open the door.

‘No.’

Shock had her pulling up short. He flicked his gaze angrily to her and back to the desk.

Bella opened her mouth. ‘I?—’

Chase held up a hand to cut her off and she realised that he was on speaker phone.

‘No, not that either. Or that,’ he said, clicking through something on his computer screen.

‘Chase, you have to take into consideration?—’

---