Page 88 of Reply All
She shushes me before taking the stack of folders and passing them around the room. “I know you’re wondering why you would work with me after all of this happened, but I think it’s important to remember that Jenna was the one who took special interest in your account, despite my opposition to her involvement. Therefore, any mishandling of it is purely her responsibility. Anything that fell under my jurisdiction for this project has gone off without a hitch, as you can see. With the exception of pricing and duties, which she took over supervision of, all manufacturing has been perfect, all orders are scheduled to be delivered on time, and the quality of production is unmatched. All abilities I will be taking with me to my next endeavor—including connections with the best factories around. I also have a team of former Sartoria & Co. employees—all rockstars—currently submitting their immediate notices to the company, ready to take you on. We’ll have other clients, of course, but we would love to be able to make you our main stars. The only catch is that yes, you would have to pay the fine that Sartoria’s mistake caused and the balance between the original price quoted and the actual one. But I am ready to offer you a contract right here, right now, saying that we will pay you that amount in full in exchange for your commitment.”
Speechless.
I am absolutely, positively speechless.
Is this real life? Is this seriously happening?
Talk about cutthroat.
Of course Iris is going to say no, right? She and Sascha have been friends for a long time—it was so evident in the meeting when they came over to look at the samples in our office. She would never double-cross her friend so suddenly like this. And certainly not with said friend’s former employee. No person in their?—
“I see.” A slow smile spreads across Iris’s face. “I gotta say, you’ve got moxie, Lena. I like that.”
Is she for real?
Lena smiles triumphantly. “We’re ready to take you on. And we understand that you might need time to think about it, but the offer to pay the fine and the balance is only valid until I walk out your front door. Those were my investors’ terms. Other than that, there’s a proposal tucked in that folder there for you to review.”
Iris thumbs through the proposal with pursed lips, surprising me by giving it what appears to be serious consideration. Lena takes her seat beside me again, a smug smirk on her face.
“What the hell is going on?” I ask her in a whisper.
“Don’t worry about it,” she whispers back. “All will be well. And I know I haven’t looped you in yet, but I just couldn’t risk things being blown. But of course I want you to come on to my company and work with me. Once we’re out, I can finally tell you everything.”
I look down at my hands in my lap, not knowing what to say or do. I’m flattered she’d want to take me with her, but this? This method of operation is definitely not my style. Especially not after it’s been done to me too many times over. No matter how shitty Jenna acted, I would never want to turn into the type of person who schemes and sabotages and doesn’t do the right thing.
After a few minutes of studying, Iris sets the proposal down on the table and squints at Lena, whose energy has not faded.
“Okay,” Iris says. “Okay. But this is a conversation we need to have with a completely different team.” She looks around at the people in the room and dismisses most, with the exception of two of the lawyers, someone from finance, and another from merchandising.
She then proceeds to address someone I assume is her assistant. “Please get the Liams in here. We have much to discuss.”
While we wait for “The Liams”—whoever the hell they are—Lena and I sidebar quietly. Fiercely.
“This isn’t right,” I tell her, my voice full of conviction.
“I thought you wanted to get justice for Jenna stealing your idea.” She rolls her eyes like she still believes I’m that “green” new girl who knows nothing about the industry. And while of course there’s so much more I need to learn, no one needs to tell me that what just happened was wrong.
“Justice, yes. But this isn’t justice. This is revenge. Justice is reporting her and getting her on probation or suspended or fired. It’s not destroying her. It’s not sinking to her level. Or lower. It’s following the right course of action. Due process. Let the system do its job.”
Lena shoots me a half murderous, half shocked look. Clearly, she never expected me to go against her.
“The system?” She scoffs. “In what world do you think you live in, Bridget? Reporting her would’ve gotten you fired.”
“Maybe,” I say with a nod. “But you don’t know that for sure. And even if it had, at least I’d still be able to look at myself in the mirror tomorrow morning. How are you going to manage that?”
“Oh, I’ll manage just fine,” she bites back.
“You’re making a mistake, Lena.” I shake my head in disbelief. I can’t believe I looked up to her. I should’ve known there was nothing beneath her hard exterior but an even harder, colder interior.
“I don’t think so.” She laughs once, tossing her hair behind her shoulder. “So I gather you’re not joining my ranks then?”
“Thank you for the opportunity, but I have to get back to the office. Pretty sure I’ve just been fired, thanks to you. So I need to go gather my things.”
“Don’t bother,” she sneers. “I got a text from Jenna before we went into the conference room that our things had been boxed up and will be shipped to us.”
I scoff and get to my feet, throw my bag over my shoulder as I ready to head out. But just as I do, two men in suits walk into the conference room.
“Ah, here they are,” Iris says with a smirk. The energy shifts in the room, though. The air seems to grow colder, and the tension seems to have increased on the Stevenson side, as if the rest of their team isnotas happy to see the two men as Iris is.
