Page 78 of Partner Pursuit
“I’ll just walk you out and grab a coffee; I haven’t seen you in a while, and it’s not every day I get to analyzeThe Godfatherwith you. I thought you didn’t see violent movies,” Tim said. This was classic Tim—he’d realized she was upset with him, and he was going to rectify that. “But isn’t the cannoli/gun scene the same approach: that it’s just business and notpersonal?”
“What do you mean? Isn’t that scene saying ‘don’t use force: leave the gun’ and let’s use persuasion and sweets or, in other words, the cannoli?” she asked as they exited into the marble lobby.
Tim stopped cold, and she bumped into him. He raised his eyebrow. “Have you seenThe Godfather?”
“No,” she said. “I’ve seenYou’ve Got Mail.” She folded her arms andfacedhim.
He chuckled and shook his head. “In thatGodfatherscene, one guy murders theirlong-timechauffeur by shooting him in the back of the head, and the other guy returns to the car and tells that guy to leave the gun and take the cannoli—that cannoli is next to the dead chauffeur’s body and he needs that because his wife told him to buy some this morning. It shows how murder is just their job. It shows how inured they are to violence. It’s the opposite of sweet persuasion.” He started walking again, out the door to the street.
“Oh,” she said. “Hmmm. I prefer my interpretation as an approach for dealing with Colette. Use sweets, rather than force.”
He laughed, but shook his head. “In any event, Colette wouldn’t be interested incannoli.”
“No.” She waved goodbye as they reached the coffee place and she walked on to the gym. She suspected Tim had known that Colette was writing an alternate strategy memo.And didn’t warn me. And discussingThe Godfatheris not going to smooth that over.Rationally, it made sense for Tim to stay out of it and not tell her, but as her friend, he should have told her. She would have warned him if she had known that one of his team members was writing a memo criticizing his strategic approach. Was his last remark now saying that her approach to Colette wouldn’twork?
At the gym, Audrey bicycled furiously, with her headphones blaring pop music. Round and round, her thoughts circled about what to do about Colette. She believed firmly that mutually attacking each other was ultimately not going to help either become partners. And it was against her whole sisterhood philosophy. She was going to go with her own version of the “cannoli”approach.
Audrey felt better after her workout. She stopped in Barnes & Noble on the way back to the office and was relieved to find a copy of the remake ofMiracle on 34thStreet. She would’ve preferred the original, but this would do. She also bought a copy ofFeminist Fight Clubfor Colette.
Upon returning to her office, she closed the door and wrote onapost-it:
Colette,
Macy’s and Gimbels send customers to each other, and business booms. It’s a movie, but I think it also would work in real life. Thinkabout it.
I also thought we could form our own Feminist Fight Club. Have you read this book? Here’s acopy.
Audrey
She hesitated before she slipped the DVD and the book with its note into theinter-officeenvelope. Maybe she shouldn’t send the movie because it was justmake-believe. She wasn’t sure Colette had a sense of humor. She still believed in its message, though.
Her phone beeped. Jake was texting to ask if she wanted to have dinner together later. He was meeting someone for a quick drink first. Business, he added. She immediately said yes. She put theinter-officeenvelope in thepick-uptray, pulled on her coat,andleft.
Jake texted that he’d stop by Fairway to pick up some food for dinner. She texted back that she’d meet him by the subway station as she was already on thewayhome.
She waited by Gray’s Papaya, looking for him. It was dark already at 7 p.m., but the street lamps lit the sidewalk. She pulled on her hat. She spotted him first. He was wearing this blue scarf that brought out his eyes. She suspected anex-girlfriendhad bought it for him, but he did have an innate sense of style, so he could’vebought it.
Their glances suddenly met and he waved. A huge smile lit his face. He put away his earbuds and quickened his pace. He lightly jogged to make the light, and he kept jogging right on up to her, crushing her ina bighug.
“Got you!” He laughed and he kissed her hard. As soon as his arms hugged her, she cared less about Colette. That contact was better thana workout.
“But have you a shoppinglist?”
“Definitely. I’ve my priorities. You and food. I need to stock up for a few days,at least.”
They walkedhand-in-handover to Fairway. Jake chose some apples from the carefully stacked rows of colorful fruit on the wooden green display stands outside while Audrey commandeered a cart. As she wheeled the cart inside and turned into the fresh vegetable aisle, she suggested a salad.
As they passed one of the freezer sections, he put his arm around her. “Let’s grab frozen cookie dough. It’s a chocolate chip cookie night, given your voicemail message aboutColette.”
She sighed. “It was also Hunter’s reaction. I was just so surprised that he was so easily persuaded by her arguments. And he seemed so distant and almost hostile when he first came into my office.”
“Inwardly defensive and outwardly offensive.”
“I think I persuaded him that this is still the rightstrategy.”
He rubbed her back. “I’d like to have been a fly on the wall when you pulled out your flow charts.”
“Are you mocking my flow charts?” she asked,half-joking.
