Page 34 of Final Installment
Chapter Nine
One Week Later
Pudong District, Shanghai, China
HowdidIendup at yet another dinner party where I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole?
I’m cursed.There’s no other explanation.
Trying not to visibly cringe, I stared intensely at Jackson, the VP of the international legal department at Cartwright Solutions who had accompanied the team to Shanghai to finalize negotiations with SQC Industries.He was three glasses of red wine and at least two scotches deep and telling the most inappropriate hunting story I had ever heard.
And that was saying something because I’d spent multiple weekends in deer blinds and in camps with Brett hunting deer, turkey, quail and every other sort of edible animal.
Jackson had started off the trip on the wrong foot, offending the entire junior staff of SQC at the welcome reception with a joke so terrible I dreaded typing it out for the HR report I was going to have to make.
Jackson droned on, completely oblivious to the horrified looks on the faces of everyone at the table, especially our counterparts.Xue, the young woman translating looked particularly green about the gills, and Mr.Ma, the CFO of the company, had long ago flattened his mouth into a disapproving line.
Please shut up.Please shut up.Please.Shut.Up.
I caught the gaze of the second-highest ranking member of our team.Drake sat there, frozen like a—well—like a deer in headlights.He wasn’t going to make a move, and it seemed none of the other team members who outranked me were either.
“The first arrow didn’t penetrate deep enough so the buck was fighting like hell.So, I pull back, sight that bitch again and just let loose.”Jackson spoke loudly while miming a compound bow.He held a glass of outrageously expensive red wine in his left hand, and as he pretended to shoot an arrow, he sloshed wine everywhere.“Shit!”
Unable to watch him act like a fool a moment longer, I jumped up and grabbed a cloth napkin.Using my body, I blocked him from view of the rest of the table and hissed, “Get up.Excuse yourself.Go back to the hotel.Now!”
Jackson shoved away my hands.“This is my dinner.I’m the host.I’ll leave when I’m good and ready.”
“Jackson.”I glowered down at him.“You’re about to tank this whole deal.”
“And what?You gonna call Daddy on me?”
“I’m sorry,” Xue interrupted from the other end of the table.“Mr.Ma has an important phone call.We will have to cut the night short.”
I stepped away from Jackson to see Mr.Ma and his associates standing.He leaned over and said something to Xue before leaving the private dining room of the restaurant without a backward glance.
Xue approached me with a nervous smile.“Mr.Ma would like to discuss matters privately with you, Elona.”
“Oh.”My heart sank.“Okay.”
“No.”Jackson clambered to his feet.“I’ll handle this.”
“No.Mr.Ma was very clear that he is done speaking to you,” Xue said coldly.
I left Jackson sputtering and rushed to intercept the SQC Industries crew before they disappeared from the restaurant.“Mr.Ma?”
He stepped away to a quieter corner of the hallway, and I anxiously joined him.Before he could speak, I hurriedly apologized in my not-so-great Mandarin.“I am so incredibly sorry for the way my colleague has behaved this evening.”
Mr.Ma remained expressionless as he said, “I will not see that man again.”
“He’ll be sent home immediately,” I promised even though I didn’t have the power to order a higher-ranking VP to do anything.
“The deal your father and I have negotiated still stands.We’ve always done great things together; however, I am concerned about the public relations risk if that man is indicative of the caliber of employee hired by the firm and assigned to this task.”
“I understand,” I assured him.“I will make this right.”
“I know that you will."The statement made it clear there was no other option here than to get rid of Jackson.I dreaded that conversation with my stepfather, but a few moments of awkwardness and discomfort would net the company billions.
“Tomorrow, if you’re free, I would like to invite you to visit my office to speak with my son,” Mr.Ma continued.“He read your thesis on the future of power, the growing demand and logistics and the opportunities for arbitrage and market control.He thinks you would bring great value to this project and would like to invite you to join us.”
