Page 146 of It's Not PMS, It's You
“Ruth is . . .”
Gary held his palms up. “Ruth iswhat?”
Mason’s gaze bounced back and forth between Gary and me. “Ruth is blackmailing me!”
And there it was.
Mason was officially going down.
Gary walked over to the door and closed it, before turning back around. “What are you talking about?”
“Wait!” Mason paced back and forth, running his fingers through his hair. “You know what? Forget about it.”
I shook my head. “Too late.” I turned to Gary. “Mason purchased ten thousand shares of Mathors Aerospace before you signed the contract to acquire them.”
Gary whipped his head in Mason’s direction. “You didwhat? That’s insider trading, you jackass.”
“It was . . . just a coincidence—really. I’ll cancel the sale. I’m pretty sure I can do that.”
I waved my finger at him. “Tsk, tsk. You can’tundothe purchase of the shares. And there’s a record of it.” I turned to Gary. “This type of behavior from a partner is unacceptable not to mention, against the law. I doubt you would condone such a thing.”
Gary crossed his arms. “Of course not. Mason, you are such a fool. Go home. We’ll talk about this later.”
He didn’t budge. “Gary, I—”
Gary pointed to the door. “I said go home.” He walked toward the door. “Ruth—in my office. Now.”
I followed him to his office and closed the door behind me.
Gary walked toward his desk and flipped around. “I can’t believe this crap. I should’ve known that something would eventually happen between you and Mason, the way you two are always at each other’s throats. But Ineverexpected this.” He went around to the other side of his desk and sat down, thinking. “I’m going to recommend to the disciplinary committee for his immediate removal. Let’s hope there are no other repercussions from the SEC. I need to talk to our legal team, just in case.”
“I assume that with this new revelation, you’ll be pulling the plug on the deal.”
“Not at all,” Gary said. “Nothing there has changed.”
I wasn’t expecting that. “Why not?”
“I told you before. The company needs the money. There’s no way we’re going to throw away millions of dollars. I’ll take care of Mason, but Mathors Aerospace is a done deal. Let it go, Ruth.”
I blew out a deep breath. “Sorry, Gary. I just can’t do that.”
“I’m not asking you.”
I took a few steps toward his desk and crossed my arms. “I. Can’t. You always tell me this is business, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. This is one hundred percent personal. These are people’s lives you’re messing with. And that’s why I’m going to personally make sure this deal doesn’t happen.”
Gary stood and came back around to the front of his desk. “I don’t understand where this is coming from. This is just like any other deal you’ve been associated with in the past. Nothing has changed.”
“I’vechanged. I can’t do this anymore.”
“Ruth, you know the consequences if you mess with this deal. You’ll lose everything. Your job. Managing partner. Your future.Everything.”
I wasn’t listening. “This is the right thing to do.”
I felt at peace with my decision.
Stansfeld had sucked the life out of me.
No more.
