Colin was mad. He knew he had been upstaged by Abalido and Quinaeros—or as he perceived it, by Gina. He didn't know how, but he could guess that there was some intervention in the process that changed it from requiring unanimity to deciding by voting. The meeting with the board of directors was moved to the following week, and he had until the end of that week to cast his vote. Adrian had already fallen in line and cast his vote on the same day Abram announced his decision to change the mechanism. Now he was the only one standing against the choice of Abalido and Quinaeros—but at one against four, it had no impact, he would just be the odd one out. But if he fell in line as Adrian did, Abram—thus Gina—would have their unanimity after all. Damn you, Gina!
A pickle. A dilemma for the crooked-hearted.
&
Colin didn't go back home. He went back to his office. At 7 PM, the floor was still buzzing with activity. The lights in his office, however, had been turned off and his secretary had gone home. He entered his room and didn’t bother to turn on the lights. He needed to think about the information he just got from Dungi. He had to make a quick decision, he had only a little time until he had to cast his vote. The information was not enough to blackmail, he thought. But probably enough to stir trouble, and if it hid a more sinister plot, something was bound to come out, and he just had to be ready to catch and cash it out. He took big steps out of his room toward the CEO's large suite. He knew that Abram would usually still be in his office unless he had a dinner meeting. He would wind his day down with his dri
At 8 PM, Abram called The Boss, and was truly sorry but, "Could we meet tonight? You, Gina and myself?" To which The Boss said yes. He called Gina and Rhonda and asked them to meet him and Abram at the club on the top floor of his apartment building. He requested their presence without the courtesy of asking or pretending to be sorry. The club was another posh establishment in The Boss' apartment building, accepting only the residents and their guests. Every seating section was private, surrounded by tall shelves of books and bottles of the finest liquors and malts, as well as water and canned drinks in a refrigerator whose door disguised it as part of the lower shelves. When patrons occupied a section, a butler would be assigned to attend to them. First, he would bring an assortment of cheeses and finger foods, and serve them their first round of drinks, then he would disappear until he was called
"He has been nothing but warm to you, at least that's what I observe," Rhonda protested when Gina told her The Boss had been giving her the cold shoulder. "But even if you were right, why do you think that is?" "I am clueless." "Has anything been going on between you two that you haven't told me?" Rhonda looked at her friend as she drove them back from the meeting at the private club. "Because, in retrospect, I think The Boss somehow felt you left him—not in the professional sense as I have initially thought." "Oh, he did? Tell me." "It was when I accompanied him—you know, the karaoke night with the Doxxan people." 
Gina took the bread from the toaster, put them onto two plates, spooned the scrambled eggs onto the bread. She brought the plates to the dining table and placed one in front of Rhonda and another opposite her. The smell of the toasted bread and the sight of the creamy eggs were tantalizing to the empty morning stomach. She went back behind the counter and fetched two tall glasses from the cabinet, took out a carton of orange juice from the refrigerator, and poured it into the two glasses. She put the glasses down on the table and sat across from Rhonda. Breakfast was served. "I truly thought it wouldn't matter to him. He was always composed; he certainly could see Roy meant nothing. It was purely business, a job. Oh, goodness! It was a job done for him! I needed to entertain Roy, I had delayed my promise to go out
"What do you need to know?" Linda asked as they walked toward the restaurant. The three gorgeous girls were more than Rocco's heart could bear. The handsome young man was quick to take charge of the outside table he knew the girls would pick. As he greeted them good morning, Linda touched his arm. Obviously, they knew each other well beyond the jovial customer-server relationship, Gina thought. The server decided he knew what they wanted: three cappuccinos and three butter croissants to start with. The girls nodded to confirm. He disappeared quickly with their order, sensing the girls wanted to be left alone immediately. For a moment, his deftness reminded Gina and Rhonda of the butler's quality of service last night at The Boss' private club.&
Layla had been waiting for Gina and followed her into her office as she arrived. "Raymond was looking for you." Oh, shoot! I forgot I report to Raymond, too, now. She recalled her question to her boss that night when he wanted Raymond to take her under his wings: "I don't report to you anymore?" There was a sting of sadness that came with that remembrance. "What does he want?" But then she realized it was a moot question. Raymond never said what he wanted and people didn't dare to ask. "Ok, I will go see him right away." "Wait, I have the contract back
Pete was the most elusive of all the Trelleco's C-level officers. The money man—as his vendors referred him to—had many fronts before people could meet him. He operated through proxies of competent underlings, leaving little room for people to request meeting him personally. Anyone wanting to negotiate with him must first go through this walls of bureaucracy—they were usually exhausted before they got near him. By this way, he retained control and always had the last say—all achieved without a sweat. "Ah! My delicious Gina," Pete said as he entered the private room they reserved at Le Fonte, "and luscious Rhonda." Ugh, what gross misconduct, but at least he delivers his end of every bargain and he's never actually dangerous, Gina let him get away with his lecherous greeting and gav
Rhonda took off her blazer, and hung it over the back of her chair. She smiled at Pete, welcoming his lewd stare on her body, covered by a dark blue bustier, showing off her angular shoulders, bared her arms and most of her upper chest, with a deep cleavage that gave hope of its depth. With her exotic voice, she asked, "How can you help, Pete?" Pete knew they were playing a game. He and Gina had established the rules and played the game several times. From him, Gina gained what she needed to conduct business with Trelleco, and in return, he had some personal favor done for him. Gina was so exquisite that being seen with her was a reward on its own, so in some occasions she had let him take her to gathering amongst friends outside of work as one form of favors.