They walked out, and Gina rounded on, "You were the one who suggested we talk to him, you call him."              She remained standing close to Tom with her arms crossed, while he reached for the phone and called The Boss. Once connected, Tom put the call on speakerphone. Pursing her lips, Gina said nothing, making him the one to explain the situation. The Boss let Tom say his piece uninterrupted. When he was done, The Boss simply said,              "Leave it to Gina. Back her decisions."              Before he ended the call, Gina called his name and said, "I think Tom should not be in the meeting."              "What?" Tom exclaimed.         

As she approached, Gina saw the tall, beefy Raymond standing in the middle of his large office, seemingly talking to someone at the side of the room that Gina could not yet see. The taps of her shoes on the wooden floor grabbed his attention. He looked toward the door and saw the statuesque figure walking toward him. Uncharacteristic of him, his smile developed fast and wide but soon turned into a rather alarming grin. He even walked toward the door to meet her, with two open arms, fingers of one hand clutching a short, chubby cigar.              "Gina, Gina, my goddess of the week! Marvelous performance! Marvelous!"              His secretary who was about to step into the office bringing coffee witnessed this and was puzzled. Never had anybody heard Raymond praise anyone—let alone in the manner he displayed just now. &

"Let's discuss our strategy now," The Boss said, breaking the silence. "Abram will announce his decision to his executive team; he will go with us based on the majority of votes. I was told he would do it today."              "So, we will be okay then," Raymond said.              "Yes, if all goes as planned. But nothing ever goes as planned. The thorn in our side now is Colin the CIO …"              "What the hell does a CIO have to do with this?" Raymond was already annoyed.              "Exactly. His non-favorable view of us was based on his grudge against Gina. Now, if all goes well, he and his objection shall be neutralized. But what if that doesn't go well?"   

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.          &

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