tolerance
policy in this company effective immediately. I will have zero tolerance with
their, or anybody else’s,” she added as she looked around at her managers,
“bullshit.”
And
those words alone, coupled with that look alone, caused the managers, led by
Jared, to scatter like roaches and hurry back into the cubbyholes of their
offices.
Although
Jillian still stood there in disbelief, Grace didn’t so much as look at her
again. She, instead, went into her own
office, and closed her own door. Only
she fell against it in drained horror when the door shut. She didn’t want to go there. She didn’t want to be the bitch this
soon. She never liked Jillian, but she
always respected her as a woman who kept the doors of Trammel open after her
husband died. She sold most of the
shares to Tommy to keep those doors open, but at least she did what she had to
do. Now her company belonged to Grace, and Grace could only imagine how
awful that had to make her feel.
But
for her to call Grace a whore who slept her way to the top, and to do so in
front of staff, was a bridge she just burned. Grace hated being placed in this position, she absolutely hated it, but
Jillian, she felt, left her no choice.
She
exhaled, went to her desk and sat down, and fought back the urge to cry. Jillian wasn’t crying when she called her a
whore, why should she cry for Jillian? She therefore pulled out the paperwork she had been reviewing before she
left for lunch, and got back to work.
Later
that evening, Tommy’s limo roared through the streets of Seattle while he
completed a conference call regarding the acquisition of two failing businesses
he planned to flip. The Gabrini
Corporation was known as a venture capitalistic liquidator, as the mega-company
that brought up smaller, dying businesses for a steal, sometimes in hostile
takeovers, and then either resurrected those companies or sold them at a great
profit. But his corporation was also a
leader in the private security field. And he was also a restaurateur. Flipping companies were the easiest aspect of his business, although it
consumed a lot of his time, and he primarily allowed Sal to handle their
restaurant businesses. But the security
part of the Gabrini Corporation was all Tommy. He ran that department exclusively. And it was turning out to be the biggest moneymaker, and the biggest
headache, of them all.
He
hung up the phone, after agreeing to think about the takeover terms, and tossed
a stack of paperwork he had been reviewing back into his briefcase. He was on his way to the airstrip, to take
his private plane to New York to discuss yet another security contract, and he
was exhausted already. He knew he was
going to sleep like a baby on that plane, so he picked up the phone again and
called Grace.
He
hadn’t heard from her since he left Trammel this morning, although Sal
mentioned that she’d had lunch at Diamante’s with her friend Jamie. She was in great spirits, according to Sal,
and was showing off that rock of an engagement ring Tommy had given to her.
But
as soon as Tommy heard her voice, he knew something was wrong.
“Hey,”
she said in a voice that sounded strained to him, and almost hoarse.
“Thought
I’d give you a buzz before I took off,” he said.
“You
haven’t left yet?” she asked. “It’s
almost seven o clock. I thought you was
supposed to be there by now.”
“I
know. I was detained, as usual, on some
additional matters I had to take care of. I’m on my way to the airfield now. What about you? How are you
doing?”
There
was the slightest of hesitations. “I’m
good,” she ultimately said.
She
didn’t sound good to him. “How did it go
today?”
“It
went . . . pretty well. I’m still
reading everything I can get my hands on about Trammel, just so I can get the
full picture, including the information you gave to
policy in this company effective immediately. I will have zero tolerance with
their, or anybody else’s,” she added as she looked around at her managers,
“bullshit.”
And
those words alone, coupled with that look alone, caused the managers, led by
Jared, to scatter like roaches and hurry back into the cubbyholes of their
offices.
Although
Jillian still stood there in disbelief, Grace didn’t so much as look at her
again. She, instead, went into her own
office, and closed her own door. Only
she fell against it in drained horror when the door shut. She didn’t want to go there. She didn’t want to be the bitch this
soon. She never liked Jillian, but she
always respected her as a woman who kept the doors of Trammel open after her
husband died. She sold most of the
shares to Tommy to keep those doors open, but at least she did what she had to
do. Now her company belonged to Grace, and Grace could only imagine how
awful that had to make her feel.
But
for her to call Grace a whore who slept her way to the top, and to do so in
front of staff, was a bridge she just burned. Grace hated being placed in this position, she absolutely hated it, but
Jillian, she felt, left her no choice.
She
exhaled, went to her desk and sat down, and fought back the urge to cry. Jillian wasn’t crying when she called her a
whore, why should she cry for Jillian? She therefore pulled out the paperwork she had been reviewing before she
left for lunch, and got back to work.
Later
that evening, Tommy’s limo roared through the streets of Seattle while he
completed a conference call regarding the acquisition of two failing businesses
he planned to flip. The Gabrini
Corporation was known as a venture capitalistic liquidator, as the mega-company
that brought up smaller, dying businesses for a steal, sometimes in hostile
takeovers, and then either resurrected those companies or sold them at a great
profit. But his corporation was also a
leader in the private security field. And he was also a restaurateur. Flipping companies were the easiest aspect of his business, although it
consumed a lot of his time, and he primarily allowed Sal to handle their
restaurant businesses. But the security
part of the Gabrini Corporation was all Tommy. He ran that department exclusively. And it was turning out to be the biggest moneymaker, and the biggest
headache, of them all.
He
hung up the phone, after agreeing to think about the takeover terms, and tossed
a stack of paperwork he had been reviewing back into his briefcase. He was on his way to the airstrip, to take
his private plane to New York to discuss yet another security contract, and he
was exhausted already. He knew he was
going to sleep like a baby on that plane, so he picked up the phone again and
called Grace.
He
hadn’t heard from her since he left Trammel this morning, although Sal
mentioned that she’d had lunch at Diamante’s with her friend Jamie. She was in great spirits, according to Sal,
and was showing off that rock of an engagement ring Tommy had given to her.
But
as soon as Tommy heard her voice, he knew something was wrong.
“Hey,”
she said in a voice that sounded strained to him, and almost hoarse.
“Thought
I’d give you a buzz before I took off,” he said.
“You
haven’t left yet?” she asked. “It’s
almost seven o clock. I thought you was
supposed to be there by now.”
“I
know. I was detained, as usual, on some
additional matters I had to take care of. I’m on my way to the airfield now. What about you? How are you
doing?”
There
was the slightest of hesitations. “I’m
good,” she ultimately said.
She
didn’t sound good to him. “How did it go
today?”
“It
went . . . pretty well. I’m still
reading everything I can get my hands on about Trammel, just so I can get the
full picture, including the information you gave to
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