Kimberley looks down at her plate.
“I don’t remember,” she says.
“Oh sure you do. He called you it for like a year until you broke down in tears and begged him to stop. He felt pretty bad about it then.”
“I said I don’t remember,” she says through gritted teeth. She looks up from her plate, glaring daggers at me. “Actually, there was something I wanted to ask you. About the deal.”
Sebastian one, Kimberley nil. Or should that be Sickly Kimberley nil?
“Go ahead,” I say.
“Where will my office be?” she asks.
“Maybe next to the bathroom,” Joe jokes.
“As we said, we’ve added an extra two floors to our lease for the Benton staff. So I guess wherever Joe puts you,” I say.
“I was just thinking I kind of like your office. Maybe we should add a clause in the deal that says I get it,” she says.
“Or maybe you should stick to numbers,” I smile.
“Ah come on Sebastian. You want this deal. Let me have your office,” she says.
“I don’t think so,” I reply.
“What if I said it was a deal breaker?” she says.
“Then I’d probably say that wine is going to your head,” I laugh.
Joe and Gary are both giving Kimberley daggers. She fakes a breezy smile.
“I’m just kidding,” she says. “I know Sebastian likes things to never change.”
“I think that’s called being decisive. Unlike you, I can make my mind up and stick to it.”
“So can I. My mind is made up. I’m taking your office or the deal is off,” Kimberley says.
“I guess the deal is off then. That’s a shame after you put so much thought into your negotiating skills,” I say.
I can practically see the steam coming from Joe’s ears now and I turn back to him and Gary.
“I think someone’s had a tad too much wine,” I grin. “She always gets like this when she doesn’t get her own way.”
“I just think it would show that you’re really willing to work as a team player,” Kimberley says.
“Yeah? I’m pretty sure the actual merger shows that,” I say.
I can see Kimberley squirming. She wants a way out of this conversation, but she’s too stubborn to backtrack.
“Also, I noticed in the contract there was a clause to say that Benton staff won’t be allowed to make changes to the restaurant side of the business. Why is that?” Kimberley asks.
Oh Kimberley, do you really want so desperately out of this conversation that you’re making this worse for yourself?
“Kimberley, enough,” Joe hisses, trying to keep a smile on his face. “You know why.”
“Yeah. Because Sebastian here can’t let go of anything,” she says.
“Actually, as I said only moments ago if you bothered to listen, the restaurants are Matt’s babies,” I point out. “And the clause was discussed and agreed on before it was written in to the contract. Do try to keep up.”
“Oh I’m keeping up just fine. But it seems prudent to question the logic of the clause. I mean what’s next? What will you try and cut us out of next?”
“Seeing as it was your CEO’s idea to put it in the contract, then maybe you should be careful about questioning the logic of it,” I say.
“I’ll drink to that,” Joe says loudly, glaring at Kimberley again.
She raises her glass and awkwardly clinks it against Joe’s.
“You know what?” I say. “It seems like you guys still have a few things to discuss. Would you excuse me for a moment?”
I get up and leave the table and head for the bathroom. Part of me is rejoicing at just how far that went. I know Kimberley. Give her enough rope and she’ll for sure hang herself rather than admit she doesn’t quite know what to do with the length. I also feel kind of shitty. I’m acting unprofessional and I know it. In my defence though I did tell Kimberley to stay away from this meeting. I didn’t really think it would go this far. I thought Kimberley would squirm and be a bit embarrassed. I didn’t expect her to start trying to change the deal to get back at me. That fuck up is all on her.
I go to the bathroom and stand there long enough for it to be convincing that I’ve left the table for anything other than to let the sparks become a flame. I step back out and I hear Joe’s voice in the hallway. I slip into the staff’s break room, leaving the door open a crack.
“What the hell was that Kimberley?” Joe demands.
“I …,” she starts.
“You know what? Don’t even answer that,” Joe cuts her off. “Get your shit together and start acting like the CFO of Benton’s instead of some dumb kid. So Sebastian told an embarrassing story about you? Big deal. It happens when you work with people who know you well. You want to get your own back? You tell a story about him, not start throwing around ridiculous demands and blowing up the deal.”
“I’m sorry,” she says meekly.
It’s a voice I’ve never heard Kimberley use before and I feel kind of bad.
“This whole thing was your idea Kimberley and you told me you could handle it. Against my better judgement, I went along with it because I trusted you. And now you seem like you’re hell bent on blowing this whole thing up. I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but if you screw this up, then you’re done. Am I making myself clear?”
“Perfectly,” she says.
I hear them walking away and I shake my head. I’ve gone too far. I wanted to make Kimberley squirm, but I didn’t want it to go far enough that her career is being threatened. I don’t like Kimberley. I’d go as far as to say I hate her for what she did to me, but I can’t push her to the point where she loses everything. I’m not that guy and I won’t become that guy.
I leave the break room and head back to the table, determined
