The Game (4 page)

If nothing else, she had bought some time
for Mr. Carmichael to make the justifications he needed before the team moved away from Clarion completely.  Or maybe a contestable process would reflect the reason for Mr. Carmichael’s faith in them.  She’d learnt that Mr. Carmichael didn’t give his support to companies lightly; chances were that he had very good reason for pursuing a tie up with them.

The meeting finally broke up. 
Damon left the room first with a couple of the architects.  Everyone else filed out of the room.  Jane still felt like she hadn’t fully caught her breath. 

“My God Jane, what were you thinking?” Rachel said.  “Have you lost your mind, why would you challenge him on the running of his own account?  He’s free to choose any partner he damned
well likes.  You really need to learn your place,” she said dismissively before leaving the room.  Rachel wasn’t quite aware of Jane’s special association with one of the Board members.  As far as Rachel was concerned, Jane was just a glorified secretary, who obviously didn’t know her place.

“I’m sorry to put you in this position, Jane,”
Mr. Carmichael said the following Tuesday morning.  “You’ve done well.  I can imagine it would be challenging for you, but sometimes you have to take it on the chin.”

“I’m not sure he’s going to listen,” Jane said.

“I think he will eventually.  If I am right, he can’t afford not to.  If he has given the process to you, then run with it.  For now there is nothing else for it.”

Jane nodded.  She wanted to say that it wasn’t a process someone like her should run, but she also knew that
Mr. Carmichael wouldn’t approve of a statement like that.  He expected her to do whatever was required and if running a contestable proposal process was it, then she would do it.  People managed all the time, how hard could it be?  Maybe a lot easier if she hadn’t managed to bait the account owner.

“Do what you need to do, Jane, we will deal with
Mr. D’Arth when the time requires it.”

“It
’s going to be awkward if I am running a contestable process and there are still negotiation with one of the parties right next to me.”

“There is nothing you can do about that,”
Mr. Carmichael said.  “Just keep slogging away at it.”

Jane had an uncomfortable feeling in her stomach since the moment
Mr. Carmichael had gotten her to track Damon down at that society fundraiser or whatever it was.  Not only did she feel out of her depth, she’d also created a mountain of work for herself.  She didn’t even know where to start.  She was trying to turn her problems over in her mind as she walked back to the office. 

She almost absentmindedly stepped off the curb to cross the street, but stopped herself just in time before the turning car swung around the corner.  Of course it was the
coffee colored car of her least favourite account owner.  She chuckled at the irony of almost being run over by him in his fancy car.  It wasn’t quite a fire engine red Ferrari, but a more muted Aston Martin that screamed success with a good dollop of self-confidence.  People’s heads actually turned when he drove past.

She
, on the other hand, didn’t even have a car and if she did, it would be something dependable like a small Honda.  She hated being in the position she was in, until a few months ago, a PA, pretty much one step above the mail room, now she was expected to take Damon D’Arth on, who was for all intents and purposes a veteran corporate warrior.

If it wasn’t for her protector, she was pretty sure she would be mince-meat by now, but as long as
Mr. Carmichael stood by her, it would be hard for Damon to just fling her aside.  If she really had been just a jumped up performance analyst, she would be walking away with her belongings packed in a small cardboard box.  A sudden restructure that only affected a few people in the organisation, her and some other deadwood they were better off without.

“Your
flight details for Singapore,” Martha said as she laid an envelope on her desk. 

“Oh.  T
hank you,” she said to Martha’s retreating back.

Angelica popped over the divider separating their desks.  “You’re going?”

“Looks like.”

“That is so awesome.  Why can’t I go on business trips to warm tropical islands?  Where is the justice in the world
?”

“Well, if it makes you feel better, I anticipate that it is going to be fraught with tension and hard work.”

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”

Jane wished she was, but she had so much to do over the next few weeks, she was pretty sure she wasn’t going to even notice her surroundings.  She opened the envelope and pulled out the printed document with her flight details.  It was a few days away.  She needed to call her young cousin who would love a few weeks away from her university flat to house and cat sit.

“You need to buy a swimsuit,” Angelica said.  “A bikini.  They’re on sale at the moment.”

“Not sure I’m
going to get the chance to go swimming.”

“Then you need to make time.  Do you want me to take you shopping?”

I would probably rather go to the dentist, Jane thought.  “No, that’s ok.”

Many of the people working on the bid left for Singapore the next day, while Jane stayed on.  She worked non-stop to write the document for the partnership proposal process.  It would have to be a quick turnaround because they needed to have it settled before they could finalize the larger bid for the bridge project.  She could not slow them down; they would just ignore her and her process completely if she took too long. 

She pretty much stayed at her desk until it was time to go to the airport.  She spent most of the flight putting the document together.  After a few hours, she just couldn’
t continue as he brained seemed to turn to putty.  Instead she tried watching a movie she couldn’t follow, until she just fell asleep and was awoken to find a breakfast tray in front of her.

It was dark outside when she arrived, she wasn’t entirely sure what she was doing or
where she was going, she just followed the crowd through the huge bustling airport, through passport control, picked up her bag and again followed the crowd through the exit.

The heat hit her like a wave, it almost left her breathless.  It took a bit of time to get a taxi, but she finally hopped in one and luckily the driver knew where the hotel was.   She’d be completely lost if he didn’t.  Then she just sat and watched the lights of the city pass her by as the taxi took her wherever it was she was going.  The buildings seemed to get taller as they went along, or maybe she was just getting sleepier.

She was almost asleep again by the time the taxi pulled into the entrance of a hotel.  A huge fountain stood in the middle of a circle of tall glass buildings.  A porter took her bags and asked her if she was checking in.  She stared at him for a few seconds before she seemed to get her brain to work.  She needed to sleep, she’d only gotten a few hours on the plane and not enough the night before as she had worked until well past midnight.  It was three in the morning back home and she felt like utter crap.

The petite Singaporean lady at the desk smiled at her as she checked her in.  Jane couldn’t confirm exactly how long she was staying, but the woman seemed to be able to cope with that, for which Jane was grateful because she could not
handle complicated questions at the moment.

She made her way to the
elevator and it took her high up into the building.  Her room was dark, but the full glass wall and the lights of the city provided enough light so Jane didn’t bother turning any on.  She brushed her teeth and crawled into the starched bed sheets and fell asleep without further thought.  She wondered if she should try setting an alarm, but it just seemed too complicated.

It turned out she didn’t need to because she woke up at 4 am.  It was still dark outside, but the lights of the city were just as they
had been when she’d gone to sleep.  She looked out over the city, there wasn’t much traffic.  She was hungry, but breakfast wouldn’t be served until much later.  Luckily room service was available all night.  She wasn’t sure she could wait three hours to eat.

Jane got into the office at 7am.  It was early, but she had a lot to do and there was little point sitting around in her hotel room.  She’d forgotten about the heat and it hit her again as she walked out of the lobby before ducking into the taxi they’d called for her.

The office wasn’t exactly like she’d imagined it.  She wasn’t exactly sure what she’d imagined, but it had been this.  It was a nice office, a distinctly blue office with large windows looking down on some more traditional buildings, Chinese maybe.   She wasn’t sure.

“Hi,” a young woman said.  “Are you with the party from New Zealand?”

“Yes,” Jane said with a smile.

“You’re working out of one of the meeting rooms.  I’ll take you,” she said and waved Jane along down one of the corridors.  She took her to a meeting room where there were computers set up around a large table.  “Find a spot.  There is a kitchen along the corridor if you want to make yourself at home; else there is a Starbucks down on the corner.”

“I might splash out for a fancy cup down on the street,” Jane said and the girl nodded.

“Take this swipe card; it will get you in the doors.  You’ll need it to go to the bathroom, wear it all the time,” she said and left.

Jane set up her computer on what seemed to be an empty s
pot.  She wanted to ask the girl who hadn’t given her name if there was a printer available, but she had gone.  Jane decided to deal with it later and went downstairs to find the coffee place.  She sat outside and drank it feeling wondrous about the heat.  It was still really early, and it was incredibly hot.  She wondered if it got much hotter during midday. 

Damon
almost groaned when she walked into the room.  He guessed the mystery of who the extra computer belonged to was solved.  He hadn’t seen her at breakfast in the morning.  They all ate together and shared taxis to the office.  As her computer was set up, she must have gotten there before them.

He could have managed without the close scrutiny of
the Carmichael faction of the Board, but he also knew that was just part of business. 

He noticed that she looked a bit flushed when she sat down
in front of her computer.  It became her, and it hinted at a life and purpose other than office stalwart. 

“Is there a printer?” she asked.  He was going to answer, but one of the younger guys told her in detail how to access it.  He wondered if the young man was interested in her.  He certainly jumped to attention when she needed help.  He supposed he couldn’t blame the young man.  She was a pretty girl, not an outright beauty, but a pretty girl.  Good girlfriend material for a young guy.

He didn’t do girlfriends.  He did dates and he did fucks and if they coincided, the better.  The kind of girls he went out with wanted to be seen with him, they didn’t really have expectations beyond the immediate gain and notoriety.  He stayed away from the ones that had expectations beyond that.  When it came down to it, they all wanted something from him, a rich husband, a promotion, or just a photograph in a magazine.  The latter was the easiest price to pay.

He wouldn’t care about
Jane’s presence at all if it wasn’t for the fact that she was loyal to another camp.  This in essence made her not a friend, hence an enemy.  She’d shown guts too, standing up to him the way she had.  She had practically been shaking when she did it, but she’d done it none the less.  There was a bit of steel in the girl, he could see why Carmichael liked her.

He watched as she got up and walked out the door, searching for the printer.  She had a nice figure, average clothes.  She didn’t put her assets on show, but she was tidy and professional.
  He smiled as he saw the little wiggle in her hips as she walked, she would be completely unaware of it, but it was something guys noticed.  Not the polished walk of someone who walks for a living, just a female oblivious to how males see her.  The young man certainly noticed as she walked out of the room and then back with a document in her hand. 

“I have the proposal evaluation document,” she said as she got closer to where he stood.  She
apparently wasn’t going to give up pushing Carmichael’s agenda.  He crossed his arms and considered her blatantly. 

“It
’s your process, Jane,” he said.  He certainly wasn’t going to help her with it.  If she insisted on running it, she could do it on her own.  He had more important things to worry about than some irrelevant evaluation process.  It was only Carmichael’s way of keeping the Clarion partnering proposal open.  The message was already received; he wasn’t going to put any more time on it.

She held her head a little higher and turned to take her seat again.  There was pride in the girl.

The day came to an end much sooner than Jane had hoped.  She still had so much to
do; she was going to have to do some work in her room that night.  Actually some uninterrupted time on her own might be good.  It was too distracting sitting in that meeting room with his disapproval hanging over her.