18. Salinger
18
SALINGER
A aron is waiting at the bar. He’s early.
I was hoping to beat him there so I could talk to Mandy first. I should have had her meet me at my penthouse, but I was afraid if I pushed her too much, she might bail. I have to keep my foot on the gas just enough to keep her under control but not enough to drive us off a cliff.
“Where is she?” No greeting, no nothing from Aaron.
Mandy better not fuck this up for me.
“She’s coming,” I say.
From the set of Aaron’s face, it is clear he does not believe me. The insurance executive doesn’t make small talk or do chitchat.
The restaurant is one of those Seattle specialties. Everyone is so in love with their dogs that they bring them everywhere, including high-end whisky bars. Dogs mill around our feet. The big ones seem more well-behaved and crouch under small round wooden tables. The little dogs are all over the place. A Chihuahua hops over my foot.
“I hate this city,” Aaron says flatly.
A miniature poodle sniffs my ankle—the dog’s owner calls to it drunkenly from across the room. Suddenly, an oversize corgi comes barreling at me, barking its head off. The poodle yelps and flees.
Pepper looks up at me on stubby legs, panting, then flops down on my feet.
Aaron raises an eyebrow.
Mandy is hovering near the entry, fussing with her enormous black purse. She’s in a short, plain black dress, one of those fifties ones with a full skirt and a short-sleeved-shirt top that she’s left partially unbuttoned. Her hair frames her face.
Shaking off Pepper, who makes a disgruntled noise, I cross the room. I grab Mandy’s bare arm. Her skin is soft and yielding under my fingers.
“Is this what you’re wearing? Did you buy that at Walmart?”
“There is nothing wrong with Walmart, and I bought it at Target, for your information.” She smooths the skirt. “This is my lucky dress.”
Her black sandals are scuffed.
“They sell bottles of whisky here for a hundred grand. How much did you spend on that dress?”
“It was on sale.” She’s stubborn. “I bought it for fifteen dollars.” She sidesteps me and walks into the bar.
I trail her. “If you didn’t have anything acceptable to wear, you should have used the company card to purchase something. ”
Mandy inclines her head. There’s a dog humping one of the chair legs. “I think you’re overreacting, Salinger.”
She sees Aaron.
“Mr. Richmond, hi!” she gushes. Is she blushing? “Salinger didn’t tell me you were going to be at the meeting.”
Mr. I’m a Rational Corporate Operative goes still. Aaron’s eyes flick down to the cleavage nestled in the unbuttoned V of Mandy’s black dress then quickly back up to her face.
Asshole.
Aaron clears his throat. “I was hoping you’d be here.”
He had met my assistant before when he came to my office, but she wasn’t in a dress, just her normal shapeless clothes festooned with coffee stains and crumbs. He’s never seen her like this.
And he never will again.
Mandy tucks one of her curls behind her ear and beams at him. “Aww, you were?”
He’s melting under her smile. Aaron—who can send even the most hardened corporate bosses into a panic attack just by sending them an unexpected email, who can crush an entire industry with just a stroke of a pen—is going completely soft because of her smile.
“Rumor has it that you’re the lynchpin in this port contract,” he says.
“You’re too funny!” Her fingers briefly touch his arm. “I don’t know about that.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. Salinger is currently thanking his lucky stars that you’re here.”
Mandy gives me an incredulous look.
Aaron’s gaze doesn’t leave her .
At that moment, I resolve that I will burn down Van de Berg Insurance before I let him so much as buy her a drink.
Pepper has rematerialized to sit on my shoes.
“Mandy, your dog.”
“Look, they’re multiplying.” Aaron’s voice is dry as a second corgi joins Pepper at my feet.
“Hi, Matcha!” Mandy bends down to pet Claire’s dog, giving me, Aaron, and everyone else an unadulterated view down the front of her dress.
I move to block Aaron’s view.
He gives me an assessing look.
“Of course they’re early,” Isaacs says. “And Mandy, wonderful to see you again.”
My assistant stands up to greet Isaacs.
He ignores her outstretched hand and leans in to give her a noisy kiss on the cheek. “You look smashing.” His gaze roams over her appreciatively—the ample chest, the belt at her cinched waist.
“It’s fun to get out,” she says. “All Salinger does is work.”
“That’s what I was saying.”
Holy shit , Aaron mouths, finally wising up on the lie Mandy and I are weaving.
I elbow him sharply.
Isaacs is introducing the other Pacific Horizons VPs and executives. The hostess leads us to a large table. I’m starting to relax. This evening is going to be killer.
Then the conversation stops. A blanket of apprehension stifles the executives who were only a moment before enthusiastic and cheery. Almost comically, they all turn around in unison.
A stern-looking woman with a silvering bob looks down her nose at the scene. She slowly takes off her sunglasses .
Isaacs seems like he wants to hide under a table. “Linda, I didn’t…”
“What, know I was coming?” she asks. “Yes, you did try to hide this meeting.”
“It’s not a meeting, just a bit of a casual get-together.” Isaacs twists his hands.
Several of the other higher-ups at Pacific Horizons huddle in the booth as Linda’s icy gaze passes over them to land on yours truly.
Her mouth turns down like she’s eaten something distasteful. I resist the urge to cover my balls.
“Of course, my ex-husband has decided you are his new best friend.” There’s a decade of anger and bitterness in that “you.”
Her attention shifts to Aaron.
“You’re not sleeping with your assistant, are you?” she asks Aaron tartly.
“No, ma’am.”
“Of course, that can’t be said for the rest of your co-conspirators.”
Damn.
“Now, Linda, I got rid of Denise,” Isaacs whines. “Claire doesn’t work for me.”
“Yes, you left me for Denise yet were unable to keep her around even two weeks after the divorce was finalized.” His ex’s tone is sharp.
“I thought we were going to set boundaries, Benji-bear,” Claire says over the ears of her enormous corgi. “If we’re going to start a family.”
“Now, now, I said we could talk about it.” Isaacs is sweating .
Behind me, Aaron is silently downgrading the status of this port contract. I am going to be paying out the ass for insurance.
Though I’d known that Isaacs’s ex-wife was still on the board of Pacific Horizons, like Claire, I hadn’t expected her to actually be at this meeting. Surely she would want to be more of a silent partner, just take her check every month and not have to deal with her ex-husband on a daily basis.
Guess I underestimated an ex-wife wronged and her thirst for revenge.
Linda raises her voice. “You think that after you left me for your assistant, I’m going to approve a deal with a man who is also sleeping with his assistant?”
I’m floundering, trying to think of a way to salvage the situation.
“Yeah, I totally get it,” Mandy interjects. “Salinger is a piece of shit, absolutely.”
“Jesus, Mandy.”
She grabs my wrist. “But look on the bright side, at least I’m his age. The bar is in hell, but he cleared it.”
Linda’s mouth twitches into a smile before she can help it. “That is a point in his favor.”
Slipping into the role of the supportive girlfriend, Mandy immediately links her arm with mine.
Linda tamps down the smile. “Be that as it may, Salinger still hasn’t left behind his billionaire-playboy ways. This bar is classless.”
“I didn’t pick it—”
Mandy’s nails dig into my arm.
“Yes, it is overpriced—so absurd. I’m trying to break him of the habit.” Mandy rolls her eyes. “I don’t let him waste money. Salinger was complaining earlier about my dress, which I got for sale at Target, even though it’s perfectly good. People waste too much money on unnecessary things.”
Linda nods along like Mandy is spreading the gospel.
I keep my mouth shut.
Linda sits down. “Let’s get on with the meet-and-greet, then.”
“Yeah, they want us to order or relinquish the tables,” Mandy says.
“I can see you worked in food service.” Linda smiles approvingly.
“Best training for the corporate world there is,” Mandy chirps.
“The world would be much better if everyone had to work a customer-facing job,” Linda agrees.
“I have that printed on a mug.”
The waiters begin the elaborate whisky-tasting. Mandy chats with Linda, who every so often gives me a cold look over her drink.
I have a sinking feeling that I’m watching the agonizing death of this deal.
“Don’t worry.” Isaacs’s breath is heavy with the smell of whisky. “Linda thinks she’s still in charge, just because she has her daddy’s vote on the board. And his equity.”
My fingers grip my glass. “I don’t mind working with her. I try to stay diplomatic.”
“You see why I left her, eh?” Isaacs guzzles the rest of his drink.
More so, I’m seeing why she left him. I sip my whisky so I don’t have to comment.
“I mean, are you even listening to her? She’s corrupting the girls. Linda,” Isaacs calls, raising his voice, “don’t put that nonsense in their heads. ”
“‘That nonsense’?” his ex retorts. “You mean a prenup? Knowing your worth?”
“She gave me her lawyer’s contact info, Benji-bear.” Claire blows him a kiss.
Isaacs blanches. “I never should have dumped Denise,” he mutters into his glass.
We’ve been sitting at the table for hours. Pepper has somehow migrated to my lap. The deal is slipping through my fingers. Everyone at the table is tense, and the whisky has done nothing to relieve that.
Everyone except for Mandy.
My assistant is still chatting away happily, regaling everyone at the table with antics of the latest crop of interns.
I signal to the waiter and slip him my card to pay the bill for the table.
Linda pats her mouth and stands up, signaling an end to the evening. “This was shockingly unproductive.”
“We’ll be in touch.” Isaacs shakes my hand, then Aaron’s.
“Happy to help any way I can.” I try not to let my fury about how this deal is imploding before my eyes betray me.
“I think I speak for everyone when I say we’d be happy to partner with Rainier Equity. You all have the staff, the funds, the experience…” Isaacs trails off.
Linda is not impressed. “He does not speak for everyone. We’re reviewing all of our options, Mr. Svensson. As I have learned the hard way, how a man conducts his personal life is a good indicator of how he conducts business.”
“There aren’t that many options on the West Coast,” I say, deciding to try pushing back slightly. “I think you’ll find Rainier Equity a fine investment firm. ”
“No.” Linda looks down her nose. “There are, however, a number on the East Coast.”
My brother.
“I’m happy to come by Pacific Horizons so we can talk through specifics.”
“We’ll call you if we want to schedule a meeting.” Her tone says that I will get a call over her dead body.
Linda ignores my outstretched hand as she wraps her shawl around her shoulders.
“Good evening.”
“Bye, Linda! I’ll give you that recipe for doggie protein treats. I think your Yorkie will like them.” Mandy gives her a one-armed hug.
“Don’t let him string you along,” Linda says, glaring at me. “If you don’t have a ring on your finger and an ironclad prenup, move on and just adopt another dog.”