Chapter 17
‘Scarlett, these just came for you.’
Margaret enters my office, taking me away from my daydream of Gregory making love to me on the sand of a Caribbean bay, moonlight illuminating every curve and edge of his perfect face.
Margaret smiles, the soft pink of her lipstick matching the shade of her blouse. ‘They’re very beautiful,’ she says, inhaling the scent of the dozen red roses she’s holding.
She places the flowers on my desk and I take the small, red envelope, already knowing who they’re from.
I miss seeing you all day every day.
X
‘Thanks, Margaret.’
‘Can I ask how it went with Neil?’
I move the flowers in their water-filled box to the ledge of my window then adjust my purple chiffon blouse, tucking it into my black pencil skirt.
‘It was awful. He wasn’t even angry; he was just really disappointed. He thinks I should take some time, mull it over some more.’
‘Do you want to?’
I look down at the card in my hand and smile. If I work with him, I get to see him every day. ‘No.’
‘Then you have your answer.’ She drops a hand to my shoulder. ‘Neil Wallace will just have to accept that you’re leaving. He’s just panicking about who’ll fill your shoes when you’re gone. We’ll miss you around here.’
I don’t tell her that even those few words are making me feel worse about my decision to leave Saunders. She makes a discreet exit when Amanda charges into my office with two lattes and a large bar of chocolate.
‘Are you blowing your week’s caffeine allowance?’ I ask.
‘First day back is a bitch; the doctors can go screw themselves. I know my baby and I know my baby needs coffee and chocolate. Here.’
I chuckle as I accept the latte and Amanda slumps into the seat opposite my desk, unravelling the foil from the sweat treat.
‘You know, last time we did this, you threw up in my bin and we realised you were pregnant.’
‘Don’t worry, I have no intention of repeating the trick. This bad boy is staying firmly in my stomach.’ She wraps her mouth around two large squares of chocolate. ‘That’s sooooo good.’
I snap off a square and let it melt in my mouth. ‘I don’t think even chocolate is going to help me today. I have major post-travel blues.’
‘Mm, speaking of blues, is Neil spewing about you leaving?’
‘He’s far from thrilled.’
‘Is he making you work your notice?’
‘No. As soon as he realised I was going to GJR, he changed his tune. He wants me to hand over Mr Ghurair’s deal and I won’t pick back up the stuff I handed to others before we went away but the rest of my work was Gregory’s anyway, so I’ll take it with me.’
‘Who are you handing over the Dubai deal to?’
‘You. If you want it? I think it would be good for you. A big deal before you go off.’
‘Sure, I’m in.’
‘Well, in that case, I might be out of here next week, maybe even Friday.’
‘Holy shit,’ she mumbles around another slab of chocolate. ‘It’ll be the end of an era.’
‘And the start of a new one.’ I glance at my sparkling diamonds.
‘Cheers to that.’ She nudges her cardboard coffee cup against mine.
* * *
My phone rings as I’m typing handover notes for Mr Ghurair’s final transaction. Gregory’s name dances across the screen.
‘Hey, you.’
‘How’s the first day back?’ he asks.
‘I’ve had better.’
‘Have you handed in your notice?’
‘Yep.’
‘So when are you coming to join Team Ryans?’
‘Actually, if you want me, next week.’ I can sense his smile. ‘Thank you for the flowers.’
‘You’re more than welcome, fiancée. Can you come here this afternoon?’
‘I guess so. It’s not like I need to bank gold stars here. I’ll check on the registration of the Black Diamonds portfolio before I come over.’
‘I’ll have Anya order lunch. Sushi good?’
‘Perfect.’
Scooping up my pile of documents related to Black Diamonds, I head to the trainee, Hugh’s office. ‘Home alone today?’ I ask, taking note of the empty desk behind him.
‘Charles is in a meeting. How was your break?’
‘Too short.’
‘Argh, at least you got away. I don’t have anything planned until May and I’m already shattered.’
‘It’ll come around before you know it.’
‘I, ah, heard your news. Congratulations. In-house, isn’t it?’
‘News travels fast. Yes, I’m going in-house for the GJR group, which leads me nicely onto the reason I’m here.’
He pushes his chair back from his desk and twists his pen in the fingers of his right hand. A pose I’m sure he wouldn’t adopt if his supervisor were in the room.
‘Constant Sources is a GJR subsidiary. How’s the registration of the IP in the game coming along?’
‘I’ve been meaning to speak to you about that.’
I raise an eyebrow. ‘Sounds like you’re going to tell me there’s a glitch.’
Hugh leans forward and pulls a few tatty-looking pieces of paper from a disorganised tray on his desk.
‘There was a problem in China. Let me see.’ He flicks through the messy papers then rummages through the pile in his tray again.
‘Here it is. Local counsel in China said there were already registrations for some of the trademarks, including the name Black Diamonds, and the copyright, I think. Apparently, the applications were filed hours before we tried to file.’
‘Shit, seriously? In the same class? Gaming?’
‘Yep.’
‘Remind me who we’re dealing with in China.’
‘Wang Nongfan is handling the applications.’
‘Okay and this just happened today?’
‘No, let me see.’
I tighten my grip around my documents and tap the grey hardwearing carpet with my foot whilst he flicks through his papers.
‘He told me about it Wednesday so I assume it happened then.’
‘Wednesday? Hugh, it’s Monday. Why am I just hearing about this now?’
‘Well, you were on holiday and I tried to chat it through with Richard in the IP team but he was busy working on an injunction so—’
‘I know about the injunction but that’s not an excuse, Hugh. I told you to contact me if anything went wrong. We’ve wasted almost a week now.’
‘I’m sorry, I didn’t think—’
‘That’s exactly it, Hugh: you didn’t think. What’s the status now?’ I fire my words at him, sharp and fast.
He stops playing with his godforsaken pen and sits up straight in his chair, finally looking interested. ‘I, ah, Wang Nongfan is waiting for you to get back to him.’
Trying to keep a lid on the fury building inside me, I snap. ‘Thanks for doing absolutely nothing in my absence.’
‘I’m sorry, Scarlett, I didn’t realise it was such a big deal.’
‘Hugh, the registration rules in China are first come, first served. This could have a real impact for the client. If somebody else is trying to register our game or a rip off of it, everything the client was trying to protect is undermined. So, yes, it’s a big fucking deal.’
His eyes practically pop out of his head. Griping at people and using the F word in the office are two things people aren’t used to from old Scarlett.
‘I’m sorry,’ he says again, heightening my annoyance further.
‘You don’t need to say sorry to me, Hugh; it’s the client you should be apologising to.’
‘Should I, do you think I should call the client?’
I all but snarl as I charge out of his office and back to my own.
A call with Wang Nongfan confirms that the registration looks to be for identical entries to the IP we’re trying to register in Black Diamonds, which means we can’t register Black Diamonds in China, at least not without a fight.
What angers me more is that, if I’d been in the office, I wouldn’t have allowed it to take over a week to file an application.
Being as respectful as possible in the circumstances, I explained this to Wang Nongfan, only to be told the delay was due to Stuart Culliton not providing all the necessary details sooner.
Having established the whole frustrating circle of events, my excitement to see Gregory has turned to anxiousness.
Whilst my tolerance for incompetence is low, Gregory’s is significantly lower. He’s going to take this really well.
* * *
‘Mr Ryans is ready for you,’ Sue says as I approach the reception desk on the twenty-eighth floor of Gregory’s glossy high-rise office tower. Her cheeks flush red, making me cringe inside. I wonder whether she’ll have informed the rest of Gregory’s staff that I’m not only his lawyer.
‘Thank you, Sue,’ I say with a soft smile, hoping she’ll remember I’m keeping her crush on Gregory a secret in return for her allegiance.
Gregory is on his phone, standing in the window of his large office, his free hand in his pocket. He turns when I click the frosted glass door shut behind me. The flat screens around his room are continually updating with stock exchanges, commodity indices and BBC World News.
‘I’ve read the proposal and I don’t like it. He hasn’t given me any concrete support for the return. I’m not saying the idea is dead in the water but he needs to rethink and send me a new proposal. As things stand, the answer’s no.’
He gestures to the coffee table flanked by two leather sofas, which is covered in plates of sashimi on ice, sushi rolls and Japanese-style salad. I take off my mac and blazer then settle onto a sofa, pouring two cups of hot green tea.
‘Chase Mr Cheung for the first cut of the joint venture agreement from Shangzen Tek, too. I’d like to have my lawyer take a look over it ASAP.
I don’t want him running this down to the wire.
If he starts playing games, put him in touch with me directly.
No, that won’t be necessary; I want to manage this one. ’
Gregory makes his way over to me and I hand him a cup of green tea.
‘I’m not interested in hearing a pitch from them.
If I had an interest in the sector, I’d know who to approach.
It’s not a good time to invest in the market.
Is that everything? All right, let’s pick up Thursday.
I want an update on all action points. I’ll leave you to finish off. Good afternoon, gents.’
He hangs up, drops the phone onto the coffee table, then strokes a hand down my cheek and drops his lips to mine. ‘Hey.’