Chapter Nine
One Week Later
Pudong District, Shanghai, China
How did I end up at yet another dinner party where I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me whole?
I’m cursed. There’s no other explanation.
Trying not to visibly cringe, I stared intensely at Jackson, the VP of the international legal department at Cartwright Solutions who had accompanied the team to Shanghai to finalize negotiations with SQC Industries.
He was three glasses of red wine and at least two scotches deep and telling the most inappropriate hunting story I had ever heard.
And that was saying something because I’d spent multiple weekends in deer blinds and in camps with Brett hunting deer, turkey, quail and every other sort of edible animal.
Jackson had started off the trip on the wrong foot, offending the entire junior staff of SQC at the welcome reception with a joke so terrible I dreaded typing it out for the HR report I was going to have to make.
Jackson droned on, completely oblivious to the horrified looks on the faces of everyone at the table, especially our counterparts.
Xue, the young woman translating looked particularly green about the gills, and Mr. Ma, the CFO of the company, had long ago flattened his mouth into a disapproving line.
Please shut up. Please shut up. Please. Shut. Up.
I caught the gaze of the second-highest ranking member of our team. Drake sat there, frozen like a—well—like a deer in headlights. He wasn’t going to make a move, and it seemed none of the other team members who outranked me were either.
“The first arrow didn’t penetrate deep enough so the buck was fighting like hell.
So, I pull back, sight that bitch again and just let loose.
” Jackson spoke loudly while miming a compound bow.
He held a glass of outrageously expensive red wine in his left hand, and as he pretended to shoot an arrow, he sloshed wine everywhere. “Shit!”
Unable to watch him act like a fool a moment longer, I jumped up and grabbed a cloth napkin. Using my body, I blocked him from view of the rest of the table and hissed, “Get up. Excuse yourself. Go back to the hotel. Now!”
Jackson shoved away my hands. “This is my dinner. I’m the host. I’ll leave when I’m good and ready.”
“Jackson.” I glowered down at him. “You’re about to tank this whole deal.”
“And what? You gonna call Daddy on me?”
“I’m sorry,” Xue interrupted from the other end of the table. “Mr. Ma has an important phone call. We will have to cut the night short.”
I stepped away from Jackson to see Mr. Ma and his associates standing. He leaned over and said something to Xue before leaving the private dining room of the restaurant without a backward glance.
Xue approached me with a nervous smile. “Mr. Ma would like to discuss matters privately with you, Elona.”
“Oh.” My heart sank. “Okay.”
“No.” Jackson clambered to his feet. “I’ll handle this.”
“No. Mr. Ma was very clear that he is done speaking to you,” Xue said coldly.
I left Jackson sputtering and rushed to intercept the SQC Industries crew before they disappeared from the restaurant. “Mr. Ma?”
He stepped away to a quieter corner of the hallway, and I anxiously joined him. Before he could speak, I hurriedly apologized in my not-so-great Mandarin. “I am so incredibly sorry for the way my colleague has behaved this evening.”
Mr. Ma remained expressionless as he said, “I will not see that man again.”
“He’ll be sent home immediately,” I promised even though I didn’t have the power to order a higher-ranking VP to do anything.
“The deal your father and I have negotiated still stands. We’ve always done great things together; however, I am concerned about the public relations risk if that man is indicative of the caliber of employee hired by the firm and assigned to this task.”
“I understand,” I assured him. “I will make this right.”
“I know that you will." The statement made it clear there was no other option here than to get rid of Jackson. I dreaded that conversation with my stepfather, but a few moments of awkwardness and discomfort would net the company billions.
“Tomorrow, if you’re free, I would like to invite you to visit my office to speak with my son,” Mr. Ma continued.
“He read your thesis on the future of power, the growing demand and logistics and the opportunities for arbitrage and market control. He thinks you would bring great value to this project and would like to invite you to join us.”
I didn’t know what to say. I was proud of my master’s thesis on the demand for electricity outpacing production, specifically with the explosion in AI data centers. My research had zeroed in on the logistics of making, moving and marketing that power and finding ways to make money on the excess.
As flattered as I was, I didn’t feel right accepting the offer without first reminding him there were other options. “There are other members of our team who would provide more value and expertise.”
“Perhaps, but you have good rapport with your counterparts at SQC. You’re young, and you have a young person’s energy that matches my son’s.” He gave a little wave of his hand. “We will discuss the specifics tomorrow.”
It was clear he was done talking. I nodded and bade him farewell before returning to the dining room. My brain buzzed with this new and exciting opportunity. It very likely would require I relocate to China which had never been part of any of my five- or ten-year plans.
All thoughts of my future fled when I discovered Jackson and Drake were arguing. Their two executive assistants were frantically texting, probably trying to get their version of the events sent to headquarters first.
“Elona!” Drake noticed me and cut across the room with hurried strides. “Did you speak with Ma? What did he say?”
“He wants Jackson gone. Immediately. Doesn’t want to see his face again.” I avoided making eye contact with the idiot in question.
“And?” Drake pressed.
“He said the negotiated deal he made with Brett stands.” I decided not to mention his request that I stay on in Shanghai.
Drake visibly relaxed. “Well, it’s not as bad as I expected.”
“We got lucky.” I finally glanced at Jackson who had the sense to look embarrassed. “You should get the first flight home.”
“It was just a hunting story!” Jackson threw up his hands. “It wasn’t that big of a deal! I’m sorry if they were offended by my family tradition of hunting.”
“It wasn’t just the story!” I exploded. “You were rude, loud and obnoxious! After what you said at the welcome reception about the dog meat—.”
“It was a joke!” Jackson shouted.
“It was gross! And racist,” I hissed. “You cannot say things like that. You shouldn’t even be thinking them!”
“Oh, here we go with your woke bullshit!”
I rolled my eyes so hard they actually hurt.
“You can stop parroting your podcast bro garbage at me. This isn’t about being woke or liberal or whatever other nonsense you think.
It’s about respecting the culture of our hosts.
Do you have any idea how long Brett and Mr. Ma have done business together? ”
Jackson silently shook his head, but I could tell he was just itching to mouth off at me again.
“Twenty-nine years,” I said. “Almost three decades. Can you even comprehend the level of trust between them? I’d try to explain the concept of guanxi to you, but I’m not sure you’re capable of understanding loyalty, trust, obligations, respect or friendship.”
“That’s enough!” Drake finally cut in. “Jackson, go back to the hotel, pack up and go home.”
“But I—.”
“Now!“ Drake insisted before Jackson could say something else stupid.
Jackson grumbled and snapped at his EA who successfully herded him out of the room.
“Listen,” Drake stepped closer. “I think it would be best if we keep this incident as quiet as possible.”
Not liking where this was going, I said, “I won’t lie to Brett or HR.”
“It wouldn’t be a lie. It would just be a little finessing of the truth.”
“That’s still a lie.”
Drake sighed in frustration. “Look, we don’t all have your job security, Elona. You could dance on a table at a shareholder’s meeting and not get fired. Jackson has kids and a wife and a mortgage and responsibilities.”
“So do you,” I pointed out. “You didn’t offend the CEO.”
“I also don’t have a drinking problem.”
“Maybe Jackson needs to go to rehab then.”
“He has gone,” Drake admitted. “And I’ll get him to go again.”
“But?”
“He needs this job. I can’t let you jeopardize his family’s wellbeing over a few off-color remarks.”
My eyebrows raised. “Off-color remarks?”
“He didn’t mean any of it!”
“And what happens the next time he acts like a fool? Or if he does something worse than tell nasty stories or make racist comments? We just keep covering for him and brushing it under the rug?”
“He didn’t hurt anyone!”
“Physically,” I argued. “Emotionally, he hurt them. He offended them. He embarrassed them. And what if he does this again and it comes out that we’ve all been giving him passes?” I didn’t even want to bring it up, but I couldn’t let it go. “I heard about the Tokyo trip.”
Drake’s countenance changed suddenly. “Nothing happened. It was office gossip.”
“I don’t believe you.” The details I had heard about Jackson’s drunken antics and the late-night run-in with hotel security and two prostitutes were too specific to be exaggerated gossip.
“You shouldn’t believe everything you hear.” Drake moved uncomfortably close. “Imagine if I believed all the filthy things I heard about you and a married man you fucked when you were a teenager?”
A flush of shame burned across my face.
“What would people at work say if they knew what a dirty little homewrecker you are?”
I couldn’t breathe. My lungs were suddenly too small, and there wasn’t enough air in the room.
“Maybe they’d start to wonder why Brett took you away from your mother. Maybe they might question what kind of daddy-daughter relationship you two actually share.”