Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 91058 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91058 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 455(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
“And…”
“Size-of-person test, which only applies if the transaction is valued between $90 million and $359.9 million.”
He nods like he’s proud.
“However, there are variations to these tests,” I go on. “Depending on whether the parties are engaged in manufacturing. Also, at least one party must be operating in the United States for either test to apply.”
He nods. “Good, now go.”
I deflate in my chair.
Go? We were just getting started!
“Surely there’s more. We could brainstorm ways to work around the HSR filing delay. Maybe call the FTC or DOJ and—”
“Get back to your own work now, Scarlett.”
He’s already refocused his attention on a document on his desk.
“Will you tell me what you two figure out?”
“Go.”
“That’s not fair. You can’t bring me in on this and not let me see it through. That’s painful.”
He chuckles under his breath and shakes his head, still not looking at me.
“Should I have Lucy come escort you out? She might not look tough, but she has a little muscle on her.”
I scowl at him, wishing I could do more.
“So what was the point of this then?”
He flips a paper over. “To learn. That’s all. I would have begged to sit in on a phone call with two partners when I was in your position.”
“So you want me to beg?”
His head snaps up and he flays me with those brown eyes. “So help me, Scarlett…get out of my office.”
Even now, even as worked up as he is, I just can’t seem to fear him the way I ought to. Maybe I should see a therapist. Maybe there’s a screw loose in my head. This is Hudson Rhodes! The worst of the worst, and I can’t seem to feel truly threatened by him, only slightly annoyed. It’s like he’s an itch I can’t scratch.
I gather my things and start to head toward the door. I’m in no rush to get back to that office with Kendra. She hasn’t said a single word to me all day.
Hudson has gone back to reviewing that document, but he still has a few departing words for me. “You could try to change their opinion about you.”
I pause, but I don’t turn back toward him. I know he’s referring to my fellow first-year associates. He saw me sitting alone at lunch. What he doesn’t know is that all of them came by my office to pick up Kendra on their way down to the food court, and every last one of them ignored me sitting there at my desk.
I even looked up and tried. I smiled and waved to see if we couldn’t get something going, but they must all have been under strict orders to pay me no attention because there were no returned smiles or waves, no acknowledgment of any kind.
“Did you see her cake yesterday?” Ramona asked on the way out.
“Daddy’s little girl!” Makayla replied with the same bitchy tone.
My stomach squeezes tight with the painful memory, but I shake myself free of it as quickly as I can. There will always be difficult people. I don’t have to let them hurt me, or worse, stoop to their level.
“I don’t really care what they think about me.”
“Right. Well if it becomes a real problem, you could always tell your dad, or HR.”
I don’t respond right away. Hudson is suggesting I go talk to my dad in a totally different way than Jasper suggested it last night. This feels more like a test, like Hudson wants to know where my head is at, wants to figure out what kind of person I really am. Am I the type to fold or the type to fight?
“No,” I finally say with tenacious resolve, turning to look back at him.
He’s the embodiment of power, standing there behind his desk with the cityscape framed at his back. He’s the fiercest enemy you could ever meet. I hope I seem even a quarter as capable as he does. Maybe I should ask where he gets his suits, if there’s a lady’s version of that silver watch on his wrist. Maybe I could ask him to teach me how to furrow my eyebrows in that subtle way that’s both handsome and terrifying.
“Well that leaves your third and final option,” he says with resolute determination. “The one I would choose myself. You can ignore them and get to work. You can define yourself on your own terms rather than by the opinions of others. Outwork them all, Scarlett.”
I lift my chin and leave his office.
Don’t worry. I will.
It’s after 8:00 p.m. by the time I leave. Kendra left at 6:45 to get drinks with Ramona and Makayla. I wasn’t invited, obviously, so I stayed behind and I worked. I had to cancel my usual post-dinner workout with my kickboxing trainer, and I suppose I could drag myself down to my apartment’s state-of-the-art gym after I scrounge together something to eat, but I just don’t have it in me today.