Mergers and Acquisitions

by A. E. Radley

  Sophie swallowed nervously. That wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

  “Everyone at Mastery can split their working career into two timeframes, before Jessica and after Jessica. Before Jessica, well, those people have more grey hairs and are on medication for their blood pressure and ulcers. After Jessica, those people are still scared out of their minds if they know what’s good for them. But they know nothing of the pain that others have suffered.”

  Sophie turned to look at Georgina. She was smiling and chatting politely with a small group of people. She looked so nice, so sociable and friendly. But Sophie couldn’t ignore the amount of evidence pointing towards her fiery side.

  “You worked with Georgina before Jessica?” she asked.

  “Yes.” He let out a long sigh and then shuddered. “Honestly, Georgina changed into a brand new person once she finally got together with Jessica.”

  “Finally?”

  “Jessica was her assistant for over a year before they finally got together.”

  Sophie bit her lip nervously. She wanted to know more. She knew she shared similarities with Jessica. She wanted to know how deeply they ran. She also knew it was dangerous to fish for information, she might not like what she found out.

  “What happened?” she asked.

  Elliot took her arm and pulled her towards a couple of seats next to the sound booth, away from prying ears. He sat down and gestured for her to do the same. When she did, he held up his hands dramatically.

  “Imagine the scene. Two women. In love. Neither thinking that the other could possibly love her.”

  Sophie chuckled at his overly dramatic storytelling.

  “Hey, are you going to listen to this story, or are you going to giggle?” he chastised with a smile.

  “I’m sorry, go on,” Sophie encouraged.

  “Let me set the scene. Jessica had this boring boyfriend: accountant, grey suits, grey hair, big yawn. One day, she sees sense, and she dumps him. She doesn’t even know she’s madly in love with Georgina at this point. Georgina, well, she’s married to her career. All that she cares about is her job and her business. No interest in settling down, just a string of one-night stands.”

  Sophie tried to keep her smile on her face, but the story was already making her uncomfortable. She wondered if she had made a mistake asking Elliot to tell the tale. Either way, it was too late now. She could hardly stop him even if she wanted to. Which, in all honesty, she didn’t.

  “One day, they go to visit this new app developer. The guy made millions from a game he had recently sold, but he gave it all away to the city’s public libraries. He has a new idea. Everyone wants to meet him, but Georgina gets an exclusive invitation. She takes Jessica, and they go to this dirty, run-down part of New York to visit this guy. They find the building, get in the elevator and…”

  “And?” Sophie tugged on his arm impatiently.

  He smiled at her enthusiasm. “The lights go out. The power goes out. They are stuck. In the dark. Together.”

  She stared at him. “No way.”

  “Way.”

  “That’s so…”

  “Clichéd.” He nodded. “Isn’t it delicious? I mean, you couldn’t make it up.”

  “What happened?”

  He crossed his legs and leaned closer. “The way Jessica tells it, they talked. For the first time in all the time they worked together. They just talked, like normal people. Not like a boss and an assistant. Jessica told Georgina about the break-up, told her that she’s looking for a new apartment. You know, just life stuff.”

  Sophie could feel herself beginning to lightly perspire at the thought of just how similar she was to Jessica.

  “They are stuck in there for about two hours, but neither of them notice how much time has gone by. Jessica said that it was like a light bulb moment for her. Suddenly, she realises that there is more to Georgina. She realises that a lot of what she says and does is a front. That she’s a normal person. Jessica is intrigued and wants to know more. As they hear the firemen lowering the elevator to rescue them, Jessica asks Georgina out on a date.”

  “Brave,” Sophie breathed.

  “As rumour has it, Georgina doesn’t speak. So, Jessica clarifies. A date. Not a dinner, not a friendly chat. A date.”

  “Very brave,” she amended.

  “Obviously, we know that Georgina agreed. Now, Georgina’s version of events has her agreeing to a date and then buying the app from one of New York’s hottest new developers. But Jessica claims that Georgina stuttered a confused agreement to the date, she’s all blushes and nervously tells Jessica about all of her flaws. Jessica bats each of them away like a boss and then smooth talks the geeky developer. I don’t know which version to believe. But the outcome was the same.”

  Sophie swallowed. For some reason her brain flashed up a picture of Kate. The very idea of being stuck in an elevator with Kate for two hours was enough to bring on a small panic. She quickly squashed the thought.

  “Over the next few months,” Elliot continued, “Georgina calmed the fuck down. She started to smile at work. The number of people fired each week was cut in half. A woman from account management wore flats in the office and lived to tell the tale.”

  Sophie laughed.

  “I’m serious, she was a monster. The stories you’ve no doubt heard, they’re all true. Georgina was awful before Jessica. But Jessica turned her around and made her human again.”

  “Why did they break up?” Sophie asked.

  Elliot shrugged. “I don’t know. I do know that it wasn’t Georgina’s choice.”

  Sophie found herself lost in thought. She knew that Georgina wasn’t perfect; in fact, lately she was seeing more evidence of it herself. And even though she wasn’t directly in the firing line, she didn’t like what she saw. She didn’t think she was as strong as Jessica, able to tell Georgina how to act. And she still wondered if she was a replacement for Jessica, which she desperately didn’t want to be. She wanted someone to like her for herself, not because she resembled someone else.

  “Time to make myself scarce,” Elliot whispered as he grabbed his drink and snuck away behind the sound booth.

  Sophie looked up and saw Georgina walking towards her.

  “Goodbye, Elliot,” she called out with a devious grin. She sat beside Sophie. “Having fun?”

  “Yes, you?” Sophie asked.

  “Terrible. I’ve been so lonely. My date left me all alone.”

  Sophie chuckled. “I don’t think you’ve been lonely. Every time I look over you’re talking to a new group of people.”

  “Doesn’t mean I’m not missing you,” Georgina whispered.

  Sophie felt a blush start and attempted to control her breathing. She didn’t want to be flustered every time Georgina was near her. She needed to remind herself that Georgina was a normal person, just like anyone else.

  “You’re cute when you blush,” Georgina admitted with a smirk. She leaned in closer so only Sophie could hear her. “What’s going on with Kate?”

  Sophie frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Something’s off, I can’t tell what it is. You have to know.”

  “I… I can’t say anything. I mean, if there was something. Which there isn’t.” Sophie leaned back a little. She was very uncomfortable that Georgina would even consider asking her something like that. Georgina had been her safe haven, the person who didn’t drag her into office politics.

  Georgina’s eyes flittered over Sophie’s face. Sophie felt like she was being scanned for information.

  “You’re very protective of her, aren’t you?”

  “She’s my boss,” Sophie defended. “I treat her like I treat anyone else.”

  Georgina looked amused with Sophie’s defence. She folded her arms. “Oh, and how is that?”

  “With respect,” Sophie answered. She gave a little nod and immediately regretted the gesture, fearing it looked childish.

  Georgina bit her lip in amusement and looked away.
“I suppose you don’t think I’m very respectful?”

  “Certainly not towards Kate,” Sophie said.

  Georgina sighed. “It’s business, Sophie. It is what it is. I guess you’re not going to answer my question?”

  Sophie shook her head.

  “Well, I better get back to the crowd. I don’t want people to wonder where I am.” Georgina stood up. “I’ll see you after the event.”

  Sophie watched her leave. She felt uncomfortable with Georgina’s sudden questioning and shook her head to clear the feeling. There was a chance that she was just feeling that way because of her conversation with Elliot. Hearing about the vaunted Jessica had unsettled her a little as she considered the big shoes she had to fill.

  She heard people taking their seats in the hall below, and she looked down to see that Kate was preparing to take to the stage. She’d heard the presentation a dozen times already, and she wasn’t looking forward to hearing it again.

  Her phone started to vibrate in her pocket. She looked at the screen and sighed. It was her mum, who had no doubt heard about her break-up with Matt.

  “Shit,” she mumbled.

  She rushed towards the corridor so she could take the call.

  Chapter 30

  It had taken Sophie an hour to soothe her mum’s mood at not being told about the break-up. Apparently, she’d heard through Matt’s mum. Sophie felt awful, but she’d been busy with work, busy trying to avoid all thoughts of her ex. She’d apologised several times and then stayed on the phone for another thirty minutes to hear about the colours her mum was thinking of painting the kitchen.

  In the back of her mind, she wanted to tell her mum about working as Kate Kennedy’s assistant. And dating Georgina Masters. But she couldn’t. Not that she was embarrassed, or thought her mum would have a problem. It was more that she couldn’t figure out the right way to phrase it. As if she wasn’t entirely sure about it herself.

  Sophie hated how confused she felt. When she was with Matt, everything was clear and simple. They may not have had the most passionate relationship, and lord knew how many affairs he’d had, but at least life was easy. She didn’t have to second-guess herself. It was a new concept for her, doubting your own mind. It seemed that being a new Sophie Young meant re-evaluating a lot of things.

  She walked back into the auditorium and could immediately detect a strange atmosphere in the room. Something had happened. People were gathered in clusters and whispering.

  “Sophie, where have you been? You missed it,” Elliot said as he approached her.

  “Something came up.” Sophie looked around the room. “What happened?”

  “Kate and Georgina,” Elliot sighed.

  “What now?” Sophie rolled her eyes. She’d had enough of the pettiness between the two women. They were supposed to be adults, well-respected adults. Each at the height of their career and running hugely successful enterprises. And yet they continually acted like children.

  “Someone told Georgina that Kate set up a new charity foundation in Japan and has offered Jessica the role of director,” Elliot explained.

  “Japan? Charity foundation?” Sophie’s mind was spinning. She didn’t know anything about a new charity foundation. She knew that Kate was very generous with her resources and had contributed a lot to various charities over the years, but a venture in Japan was news to Sophie.

  “Jessica never really wanted to work in marketing, it was just a job to her,” Elliot explained. “She always wanted to work for a charity, to make a difference in the world. Rumour has it that when an opportunity came up, Jessica jumped at the chance and Georgina vetoed it outright. Apparently, that’s why they broke up. I don’t know if it’s true or not, but that’s what I heard.”

  Sophie felt her eyes widen in surprise. She couldn’t imagine Georgina would stop someone from fulfilling their dream. She paused. Actually, if she were honest with herself, she could imagine that. Georgina was extremely single-minded, and she always got what she wanted. The more she thought about it, the more she believed it.

  “And now Kate’s hired Jessica?” Sophie struggled to catch up.

  “Kate’s been working on launching a charity in Japan with a friend of hers. It was supposed to be top secret until launch. Didn’t you know about it?” Elliot asked.

  Sophie shook her head. She wondered how on earth Kate was finding time to run Red Door, fend off Georgina, and establish a new charity. No wonder the woman was burning out.

  “Hmm, she must have been keeping it away from Red Door,” he said, “I suppose in case of conflicts of interest? I don’t know, anyway, it all came out. Georgina was furious. She demanded that Kate fire Jessica. Kate refused, she said she didn’t even know anything about Jessica being hired. Her business partner oversaw recruitment. Then she said that she had no intention of undoing it. Then they started properly shouting at each other. It was messy.”

  Sophie winced. “What happened?”

  “Kate said that she was glad to be supporting Jessica and that Jessica must have been lucky to get away from Georgina. Georgina then told Kate that she wouldn’t understand as she hadn’t been in a real relationship for years, and wouldn’t be able to get one now that she’s fifty. Did you know she’s fifty? Looking good for fifty, mind you—”

  “Elliott…”

  “Oh, well, Georgina let rip. Called Kate an emotionless has-been. Kate didn’t respond to that, she just left. And Georgina left soon after as well. Now your lot are trying to mop up the mess without their illustrious leaders.”

  Sophie sighed angrily and used her finger to jab her glasses up her nose.

  “Thanks, Elliot.” She grabbed her stuff and hurried out the door. In the street, she quickly hailed a cab, but when she got in, she sat in the back and paused for a moment. She wasn’t sure what to do. Part of her wanted to go and see if Kate was okay, but a bigger part of her wanted to take Georgina to task. Her mind was made up, and she told the driver to take her to the Rosewood Hotel.

  All the way there, she considered what she wanted to say. Her anger was boiling over as the cab crept its way through London traffic. She couldn’t believe that Georgina had gone off like that. Especially at a press event. It was so unprofessional. So much for her being the expert on business.

  Sophie looked down at her phone. She wanted to text Kate, but she had no idea what to say. The intense pull to check on Kate was bewildering to her. She wanted to chalk it up to Kate being her boss, but the care she felt was more than that. She shook her head and looked out the window. She needed to stay focused on Georgina.

  “Sophie—”

  “Why did you say those things to Kate?” Sophie demanded. She stormed through the open hotel room door, blowing past Georgina to stand with her hands on her hips. “Why are you so mean to her? I know she’s not exactly nice to you but… but you two are just… so mean!”

  Sophie knew that her speech had wobbled a little towards the end, but she tried to maintain her posture.

  Georgina looked her up and down before letting the door go. She waited until it slammed shut before raising her hand and pointing to the sofa.

  Sophie took a deep breath and followed her to the sofa, sitting down on the opposite end.

  “We rub each other the wrong way,” Georgina began. “I know that’s no excuse, and yes, I do go too far. But some people are just—”

  “You’re right. It’s no excuse.” Sophie was seething with anger. She could understand Georgina was upset by the news of Jessica’s employment, but from what she had heard, Kate didn’t even know about it. And for Georgina to say that Kate was emotionless, to comment on her age and call her a has-been in public? It was too much. Far too much.

  “I realise I went too far,” Georgina confessed. “I shouldn’t have spoken about the child.”

  “Child?” Sophie asked in confusion.

  “The child she gave up. Come on, Sophie, you could practically write her Wikipedia page, don’t tell me you didn’t know?”

&
nbsp; Sophie swallowed. “Kate gave up a child?” She had no idea. She tried to remember all the articles she had read about Kate, wondering if she had missed something.

  “At the start of her career, she was unmarried and Red Door was only just starting to make a name for itself, and—”

  “And you announced it at a public event?” Sophie felt her fist tighten in anger. She didn’t know exactly what Georgina had said, but it couldn’t have been good. At least she had the good sense to look ashamed.

  “Well, no, that bit was just between her and me. I think. Things got pretty confusing.” Georgina jumped to her feet. “She’s given Jessica a job in Japan! I saw red.”

  “Why didn’t you let Jessica take her own career path?” Sophie asked. It was almost off-topic, but it still felt important that she ask. Like it was a key to Georgina’s personality that she had to have before they went any further.

  Georgina chuckled humourlessly. “Oh, I wondered why you and Elliot were huddled together. Did he tell you that?”

  “Is it true?” Sophie wasn’t about to be shamed by Georgina. She deserved the truth.

  “You mean, did I prevent Jessica from taking a job in New York in a sector she wanted to work in? Yes, I did.” Georgina crossed the room and looked out of the window. “Honestly, I don’t even know why I did it. I thought it would be the end of our relationship. I told her as much. I didn’t want her out of my life. You see, when you’re an older woman with someone so young and perfect, you worry that your partner is going to leave you. You think that it can’t last. That they’ll wake up and realise they’re with someone twice their age.”

  “Did you tell her that?”

  Georgina shook her head. “No, I probably should have. But we argued, and then I just couldn’t back down.”

  “Stubborn,” Sophie mumbled.

  “Yes,” Georgina agreed with a sigh. “Still, it’s too late now.”

  Sophie rolled her eyes and stood up. “Of course, it isn’t. You need to tell her how you feel.”