I tapped my fingers on the desk nervously. Fred. Was there any way to flip him? I figured that the only way would be to be honest with him about Portia’s intentions with myself, and let the chips fall where they may. If he knew that Portia had all but boiled a bunny because she was so obsessed with me, perhaps Fred might change his tune, because it would show that Portia had zero romantic interest in him.
Maybe. But, then again, the love-struck losers in high school who were pining away for the homecoming queens usually never did come to reality. But, at the same time, it was worth a shot.
Fred was a definite maybe.
I went down the line with the other loosely aligned partners, and tried to figure out who was the mercenary in the bunch. Specifically, who was only aligned with Portia because of what she could give him, in terms of projects and prestige. I mulled those men in my mind, and hit upon the name of David. David was, in general, one of those smarmy types. The type that missed his calling as a politician. He definitely was someone who would go to the highest bidder, and was one of the ones who would be vulnerable to being flipped to my side. After all, I had the most prestigious project in the firm. Inviting him on to my design team would be a coup for him, really.
So, David and Fred. Those were two who were tight with Portia, and, at first glance, seemed to be lost causes. But, on second look, they were definitely people who I might have in my pocket by the end of the day.
Not that it really mattered. In looking at the roster of partners, I counted 25 who I thought would be solidly for me. Twenty-five for myself, as opposed to just ten for Portia. It was like looking at an election map, where there are some solid blue and others that were solid red, and a handful of swing states that would lean one way or another. The politicians tried to flip the swing states, which was why they concentrated all of their efforts in these battlegrounds.
Similarly, I would redouble my efforts to win over the persuadables.
But not before I called Callie to find out how many partners were in the office that day. At that point, I could go to work trying to figure out just who I would need to ensure that I prevailed.
I pressed my button for her. “Callie, it’s Nick. Could you please come into my office?”
“Yes, sir,” she said.
She appeared about two minutes later, a notebook and pen in her hand. She looked apprehensive, and looked even more so when I politely asked her to close the door.
She closed the door and sat down across from me. And then she took a deep breath. “Mr. O’Hara, I know that I was late for work a lot last week. But little Danny has been sick, and I’ve had a really hard time lining up good day care for him because of it. I got somebody to watch him, though, really reliable, so lateness shouldn’t be a problem anymore.”
I stared at her, trying to figure out what her problem was.
And then it dawned on me. I asked her to come into my office and then asked her to shut the door. That only meant one thing in the job world, and that one thing was never good.
So, I smiled. “Relax, Callie. You’re not in trouble. I just needed you to gather some information, and maybe arrange some private meetings for me. Could you do that?”
I saw her let out her breath in relief, and she nervously put her hand to her eyes. “Oh, thank god,” she said. “I’m sorry, Mr. O’Hara, I thought that you wanted to see me because of something else. Yes, of course, I can get some information from you. What do you need to know?”
“I need to know what partners are in house today. Give me a count, and give me a list. And, after you do that, please see me again. I’m going to have you set up some meetings for me today.”
She nodded her head. “I’ll have that for you in a half hour. Is that okay?”
“A half hour would be fine.”
At that point, I figured I should summon my closest ally in the firm, George, and Neil, the oldest member of the firm, who had no love for Portia, mainly because he had no love for drama and bullshit. And, since Portia was nothing but drama and bullshit, Neil couldn’t stand her.
So, I rang George. “George. It’s Nick.”
“Nick. What’s going on? This office is buzzing like I have never seen it.”
The cat’s out the bag. Of course it was. While I was sitting there trying to methodically plot everything out, Portia was going around poisoning the well. Once again, I questioned my strategy of not blind-siding her, but, then again, if I won dirty like that, then I couldn’t live with myself. You win fair or you really have lost.
“Can you spare some time for me in my office? And find Neil?” I hoped that they didn’t have important client meetings.
“Sure, I can come and meet with you. I’ll round up Neil, too. I don’t think that he has anything pressing today. His meetings are all scheduled for the end of the week.”
“Good. Just come up here ASAP if you could.”
“Sure. It will probably be around a half hour.”
I hung up the phone and then looked at my partner roster again. George could certainly help me out with deciding who was going to be on my side and who likely wasn’t. Neil would also do an excellent job of that. But, until the two men arrived, I decided to kill the time trying to examine every angle myself.
Callie called to inform me that there were 63 partners in house that day. “And you needed me to give you a list, correct?”
“Yes, please. If you could bring that to me, that would be great.”
Callie appeared a few minutes later and handed me the list.
I looked at the roster, thankful that there were at least enough partners there for a quorum. I then calculated in my head how many I would need to oust Portia. Forty-two was 2/3 of 63. So, I would need forty-two partners to vote with me.
Forty-two. Ten of which were pretty solid for her, as all ten of her allies were there that day. The only exception out of the ten were David and Fred, but I didn’t know if I had time to flip them or not. So, just say that ten were gone. Which means that I had to hold onto most of the rest, if I had a chance in this.
While I mulled everything over, looking over the roster and trying to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of everybody there, George appeared at my door with Neil.
“Come on in,” I told the two men. “Have a seat.”
They sat down across from me and George asked. “Okay, Nick. Now, tell me what is going on? I’ve heard all kinds of rumors flying around here. There’s talk of you trying to railroad Portia. I hope to god that’s not true.”
Just what I didn’t want to hear. “George,” I began. “I brought you here because I consider you my best friend and closest ally in this firm. And, Neil, I like your straight talk. I think that both of you will be able to listen to my side of the story without judgment and give me some guidance on how to proceed.”
Neil nodded his head. “I sure will listen to your side of the story. And, if you have a plan to oust Portia, consider me in already. I can’t stand that plastic hussy.”
I smiled and laughed inwardly. “Okay, then, you’re going to be very helpful.” And then I looked at George. “You look a bit more worried than Neil. So, let me tell you exactly what is going on with your thoughts.”
“Okay,” George said. “I’ll tell you what Portia is out there saying. She’s telling everybody that you want her gone because she turned you down for a romantic relationship, and you can’t stand working for somebody who has bruised your ego in such a way.”
I drew a deep breath. Calm, Nick, calm. You knew that she would lie to protect herself, so this is par for the course. “Actually, George, it’s the other way around.” And then I looked at the two men. “Okay. I have to have full disclosure here on all the drama that has been happening behind the scenes. I trust both of you to keep this information close to your vests.”
“Of course,” George said. “That goes without saying.”
Neil nodded, and I knew that what I told him would go into the vault. He was too old to know about “bro codes,”
but the man had served in Korea, so he knew about loyalty and valor.
I drew another deep breath. “Okay, here goes. Portia and I had a brief sexual relationship. When I say brief, I mean brief. It happened exactly two times, both times in this very office.”
George said nothing, but looked over at the couch and kinda grimaced. Neil looked amused.
“Well, as much as I can’t stand that woman, she’s quite a looker, so I don’t blame you there,” Neil said with a smile. The twinkle in his eye said atta boy.
I smiled back at Neil and looked over at George. He looked uncomfortable, but he nodded at me to go on.
I took another deep breath. God, this is embarrassing. Because I had to admit to these two men that I was in love with Scotty and heavily involved in a relationship with her. I could just imagine what George was going to think when I made that particular revelation.
“Okay. Portia and I had relations, and, well, I didn’t want to actually go out with her. In fact, I really didn’t want to sleep with her, but she was very persistent. And…”
I paused and looked at the men. I was hesitant to tell them about Scotty, not because the firm had a policy against it, but because I wanted to shield her from scrutiny. If I tell these two men, and I told everybody else in the firm, then there would instantly be suspicions and accusations of favoritism. I was going to have to go out of my way to make sure that I treated Scotty exactly like I treated every other intern, and, even if I was careful about that, there still would be whispers about her. I didn’t want her to have to face that.
But, at the same time, she and I had talked about it, and she had urged me to come clean. She wanted the entire story out in the open, so that the partners could make an informed decision regarding Portia.
I still wanted to protect her, though. That was always my first instinct. Protecting her.
But, I knew that I had to tell the whole story. It was going to come out, anyhow, sooner or later. I was in love with that woman, and I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. So, the firm was going to have to know about us at some point, because it wasn’t like Scotty was a fling that I could sweep under the rug.
George was looking at me expectantly. “Go on, Nick, with the rest of the story. There’s more, I know.”
I nodded. “Okay. Well, I am in a relationship with Scotty James. It’s very serious, and I, in all honestly, see her as being my wife sometime very soon.” I looked at both men, and neither looked surprised. Neil, however, did have a gleam in his eye, as if he was thinking you old dog.
George nodded his head. “Actually, Nick, almost everybody here knows about you and Scotty. Nobody has said anything to you, but how you two feel about each other has been obvious for a while, to just about everybody here.”
I let out my breath. I didn’t know why I was surprised to know that my relationship with Scotty was an open secret at the firm, but, somehow, I was. I guess I thought that I was more discreet than that.
Neil chimed in. “Oh, come on, Nick, the way you look at that woman is like a man who’s head over heels in love. You’re not fooling nobody and you never did,” Neil said with a smile on his craggy face. “But good for you.”
“So,” George said. “You have a relationship with Scotty, and you turned down Portia. Now, what’s the rest of the story?”
“Well, you know the day that I allegedly got completely drunk and had to be carried home?”
“Yes, of course,” George said.
Neil also nodded his head. “Didn’t sound like something you would do at all. I was surprised about that, to say the least.”
“On that day,” I said, “Portia apparently drugged me. Because I had a swig of scotch, and immediately felt that I was going to pass out. Next thing I know, I’m waking up in my loft with a raging headache and no knowledge of how I got there.”
“Why would she do that?” George asked. “You better be careful. You’re making serious allegations. That would be considered to be an assault. She could go to prison for doing something like that.”
“Exactly,” I said. “Which is why I have decided that she has to get gone. I can’t work with a woman who is that psychotic. I fear for my safety, and, quite frankly, I fear, even more, for Scotty’s safety. Portia has had it in for Scotty since day one, and now that Portia has shown that she’s capable of anything, who knows what her next move will be?”
George was staring at me, his hand on his chin. It was as if he was deciding whether to believe this admittedly wild story. Neil, for his part, didn’t look skeptical at all.
“Sounds like something Portia would do,” Neil said. “Not surprised one bit. Over the years she has shown some pretty crazy behavior. None quite as crazy as that, but it’s not like that’s something that would be out of character for her.”
I looked again at George. He was nervously twiddling his fingers like they were butterfly wings, and made other motions that showed that he was nervous. He bit his lip and put his hand in his thinning hair. He wasn’t looking at me, but, rather, was staring at my Kandinsky with a look that was indiscernible.
His face was also beet red.
Finally, he spoke. “Uh, Nick, I wouldn’t pursue this particular action right now.”
I heart sunk. “Why, George? I just told you that I can’t work with her anymore. If she doesn’t go, I’m going to have to. So, tell me what’s on your mind.”
“Well, it won’t be as easy as you might think. Not saying that it’s going to be impossible, but to say that you’re going to have to thread the needle is an understatement. And, I’m so sorry. You know that I always have your back on everything. But I can’t go along with this. I’m going to have to vote ‘no’ on ousting her.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Why, George, would you have to vote against me?”
His face got even more beet red. “Well, since we’re telling secrets here, you might as well know mine. I think I can trust you two not to say anything.”
“Of course,” I said. “That goes without saying. Go ahead.” I looked over at Neil, and he was nodding his head in clear agreement.
“I’m not going to tell anybody nothing. Not my style to gossip, you know that,” Neil said.
George took a huge breath. “Well, I, uh, I belong to an exclusive club in the Village. It’s a, uh, fetish club.” He looked down at the floor. “I love my wife, but she, uh, doesn’t get into the, uh, same things that I do.”
I tried hard not to register surprise, but this particular revelation had me secretly floored. George? Mild-mannered milquetoast George? He was the most level-headed and sober man I knew. It’s always the quiet ones.
I knew where this was going. “And Portia also belongs to this club. Am I right?”
George nodded. “This isn’t going to be surprising, but she’s a dominatrix there. She goes by the name Mistress Sadie. And she and I have, uh, role played some and well…”
“You’re afraid of her blackmailing you with this info. Am I correct?”
“Yes. She almost did the last time when I voted against her in the Scotty situation. She didn’t because she didn’t want to blow her own cover. But in this case, she’ll have nothing to lose.”
I groaned inwardly. Just what I needed. George was afraid to cross her.
“George,” I said. “Do you not want to cross her because you’re afraid of her smearing your reputation, or because you don’t want to lose her as a playmate?”
His face got even redder. “Both. Although she does have pictures, so the reputation smearing will be easy for her.”
I looked at Neil. “What about you? Are you in?”
“Of course,” he said. “As I said, I’ve got no love for that woman. So, count me in on whatever you want to do.”
I looked back at George. “Okay. So, you’re a no vote. Is there anybody else who’s being blackmailed that you know about?”
“No,” he said. “None that I know about, anyhow. But she’s pretty well-known at that club. There might be o
ther guys from the firm who, uh, role-play with her.”
“Great,” I said. “That’s just great.”
I saw my future flashing before my eyes. I might soon be out of this firm. I would have to make my way on my reputation alone. I’d still be a premier architect, and hopefully an influential one. But it would take a little longer, and I’d have to work my way up on smaller projects again. I hoped that I didn’t get blackballed and I hoped that I could get the chance to work on the same level of high-profile projects as I got in this firm.
Things were looking bleak. If George, my closest friend at the firm, was going to be a no vote, what chance did I have with anybody else? God knew how many other men were being blackmailed. Not to mention how many other men were being bribed, and how many other men wanted her around for eye-candy. How I would muster up 42 votes in that kind of an atmosphere was beyond my comprehension right at that moment.
That said, my mind was made up. I wasn’t going to work with her.
So, if I was going to go down, I was going to go down with a fight.
There was no other way.
Chapter 31
I dismissed George and Neil from my office, because I had to retreat to consider my other options. I knew that this whole situation was going to be complicated, but I didn’t think that it would be impossible. I still thought that it was possible, but it was looking more and more improbable.
I called Callie.
“Yes, Mr. O’Hara?” she said when I called her.
“Callie, I need you to book the conference room for 4 PM and send out a memo to every partner to be there for an emergency meeting.”
“I will do that, Mr. O’Hara,” Callie said.
And, when I hung up, I realized that there was no turning back. My destiny, whatever it was, was set in stone. I could try to go around and schmooze every partner in the place, and offer them whatever bribe might keep them happy. Portia was no doubt doing that and more. But I didn’t want to make promises that I couldn’t keep, and, quite frankly, I didn’t want some of those guys to work with me on my projects. Not that they were incompetent, but just that many of them had different aesthetics than I did.
Saving Scotty Page 16
