CHAPTER 63
Evangeline kissed Jason goodbye and opened the car, intending to step out. She had made him drive them down to her office, promising a little something later. Their weekend wasn't about to end just yet. Before heading home, she pleaded with him to let them stop at LA. That way, she could check in on Audrey and do some office work.
Jason smiled at her obvious ploy to play him. "Two days?"
"Two days." She agreed
"I'll come for you." He said, "In the meantime, Sloane stays here with you."
"And who stays with you?" She asked, closing the door again. She turned to face him squarely, "You can't afford to stay unaccompanied, not now."
"I've called James. He'll be in here shortly. But while I wait for him, I've got a couple of things to do."
She squeezed her face, "I'm not sure that makes me comfortable or relieved."
He pecked her and smiled, "Relax. I can take care of myself."
She didn't doubt he couldn't. She smiled at him and got out, "Bye then." He waved and drove off. The walk to the office was spent greeting everyone.
"Hello." She said to the building cleaners, the one assigned to her office came over. She had always been particularly nice. Every time she cleaned her office, and she was around, she would stop at her desk and ask about her day. Sometimes, they chatted back and forth on petty issues. She was an older woman and always had something to talk about. The few times she could spare her a minute or so, Evan made it a point of duty to listen and talk with the moment. But when she was busy, she gave a few words and a nod while doing her job, and the women knew to just let her be and get on with their merry way.
"It's been a while since I saw you." She said, walking with her to her own office.
"Yes. I've been staying at home doing my job there."
"Okay." She looked her over and smiled
"What?" Evan asked her, partly sure it had everything to do with her body changing. She had caught the woman looking her over.
"You're glowing." She replied, "The boy treating you well?"
She laughed.
"And you look..." She paused, then said, "Fatter?"
Evan refused to say anything to that, just a smile cast to the other woman's side.
"I'll come check you up when I'm through down here." She told her and went the other way, with her mopping things. Evan found herself staring at the woman as she walked away. Just as she stood, Audrey, who was coming down to get something, sighted her and stooped to greet her. Retrieving her boss's bag, she said, "It's been a long time, boss."
Handing her the tote bag, she said, "Thank you." And responding to her comment about being a long time, "We spoke yesterday."
"I meant since you came here. It's been almost a month."
"It couldn't be helped." She responded. They walked into the office, and when she was settled in, Audrey left for her office. She thought about Jason and wondered if he was okay. We should call him, she said as she sat down. She was barely seated when her phone rang. "Hey, Jase. I was just about calling you."
"He,y you!" he replied, "You're settled in?"
Smiling, she told him she had.
"I just wanted to check on you and let you know James is here."
"Better." She replied.
"Talk to you later, babe."
"Bye." She responded.
With Jason safely in good company, she focused on seeing to her company's file. Calling her PA, she asked that the account and record files be brought to her. Audrey brought the files and left her to it. Evangeline scanned the files with a frown. She reviewed the business file and wasn't satisfied with what she found. Then she opened her account files. It was just a reflection of the business account. Audrey had notified her about the Sims withdrawing from their business deal, and she had instructed her to work with the business manager to resolve the issue. It doesn't look like both of them have been able to resolve it. She called both of them to her office and waited impatiently for them.
"Sit." she told the account manager, Mr. Toby. To Audrey, she pointed at the chair beside the man. "Please explain to me what's going on with the Sims." She said to them before staring at the file, "Whatever the issues are." She shrugged, "It doesn't look like they've been resolved."
"The manager insisted on getting a side cut that we couldn't give, considering their budget." Toby, "We had a sit-in with hi,m and it was terrible. He wasn't being reasonable."
Evangeline looked at her account manager weirdly, "When did we start giving cuts?"
Toby squinted uncomfortably in his chair. "He wanted a..."
"Bribe?" Evan turned to Audrey, "When did we start doing this?" She asked her. Audrey looked uncomfortable in her seat, too. She stared at both employees aghast. "Okay, so let me get this straight, he asked for a cut before you got the deal, and like frauds, you had a meeting to sort things out with him?" She stood up angrily, "What are we? Fraudsters? It's not even a political deal. Why would he ask for a cut?" She screamed at them. Realizing she was getting overly worked up, she turned to her PA again. "Why didn't you tell me this yesterday?"
"I did ma'am." She replied meekly, "I informed you the manager wanted his cut."
"I assumed that was the CEO."
"We didn't meet the CEO. The manager blocked us from submitting our quotes to her." Toby added.
"So, our quotes aren't even on..." remembering he had said 'her' rather than 'him' for the CEO, she paused, "Wait a minute, the CEO is a woman?"
"Yes. Mrs. Sullivan is the new CEO. Her father passed away and she's the only child. The new project is to commensurate with her position and show the partners she is up to the task."
Evangeline suddenly realized she's been far too far away from her business. Sitting down, she thought of how best to handle the situation. Her staff waited as she considered a plan. "I need to deal with the manager." She said, more to herself than the two seated in front of her desk. "Audrey?"
"Yes?"
"Do we have Mrs. Sullivan's contact?"
She nodded, "We do."
"Get her on the line, please."
Audrey quickly stood up to get the office's telephone. She checked the file and dialed Mrs. Sullivan's number. It rang a few times before she picked. "Good afternoon, ma'am," she said before passing the phone to her boss.
"Hello, Mrs. Sullivan. This is Evangeline Swiss." She listened to the other woman respond brightly. Unsure if she was going to be easy to talk with, she took her time listening more to her response and tone, "My condolences about your late father's demise. He was a good man." She signaled to Audrey to bring the company's laptop and open the file too. "Yes. I'm calling in respect of the proposal." She listened, "I just got to know you don't have mine yet. It's been submitted to your manager since..." She beckoned to Audrey, who stood and pointed at the date on the file: "Two weeks ago." She told her.
"I am sorry to disturb you over this on the phone. Can we bring another draft and maybe discuss in person?" When the woman agreed, her face brightened up. "Today would be great." She murmured to her PA. Audrey instantly got her notepad and scribbled what was being said. "Cartels, this evening, 5p.m." She repeated so her PA could get the information. "Thank you again ma'am." She smiled at something the woman said, "See you then."
She turned to her staff and informed them, "We have a meeting with her soon. You both are coming with." With a nod, she dismissed them.
