This is the thirteenth part in a series, so if you have not already done so, you might want to read Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, Part VI, Part VII, Part VIII, Part IX, Part X, Part XI, and Part XII before continuing.
“So we have a deal?” Sandra made sure to hold still and maintain eye contact until the last board member gave in with a sigh.
“Sure. It’s a deal.”
Sandra held back the fist pump she really wanted to shoot into the air at that moment. Instead, she forced herself to remain calm and composed as she reached out to shake the man’s hand. She would have preferred something more definite than “sure,” but she wasn’t about to quibble over semantics. Not when she was so close to getting what had taken her years of planning to acquire.
Sandra rose from her seat first and headed out of the man’s office, leaving him to wrestle with his conscience on his own. She wasn’t worried. He had plenty of fine Scotch to help him cope.
As she headed toward the elevator, she texted Chris, “All set.” Assuming he had completed the instructions she had given him, they would be ready to move on to the final phase of her plan.
“Sandra?”
Sandra looked up from her phone to look at the man who had just gotten off the elevator. “Hugh! What are you doing here?”
“I always make sure to meet with each board member individually at least once a quarter. What are you doing here?”
“I just got out of a meeting with Dan. Figured I should introduce myself to the board members now that I’ve taken possession of my shares.” It happened to be true. Sandra always found lies of omission to be the easiest.
Hugh nodded. “A sound idea. I wish you had told me. I could have introduced you. Smoothed the way.”
Sandra shrugged a what-can-you-do gesture.
“Well, you’ll have to tell me when you’re meeting with the other members. It might be too late for Dan, but I can still introduce you to the others.”
“Actually, Dan was the last one on my list.”
“Ah. I see. It seems you don’t need my help after all.”
Part of Sandra wanted to tell him how right he was. But she saw the hurt in his eyes and found herself unable to twist the knife. This would all be so much easier if he weren’t such a good big brother.
Sandra mentally shrugged off that thought. She didn’t have time for sentimentality. “Thanks anyway. I’ll let you know if I need help with anything else.”
He smiled, nodded, and turned in the direction of Dan’s office so he could get on with his meeting.
Sandra blew out a breath of relief as she got on the elevator. That had been close! What if he had walked in on their meeting? What if he had heard what they had been discussing?
Sandra focused on breathing slowly and on reminding herself that everything was going according to plan.
To be continued…