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“Seriously? I assumed—”

“Nope Since I’ve been here, we’ve been all business” Well, until last night

“So she’s not sleeping her way up the ladder That’s hardly a glowing recommendation”

I understand his skepticisrit my teeth “Give her a month If her job perforo with the rest of the Reservoir staff you shit-can But if you’re half as i to be, let her stay Or better yet, make her an offer to work for Stratus” One I hope she won’t refuse

But I’ether Evan will think I’ve gone crazy

“All right One ”

“She is”

“Are we ready to propose terms, then? How much money do you need? What are the parameters?”

I cover the basics We negotiatein less than three minutes

“Sounds good,” he says finally “Get it done before close of business on Friday”

“It ht take another week” It will probably take ree to my plan

“By your own admission, they don’t have et this done by the end of the week Then—” He pauses “Hey, I gotta go Nia is calling”

“Sure Talk to you soon”

Then he’s gone I set h

I should be happy I got everything I asked for The tiressive, but I can ht me tooth and nail