The Love Of Money - Episode 252
11-08-25 (05:28)
Another text from Astrid: Done. I'll back you, but I'm
trusting you.
I replied: You can trust me.
"...so I'm afraid I'm going to have to vote for Kelly
Maddox on this one. I'm sure you understand."
Maddox and Rajesh made it forty-eight, and I was on
the edge of my seat, watching Astrid with keen interest
as I waited for her to commit her vote since she was
up next.
"Astrid Håkansson, Chandler said, defeated. I stared
back and forth between Astrid and Chandler, hoping
one would keep up her end of the deal we'd made
while hoping I could catch the look on the other's face
when he received his eleventh-hour surprise.
"Kelly Maddox," Astrid said.
My gaze snapped to Astrid, and I once more felt a
sense of disappointed betrayal from someone I thought
was an ally. Why? Why had we just gone through all
that back-and-forth to vote against me? Had done
something to offend her in the break room, inspiring her
to play with me like that? looked back at Hiro -the first
man who betrayed me, and saw him watching Astrid.
Were they working together to gaslight the shit out of
me? What kind of fucked up people had I fallen in
with? I was so confused.
"Very well," Chandler said.
That brought the count to fifty-one versus my forty-
seven.
I sat back in my seat and tried to find out where' I'd
miscalculated. Where had I gone so wrong as to
misjudge two people so completely? Astrid and Hiro
had both seemed like people I could depend on. Hiro,
with his soft-spoken, fatherly manner but shrewd
business sense... I thought he'd been happy with the
deal I'd given him. Had Kelly made him a better offer
behind my back?
Astrid had also seemed above board and honest. I
thought we'd clicked, and I'd been looking forward to
enjoying a victory over some drinks... now, I didn't
think I'd be able to share a meal with her without
wanting to lunge across the table and choke her out.
I'd lost. I didn't know what that precisely meant. I
wasn't even sure why I was so invested in this.
No... I knew why. Roger had mentioned profiteering;
Helen and Chandler had hinted at shady business
dealings within the Chandler had hinted at shady
business dealings within the company-companies,
rather. I wanted to do what I could to make sure those
things if they were happening-didn't continue. I didn't
want to be responsible for atrocities that wasn't aware
of. Let me be damned for the mistakes I made on
purpose, but wasn't going to be held accountable for
things that weren't my choice.
"And last," Chandler said, "Miss Tanaka."
My head shot up to look at Chandler, who looked
expectantly at Carla Tanaka. I looked at Erin, who was
looking back at me, confused. Then I looked at Carla.
She stared directly at me and said, "Chandler Grayson."
Immediately, everyone began to stir, murmuring to
each other as they processed the final vote. I heard
Hiro spit something under his breath in Japanese that I
didn't need to understand to know it was a curse.
Chandler blinked, opened his mouth, closed it again,
then said, "I'm sorry?"
"Chandler Grayson," Carla said, looking at the
temporary CEO with a smug little smile.
Chandler scribbled something quickly in his notes,
glanced up at Carla, then back down at his notes again.
"Yes... I uh..."
"What's the count?" Rajesh Desai asked impatiently.
"It's um," Chandler said. "It's a tie. Forty-nine to forty-
nine."
"What does that mean?" Nina demanded.
"In the event of a tie," Chandler said, "The current CEO
casts the deciding vote."
"Bullshit!" Kelly said, half standing out of her chair. She
pressed her hands to the dark wood of the table's
surface and leaned. forward. I couldn't help noticing the
V where' the collars of her jacket crossed framed a
lovely display of cleavage. Despite being a total bitch,
she was a gorgeous woman in a boss-bitch sort of
way.
"Check the company guidelines," Wayne said over the
intercom, sounding positively delighted. "Says so. Plain
as day."
"That's correct," Karl sald. "Grayson gets the deciding
vote."
The room fell silent as everyone looked toward
Chandler as if they weren't well aware of what he
would decide.
He looked at me in utter shock, then scanned the rest
of the room as he said, "Chandler Grayson."
I could feel the tension release like a drawstring on a
crossbow, everyone collapsed back in their seats or
deflated as they exhaled the breaths they'd been
unconsciously holding. Carla looked like the cat who ate
the canary as she stared at me, and I recognized the
look of triumph, satisfaction... and hunger. Next to her,
Astrid looked just as surprised as everyone else. But if
Astrid hadn't...
Then it hit me... the breakroom. I recalled the recent
memory:
"Ooh! She's pretty!" Carla said.
I glanced over to see her scrolling through my phone.
"Hey!" said, trying to snatch it back from her.
Carla moved the phone out of my reach, flashing the
screen at me so I could see the image. She'd been
looking at the picture of Danni I'd received a few hours
ago, lying on her bed fully nude.
Then, a few minutes later...
"Your girlfriend's seriously pretty," Carla said, offering
me my phone after Rajesh had left.
I did some quick arithmetic.
That crazy trophy wife must have snagged my phone
number while she was looking through my pictures! On
top of that, she somehow had two of Hiro's seven
percent!
I looked back at Carla, who grinned at me as if she
could see the gears in my head working. I hazarded a
quick glance at Hiro, who looked livid as he stared at
his wife from across the table, and I realized something
else. Before this moment, Hiro had simply been a guy
who probably double-crossed me for a better deal. It
had been a simple matter of 'It's just business, but as I
watched how he stared at his wife, I realized that we
hadn't just crossed over into 'now, it's personal. I'd
unwittingly made Hiro Tanaka-one of the most
powerful men in Japan-into an enemy.
I'd won, but at what cost?
how he stared at his wife, I realized that we hadn't just
crossed over into 'now, it's personal. I'd unwittingly
made Hiro Tanaka-one of the most powerful men in
Japan-into an enemy.
I'd won, but at what cost?
To Be Continued... Don't forget to leave a Comment 
