Page 75 of Contention
Dietrich picks up his new drink and takes a few huge gulps of it, nearly finishing it. Kara watches his throat and wonders what sort of man she’s sitting next to.
“There’s alcohol in that,” Gale says, a mothering tone entering her voice. “You have a board meeting later.”
“Oops,” he replies tonelessly, downing it, his eyes still on Kara, shrewd. “I forgot.”
Gale leans forward over the table to give him a wide-eyed look, her lemony cod and fresh vegetables steaming in front of her. “Stop intimidating her with that awful stare. My God,Dieter. What is it with you? I’m sorry, Kara, he’s usually better behaved in public.”
His lip curls as he puts his empty glass down. “I’m sorry, am I intimidating you, chickadee?”
“Stop calling me that,” Kara says shortly, suddenly wishing she had gotten something less sloppy than the lobster roll. How is she going to eat with him right next to her? She’s going to look like a slob. “And no, I’ve dealt with worse than you.”
He breaks into that sudden grin that nearly knocks her over. “I’ve no doubt about that.” Then he winks, taking a bite of his filet. It’s far rarer than Kara would have liked it, blood pooling on the plate.
Filet. For lunch.Of course.
His words give her pause, because it occurs to her that heknows. He knows something private about her. He’s already lumped her in with Nick in his head, but what his actual perception is...well, Kara has no idea.
Suddenly, he points his finger upwards and rotates it in a ‘wrap it up’ motion as he says, “Gale, let’s finish up the housekeeping, shall we? I have appointments other than you today.”
“Of course,” Gale replies in her professional cultured tone. “You’re a busy man.”
Kara takes the distraction to bite into her messy sandwich, glad the attention is no longer on her. She nearly sighs in pleasure, tasting the buttery roll.
The pair sitting on either side of her leap right down a quick list of things that Kara has difficulty keeping up with, having absolutely no context. From shipping route purchases, minor suits from companies owned, executive loans, and even a few parking tickets, the list goes on and Kara is astounded at the sheer volume of work he must bring Gale.
Gale takes it all with ease, making little notes, nodding her head, asking pointed questions, her brilliant mind jumping to new conclusions.
This is so above me. She’s so good at what she does.Kara is literally in awe…and a little intimidated.Will I ever be this successful?
“Tell him 1.8, because I know he’ll settle at 2.1, which is my plan all along.” Dietrich idly examines his nails. “If he squeals, remind him I have those photos that he doesn’t want his wife to see, considering she’ll take half his fortune and gain alimony until he fuckin’ croaks.”
Gale makes a few scribbled notes, none of which are readable to Kara. It’s shorthand and she wonders if that’s by design; no way to tell what she wrote. The only person able to decode it would be Gale.
Kara can’t decide if she finds that suspicious or not.
“For the acquisition, hand over the instructions to the in-house upper management. They have until next week to pick and choose who in their leadership is staying on. I’m replacing all directors with people I want. Along with the VPs as well.” He shifts in his seat, face starting to get pleasantly flushed from the sun. “We will provide severance packages, naturally. You can use the same contracts we used with our last acquisition to expedite the process and avoid redrafting.”
Gale gives him a bland smile with a cool look in her eyes. “I still have to bill for the hours it will take to scrub the names of the last acquisition from those contracts and replace them before we use those same documents.”
“Oh, naturally, but youaren’tbilling me for twenty hours of it.”
Meeting his slightly unpleasant gaze, Gale replies beatifically with an angelic note in her tone, “Naturally.”
Like flipping a switch, Dietrich meets her smile with his own. “I love it when we agree.”
What a balancing act he must be, Kara thinks.He flashes between charming and nasty so quickly and Gale knows how to manage it. I would come unhinged.
The conversation goes back and forth, rapid fire, and Kara finds her eyes moving like a ball between them. She marvels at how Gale seems to know everything about this man, every little bit of his dealings, anticipates what he’s going to want to hear and what will irritate him. Though, it appears Gale irritates him as she pleases.
Kara stares, feeling out of place, finishing up her food quietly, observing.This is a very longstanding relationship. Is there anything Gale doesn’t handle for him? He must have been her client for years at Benson & Clarke. I’ve never touched anything on his account though…why?
Overheating with the sun beating down directly on her face, Kara slips out of her blazer. When she sees Dietrich’s eyes catching on her bare shoulders and eyeballing her collarbone, she instantly feels self-conscious. A bead of sweat is rolling down between her breasts and Kara resists the urge to adjust herself.
Dietrich isn’t even hiding his casual perusal of her body, the slight dilation of his pupils extremely noticeable.
“Lastly,” Gale starts with a sudden snide tone in her voice, seeing everything. “The polo association is demanding a written apology for your misconduct from last month.”
Dragging his gaze from Kara, his green eyes flash at Gale dangerously. “I don’t fucking recall paying you to take that tone with me.”
