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question my commitment to this project. I wouldn’t have come back to work if I didn’t feel fully competent to do my job. I appreciate your concerns, Stu. I know you were only thinking of the company.”
    “Of course, Em ,” Stu rushed to reassure her. “None of us question your ability to do your job, but the timing of it? Ernie has been gone barely a month—”
    “His name was Eddie , Stu,” Emily cut in with a condescending smile. “My husband’s death shouldn’t encourage any of you to think I’m distracted from seeing how important this client is to us all.”
    Ian gave her a smile that seemed for her alone . Stu wasn’t deterred. He was very good at pointing out flaws to another’s plan without having one of his own. He was chasing his tail on the new Ambidor account, just refused to admit it.
    “Exactly my point , Em! You’re grieving for your husband. How are we to believe you’re at a hundred percent right now? We can’t lose Ambidor. This is too risky.”
    “It’s not your call to make, Stu,” Evan reminded him coldly from the head of the table, all pretense at being polite forgotten. “Ian will work with Emily to bring her up to speed. You take the back seat unless asked for your help. Is that clear?” Evan looked around the room, his veneer of absolute authority rigid. “Let me remind you why we all have a job today, People, and who pays the light bills. We need Ambidor; now more than ever. We get this account; you all have jobs next year. We lose it; the company will be forced to restructure again. I don’t want to scare you, but we lost money the last three years just to retain our existing clients.” The room grew silent, all aware of what restructuring meant. Evan smiled down the table at Emily. “Emily is in charge of choosing her assistants. I leave it to her to make any changes in the current team we have in place.”
    Grumbles were heard all around . All were aware of how much power Evan just gave Emily. In charge of their biggest account, she could remove any one of them from the team. They knew it from their resentful expressions, gazing down at her with barely-concealed dismay.
    Tabitha Meyer engaged her with a passive-aggressive smile, always the first to recognize her own mortality at Stone and Watterman. The dark-haired young woman smiled condescendingly, her overblown cleavage jutting forward in the black silk suit as she sat up straighter in the swivel chair. She was beautiful, manicured to the nines, and looked like she took hours to get ready for work each day. Glamorous was a word one would use to describe her, that, and treacherous. Watch your back or find her knife in it, everyone whispered in the office. 
    Tabitha had Evan eating out of her palm. The twenty-six year old didn’t mind the fact none of the women in the office liked her. She had a rich boyfriend who paid all her bills. She would do whatever Evan wanted, even if it meant deferring to Emily the next six months. Emily could rely on her to undermine her, if not appear to show support.
    “Whatever Emily wants ; she gets. We can all assist her. I agree with Evan on this. We work as a team and we land Ambidor. None of this happens with one person running the show. I’d be happy to work with her to get the ad up and running.”
    Evan smiled at Tabitha approvingly, reaffirming everyone’s belief the pair were sleeping together. Tabitha eyed Emily with a pitying look just then under her long lashes. Her dark heavily made-up eyes glowed in amusement. Emily stiffened, knowing the woman was dissecting her with her gaze and finding her pathetic.
    What was it about hot chicks? They thought it took some other-worldly power to look good every minute of the day. They thought women who couldn’t compete with them looks-wise were deemed unimportant. Emily never cared for the grasping, gorgeous Tabitha, or the way she landed her job. Everyone knew she was having an affair with Evan. Even his wife knew.
    The current