Georgina could not will herself to dial Nate’s number. When she had first discovered the subterfuge that Rios used to engineer the ZIFIX takeover, she had looked the other way. She had absolved herself of responsibility because she had not lied to Nate herself. But this time it was different. If she called Nate now, she would have no excuse. She was in on it.
She called Nick. Her mouth felt dry but her words came pouring out. She couldn’t bear to set Nate up, she told Nick in a rush. But if she refused, Mark would make the call himself. Nate would sign and the deal, and the damage, would be done. Mark would call her out for insubordination for refusing to make the call and legitimately fire her. Georgina told Nick that she was considering doing the unthinkable—telling Nate about the plan to liquidate his company.
“Have you taken leave of your senses?” Nick challenged her. “If you do anything to kill the deal Mark will not only fire you, he will make sure that you never work in finance again.”
“I know, I know,” Georgina said in a shaky voice. “But I can’t hang Carmichael out to dry.”
“And why not?” Nick demanded. “It happens every day in business. Is this really about principle? Are you sure that there’s nothing going on between you and this guy?”
Georgina immediately regretted telling Nick about the kiss. “There’s nothing going on between me and Carmichael,” she said.
“I’m not so sure about that,” Nick said. “I think you might be interested in him.”
“I’m not interested in anyone but you.”
“I know I’ve stressed you out with this job thing,” he said. “But blowing up a deal and destroying your future because you’re attracted to someone new is just ridiculous.”
“You have it all wrong,” Georgina said. “Why can’t you believe me when I tell you I don’t have feelings for anyone else?”
“Maybe this is for the best,” Nick said. “It’s time we got some clarity about us.” The line clicked dead.
Georgina was stunned. This is not the time to fall apart, she told herself. Nick was under pressure over which job to take and he had understandably overreacted; it would not help matters if she overreacted too. Georgina decided to put Nick’s anger aside for the moment. She needed to concentrate on making her own decision.
She called Millie and Pearl. Millie was horrified that Georgina would even consider telling Nate about the liquidation. She was adamant—Georgina should do exactly as Mark asked. If she were in her shoes, Millie said, she would get the deal done ASAP and fly back to New York with a notch in her belt. She reminded Georgina that the deal was perfectly legal, and, if she went along with it, she would keep her job. Even better, she would help Mark keep Adela’s account with the bank and that was a sure fire way to a bigger year-end bonus.
Pearl had a more nuanced view of the situation. She told Georgina that her conscience was giving her good advice. At the end of the day she had to live with herself, and no job was worth losing her self-respect. She advised Georgina to tell Mark why she couldn’t call Carmichael and then hand him a gracious letter of resignation. If she handled the situation skillfully, Pearl said, Mark would give her a good reference and she could get another high-paying job in finance somewhere else. But Pearl joined with Millie in warning Georgiana against tipping Nate off about the liquidation. It was too late to salvage the startup, she said, and Georgina would gain nothing from ruining her career. She urged Georgina to look at the silver lining in the situation. If she quit, Mark would be out of her hair for good.
Her friends’ conflicting advice confused Georgina. In a fog, she let it slip that she had dangled Nate’s kiss in front of Nick. Her gambit to make him jealous had backfired, she told them, and now she feared that she had stupidly provoked a tipping point in their relationship. She wailed that she might have given Nick the reason he needed to leave New York.
Millie tried to comfort her. “You’ve been through a lot in the last few days. You’ve lost perspective, that’s all,” she said kindly. “There’s a way for you to keep your job and Nick too. Just call Carmichael and get the deal signed. When Nick sees that you didn’t do any heroics for this guy, he’ll realize that he was mistaken.”
Millie was right, Georgina thought. She had lost her perspective. “I guess that’s the way to go,” she said. “I’ll make the call.” At first, after she signed off, she felt a surge of relief. But then she found herself staring at the cell phone in her hand, unable to make the call. The release of tension that she had felt only a minute earlier had completely dissipated. She had put forth so much effort—so many years of education and so many long hours at work—in order to have choices in her life. She had always believed that having choices was a good thing, especially for a woman. But this choice was unlike any that she had ever faced. Several more minutes passed. Then she dialed Nate’s number.
Sam stopped her car in front of the gate. Officer Lopez pulled his marked patrol car up behind her. Philip Wahl was waiting for them on the other side. He activated the manual release.
Chapter Twenty