Strangers

Problems in business

Taylor got out of her car and walked confidently into the office. The new gray suit looked just fine on her. With the usual smile, she nodded to the security guards,took off her coat and stepped into the elevator. Quickly ascending, she was still in a great mood,stepped out of the elevator and said hello to Zoe

"Good morning Zoe."

"Well it's almost good morning Ms. Swift"
her assistant replied with a guilty look.

Taylor stopped and looked intently at Zoe, she had been in a great mood all morning and didn't like it when someone spoiled it

"What's the matter?" She inquired.

"Patrick called and asked for an appointment as soon as possible" Zoe said and immediately pretended to be very busy with the documents on her computer

Patrick was Taylor's right-hand man and his arrival usually meant something serious. Taylor sighed and walked into her office.

When she was reading the mail that Zoe had stacked on the edge of the desk, Patrick walked into the office. He never knocked and that was one of his perks.

He was brunette with little curls, wore glasses with stylish,Gucci frames, and loved a thrill. At the same time he was smart, brash, and cunning.

Taylor herself found him when he was trying to get into a prestigious university on a budget. When she realized that the guy was quite extraordinary, she paid for him to go to university and created the most faithful and professional assistant possible.

"Honestly, I'd say it's good to see you, but you never come just to see me" Taylor said, rising from her chair.

They hugged quickly and Patrick sat down across from Taylor.

"Unfortunately for all of us, that's really true."

"So what happened this time?"

Patrick hesitated and thoughtfully scratched the back of his head, pondering his answer. It didn't happen to him often.

"Now we're in trouble. Unfortunately, the contract to build an apartment complex in an upscale neighborhood in New York City was canceled. It was our biggest contract this year and it's going to hit our profits hard this year."

"Gee," frowned Taylor, "what's the problem? What didn't satisfy them? We have to find out and change the mistakes that were made."

"You see, the problem isn't our mistakes. Our client was politely advised to stay away from us and contract with another firm."

"What the hell?!" Taylor got up from her desk and walked over to the large panoramic window "who dared to do such a thing?"

"Aleksey Ivanov and his crew."

Upon hearing this last name Taylor immediately turned to Patrick. That last name carried with it a lot of problems

"Ivanov? Are you sure?"

"Yes. I checked."

"He does realize that such a move is a direct declaration of war, doesn't he?" Asked Taylor even though she knew the answer herself.

"He does. He's spreading rumors that you'll soon be finished and it's better to do business with other companies, like his. We knew about it and we've been spreading rumors in response. But yesterday by poaching a client and so rudely screwing up our deal he went from a cold war to a real one" explained Patrick

"I don't like that. You know very well that Ivanov has a lot of connections in the criminal world. He's a dirty criminal and thinks any method is appropriate."