nevertheless~

part 51

TESSA'S POV

"Corporte's ass eating son of a bitch!", the file slaps on my table as the words fly out of my mouth and my anger takes the best of me. It's the day after signing the so called, contract and fixing down on the deal with Simon and Schuster, I am here today, signing so many different kinds of paperwork, with all kinds of mistakes and little bits of word plays in these that any human can imagine. I've got to say, for what Claudia says she is, her company is remarkably great with using word plays in their contracts, that I have to call them or Jonathan everytime to ask what it means. I can't help but feel that this amalgamation is shady.

"Tessa, it's just a contract. Why are you getting so pissed?", Candace asks me as she goes through more and more files of the people who we can recruit in America for us, from the French company.

"Because, these things are filled with shady shit that I don't understand! I understand corporate language and the jargon, but dear god, this is too much. This is textbook definition of complicating a contract so that the other party somehow misses a loophole and fucks up. I can't let that happen and I'm hoping everyone else is also taking care of that.", my wanders off Landon and Hardin, as I peer down the glass walls of my chamber and find them too in the same position as us.

Hardin is taking a phone call and Landon is busy with a file. It must be so easy for Simon and Schuster, because we made sure not to send in any shady files for that matter. The accounting file even came back with the acceptance and approval of everyone there and we are here trying to get down the simplest of shit, that could've been easily done, had they made this easier on us.

"What happened last night?", Candace intrudes, asking me about last night.

"What do you mean?", I ask back. She can't possibly know about me and Hardin and our fight. Nobody saw us fight yesterday. We made sure of it. We were in the hall when I accused him of hanging around Claudia, then later when tearworks started it was outside the hall in the foyer, but it's not like anyone was there, because there were barely any people in the hall itself. I went back to my room after the whole thing fell down last night. But, it's not like Candace would've seen us, unless she was seeing us or someone told her.

Someone told her.

Did...I don't think it possible that he would go in and confide in her when he should've in me, but I can't exactly put it past us when she's standing here asking me about this.

Did Hardin tell her something?

"You and Hardin. Is everything okay?", she asks, averting her eyes from mine when I lift my head to look at her. A smile, devious smile, a smize sits on her lips, as though she is trying to taunt me, mock me.

Oh

I guess then she does know something about this.

"I don't know what you mean.", I say, biting down on the inside of my cheek in order to not think about this 'situation' me and Hardin are in.

"Theresa, be serious with me. I saw you guys yesterday. You looked in a tough position. I know how it can be to be with someone like him, but I don't want you to think less of him. He's a good guy.", she says with a conviction behind her voice, something like a...a dagger she's throwing at me with a lot of faith to hurt me with it.

"I fail to understand what you mean Candace.", I reply back with the same tone. If she thinks that she knows something that would change my course of thinking then she's wrong.

"Look. Yesterday, when you and Hardin where fighting outside the hall, in the foyer, I was..well I was just going back to my hotel room, and I had already crossed you guys but I heard you shouting at him and I was gonna come back for you, but then I heard some more and I thought it better not to come to you. So I just wanted to check on you.", she says, holding this fake ass care for me in her eyes. I have a mother who looks at me like that, with such a fake care, so I can find that in anyone's eyes at one single glance so it's not like Candace is fooling me in any way.