Alpha Incorporated

V - vi ALL THE GRACE I BEG

When Vincent turned and stormed out of the meeting room, he was followed by Escalus and a few other ass kissers. Most of the others trickled out, all whispering their "Do you believe thats" and "Oh my Gods." Now they all have something to talk about at lunch, and Angelo is left alone, with his phone and a thousand placed calls and messages yet to be returned.

Nobody has guts around here. The first sign that a storm is coming and they all jump into their life rafts and abandon ship. Typical of how things work in the Valley. Chase the money, get on the next bandwagon, don't get caught with yesterday's leftovers. Weak. All of them, weak.

But he has faith in Charles, he hopes. Surely Escalus is with Duke right now, talking sense into him. He is telling him not to be stupid, that Angelo is the best thing that ever happened to Alpha, that the company needs him, his ideas, his ability to get things done. Vincent needs to understand the way things work now is not like it was when his father built Alpha. Now, it is about making the deals, not building freaking circuit boards. Escalus will tell him that. He hopes.

Why won't anyone return his calls?

He doesn't feel abandoned. He has always counted only on himself. He is the only one trustworthy enough to depend upon. Except that he fucked up. He allowed Vincent to take advantage of his weakness, exploit his flaw. He has got to admit that Duke played him well, using that young intern to expose the hole in his armor. Classic move, the oldest trick in the book. Play on a man's manhood. The first time he saw the girl, back at the media event, he should have sensed trouble. Did Duke plant her there? He wouldn't be surprised.

And Mariana. How dare he bring her into this. That is wrong—just wrong. He imagines Mariana, the hell she endured as a result of their break-up, and how he took the fall, for her. It was for the best, he knows. No one else seems to understand that Alpha was just acquiring her company in order to derail her work, discredit their competition, then they would shut her down. The way he worked it, she got millions from the deal, retained ownership of her product and had the footing established to become one of the Valley's most successful start-up incubators. The price was as dear to him as it was to her. But for Vincent to bring Mariana back into this, as a player in his little production number? Angelo can admit that he has been outplayed, he can acknowledge defeat and throw himself at the mercy of his judgement. But he cannot forgive Vincent Duke for using Mariana. Abusing her, really.

Are there no lawyers working today? Why will no one call him back?

And this marriage contract bullshit. What is Vincent trying to prove by this little stunt? It is one thing to drag Mariana back into this world, it is another to say that they are married. Sure, he signed the certificate, but knew full well that there is no way that its validity will be upheld. It is not like he was of free and clear mind at the time. Plus, there is no way that Mariana would ever want to have him as a partner again, is there? More of Duke's tricks. And it will be just one more thing to do, to get out of this.

Angelo checks his phone again, then clicks on the alert tab. "Network Not Found," it says. Bastards cancelled this phone too. He snaps open the back of his phone, pulls out the SIM card and replaces it with the one he keeps for emergency, his private account. He dials and this time he gets a response.

"Sammy. Sorry to interrupt, but you owe me one, remember?" He knows there is no way that his longtime pal from the old neighborhood would ever let him down. That is still the place were honor means something. "Gonna need your expertise as a criminal attorney here. What are the grounds for something to be considered rape?"

The familiar gruff voice chuckles through the cell phone: "Ha, you in trouble again Ange?"

"Not this time. I am thinking of pushing for charges against someone else, but I need to know exactly what constitutes rape."

"I can't say I get where you are coming from Angelo, but according to the Department of Justice, rape is defined as—let me quote—'penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.'"

"By or of another person? That is important. Can the victim be the one doing the penetrating?"

"Ah, that is not the typical situation. If are you asking whether a man can be a victim of rape, I would say yes, but I am not sure about if the man was the penetrator. Sounds messed. I'll have to dig up some precedents to see if the courts have ever dealt with something like this before. But I have to ask you Angelo, what the hell is going on?"

He doesn't know what he is hoping to achieve here, but he is not about to go down without one last swing. He is honest to his old friend: "I don't know if this has any traction, but I was tricked into having sex without my consent. I mean, I was tricked into having sex with a different partner—it is a long story."

"It sounds like one hell of a party. Invite me next time."

"Listen, I don't have time to screw around."

"Ok, sorry Ange. Without knowing all the details, I can't really give an opinion, but whatever happened, there is going to be a lot that you will have to prove, and presumably a lot of he-said-she-said. And, like in any sexual assault case, it is going to focus on the motives and sexual history of the victim. From what I know of you dude, I am not sure that you want to go there. Do you really hate this chick—assuming it was a chick—that much? She must have been one bad lay."

"I actually don't want to punish the girl, only the guy who put her up to it. He is the one who should be charged with something. Maybe blackmail or extortion, I don't know. He is the mastermind behind this whole farce."

"Ah, I don't think you will get a conviction for an accessory to a crime without there being a crime. You are going to have to think about this, my friend. It might be best to suck this one up buddy."

Angelo hears a door open behind him and leans into his phone. "Thanks Sammy. I gotta go. I'll keep you posted." He turns and looks at the door. The actors are returning to the stage. The show goes on.

He needs to quickly figure out his strategy if he is going to survive this. He has been here before, with his back to the wall, and has fought his way out. He needs to rely on himself. There is no one left to help him now. But if he is going down, he wants to take the bastard Duke with him. Vincent is the real villain here, and no one else sees it. Duke has a legal and moral responsibility to act in the interest of the shareholders. It is not only his company, there are other people's savings and institutional investments at stake here and there are laws to protect investors against corporate demigods like Duke. He designed this elaborate conspiracy to remove Angelo, the lawfully appointed CEO of Alpha—albeit interim CEO—against the wishes of the Board, and therefore the will of the shareholders. But it gets worse: he interfered in the personal lives of innocent people. Like the intern, Isabella. Her life must be thrown into chaos now, because of his deceit. Her poor family. And Mariana. How dare he use her as his puppet. She has done nothing to deserve this. Duke will stop at nothing to reclaim his power, even if it means taking the company with him.

But Angelo is out of moves. He has let himself be outplayed by Duke. He is cornered and a fight now is futile. His last weapon, a legal fight, looks just as pointless; the system is stacked against the victim and Angelo, for the first time, is the victim. His only hope now lies in the mercy of another, to beg for mercy. And it doesn't look very likely that Vincent Duke will be showing him any leniency.

The door opens again and the rest of cast enter. Here they come: Escalus avoids making eye contact with him; Vincent, tall and smug, walks in like he owns the place, the entourage of extras surround him as though he is royalty. No one sees the true extent of his manipulation, do they? He is the puppeteer, pulling the strings, or the playwright, scripting every line and stage direction. He is the director.

Then the women enter. Mariana has the presence of a Lady, so far above these posers, she commands not only their attention but their respect. If only things had been different.

Next is that Lucy. She is a piece of work.

And now here comes the girl. No, the woman. No, she is more than that. Isabella floats into the conference room like a vision. There is a radiance about her, a glow, a truth. 

A grace.