‘I’m sorry, I didn’t think?—’
‘That’s exactly it, Hugh: you didn’tthink. What’s the status now?’ I fire my words at him, sharp and fast.
He stops playing with his godforsaken pen and sits up straight in his chair, finally looking interested. ‘I, ah, Wang Nongfan is waiting for you to get back to him.’
Trying to keep a lid on the fury building inside me, I snap. ‘Thanks for doing absolutely nothing in my absence.’
‘I’m sorry, Scarlett, I didn’t realise it was such a big deal.’
‘Hugh, the registration rules in China are first come, first served. This could have a real impact for the client. If somebody else is trying to register our game or a rip off of it, everything the client was trying to protect is undermined. So, yes, it’s a big fucking deal.’
His eyes practically pop out of his head. Griping at people and using the F word in the office are two things people aren’t used to from old Scarlett.
‘I’m sorry,’ he says again, heightening my annoyance further.
‘You don’t need to say sorry to me, Hugh; it’s the client you should be apologising to.’
‘Should I, do you think I should call the client?’
I all but snarl as I charge out of his office and back to my own.
A call with Wang Nongfan confirms that the registration looks to be for identical entries to the IP we’re trying to register inBlack Diamonds, which means wecan’tregisterBlack Diamondsin China, at least not without a fight. What angers me more is that, if I’d been in the office, I wouldn’t have allowed it to take over a week to file an application. Being as respectful as possible in the circumstances, I explained this to Wang Nongfan, only to be told the delay was due to Stuart Culliton not providing all the necessary details sooner. Having established the whole frustrating circle of events, my excitement to see Gregory has turned to anxiousness. Whilst my tolerance for incompetence is low, Gregory’s is significantly lower.He’s going to take thisreallywell.
* * *
‘Mr Ryans is ready for you,’ Sue says as I approach the reception desk on the twenty-eighth floor of Gregory’s glossy high-rise office tower. Her cheeks flush red, making me cringe inside. I wonder whether she’ll have informed the rest of Gregory’s staff that I’m not only his lawyer.
‘Thank you, Sue,’ I say with a soft smile, hoping she’ll remember I’m keeping her crush on Gregory a secret in return for her allegiance.
Gregory is on his phone, standing in the window of his large office, his free hand in his pocket. He turns when I click the frosted glass door shut behind me. The flat screens around his room are continually updating with stock exchanges, commodity indices and BBC World News.
‘I’ve read the proposal and I don’t like it. He hasn’t given me any concrete support for the return. I’m not saying the idea is dead in the water but he needs to rethink and send me a new proposal. As things stand, the answer’s no.’
He gestures to the coffee table flanked by two leather sofas, which is covered in plates of sashimi on ice, sushi rolls and Japanese-style salad. I take off my mac and blazer then settle onto a sofa, pouring two cups of hot green tea.
‘Chase Mr Cheung for the first cut of the joint venture agreement from Shangzen Tek, too. I’d like to have my lawyer take a look over it ASAP. I don’t want him running this down to the wire. If he starts playing games, put him in touch with me directly. No, that won’t be necessary; I want to manage this one.’
Gregory makes his way over to me and I hand him a cup of green tea.
‘I’m not interested in hearing a pitch from them. If I had an interest in the sector, I’d know who to approach. It’s not a good time to invest in the market. Is that everything? All right, let’s pick up Thursday. I want an update on all action points. I’ll leave you to finish off. Good afternoon, gents.’
He hangs up, drops the phone onto the coffee table, then strokes a hand down my cheek and drops his lips to mine. ‘Hey.’
‘Sorry I’m late.’ I wonder silently when is the best time to broach theBlack Diamondsregistration.
My phone rings inside my handbag. A US number I don’t recognise flashes on the screen.
‘Scarlett Heath speaking.’
‘Scarlett, Malcolm Russell here.’
‘Malcolm, hello, how are you?’
‘Well. Good. Listen, Scarlett, I’m calling about the US filings for Constant Sources.’
‘Great, is everything going okay?’
‘No, actually, that’s why I’m calling. It looks like we’ve been beaten to it.’
