"I hope we aren't losing her," Walter said, pointedly looking at Grant.
"I know she had interviews at other places," Carter said.
Grant smiled. "I have a very generous offer. I'm meeting with her tomorrow about it."
55
Allie
At the interviews at the other companies Allie had applied with, the hiring managers were impressed with her work at Holbrook.
"I'm officially graduating in a couple of weeks with a double major," she informed them.
Allie used her work on the Halcion Drone project as her capstone paper.
"That should do it," she said, double-checking her paper and hitting send. That was that—she was officially done.
She had received a calendar invite to meet with Grant that evening. She wondered if it was about Carter or a job offer. As she dressed in a sleek black cocktail dress she had borrowed from Liz, she thought about what she wanted for her future. For the first time, her horizon seemed bright and exciting. It was also a little bit scary.
Allie didn't know if she wanted to stay at Holbrook Enterprises. She assumed the company would offer her a position doing what she had been doing, and that sounded fine, she supposed.
But as Liz had said, Carter would be offered a big promotion. What if he was her boss? No, it would be too complicated; she would have to take a job at another company. But she was still waiting to hear back from some of the places she had applied. If Holbrook made her a halfway decent offer, could she really afford to turn it down?
Grant was waiting at the bar of the fancy Japanese restaurant when she walked in.
"Good evening, Allie," he said, buttoning his suit jacket as he stood up.
"May I ask what this is about?" she said after they had been seated at a table near a window.
"I'm going to be a bit blunt, if you don't mind. What's going on between you and Carter? Tell me honestly."
She smiled bitterly. Of course this was what this meeting was about.
"No, you misunderstand me," Grant said when he saw her expression. "I’m asking if you can work with him or if he's going to drive you crazy and I'm going to have a sexual harassment suit on my hands."
"Well," she said, leaning over the table. "You should be talking to Carter. I'm not the one who can't control myself. You want my professional opinion? Carter should not be my boss. He will probably want to continue sleeping with me. I will probably sleep with him. To avoid sexual harassment, accusations of favoritism, or what have you, Carter should not be my manager."
Grant help up a hand. She glared at him. She despised Holbrooks.
"I'm not asking him to be your boss. I'm asking if you can run a team that Carter is on."
She sat back, confused.
Grant smiled at her and pulled out a packet of papers.
"We would like for you to work as a director of a new division, targeting operations and quality control in these new companies that we're buying. I want you to build off the work you started during the internship. Ideally, I would like for you to lead a team that consists of Carter, Liz, and whatever other personnel you need."
"I… well… I… yes, I think that could work," she said after a moment and a generous sip of wine.
Grant opened the folder and pointed to the top sheet. "This is what we are prepared to offer you." The six-figure number swam before her eyes.
She almost opened her mouth to immediately accept but then recalled a book she read about negotiating.
"I'll do it—"
"Great!" Grant smiled, holding out a hand for her to shake.
"For twenty percent more," she concluded.
