“We need to settle the dress design soon. I have a very big development project coming up that’s going to take up all my time, and I need to make sure I have all my mental energy prepared. We’re kicking a bunch of gross tenants out of a building.” She smirked at me.
I glared at her.
As Tatiana launched into yet another of her hysterical tirades about needing the perfect wedding, I became angrier and angrier.
How dare she sit there and treat us like crap after the shit she pulled. She didn’t deserve a nice wedding. She didn’t deserve Alfie. She didn’t deserve any of it.
I’m going to make that bitch pay.
And I had an inkling of an idea how.
* * *
The secretaryat the development office side-eyed me when I walked in, bedraggled and sweaty from walking five blocks after the train conductor randomly quit and told us all to get the fuck out of the train.
“Do you have an appointment?” she asked me, continuing to file her nails.
I drew myself up to my not-that-tall height and hoped she didn’t notice the under-boob sweat stains.
“I am here to see Tatiana Petrov.”
“You need an appointment.”
“She’s going to want to see me, because I have some news for her about her big development proposal.”
“Don’t care,” the secretary said.
“You should, because I’m about to ruin your big project,” I warned her.
She snapped her gum then rang Tatiana, who came hurrying out into the lobby.
“You can’t just bother me at work,” she said sharply. “You need to send me an email about bridal questions.”
“I’m not here on bridal business,” I told her and pulled out the pamphlet Grace had made me. It was all about how to squeeze the most money out of your landlord when they were trying to sell your building.
“I’m here to show you what I’m going to distribute to all the residents in the building. And this is the letter everyone is going to sign. I’m going to file a complaint with New York City and let them know about the illegal deal you are trying to pull.”
“There’s no law against buying property,” Tatiana retorted.
“But there is a new law coming down the pipeline to make it more difficult to convert apartments to condos.” I grinned. “I am very persuasive and will bribe people with food to make sure they are willing to stand up and fight with me.”
“And I’ll remind them if they try to fight, they will never be able to have a free condo,” Tatiana shot back.
“And I’ll tell them that I, too, was promised a condo only to be betrayed,” I countered.
She glared at me. “I don’t believe you have it in you.”
“I was in the middle of organizing a wedding festival for three hundred thousand people before my company was fired because of your lies and evildoings,” I said flatly. “Not to mention that I have five friends who, thanks to you, now have quite a lot of time on their hands. We’re going to need to pivot, and community activism and renters’ rights seem like the perfect thing to do. We have an expert photographer, a chef and a baker for food bribes, and a seamstress who can sew decorative protest sashes. Prepare thyself for a good ol’ country bitch fight.”
Tatiana crossed her arms and scowled at me. “What do you want?” she said finally.
“Sign Alfie over to Sebastian. Let him officially adopt him.”
“That it? Fine.” She rolled her eyes. “He’s a terrible, whiny little brat. All he wants to do is go home to Sebastian, and he sneaks food. Sebastian can have him back. Now get out of my office.”
“I will,” I warned, “but you have twenty-four hours to make this happen, or I’m going nuclear.”
50
