Over the next few days, Samantha was generally at the office before I was. Now that my firm was the sole advisor on the deal, there was a lot of work to get done. It seemed that Amanda and Samantha had taken care of all of it, though. One morning, around ten, I came into the office and found Samantha using my computer, preparing a report. "Why don't you get me some coffee," she suggested. Not wanting to decrease the productivity, I complied.
Since I wasn't being invited to the calls, I decided to invite myself. Showing up one morning, I was relieved to find that Amanda did not introduce Samantha on these calls, and that she was running them by herself. Samantha was her cheerleader and support, printing out documents that Amanda needed and handling interruptions. When she went to fetch some coffee, I decided to go with her.
"Isn't Amanda great?" Samantha rhetorically asked.
"She's pretty good," I replied.
"You're just jealous that she's better than you are," she said. "And that she's decided to mentor your wife over you." I thought about this comment and realized that, yes, I was somewhat jealous. Amanda had taken the biggest deal of my career, and my wife, away from me. I resolved to discuss this with her. Later that night, after Samantha got home, I went to Amanda's apartment.
We had a long discussion about my feelings, and she revealed another piece of her plan. My concerns were somewhat eased, but I wasn't able to get her to tell me everything. Amanda explained that she had a social engagement this evening and that she would tell me everything in time. As she was getting dressed, I noticed the invitation on her dresser. Amanda had been invited to my club's business award event. It was tonight - and I didn't even know about it! I decided against mentioning it, and watched Amanda head to the event in an elegant dress and silk wrap.
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