Page 73 of Third Time’s a Charm

It’s not until I hang up that I realise I’m talking like staying in Australia is a possibility. Small flaw in the plan. I was here on a work visa sponsored by Cellar Door. Shit. Another thing to add to the to do list. Find a good immigration lawyer before Tate realises he has the power to get me deported.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Jasper

If I got any sleep last night, it can’t have been more than an hour or two. I’m knackered.

By five a.m. I figure there’s no point continuing to thrash around in bed, so I drag myself out of my tangled sheets and go for a run across the Harbour Bridge and back in an attempt to work off some anxious energy. After a coffee, I shower and dress in jeans and a T-shirt in preparation for my meeting with Colin. No need for the suit today since I no longer have a job.

Colin arrives right on time with an expression like a smacked arse. It’s a calculated risk, telling him the whole sordid tale. For one thing, there’s the small issue of the NDA. Just because I no longer work for Cellar Road International doesn’t mean I’m no longer bound by the terms of the document. For another, the wider the circle, the more chance of a leak.

There’s also more than a small chance he might shiv me. He looks like he could be scrappy if the need arose, and I’ve seen first-hand how protective he is of Louise. But it’s a risk I have to take.

Fortunately, he listens without too many interruptions, apart from the occasional dramatic gasp and pearl-clutching squeal.

It seems the office is now knee-deep in rumours, which Tate Brown has made no effort to quash. Colin is under the impression he and Vivian are the only ones who have actual knowledge, given she’s now assisting Tate, and as HR manager, Colin is the one who has been asked to prepare Louise’s termination package.

“Don’t worry. I’ll make sure she gets the absolute maximum she’s entitled to,” he tells me with a snarl I interpret as being meant for Tate, who undoubtedly instructed him to low ball it. “That waste of sperm has no idea what we’re obliged to pay her.” A sly smile breaks out on his face.

With a promise to ensure Louise is taken care of financially, and to keep me in the loop on developments—and gossip—in the office, Colin heads off to work, leaving me nursing a coffee. I have an entire day ahead of me, which gives me the perfect opportunity to look at the information on investors Edward has sent over.

It’s a shortlist of three. Top of the list is a guy called Benedict Carter. Edward’s stellar research skills suggest he’s the kind of investor to take a chance if he believes in a project, and that he not only provides funds, but gives his investees—not sure that’s even a word—plenty of practical support. Serendipitously, he lives in Sydney.

Rather than begin with Ben, I put a call in to my least preferred option. I’ll warm up on them, work out any kinks in my approach, so that by the time I call my preferred option, my pitch is on point.

I don’t get the right vibe from number three, but the second on the list seems promising, so I set up a meeting for late next week. I’ll need that time to explain to Louise and to tie up all the loose ends with Cellar Road International. Right now, Tate Brown thinks he’s walking away with Louise’s work, but that’ll happen over my cold, dead body.

I’m more than a little surprised when I call Benedict Carter’s office and he answers.

“Yeah, I run a pretty lean team. Just me and an assistant,” he says with a self-deprecating laugh. “That way I can bring in the right experts for each project.”

I take a second to regroup. My pitch was ideal for the gatekeeper, yet here I am speaking to the decision maker right off the bat. But what he said sits well with me, so I need to get this right.

“Can’t say I’m not surprised. But I’m also impressed. There are a lot of investors out there who just want to hand over some cash and watch the money roll in. That’s not the kind of investor we’re looking for.”

“You may well have come to the right place, then. What’ve you got?”

Despite knowing there’s a lot riding on the next few sentences out of my mouth, his relaxed and friendly tone settles my nerves. Not nerves for me, but for Louise. Letting her down is not an option.

“What do you know about the wine distribution business, Mr Carter?” I ask.

Benedict laughs.

“Firstly, call me Ben. Secondly, nothing at all. Which means there’s a gap in my portfolio you might be able to convince me to fill.”

Ten minutes later, I not only have a meeting set with Ben for next week, but I’m hopeful about the potential for a partnership between him and Louise.

Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself, and I’m definitely overstepping boundaries, but I had a hand in creating this mess, and if I can have a hand in cleaning it up, maybe, just maybe, Louise will forgive me.

Having no job is a first for me, and it’s a strange sensation. Suddenly, I’m at liberty to make my own decisions.

My career—and my integrity—is important to me. I’ve always considered myself a company man. A loyal man. But I’ve come to realise that loyalty is a two-way street, and in the seven years I’ve worked there, Tate Brown and the senior management of Cellar Road International have shown me no loyalty at all. At any point.

No matter what I’ve done, what success I’ve brought them through hard work and determination, it’s never been enough. The next promotion, the next level, has always come with unreasonable tests, unachievable goals. And achieving them, as I’ve done over and over, hasn’t always resulted in the promised ‘reward’.

I stayed because I had a plan. I wanted to be in a senior management role before my next career move. Thanks to Tate and my misplaced beliefs that he couldn’t possibly go any lower, it hasn’t worked out that way.

What’s more, working for them has caused me to compromise my integrity in myriad small ways. But that stops now.