My heart raced with excitement, vindication. Even temptation. But I shook my head.
“Forget about me. You’re better off bringing her back.”
The man sitting across from me couldn’t hide his surprise anymore. “And why’s that?”
“Because you’ve already scared her straight,” I said. “She should jump through hoops for you now, and smile at everyone for a good, long while.”
Garfield’s brows knitted together. “Are you suggesting I re-hire this person? Even when you hate her so much?”
“I don’t hate anyone,” I said, over another bite of eggs. “Lilith is Lilith. As long as she’s willing to change, why not give her another chance?”
“That’s very forgiving of you,” said Garfield approvingly. “And magnanimous. Still…”
He trailed off, and I shrugged. “Look, I’m not coming back. As you already may have guessed, I’m going solo. Doing my own thing.”
“Taking some of our clients with you,” he added seamlessly.
“Maybe.” I dabbed at the corner of my mouth with my napkin. “We’ll see.”
“You know your non-compete clause—”
“—is made invalid in the event of involuntary termination,” I finished. “But you already knew that.”
Garfield nodded. “I did.”
“You were just testing me.”
He shrugged. “Look, Ms. Adamo, I don’t see what the problem is here. You like your job. I like you…” He jerked a thumb in the direction of the doorway. “The little hiccup we had this week is now gone. There’s really nothing stopping you from—”
“Give me Esteé Lauder.”
Jack Garfield froze completely. The only thing that still moved were his eyes.
“Give me Esteé Lauder and I leave all the rest. I don’t pursue anyone. I’ll even give it to you in writing.”
He let out a long, slow hiss, like he was being deflated. As he sat back again, his expression was contemplative.
“You know I can’t do that.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Both really,” he replied. “The account’s too big to lose. And it’s too big for you, at least not right now. Not starting off, all on your own. Hell, even you have to admit that.”
He was right of course. I even knew he was right, but that wasn’t the point.
“They’ll come to me,” I said matter-of-factly. “Maybe not right now, maybe not next month, but they will come.”
Garfield’s eyes shifted. His pretty mouth, which was normally relaxed, went a little bit tighter.
“Tell you what,” I said. “Give me the accounts on this list…” I pulled a piece of paper from my pocket and unfolded it on the table before him. “—and I’ll be out of your hair. Same deal. I won’t pursue anyone else.”
Garfield studied me for a moment before reaching for the list. When he did, his mouth curled into a wry smirk.
“You sucked me in,” he said, admiringly. “You never wanted Esteé Lauder to begin with. You already knew you couldn’t handle it.”
“Shoot for the moon, land in the stars,” I said.
He shook his head and examined the list. There were twelve names, all painstakingly selected by me. None of them were too big, but none were tiny either. I could see by the way he went through it, line by line, that he was familiar with each one.