The client had arrived for the meeting and was shown into the conference room by the receptionist.  Duncan and Winston didn't even stand to greet him.  Vivi was not about to follow their lead and stood and approached Mr. Imura with a smile and her hand extended to greet him.

"Hi Mr. Imura. Thank you for being flexible enough to change the meeting. Mr. Duncan and Mr. Winston will be leading the meeting today."

"Oh yes, he called my office early this morning to inform me. Congratulations on your new job as Mr. Duncan's assistant by the way!"

'WTF! Ok, I'm gonna sit my currently content ass back down, cause I'm about to unleash some Madea on this fool.'

With a smile and another firm handshake, Vivi returned to her seat and what was left of her coffee. The meeting proceeded to go exactly as she knew it would as soon as Duncan opened his mouth. To the 6th level of hell in a fiery hand basket. It was all Vivi could do to just sit there and not interfere.  Taking deep breaths, she fidgeted in her chair and closed her eyes.

'Not my circus, not my monkeys.  Not my circus, not my monkeys.  This is not your fight girl.'

The level of arrogance displayed by Duncan and the condescending nature of Winston were going to be nails in the Petra Group's coffin.  The two men acted like they were the great white hope of the century and that Imura would just blindly go along with what they said.  By the end of the meeting, Vivi was clenching the coffee cup in her hands so hard that she swore she heard it crack. There was yelling, followed by a lot of criticizing on both ends. When it was all said and done, Mr. Imura stormed out of the room without signing anything.   Vivi was right behind him, storming off to her office when Duncan stopped her right outside the door of the conference room.

"Too bad your Mr. Imura wasn't more understanding."

"Excuse me? If this is how you plan on doing contracts from here on out, I want nothing to do with it." Pivoting on her heels, she continued to her office. Vivi threw the coffee cup in the trash, plopped down in her seat and printed off her resignation letter. Two weeks be damned. Letter printed, she headed to Diane's office and knocked.

"Come on in Vi-ewwww, oh my...."

"Diane I can't. I just can't.  After the meeting with Duncan, I'm done!"  Vivi presented Diane with her letter of resignation.

"Shut the door." Door shut, Vivi was returning to one of the the chairs in front of Diane's desk. "Now what happened?"

"Diane, it started before the meeting even began! They didn't even greet Mr. Imura, just sat there like they were doing him a favor by meeting with him. Oh, and I guess Duncan called Imura and let him know that I have now been prompted to be his assistant!"

"Oh really now?! That lousy little shit!"

"The meeting was a mess and Imura walked out. So now Duncan is deciding what the clients want, how much they are going to pay and the conditions of said contract."

"Jesus Christ at a picnic. I am so glad you are doing your own thing. I will take care of this but don't be surprised if Duncan has something smart to say about you resigning."

"He can say whatever he wants. I refuse to work for that man. That is NOT how you treat a client."

"Well dear just finish up what's on your desk and get ready to enjoy your vacation! I will make sure you get paid for the remainder of your vacation and sick time."

"Thank you Diane."

The two shared a hug and Vivi returned to her office, closing the door behind her. Finally able to relax in her chair, the enormity of what she had just done hit her. That was it, she was done, officially. Taking out her phone, she hesitated in sending Ken a text message. Instead she sent one to LaShaun.

Vivi: I turned in my resignation today.
Lala: Ohhhhhhh hell!

More deep breaths.

Vivi spent the rest of the day ensuring she had all of the documents she had created, saved to her thumb drive. She also organized her paper files and created a spreadsheet with all of her passwords on it. Just about to wrap up for the day, her door flew open and shut within the same second.

"What is wrong with you two no...did you get the jobs?!"

There before her stood Trevor and Kramer, the IT guys. The two men broke into a dance with Vivi joining in. They were trying really hard to keep their voices down.

"Oh my god Vivi!  Oh my god! This is literally my dream job."  Trevor had some pretty good impromptu moves as he continued to prance around her office.

"Mine too! Adisa said he was focused on hiring a diverse staff so I wasn't sure he'd consider me for the job, but we're in!" Kramer, with his wavy blonde locks and blue eyes was shaking Trevor by the shoulders, mouth open in a silent scream.

The two men finally came back down to earth and filled Vivi in on all the details. Adisa literally interviewed the two of them over lunch, letting the men know that he needed time to get things together at his new office space. He would be in touch with them tomorrow to get together and go through the new building with him and provide a list of items that he would need to purchase to fit his wants and needs. While they talked, Vivi's phone rang. She checked the call but couldn't answer it right now and sent an automated message that she was in a meeting and would call them back.

"So, once Adisa has officially secured the space, we will be part time until he gets more Reps."

"For now we'll just be getting the servers and mainframe set up and wiring the offices for the peripherals and other office equipment."

"What's the time frame of you two going full time?"

"Two to three weeks for now. Monday we meet up with him after to work to go over more stuff. He already has an office in Toronto so we will be updating and taking over the IT part of that office too."

"Oh my god. You two have literally upgraded, big time!"

"And we're making more! Next week is going to be super busy."

"So you guys are going to hold off on giving your official resignation?"

"Yeah for now.  Adisa needs to contact the head Rep in Toronto. We may be going there for a few months to get things updated there then come back here."

"Wow. Just wow. I can not believe any of this. Oh! My best friend LaShaun will be working with you guys also as the Executive Assistant!  Well, since you two are here, I have something to tell you that goes no further than this office."

"Uh oh?"

"I turned in my notice to Diane."

"Pay up bro!! $50 bucks!"

"Bonehead." Trevor forked over a crisp $50 bill but they all laughed.

"So I'm going to start my own consulting business once I get back."

"Get back?"

"Friday I leave for Japan for a weeks vacation. That following Monday is a vendor conference, networking event that I'm going to."

"Whoa! That is an awesome move Vivi!"

"Thanks Trevor."

"Man, Duncan and the board are gonna shit with so many people leaving."

"Ahhhhh, I wouldn't be too sure about that. I think Duncan is planning on doing some house cleaning once he gets voted in. Hell he even told the client today that I was his new assistant!"

"Well, we both owe you a lot Viv. You have literally changed our lives."

"No kidding!"

They both gave Vivi hugs then went to call it a day. Vivi grabbed her things and left for the elevator. Once out of the building, she would return the call from earlier.

Outside and on the way to the metro station, Vivi took a deep breath. City air filling her lungs, she put in her earbud and called the person back.

"Ms. Williams."

"Mr. Adisa. I hear you have been a very busy man!"

"All thanks to you! I now have an assistant and what I think will be two excellent IT professionals that I hope to put to work very very soon."

"Well congratulations are in order then."

"Ah, I just called to let you know that you will be getting a small 'Thank You' gift tomorrow. It will be delivered to your office."

"Oh wow. Thank you, you didn't have to do that!"

"You are making my work here easier, so it's the least I can do to show my appreciation."

The two talked for another 15 minutes. Adisa invited her to accompany Trevor and Kramer for the office tour and lunch afterwards. That was one invitation that she was happy to accept.