Three hours later…
"Calm down, Carla!" Terry yelled, angry that she was moving all over the place in panic.
"Don't fucking tell me to calm down! You bastard!" She yelled back at him. In the next second, she threw a bottle of alcohol straight at him.
Boom!
The bottle exploded right on the wall and Terry was able to dodge only by an inch.
"You said you got me the contract! Why can't you do anything now? Why did they have to cancel the contract!?" Carla continued to yell.
"And I said I will sort it out!" Terry raised his voice. "But since you don't believe me, fine! I am going to fucking leave! You can figure it out on your own."
"Yes, get out!" Carla agreed. She hated the sight of Terry now. When the contract cancellation was announced, Carla was immensely embarrassed while Terry only stood there like a zombie and couldn't make any moves.
If it were Robin, he would have come up with a solution immediately.
And for hours, Carla sat cooped up in her office. She had her head buried in her legs and didn't know what next to do.
Minutes later, the door opened up and a lady dressed in all white walked in, with a suitcase in hand.
"Carla? Are you in there?" Cora, Carla's best friend called out. The office was dark and since she had just arrived in the country, the first place she could think of was Carla's office.
On the other hand, Carla raised her head and immediately saw Cora's figure in the doorway. A surge of anger washed through her when she remembered the ring.
"You bitch!" She slowly rose to her feet. The lights came on and Cora gasped in shock, seeing how disgruntled Carla was.
"What's wrong, Carla? I couldn't reach you since forever!" Cora rushed forward, approaching Carla to embrace her but the minute she got an inch closer to Carla…pak!
A slap resounded in the office and then another…pak!
Cora felt her head swinging both sides and she held both sides of her face in disbelief.
"What…what are you doing?" She asked, her eyes wide.
"I'm paying you back for the mean things you did to me behind my back! You claim to be my best friend, yet you fucking stabbed me in the back!" Carla spat.
"What did I do?" Confusion set for Cora. "I came back after a long while to celebrate your contract win and yet this is how you treat me?"
"Contract?" Carla sneered. "Don't try to act clueless, Cora. You probably know that the contract has been taken away from me and here you are to gloat. Is that not so?"
"But–"
"No buts, Cora." Carla shook her head, and for the first time, tears clouded her eyes. She felt really pained. "Get out. I don't need you here anymore. I don't want to see your face!"
Cora stood back, not knowing what to do. Carla had been her best friend for a long time and she couldn't stand this break-up. But she knew they couldn't have a good conversation at that moment, so she decided to leave.
However, she was determined to appease Carla no matter what.
___
The next morning...
After sleeping in an uncomfortable hotel because of Carla's impromptu behavior, the only thing Cora wanted to do was to speak to her friend. However, the only way to do that was to appease her with the same contract she lost.
Cora had read the news of how Julls Corp denied Kia fashion the contract. Other companies had started to boycott Kia Fashion and it wasn't a good look. They all thought Kia Fashion had done something really wrong to lose the contract.
But Cora wanted to set the record straight because she knew Carla was capable. Cora knew the dynamics as she was also in the fashion business alongside Carla and she had left the country a few months before Carla's marriage to set up her company abroad.
She wanted to avoid any form of competition with Carla. But now, she would use her company name to get the contract and get Carla to do the job!
Cora was now dressed in a business suit, looking smart and classy. She didn't look meek like last night before Carla. She was a total breath of fresh air.
Through the night, she got her assistant to work through a proposal that would be submitted and now, she was ready. She got a cab and went straight to Julls Corp and she was quickly ushered to the waiting room.
But as soon as the door opened, her body rammed into a large build, that overshadowed her.
"Ahhh…" Cora lost balance and she was ready to kiss the ground but a hand wrapped around her quickly.
At the same time, she let out a breath of relief, realizing she didn't fall but when her eyes met the person before her, she froze.
"You…" She whispered, recognizing Robin immediately.
"Hello…" Robin smiled, glad that she recognized him. Now, he wished he had seen her before he even met Carla.
But that wasn't the case for Cora.
"Let me go, please…" She frowned, pushing him away.
Her sudden hostility caught Robin off guard and he asked, "Don't you know who I am?"
"Of course, I do." She rolled her eyes. "You are Carla's ex-husband."
Those words only deflated Robin because that was the only way she remembered him.
"Even though I don't know why you both divorced, we shouldn't be speaking to each other, should we? I wouldn't want Carla to get the wrong idea…" As soon as Cora finished speaking, she pushed past him, leaving him flabbergasted.
As the door closed, Robin stepped out of the waiting room and he realized that Carla had ruined his chances. But he wasn't going to give up. Just last night, he had unearthed a lot of information about Cora and her company and his savior seemed to be very intriguing.
He tapped the earbud in his right ear and then spoke up, "Award Cora the contract."
On the other hand, Cora sat through the bidding process and after she presented what she had to offer, she sat on the edge of her seat nervously.
If she got the contract, it would be a stepping stone for her and Carla.
"Cora Adams…" The bidding host called out and immediately Cora shot up to her feet. "You mentioned you would be collaborating with another company to do this job."
"May I ask if your company, Coral Springs cannot complete the job on its own?"
Cora smiled dimmed, she knew what they were driving at. But even though she was there for Carla, she couldn't put down her company.
"Yes, Coral Springs is capable of doing the job." She nodded.
"Then we would like you to do this without any external help. If you fail to comply with this after the deal begins, you will have to adhere to penalties. Do you understand?" The host asked.
Cora became saddened. She had no interest in working solely with Julls Corp. It would seem like she had really stabbed Carla in the back.
"Can I refuse?" She blurted out, shocking everyone seated there.