My Multi-Million Contract Went to a New Hire

Hand the account over to her? Why? Just because she's your little protg?

I pushed the heavy glass door of the director's office wide open.

Richard slammed his palm against the mahogany desk. Riley, watch your tone. I decide who gets what around here. Play nice and we all win. Otherwise, I have a dozen ways to make your life a living hell.

"I've been working this deal for six months. We are literally days away from signing." I stared him down.

"Company resources belong to the company. It doesn't matter whose name is on the paperwork." He leaned back in his leather chair, relaxing his posture. "Look at the bigger picture. It's for the good of the firm."

I watched his smug, entitled expression for a long moment. Then, I nodded.

A sharp laugh escaped my lips. "You know what? You're absolutely right. I really should start thinking about what is best for this company."

Walking out of his office, the smile vanished from my face.

As I sat back at my cubicle, a loud, exaggerated gasp echoed across the floor.

"Oh my gosh, I feel so guilty about this!"

Lexi strutted to the center of the bullpen. She was wearing a designer skirt that was two sizes too small, hugging a stack of file folders to her chest. She deliberately raised her voice so the entire floor could hear.

"Riley! I heard you transferred that massive account over to me?"

"That's a ten million dollar deal."

"Thank you so much for doing all the grunt work. I promise I'll cherish it."

"I definitely won't let your blood, sweat, and tears go to waste."

Her eyes sparkled with blatant provocation. The corner of her mouth twitched upward.

The clacking of keyboards stopped. A few coworkers threw sympathetic glances my way before quickly burying their faces back in their monitors.

I kept organizing the paperwork on my desk, not even bothering to look up.

"Don't thank me. Richard said our new hires need some encouragement. Whether you can actually close the deal is entirely up to you."

Lexi's fake smile froze.

Richard walked out of his glass office, clapping his hands.

"Alright everyone, wrap up what you're doing. Quick huddle."

His eyes swept across the room before landing squarely on me.

"I have an announcement. To finish the year strong and optimize our resources, we are focusing on developing our junior talent."

"Riley has voluntarily handed the Apex Corporation project over to Lexi."

"I want all of you to learn from Riley. This is the kind of team-player mentality our veteran staff should have!"

"Let's get a round of applause!"

A scattering of hesitant, pathetic claps filled the room.

I raised my hands and clapped twice.

After the meeting, Lexi dropped an iced caramel macchiato on my desk. The condensation immediately started pooling on my notes.

"Drink up, Riley. Richard told me to come get the Apex files from you."

"I need everything. Victoria's personal preferences, her pet peeves, and all your notes from the previous negotiation rounds."

She held out her perfectly manicured hand.

I watched the puddle of water soak into the edge of my paper.

"The official documents are all in the shared cloud drive. Download them yourself."

"Come on, Riley. The cloud drive just has the boring legal stuff." Lexi leaned in, dropping her voice to a vicious whisper.

"My godfather said that if this deal falls through, he's holding you personally responsible. You wouldn't want him thinking you're hiding the good stuff from me, right?"

I let out a cold chuckle.

I created a new digital folder, zipped up a specific set of files I had prepared, and hit send.

"It's in your inbox. Read it carefully. It would be a shame if you couldn't even figure out what kind of coffee Victoria likes."

Lexi smirked, hugged her laptop, and pranced away.

Right before clocking out, Richard cornered me in the breakroom. He kicked the door shut, his face turning grim.

"Riley, I know you're pissed."

"When this deal closes, you'll still get a small cut of the bonus pool. But if you dare pull any petty stunts behind my back or try to sabotage Lexi..."

"I will personally make sure you never work in this industry again."

He jabbed his finger an inch from my face.

I offered him a slight, submissive bow.

"You're overthinking this, Richard. I wouldn't dare. I have rent to pay. I'll cooperate with Lexi one hundred percent."

Richard snorted and waved me off. "Good. Get out of here. Glad you know your place."

Stepping out of the corporate tower, the biting winter wind whipped across my face.

I pulled out my phone and opened the chat with a contact saved simply as "The Queen."

"Mom, we need to talk."

A reply popped up almost instantly.

"What's wrong, sweetie?"

I typed out a quick response, locked my screen, and smiled against the cold.

For the next few days, the office was a circus.

Lexi sat at her desk, staring at the files with a deep scowl. The usually quiet department group chat was constantly blowing up with her notifications.

"@Riley, what does this 'exclusivity clause' mean in section four?"

"Victoria's legal team is asking if we can strike it. What do I say?"

"@Riley, how does the sliding scale commission work on this spreadsheet? The system keeps giving me an error!"

"@Riley, help! Victoria's assistant is asking for Plan B from the last proposal. Where is it?"

I stared at my screen, deliberately waiting until Richard chimed in to scold me before taking my sweet time to type back.

"The exclusivity clause is standard industry practice. Tell legal to hold their ground."

"The sliding scale uses the formula at the bottom. Plug the numbers in yourself."

"Plan B is in the archived folder. Keep looking."

Lexi followed my advice and tried to play hardball with the client. She got shut down immediately.

That afternoon, the tension in the office was suffocating.

Lexi slammed her mouse onto her desk, her eyes red, and stormed into Richard's office.

Less than five minutes later, Richard's roar bled through the frosted glass.

"Riley! Get in here right now!"

I picked up my thermos and casually strolled in.

Richard was pounding his fist on the desk.

"Are you trying to get fired, Riley?"

"Lexi said she called Victoria over a dozen times today and got sent straight to voicemail. Did you give her a fake number?"

"Are you trying to sabotage a ten million dollar contract?!"

Lexi sat in the corner chair, pointing a manicured finger at me.

"She's doing this on purpose, Richard! She must have talked trash about me to Victoria. Why else would the client ignore my calls?"

"You can't play games with the company's money, Riley!"

I blinked, looking completely innocent.

"I'm deeply offended you'd think that, Richard. The number is right there in the directory. Why would I fake it?"

"Victoria runs a massive corporation. Maybe she's just busy and hasn't checked her phone."

"Bullshit!" Richard threw a binder across the room. It crashed to the floor.

"Busy enough to ignore my lead manager all day? You're going to call her right now. On speaker."

"If she doesn't pick up, you can pack your desk."

I pulled my phone from my pocket. "Sure. Let's try."

I dialed the number and hit the speaker button.

It rang twice. Then, a sharp click.

An icy, authoritative woman's voice filled the room. "Hello?"

Lexi froze. Richard stopped breathing.

I cleared my throat, keeping my tone perfectly professional and warm.

"Hi Victoria, it's Riley. I am so sorry to interrupt your afternoon. Our new manager, Lexi, mentioned she couldn't get ahold of you."

"We just wanted to make sure the signing schedule was still on track..."

Silence hung heavy on the other end. Then, a cold, mocking scoff.

"Lexi? Who the hell is Lexi? I don't know a Lexi. Some girl kept sending me unprofessional emojis and begging for a meeting all morning. I blocked the number."

"Riley, I have made myself very clear. I only do business with you."

"If your firm keeps sending random nobodies to waste my time, we can take our ten million elsewhere."

Lexi's face flushed a violent crimson. She stared at the carpet.

Richard's face drained of all color.

I quickly jumped in to smooth things over. "Please don't be angry, Victoria. She's new and still learning the ropes. We will make sure she gets better training."

"Regarding the signing ceremony..."

"Whatever. I'll let it slide because it's you, Riley. We'll handle the details when I see you."

The line went dead.

The silence in the office was deafening.

I slipped my phone back into my pocket and looked at Richard. "Well, the number works. Maybe Lexi just came on a bit too strong. Victoria hates that kind of unprofessional energy."

Richard glared at Lexi. "You are useless! You can't even read a client's basic vibe? Go back to your desk and figure it out!"

He turned back to me, massaging his temples.

"Since she actually answers your calls, you'll handle the communication logistics from now on. But Lexi is still the lead on paper, and she signs the contract. That is non negotiable."

I nodded obediently. "Of course. Whatever you say."

Despite her humiliation, Lexi's ego bounced back the next day. She posted a team photo on her social media, cropped me out completely, and added a shiny filter to her face.

The caption read: "Burning the midnight oil for this ten million dollar deal. The grind never stops!"

Dozens of people from the company liked it.

Lexi's power trip escalated throughout the week.

"Riley, go print this contract. Double sided. Full color."

"Riley, book the executive boardroom for tomorrow. The biggest one. Make sure there are fresh flowers and sparkling water."

"Riley, run down to the corner cafe and get me an artisan pour over. Black."

I swallowed every demand without a single complaint. Lexi lounged in her ergonomic chair, drunk on her own authority.

The day before the signing, the sales floor was chaotic.

Richard threw a thick binder onto my keyboard.

"Riley, this is the minute by minute schedule for tomorrow's ceremony. I need a full script by five o'clock. Who stands where, who says what. You aren't leaving until it's flawless."

I flipped open the binder.

"Shouldn't Lexi be writing this? She's the lead manager."

Richard gave me a dirty look. "Lexi is busy memorizing the contract clauses. She doesn't have time for admin work. Just do it. Consider it a privilege that I'm letting you be involved at all."

Lexi sat at the next desk, casually painting her nails. "Yeah Riley, be a team player. If tomorrow falls apart, it's the company's reputation on the line."

I took the binder. "Fine. I'll get it done."

During the lunch hour, Richard pulled me to the far end of the hallway. Cigarette smoke swirled around his face as he gave me a calculating look.

"Listen closely. Tomorrow during the ceremony... I want you to stay out of the boardroom."

I raised an eyebrow. "I wrote the script. I managed the client relationship for six months. Now I'm banned from the room?"

Richard flicked his ashes onto the carpet.

"Know your place, Riley. Lexi has better presentation skills. She looks the part. If you're standing in there, you'll just distract from her moment."

"Look at the way you dress. What if you offend Victoria with your cheap suits?"

"Your job is to stand out by the elevators and handle the catering. Once the ink is dry, I'll let you come to the after party."

I looked at his greasy, arrogant face and suddenly smiled.

"Are you absolutely sure you don't need me in the room to manage the client? Victoria has a notorious temper. If something unexpected happens..."

"Shut up." Richard cut me off. "What could possibly happen? Just stay out of sight. Learn to have some class, understand?"

I nodded slowly. "Class. Got it. I'll be waiting by the door."

When I walked back to my desk, Lexi was holding a dress against her body. It was a tacky white cocktail dress with a ridiculous lace train.

"How does it look, Riley? This is my power outfit for tomorrow." She twirled around.

I glanced at it. "Stunning. You look exactly like a desperate bridesmaid."

Lexi's smile turned into a snarl. "What do you know about fashion? You're pathetic."

People from other departments were walking by, whispering and pointing. Richard caught wind of the drama and sent a warning message in the group chat to keep things professional.

I ignored the noise and pulled out my phone, texting my mother again.

"Mom. Wear the custom black suit tomorrow. Look as terrifying as possible."

Near the end of the day, I got up to grab a glass of water.

A steaming cup of coffee came flying right at me. I dodged the worst of it, but dark brown liquid splashed across the cuff of my blouse.

"Oh my gosh!" Lexi stood there holding an empty mug, a vicious smirk playing on her lips.

"My hand slipped. I am so clumsy today. Sorry about that, Riley."

"But hey, you aren't allowed to see the client tomorrow anyway, right? It's fine if your clothes are ruined. You really need a wardrobe upgrade."

I pulled a tissue from the box and dabbed at the stain.

Lexi took a step back, suddenly looking nervous at my silence. "What are you staring at? I said I was sorry."

I tossed the stained tissue into the trash can.

"It's totally fine."

I flashed her a bright, blinding smile.

"Out with the old, in with the new. Let's just hope that beautiful white dress of yours can handle the pressure tomorrow."