Chapter 8: The Merger Announcement

An uneasy detente has settled between Tammy and Barry. Tammy rises and leaves for the office well before sunrise. Barry heads to his home office an hour or two later depending on if he is awoken as Tammy gets dressed. They have stopped any pretense of communicating throughout the day which means Barry wraps up his work by 6:00, runs, eats dinner, and entertains himself until calling it a night usually between 11:00 and midnight.

On Saturday morning the tables turn and Barry wakes before Tammy. He gets up and heads to the kitchen to start coffee. When he returns to the bedroom she is awake and rolling out of bed.

“Hey sleepyhead. Go shower and then come out for breakfast. I’m whipping up some French Toast.”

Tammy nods as she pulls off her nightgown and heads past Barry. He reaches out to grasp a breast and pull her into his body. His hardening manhood mashes against her leg as he leans in for a kiss.

“No time, especially if I’m going to sit for breakfast.”

Barry stops the kiss and lets go of her boob. “OK, give me ten to fifteen minutes. Coffee should be ready by then, too.”

When Tammy comes out of the bedroom she looks her professional best. Hair and makeup are immaculate. Because it is a Saturday she’s wearing a pair of jeans, tennis shoes, and a form-fitting t-shirt under a silky translucent blouse.

She sits at her traditional place a moment before Barry places a plate of French Toast and a coffee on her placemat.

“Thanks,” she says as she reaches for the creamer and sugar to put into her coffee.

Barry sits opposite of her and studies her for a second. She has doubled-down on her efforts at the firm. What was a 100 hour work week has somehow grown even longer. She eats, breathes, and shits nothing but briefs, memos, and contracts. Knowing that she had already blown off his one attempt at a talk, Barry tries a different tactic.

“I only have one question this morning.”

Tammy pauses with her fork midway to her mouth.

“At Applebee’s you suggested you should start ‘sucking and fucking’ the partners to get a vote fast-tracked. Are you following through with that plan?”

Tammy started to raise her eyes and laugh at Barry’s question until she realized he was serious.

“Of course not! Never. I’m not going to stoop the same game that bitch-whore at AB&M is playing. I’m busting my tail to get promoted because of merit.”

Barry studied her for a minute, then said, “OK, that’s good to hear. I guess we can drop this topic from future conversations.”

Barry said what he felt needed to be said, but in his mind he couldn’t quite overcome the little voice that was suggesting Tammy wasn’t telling him the whole truth. Before he could let the little devil-voice take him down a rabbit hole Tammy offers some new information.

“I did hear more about that woman. Her name is Heather Gregory. She’s 31. Blonde with big tits. Out of law school for about four years. Been at AB&M for three.”

Barry paused between bites to say, “Seems a bit young to be on the verge of a partner vote.”

“Damn right she is. And if the rumors are true, she was lucky to get through law school. A little, rinky-dinky law school at that. Sounds like she may have started playing her games with some professors. A little tug here, or blow there, and presto-bingo she now has a ‘B’ in class she was previously failing. How she passed the bar is anyone’s guess.”

Barry started to suggest that there are probably countless women across the world that are doing exactly what Tammy’s nemesis is doing, but Tammy continues her stream of thought.

“And then the real salacious rumor is that there are several ‘players’ at AB&M, including some partners, and maybe even the managing partners. Yeah, if she were to land anywhere that would make it even easier, why not a firm full of pussy hounds?”

Barry stays quiet at the latest revelation.

“So if I had to guess,” Tammy says, “even if the bimbo makes partner, it won’t take long after the merger before her shit becomes public and we’ll be able to use the morality clause in our contracts to get her ass tossed out of the firm. That will make another partner vote possible sooner than later.”

Cognitively, Barry understands the logic Tammy is offering, but it doesn’t seem to fit. He doesn’t think she will be willing to wait, even a short time for a self-implosion to occur.

As Tammy stands to put her plate into the dishwasher she says, “I think the formal announcement is going to be made next in the next week or two. There may even be a party with everyone from both firms invited as a first step to get to know each other.”

And with that Tammy collects her bags and is off for yet another weekend in the office.

When the workweek starts on Monday Barry finds that he has been tasked with the heavy lifting to get a new feature into the app as soon as possible. The potentially very large customer has indicated they will make the purchase if this one feature can be added by the end of the quarter.

There is no break for Barry on Monday as he basically works through lunch, stopping only briefly to microwave a frozen burrito and make fresh coffee. He is still in his office when Tammy gets home just before 7:00 PM. He sees her cross in front of his office door.

“Home already? Thought you had a late night?”

Tammy pauses in the doorway.

“Of course, it’s a late night. Made even later because Zak unexpectedly quit today and Jackie is out sick. I think she may be pregnant and won’t be surprised if she’s gone within a few weeks.”

Normally, Barry would think this is awful news as it will just add more work hours to Tammy’s already ridiculous schedule. Now he chalks it up as the new normal, but asks, “Sorry to hear. Are you looking to hire a replacement?”

“Yeah, just haven’t had time to go through the resumes yet.”

Barry gets up and meets his wife in the hallway. He reaches out and starts to put his arms around her neck.

“You’ve had a shitty day. I’ve had a shitty day. Let’s just leave it all for tomorrow. We can order a pizza and watch a movie, then retire to the bedroom.”

“You know I can’t do that. With Zak out I’ve got way too much extra work to get done.”

Barry drops his arms and turns to return to his desk.

“OK, then. I’ll just stay in here and continue with what I’m doing.”

Tammy doesn’t reply as she continues to her office.

At 11:00 Barry decides to call it quits and shuts down his computer. He goes to Tammy’s office to find her starting intently at her monitor.

“I’m headed to bed. Don’t stay up too late.”

Tammy turns and says, “I’m almost done with what I can get done while not in the office. By the way, did you see the announcement from the firm today?”

Barry had started to turn but then spins back to face Tammy.

“About the merger?”

Tammy says, “Yes. It’s going to happen much more quickly than anyone expected. Definitely within a week or two. No mention of me or the bimbo as future partners.”

“I guess that’s a bit of good news,” offers Barry.

Tammy just grunts in reply, then adds, “There will be a party when it’s official. All employees and significant others from both firms are invited. Everyone is expected to attend.”

“OK, let me know the time. Good night,” says Barry as he heads to the bedroom.

On Tuesday Barry gets up shortly after Tammy in order to continue with the task of roughing in the code for the new feature. His ulterior motive it to get work done early so he has some time to text with Sara. By mid-morning he has reached a place where he can stop and reaches for his phone.