Kim struggles to find her voice.
She’s shocked and embarrassed to feel her eyes mist over.
She swallows, hoping to prevent her voice from cracking.
Brad
Honestly, I can’t see why you would be.
Brad gestures toward one of the brokers.
Brad
Al said you destroyed the Apple deal yesterday.
Al
Now Brad, I don’t think I used those exact words.
Al
And it isn’t constructive to take that tone.
Al
Ms. Blake did the right thing when she reported her error to me.
Al
I was able to move quickly and amend the mistake.
Brad
I appreciate your understanding, Al, but this was a…
Brad looks down at his file to consult his notes.
Brad
It was a $9,900,000 mistake.
Brad
We had to put down a notation in your file, Ms. Blake.
Kim puts her head in her hands.
Her thoughts scatter and race.
There must be some way to save her job.
Kim
Don’t you have to give me some sort of warning when a note goes in my file?
Al
I was under the impression that you did inform Ms. Blake of the notation.
Brad
I did, sir. Ms. Blake must be misremembering.
Brad
I told you off the premises, at the local pub.
Brad
I thought that would make things more comfortable for you.
Kim
What are you talking about?
Brad
Hmm, what’s the name of that pub?
Brad
That’s where I told you.
Brad
Is there a reason you wouldn’t remember, Ms. Blake?
Brad
Were you distracted by someone - I mean, something - else?
Kim narrows her eyes at Brad, seeing through his charade.
She frantically searches for a way out of this mess,
But Brad has her trapped.
She can’t admit that she was busy making out with Neil that night.
Grinding her teeth, she answers Brad.
Kim
I can’t see how I could have forgotten something like that.
Brad
So you know, another factor led to your dismissal as well.
Kim
Oh? And what did I do this time?
Brad hands her a piece of legal paper.
Brad
This is a contract that you drafted this morning.
Brad
You submitted it at 12:15pm - probably right before lunch, hmm?
Kim
How could you possibly know that?
Al
Brad, enough with the dramatics, please.
Brad
This was the contract for a deal that Dan Callows made.
Brad gestures to the other broker sitting in his office.
Brad
As you know, Dan is one of our TOP brokers at the firm.
Dan
I appreciate the affirmation, Brad, but I don’t think it’s pertinent to Kimberly’s case.
Al
Agreed. Aren’t you being a little hard on her?
Brad
Dan’s clients bring in the biggest portion of our earnings.
Brad
Therefore, it’s EXTREMELY important that his clients get paid promptly and CORRECTLY.
Brad
Emphasis on “correctly.”
Al
Yes, Brad, I think we all understood which word you were emphasizing.
Al
Please - let’s get on with this, there’s no need to twist the knife.
Brad
All right. Kim, you made an error on Dan’s contract this morning.
Brad
You assigned the payment to the wrong payee.
Brad
That means that one of Dan’s clients will get a check for no apparent reason.
Kim
I’ve been so distracted lately, I…
Brad
You’ve been drawing at your desk?
Brad
But she WAS drawing!
Brad
I was walking by, minding my own business, and I saw Ms. Blake drawing.
Brad
Maybe if she didn’t spend so much time on her sketches…
Brad
She wouldn’t make so many careless mistakes.
Dan
I’m sorry, but I need to step in here.
Dan
This is beginning to sound like a witch hunt.
Dan
I have a suspicion something else is going on here…
Dan
Ms. Blake, is there a reason, outside of work, that Brad would be attacking your character?
Dan
Please be honest. This is a closed meeting.
Kim looks down at her hands.
She doesn’t know if she should point a finger at Brad,
Doesn’t that make her morals just as bad as his?
But on the other hand, Brad is doing something very wrong here.
And Kim needs to stand up for herself…
She clears her throat and speaks loudly.
Kim
This is embarrassing for me to say, but Brad and I went on a date last night.
Kim
I asked him if it was okay for me to date someone from HR…
Kim
And he said it was okay, because he wasn’t assigned to me.
Kim
The date didn’t… we just didn’t click.
Kim
I realized that I still had feelings for someone else.
Kim
And it seems like Brad might still be upset about last night.
Kim
He might be taking out his feelings on me.
Kim
God, I feel like such a tattle tale, but that feels wrong.
Kim
And I don’t think I should be treated that way.
Dan
Please don’t feel bad, Ms. Blake.
Dan
That’s a very grave accusation, but we take our sexual harassment policy seriously here.
Kim
Sexual harassment? No, it wasn’t -
Brad
WHAT?! You’ve GOT to be KIDDING ME.
Dan
Yes, it was. What Brad did, that’s sexual harassment.
Dan
Besides, as far as I see it…
Dan
You only have two strikes against you.
Dan
I’m a big baseball fan, Ms. Blake. Are you?
Dan
Well then. It seems only fair that you’d get as many strikes as the baseball players.
Dan
I say we give her one more. What do you say, Al?
Al
I say that’s a great idea, Dan.
Brad
Oh, COME ON!! What is this, a Brady Bunch special?!
Brad
This woman deserves to be fired.
Brad
No - she NEEDS to be fired. Immediately!
Dan
Careful, Brad, you’re on thin ice…
Brad
No! I won’t let you bully me out of this decision!
Brad
I have transcripts here - copies of Kim’s IB conversations.
Kim
You read my IB conversations?
Kim
Is he allowed to do that??
Dan
Well… yes. As an HR employee, he is.
Dan
Instant Bloomberg is a company property.
Brad
Then I’d like to report that I’ve seen Kim canoodling with an employee of Maxmillion & Lloyd.
Kim feels the color drain from her face at the mention of Neil’s firm.
Brad
Feeling nervous now, Kim?
Brad
No! Al, I have evidence here - in writing!
Brad
Kim shared information about your Apple deal with said employee of Maxmillion & Lloyd.
Al
Yes, but in what context?
Al
I stand by my earlier comment… are you taking this too far, Brad?
Dan
Perhaps we can all review the files together.
Dan
Kim, we would need your permission to do so.
Brad
See, I told you - she’s guilty.
Kim
I don’t need this shit.
Kim
And yes, I just said “shit” in a meeting with HR and two major brokers.
Kim
Because the fact of the matter is -
Kim
I’m not even going to let you fire me.
And with that, Kim throws open the door and storms out of Brad’s office.
She races back to her computer and sends a quick IB -
Her very last IB - to her favorite person in the world.
Her hands are shaking the entire time.
Kim
Meet me at our spot in 5 minutes. No time to explain.
