She watched Kim snap out of her funk. It was interesting, watching the range of emotions flash over Kim's face while Bonnie unleashed her tirade of criticisms on her portfolio.
The redhead blinked twice before commenting. "This design is nice."
Bonnie seemed to be growing more agitated by the second. "Yes, it's good but this design was for a small sandwich shop; how can we guarantee that the work Sheridan is doing is good enough for us?"
Kim smiled as she turned to look at the graphic design artist. "I trust her to do an excellent job."
She felt the heat rise to her face, only to have Bonnie dissipate it with a "Well, I don't." Bonnie made a dismissive gesture and said, "Give us ten different designs by Monday and we'll talk."
She opened her mouth, intending to protest, but Kim interjected.
"Bonnie, that's not fair. Today is Thursday, Sheridan has a life outside of work. Do you expect her to give up her weekend to draw them up?" She sneered at her still-rival with a "Not everyone is a workaholic like you."
Bonnie opened her mouth but no sound came out. Kim thought she looked like a fish trying to breathe without water, but then Bon-Bon smirked.
"How about five? She can still do five by Monday, can't she?" Bonnie turned to look at Shego and asked, in what Kim thought was a sickeningly sweet voice, "Can you do five different variations by Monday?"
Kim watched as Shego mulled it over in her head. She had no idea what Shego's work habits were, but she felt that it was up to Shego to decide. Kim did not, however, want to let it slip that Shego was also busy this weekend (after all, they had their date). The last thing she wanted Bonnie know was that Shego was the mystery woman she was seeing - if Bonnie found out, she would probably suffer through Rockwaller Hell for weeks.
She looked blankly between Kim and Bonnie. She could get five designs done by the given deadline, but she had a feeling it would not be that easy. There was something sinister with Bonnie's demeanour; she decided to tip the scales in her favour.
"Five by Monday, but GJ Designs gets paid a lump sum for our initial efforts. If you end up not using the designs, it would be a waste of our time and resources, so we'd like payment in advance." Normally, she didn't 'bargain' with the clients, but given the circumstances, she felt that this was necessary to prevent GJD from being walked on.
Bonnie, as well as Kim, was surprised by the sudden change in character. Both women looked at each other in silence - Kim was smiling smugly, whereas Bonnie made a face that gave off a "Are you kidding me? Advance pay?" vibe.
"Take it or leave it," Shego flatly stated. "While I'm sure you have faith in our designs, I can't possibly let you think that you can walk over us by threatening to not give us the job if we don't deliver the initial designs. We can produce five, or even more, by Monday, but you will still need to pay us. Think of it as a deposit." She paused (more for dramatic effect than anything). "There are other design firms out there, yes, but none of them are as good as us." Shego smirked. "Which is why you contacted us in the first place."
Kim was still smiling smugly after Shego's perfect delivery of the bargain. Bonnie was, amusingly enough, speechless. It was expected, though, since Kim still called the shots. Especially when it came to money. The shareholders had actually contacted Kim several times to have Bonnie promoted to vice president, but Kim flatly refused every time. She couldn't let her best friend's business fall into the hands of one power-hungry woman; if it did, the paper would probably end up filing for bankruptcy since Bonnie had some wild and financially unsound ideas.
So, Kim took control of the situation.
"What is your going rate? You can bill by the hour and we will match it."
"Now, hold on just a minute, Kim!" Bonnie interrupted. "You're willing to pay them in advance? What if they give is sub-par work?"
"I'm pretty sure they won't. I have full confidence that GJ Designs will deliver."
Kim turned to Shego and smiled.
Shego grinned. "I'd like this all on paper." She turned to Bonnie. "So that, in case anything happens, we won't be liable for anything that wasn't stated in the contract."
Good plan, Kim thought. She knew GJ Designs was still small but they could still afford to slap Middleton Daily with a lawsuit if anything happened. From her initial conversation with Betty Director of GJD, the redhead had the impression that Betty, and now Shego, were people who should not be provoked in any way...
Bonnie finally conceded to Shego's demands. "Fine, we'll play by your rules, but, Kim, the shareholders will hear about how you're willing to toss aside money so easily." She stormed out the room, leaving the two other women smiling at each other.
Author's Notes: It was weird typing this up since I did the draft on my phone and was paranoid about people looking over my shoulder. Just trying to be more efficient on my commutes home from school. :-)
All right! What's next? Will Shego be able to get all the work done or will her date with Kim be postponed?
Thanks to dmnchld1029 for the constructive comments. :) I've fixed Shego's part in Chapter 07; hopefully it's not as confusing.
Chapter title is technically from Uh Huh Her's "Marstrom," but then I figured "Maelstrom" would be a better word to describe the three powerful forces (the women) in this chapter. =P