70- Being brave

I position the head of the club at the ball, as I get ready for my strike. “Those kinds of antics are for people that have nothing to offer.”
“But having something to offer young man, isn’t the only thing at play in these dealings.” I hit the ball and it rolls straight into the final hole.

The game is over.
There’s a smile on my face as I straighten and turn around to face him. “It should be because that’s what truly matters. For instance before I left, I told my team to attack your system with a maze ransomware. Your internal security is currently battling with the service disruption to your banking and logistic clients.”
At my revelation, the shock that creeps onto his face makes the base of my stomach curl with excitement.
“What?” he asks.
Before I can respond, the calls start coming in on his phone, which he promptly pulls out of his pocket. He turns away with a malicious look at me and quickly responds to one. He begins shouting instructions in Russian.
I return my club to the kit and by the time he’s ready to face me, I have a smile on my face too. “What is the meaning of this?” he asks.
“Not to worry,” I reply. “I’ll order them to exit your systems soon. They didn’t steal nor encrypt your data, so you’re fine but I just wanted to show you exactly how vulnerable you are. If someone else had been behind this, you would have been battling a ransom disaster right now.
A smile begins to spread across his face. “I invited you here to prove that you’re worthy of my business, and you’ve done exactly that.”
“No, Mr. Sasha, you invited me over to lobby you for your business. But again, as I said, those antics are for people who have nothing to offer. If you still feel after this short demonstration that you don’t need us then of course, I’ll respect your decision and look away which will of course leave your company vulnerable to such a potentially devastating threat. And as for our game, I will always be ready to answer your call for a rematch, regardless of whether we proceed to work together or not.”
He walks over to me with his hand held out. I then proceed to accept.
After the firm handshake, he once again hits me across the back.
I don’t like the way he keeps doing that, so I’m about to open my mouth to tell him this.
Before I can make things very uncomfortable for him however, Blair steps in and completely distracts him. “Thanks again for the invitation, sir. It was a great game and it would of course, be such a pleasure for our two companies to collaborate.”

“Yes, I am sure that it will be.” With his gaze on her akin to someone eyeing a steak they wished to devour, he brings the hand she held out for a handshake over to his lips and presses a kiss on it.
I watch her do all she possibly can to hide her irritation at the gesture, and it is incredibly impressive just how she is able to maintain a friendly demeanor until the end.
Soon, we all return to the club house.
He goes on his way while Blair and I head off towards the changing rooms.
Just as we are about to go into the respective areas for the sexes however, she stops and turns to me. “You know, you could have given me some sort of heads up,” she says.
I stop and turn to face her. “What do you mean?”
“I know it’s my job, but seeing how you handled things in the end makes me realize that I didn’t have to butter him up as much as I did. Especially, since he was…” She stops and inhales deeply. “Anyway, a little heads up that you have things under control next time would be great.”
“I always have things under control and for the record, buttering him up is not your job. You chose to do that all on your own.”
I watch the hurt flash across her eyes, so I decide not to drag the matter on any further. I can’t deny though that I feel somewhat conflicted. As to why exactly, I’m not sure so I turn around and head into the changing room.
"You might fire me,” she calls to me. “But I’m going to say this; I think you’re a dick. And I don’t know if you’re doing it on purpose, but intimidating and belittling the people around you, doesn’t make you look cool, just so you know.”
Silence.
I turn to face her. “What did you say?
She turns around to leave, the fear back in her gaze but it is too late.
I grab her hand and pull her with me into the changing room. In no time, she is pressed against the tiled wall and my heart is racing in my chest.
“What are you doing?” she asks.
My voice lowers dangerously. “What exactly do you mean by I’m a dick? Are you saying that you didn’t enjoy the attention that he gave you all afternoon or are you pissed off because it didn’t draw mine?”

She smiles. “Well, apparently it did.”
The jibe is brutal, but it’s also undeniable that I’m hard and have been for the better part of the last few hours, unable to control the rage of my libido at her appearance. My gaze runs down the glistening sheen of perspiration on her neck, and all the way down to the opening of her shirt that exposes her ample cleavage. “Well maybe I did,” I admit. I am spiraling too much out of control so I shut my eyes and fight to regain my restraint. It works so I’m able to move away from her.
Before I can get too far however, she grabs onto my shirt.
I stare into her eyes looking for answers but I find nothing. All I see is a similar rendition of the fire that is raging in the pit of my stomach. “We work together,” I remind her. “We can’t do this.”
“Okay,” she says, and slowly lets go of my shirt. “You’re right, I’m sorry.” She walks away. Somehow, I find the strength to let her go.