Gym Bitch

18 - I'm ready to sign.

Relocate? No. 

No, no.

Relocating wasn't a part of this. She wasn't ready to fucking relocate!

"What if I decline the new offer?" Cass asked, trying to cover the hopeful tone of her voice.

"We've unfortunately had to withdraw our previous offer as we can't accommodate remote work on such a high level at this time."

No...

She didn't have a future with her current company. Lukas'd hired her for a 1-year contract, which was up in December. Sure, if fucking Microsoft was offering her a position, she wouldn't have a problem finding something else. 

Something else...

How do you even begin to decline a dream job offer? And how do you not hate yourself for it afterward?

"How long do I have to decide?"

"I'd appreciate an answer by the end of this meeting," she sighed as if she could read Cass' turmoil on her face. Could she? 

Cass quickly schooled her expression, molding it to one of formal indifference. A poker face. 

Fuck! 

Even now, the word didn't feel like it carried all of the meaning Cass intended behind it. 

"What would happen if I wanted to end the contract before the five years are up?" Cass asked. She knew the answer. She also knew that if she took the offer, she'd see this project through. 

The lawyer took over and answered.

"If it is within the first year of signing the contract, you'd be required to return the sign-on bonus and would receive no equity," Audrey Lee explained. Cass often had to remind herself it was disrespectful here to call people by their first name. "If it's after the 1st year is up, you'd be able to keep the sign-on bonus and the amount of yearly equity you have vested, up to and including the previous vesting period."

Nothing far from standard. Not that she expected anything to be – she'd already seen the contract and assumed it'd stay the same. Truthfully, she'd only asked to be able to buy herself some time to come to terms with the life she'd have after signing the stack of paper waiting for her.

She sneakily and slowly took a deep breath and stole a glance around the table. The energy in this room felt great.

Comparing it to the pain of working with the owner of Rapido, anything would be.

And it'd be wrong of her to say that her own boss, Lukas, was rude or unpleasant by any means.

But here, this room, the women looking at her with no judgment and without a trace of impatience at her indecisiveness; the women she knew she'd be working with and for... It felt refreshing. It felt empowering. And the 1.2 million USD for 5 years felt empowering, too. 

Cass had money. She came from money. And being here was thanks to her having and coming from money. But the feeling of knowing she'd be given the opportunity to make her own money for the first time... That she'd be able to call herself a millionaire, knowing the millions weren't residuals of having invested the wealth her mom had gifted her when she was 18... That was nearly priceless. 

Nobody even dreams of being able to make that amount of money by signing a 42-hours-a-week contract for 5 years. And Cass truthfully didn't think she'd worked hard enough to have deserved this. 

"Can I please see the contract?" Cass requested, subtly looking between Li Hua and Audrey Lee to see who had it. She'd think it was her soon-to-be direct manager, but no. It was in fact, the lawyer.