[ sévérine knew from the start she was fighting an uphill battle in macau—she's a woman, she's pretty, and she's foreign, which are three immediate strikes against her. but in comparison to silva, she's a saint, and she is very good at reading people, which gave her a chance ( or so she thought ). half the board was child's play: a chunk of the younger ones were eating out of the palm of her hand by the first meeting, and a few of the rest are smart enough to recognize that if she's a cat's paw, chances are good they don't want to deal with the rest of the cat.
so she has half the board on her side by the end of the first meeting.
unfortunately, it's the wrong half.
playing the good cop is really only effective when there's also a bad cop, and apparently the mere threat of raoul silva, separated as they are by 400 miles and the east china sea, isn't enough to bring the rest in line. ( which is not a wise move on their part, but she's certainly not about to warn them that they're making a very, very large mistake. ) ]
I still need more time.
[ negotiations are closed for the day. she gets on a plane tomorrow evening precisely at seven, giving her twenty-three hours to close the deal—or, hopefully, more, but given the inauspicious start to the conversation, she's not holding her breath. ]
☲ text
[ sévérine knew from the start she was fighting an uphill battle in macau—she's a woman, she's pretty, and she's foreign, which are three immediate strikes against her. but in comparison to silva, she's a saint, and she is very good at reading people, which gave her a chance ( or so she thought ). half the board was child's play: a chunk of the younger ones were eating out of the palm of her hand by the first meeting, and a few of the rest are smart enough to recognize that if she's a cat's paw, chances are good they don't want to deal with the rest of the cat.
so she has half the board on her side by the end of the first meeting.
unfortunately, it's the wrong half.
playing the good cop is really only effective when there's also a bad cop, and apparently the mere threat of raoul silva, separated as they are by 400 miles and the east china sea, isn't enough to bring the rest in line. ( which is not a wise move on their part, but she's certainly not about to warn them that they're making a very, very large mistake. ) ]
I still need more time.
[ negotiations are closed for the day. she gets on a plane tomorrow evening precisely at seven, giving her twenty-three hours to close the deal—or, hopefully, more, but given the inauspicious start to the conversation, she's not holding her breath. ]