I smiled slightly and asked, "Want to be lunch buddies again?"

There was a pause on the other end, then Riley's voice perked up. "Of course! Maddie, why are you asking? Are you coming back?"

I denied and gave her some quiet instructions.

Riley started off excited, repeatedly saying "okay," then hesitated. "Maddie, are you sure this will work?"

I answered firmly, "Yes. If you trust me, just do what I said."

Riley's confidence returned. I heard her pat her chest as she said, "Don't worry, I won't let you down!"

So the next day, Riley took the client on a tour around H City, showed them around Sunrise, and finally brought them to the city's fanciest restaurant.

Everything seemed normal to the client until the food arrived, and they stared in confusion at table full of nothing but salads.

While the client was lost in thought, Riley whispered in their ear, "Mr. Blackwood specifically told me to cut costs. He said the company's going through a rough patch, and we all need to pitch in."

"None of us have gotten paid in months. I can't even expense this meal, so I'm paying out of pocket. That's why I could only get you some veggies - hope you don't mind?"

The client's face turned ashen. Without a word, they stormed out of the private dining room.

No joke - who'd want to do business with a company that can't even make payroll? Better to cut losses now than later.

When Riley described the scene to me, she was laughing like crazy.

"Maddie, you should've seen how scared the client looked - their face was greener than all ten salads combined!"

Felix had only planned to dock her pay for botching the deal, not fire her.

But Riley surprised him by submitting her resignation and jumping ship to UniPrime.

As the former Assistant Sales Manager, Riley had quite a few key accounts under her belt.

Her departure left Felix completely blindsided.

By the time he realized what was happening, Riley and I had already consolidated our client portfolios and transferred everything to UniPrime.

Sunrise took a massive hit.

That's when Felix swallowed his pride and asked me to dinner.