‘And you are sure she’s up to running this?’ Edward said to Idris, looking at Jia. ‘She’s always been a little too softly spoken. She needs to be more forthright if she’s going to succeed at business. You know you need to make money, right?’ he said, addressing Jia now, and she knew she had been right to let Idris handle the negotiations. Edward was the kind of man who thought he was ‘woke’ but who said what he liked. His privilege and place in society made him believe he was infallible, but he was clever enough to know that in this day and age he needed at least to appear to show women respect. It was the kind of attitude that Jia despised. But she thought long and hard before she responded.

‘Edward, I don’t need to prove my credentials to you, because I know and you know that you’ve already done your due diligence on me and my company. Don’t ask me how I know, just trust that I do and think for a moment what that says about me and the information I have on you.’ She pulled a blue file from her bag and placed it on the table. ‘Idris showed you what we know about your employees. I hoped I wouldn’t need to show you this.’ She slid the folder across the table towards Edward. ‘Now, you can choose to do business with us or you can go elsewhere, but don’t underestimate me because I’m not a white man.’

Edward’s mask dropped. His face was now cold and devoid of all emotion. Stripped of his power he seemed to disappear a little, and Jia couldn’t help but enjoy the moment. He slid the blue folder back towards her.

‘We need something in seven days,’ he said. ‘We have an important client coming into town and need to show him a good time. I was looking for something a little different, if you get my meaning?’

Jia nodded and leaned over, putting her hand on his arm and smiling. He didn’t know whether it was fear or relief that washed over him, but he felt compelled to comply.

‘So, let me see if I understand correctly: after the first delivery, we can buy online through the website by placing an order for…I don’t know, stationery or something, and depending on what I pick you’ll know what my order is?’

‘Yes. The code is pretty simple. You’ll pick it up in no time,’ said Idris.

‘Forgive me, but this all sounds crazy. You’re openly selling this stuff online? You’re either brave or stupid.’