A Valentine's Day Vendetta

“We are going to nail Bernard Morton to the wall,” Mindy told her boyfriend Tyler Schuyler. “We are going to hang him out to dry and watch him flap in the breeze. We are going to throw him under the bus and back up to make sure he’s good and dead! We are—“

Tyler cut her off. “Mindy, it’s Valentine’s Day. Our first Valentine’s Day together. Could we possibly talk about something else other than your vendetta against your boss?”

Mindy and Tyler were seated at one of the nicer restaurants in Schuyler Square, a romantic gesture that Tyler had hoped would distract Mindy from her single-minded hatred of her boss for at least an hour or so. It hadn’t worked yet and they were almost to dessert.

“The man deserves to have a vendetta against him,” Mindy retorted. “He’s so rotten—almost evil! Why should he get even more money when there are so many people who deserve it more than he does?”

“Such as…you?” Tyler asked.

“Yes, me! And you—even though you’re already rich. But there are a lot of people who could use money. Bernard Morton is a greedy, selfish creep and I’m going to do my best to make sure that Fat Off goes to another company.” Wearily, Mindy rubbed her temples. “Fat Off. What a terrible name. We have got to come up with something else.”

“Mindy, I hate to say this to you again but you’re fighting a losing battle. Kutrate Kemicals owns Fat Off. There’s not a single thing that you can do to change that.”

“I can if we change the name of the product and change the product.”

“How do you think you’re going to make that happen?”

“With Fritz’s help. He hates Bernard Morton too.”

“That doesn’t matter.”

Mindy glared at Tyler. “Are you defending that jerk?”

“Of course not. I work for him too but he has all the cards. I grew up with someone who was a little bit like Bernard Morton and I know his type. Cutthroat, greedy, only out for himself—“

“I forgot about your dad,” Mindy mused. “He was a lot like Bernard, wasn’t he?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“So you should be on board with me then. You know that Bernard doesn’t deserve to market Fat Off.”

“Maybe not but he’s got the leverage. We don’t.”

“Are you telling me to give up?”

“I’m asking you to enjoy dinner and talk about something else. Maybe you should quit your job at Kutrate Kemicals and go back to the newspaper. All you’re getting out of working there is high blood pressure.”

“What about the story we were going to write on the plant?”

“What story? You haven’t done any writing. All you’ve done is complain. Besides, who would publish that story? Not the Schuyler Square Times. You know they  never touch anything even remotely controversial. The most touchy subject they’ve ever covered is what color to paint the outdoor bathrooms at the county parks.”

“I bet the New York Times would love to hear my story. They might even offer me a job after I win the Pulitzer.”

Mindy really was going off the deep end. Tyler had seen the signs for weeks but had chosen not to acknowledge them. She was getting increasingly paranoid, nervous, delusional—and what could he do about it? “I think you should quit working for that man.”

“And do what?” Mindy demanded. “I have to pay the rent, Tyler. I wasn’t born rich like you.”

“Well…” Tyler thought for a moment. “I guess you could marry me. Then I could take care of you."