To Hell and Back

my saga continues. the negotiations fell through and as my title goes, i’ve been to hell and back.

let’s just say i’ve never met a guy so vicious, so mean, so bad. and i mean bad. he could put the meanest, baddest movie contravida out of business. hell, for a while in that short meeting, i thought i was in hell, face to face with THE one, the evil one.

his booming voice still haunts me up to now. his piercing eyes still slice through my heart. his words, god, his words, still swell up my eyes when i remember them. golly, what i have done to deserve this guy’s anger?

when some of my officemates asked me how the meeting went through, i gave them one curt reply, “I wish you won’t ever have to go through my experience in your lifetime.” heck, i won’t even wish it to happen to the person i dislike the most.

he was so menacing and threatening at the same time. i managed to record the meeting, but what i did was illegal so if ever we file a case against him for extortion, my little tape won’t even be admissible in court. he let go of such words like “i can shut down your business tomorrow,” or “i have more money than all of you combined.”

god, i wanted to get up of my seat and strangle him till kingdom come. even animals don’t deserve to be treated that way.

we did not consult our lawyers first because we thought that the meeting was a negotiation. it was in no way a negotiation. the guy did not even give us the chance to talk. it was like he put on a show, and the three of us—me and my publishers—were there to watch him perform. it was even my boss’ birthday, for crying out loud.

in the afternoon, we headed to the headquarters of the law firm that my office hired. it is in the beverly hills/century city area. the firm’s name is mcdermott, will and emery, and apparently, they are one of the biggest law firms in the world.

their offices on the 38th floor of the century park plaza was overlooking los angeles. we were ushered in to a conference room with a conference table so long it could accommodate around 30 people on each side. and that was just a small conference room. a senior counsel met us and because a signed a confidentiality contract, i won’t even be able to divulge what transpired in our meeting. di ba naman? let’s just put it this way: this guy cannot harass us anymore with his phone calls. “don’t talk to me, talk to my lawyer!”

i feel better now. but it ain’t over yet. laban kung laban. if this would eventually lead to the court, then so be it.

someone once told me, that a libel case filed against an editor/writer would mean that he or she is made. if going through my experiences since last monday would mean that i’d be made, i think i’d rather be NOT made.