I spoke to my boss. It's the least I could do under the circumstances. To say she wasn't exactly thrilled is putting it nicely. LOL. It was a tense conversation and she says I will have to decide between my current job and the new offer, that I cannot have both. But I do want both so I am not going to give up anything without a fight and I told her as much. I promised her that whatever happens, it's not personal. Not on my part. If I am leaving, partly or completely, it is because of better opportunities. She says she understands that.

So far, so good. Late this afternoon, it became clear however that things are going to get ugly. Very ugly. I received two emails from X. The first was to tell me who he had spoken to today to ensure his plans are going to work out. Let's just say he went higher than our department boss which is neither sensible nor politically correct. In fact, as soon as this reaches our shores, the whole affair will turn into the def con 2. In his second email, I was invited to a personal meeting with him next Tuesday. At this point, I am not sure I'll still be alive by next Tuesday if Z returns to work on Monday.

It amazes me that X is willing to risk peace for me. It took two years for X and Z to pick up the pieces from a giant falling-out. And now, he is trying to grab me from Z using every resource available to him. It seems like if he wants to have something or someone, there is nothing or no one that will stop him. Even if I am as good as he thinks I am (and I hope I am!), I am not worth risking anything like he went through two years ago when the entire department tried a (failed) coup d'etat against him (I learned about this today from one of his employees). But I guess, despite his age, he is still as impatient and ambitious as ever. I actually like that about him even if he is asking for an enormous amount of trouble for both of us.

I'll keep you updated.