The Love Of Money - S01 E244

Story 2 months ago

The Love Of Money - S01 E244

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 244

"Well," Chandler said. "It's not the first time I've dealt with psychopaths in boardrooms. The business environment seems to attract them." His smile became a lot more genuine... more Chandler. "Not to worry. Not much she can do besides take away your company and all." With that, he slipped out the door and closed it behind him.

"Fuck, Marcus," Erin breathed.

"I know," I said, ashamed of how I'd reacted. After the exchange with Chandler and the building doubt whispering in the back of my mind, I hated myself for not being the cool guy who could walk into a room, look the villain in the eye, and pretend I wasn't shaken. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fly off the handle like that. I just saw her face and I didn't have the words to finish the sentence, so I mimed an explosion.

"No." Erin said, touching my arm, her dark eyes shining and her eyebrows canted in worry. "I mean... I'm sorry. This meeting was nerve-wracking enough. Then you had to go and run into her?"

"Oh," said, relieved that she wasn't going to berate me. "Thanks."

She slid against my side, wrapping her slender arms around my waist to squeeze me tight. Her cheek was pressed against my chest as she continued to look up at me with her big doe eyes.

"What do you want to do?"

I thought about it for several moments. Now that I'd taken a few minutes to process it, I felt like I'd actually be able to sit in the same room with that woman... at least long enough to cast a vote. If Amber was the one who'd interrogated me-quit saying if, Marcus... It was definitely her-it wasn't like she could do anything in the middle of a business meeting. Besides being too public of a setting, John was with me. Chloe was already doing everything she could to find proof, and I was confident enough in her skills that we'd have some way to press charges against her by the time we'd made Chandler CEO.

"I'm gonna attend a business meeting."

"You sure?" Erin asked.

"It doesn't sound like I have a choice," I said. "You heard Chandler"

"Okay" Erin said. She slid one hand behind my head and pulled me down so that she could press her lips to mine for a heated kiss that caused my blood to rush. Her tongue slid past my mouth and that caused my blood to rush. Her tongue slid past my mouth and into mine, and I heard a faint whimper as we made out in the small meeting room inside VistaVision. I felt her other hand drop from my waist to my ass, and she tried to grab as much of one cheek as her dainty hand would allow. We spent the next few moments making out, and I couldn't help but wonder what i'd deserved to have such an empathetic, beautiful, loyal angel by my side- someone so capable in business but a hellcat in the bedroom.

We parted, but she kept our faces close as she looked up at me with her large, expressive eyes and said, "I'm fucking the shit out of you tonight."

Less than ten minutes later, we cleaned up the mess we'd made of Erin's makeup and returned to the board room, everyone still had their eyes on me. Helen was staring at me with her cold, blue, unreadable gaze, Hiro was looking at me like a disappointed father, and Carla was doing her best to hide an amused smile. That bothered me more than anything else. Why the fuck was she even here? Did Hiro really need his emotional support Barbie to attend a simple board meeting?

A few new faces had arrived in my absence. I recognized a few of them as executive officers of the company-I recognized Yancy McLane, the Chief Financial Officer, and Thandi Nkosi, VistaVision's Information Officer. There was also a man who looked in his early thirties with advanced male pattern baldness. His suit looked like it cost as much as my old car, and his watch could have covered a few months' rent in my old apartment. He was Michael Ross, my siblings' legal representation.

The other person was a woman about my sister's height but as slender as Erin. The only word I could think of to describe her was graceful. She had a heart-shaped face, high cheekbones, a slender nose, and lips that were just a touch on the thin side. Her white blonde hair was fine as silk, parted down the middle, and was loosely kept out of her face with a couple of simple hair pins; it fell down to the middle of her back. Her bangs were swooped to the side, framing a pair of striking blue-green eyes. She wore a tight-fitting cream blouse that buttoned all the way up to the hollow of her throat and a pair of dress pants. Her whole outfit was conservative compared to what I was used to seeing my assistant in, but it hugged her perfectly, showing off the gentle curves of her willowy form.

"Ah, good timing, Marcus," Chandler said, pulling my attention away from the beauty sitting to his left. "I was just telling the board about the dreadful experience you had last week and that I was sure they could understand the toll such an encounter would take on any of us. Better men would not have recovered so quickly."

"With that in mind," he continued, "Miss Bell's striking resemblance to someone else startled you. I've assured everyone you're fine and offered my sincerest apologies. We're ready to press on if you are

I dared to glance at Amber, but, unlike everyone else, her attention was on the meeting's agenda as she furiously wrote in the margins. She barely seemed aware of what was happening around her.

The moment I opened my mouth to tell Chandler I was fine, she spoke up. "Yes. An unfortunate coincidence. I apologize if my likeness to this person upset you." She halted her pen mid-stroke, looked up at me, and said, "I can assure you. No offense was taken. In fact, I would even venture to say it was..." Her eyes went glassy, and she suddenly looked as if she was looking through me while trying to find the right words to finish her sentence. "Very effective in helping me maintain a state of alertness."

"I'm... glad I could help," I said. Erin and I glanced at each other, and I could tell she was thinking the same thing this woman seemed off somehow... like she had some sort of social disorder. However, with that business out of the way, I took my seat on Chandler's right. Erin took the empty spot between Hiro and me.

"Glad all the drama's worked out," a voice said from a speakerphone. Wayne Pruden, my other ally, hadn't been able to make it in person, but he was here in spirit. "Now, if everyone's around the campfire, can we start singing Kumbaya?"

Chandler ensured everyone was ready and then started. "As you can see, I've provided a package for each of you. In it, you'll find detailed records of the operations as well as the financial..."

Over the next fifteen minutes, Chandler regaled us with a tale of corporate success and how the last six quarters had taken the company to new heights of financial gains and development. Despite having gone over the meeting several times with Chandler, I was pleasantly surprised by his performance and the presentation's content. He was thorough and knowledgeable, and by the time he finished, I was convinced all over again that he was the man for the job.

At his conclusion, a handful of people clapped-Karl Yunger, Carla At his conclusion, a handful of people clapped-Karl Yunger, Carla Tanaka, and the woman with the white blonde hair among them. "Well, that was damn convincing. I know where I'm casting my vote," Wayne groused.

Kelly stood up and looked around the room at everyone, taking a longer moment to stare at me, then Chandler. Then she said, "That's a nice narrative you put together, but I'm here to set the record straight." She pointed a small remote at the wall behind Chandler, and a white backdrop slowly descended, accompanied by a faint hum.

"It's true, this company has done relatively well in recent years, but growth has slowed considerably compared to what it did five years ago." A PowerPoint presentation appeared on the backdrop, and she began comparing monthly revenue, key performance Indicators, and a host of other metrics on a higher level than Chandler. She talked about the company's performance during her time at the company, pointing out that growth had slowed significantly since her departure.

It lasted roughly ten minutes before she concluded her speech, saying, "What I'm suggesting is that this company has missed me. Milestones have been kicked down the road for the past several years, and overall profit has fallen nearly twenty percent in the last six months. We saw record growth while I served as Vice President of Development. Imagine what I could do at the helm. Thank you."

The same few that had clapped for Chandler did the same for Kelly, with the addition of the man with the swarthy complexion and bold nose. I made it a point to not join in. I had to admit that Chandler did a great job communicating the company's recent successes and plans for the future. However, Kelly did at least as good of a job painting a picture that muted the brightness of Chandler's optimism. She spoke with a level of expertise and authority that was hard to ignore and attacked Chandler's more rosy outlook with facts, logic, and scathing conclusions.

"Alright," Chandler said, looking a little pale around the eyes. "We'll open up the floor for questions and discussion."

The next half hour was spent discussing numbers and figures. Kelly immediately went on the offensive, pointing out several key indicators that had flagged significantly in the past year. The dark- skinned man jumped on the attack, pointing out that his shares had decreased in value by two percent over the last quarter. All the while, Chandler did a terrific job of parrying all the attacks thrown while, Chandler did a terrific job of parrying all the attacks thrown at him.