The Love Of Money - S01 E249

Story 1 day ago

The Love Of Money - S01 E249

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 249

I ignored the rest of the exchange as I leaned toward Chandler.

"How you feeling about it, man?"

"Like nothing's changed in the slightest," Chandler muttered, looking around the room at everyone as they talked amongst themselves. "Even though we'll win with backroom deals, I hardly feel confident in a command so fractured."

"Colin had faith in you, man. That has to count for something."

"Yes, well... Chandler straightened and muttered something I couldn't quite catch, then cleared his throat and called out. "Very well! Let's get started since we're all here!"

Once everyone quieted, Chandler continued, "I think we've made our cases plainly enough. We've had time to talk things out amongst ourselves. Does anyone have any final words?"

When no one said anything, Chandler said, "Is everyone ready for the vote?"

Besides a few quiet murmurs and nods, no one said anything. The speaker crackled to life as Wayne said, "Let's get on with it."

"Very well," Chandler said. "I'll start. I vote for myself as the continuing CEO of VistaVision."

"Big surprise," Rajesh muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.

Ignoring the comment, Chandler looked at the speakerphone. "Mr. Prudem?"

The idea was to front-load the votes for Chandler. With my forty percent of the shares added onto Chandler's two percent and Wayne's five, that counted for forty-seven percent of the company. Hiro's seven percent brought us to fifty-four, letting us win within the first four of the twelve votes.

Still... we hoped that by loading all our votes in the beginning, we would intimidate some of the shareholders into voting along with us, creating a better sense of solidarity.

"I vote for Grayson." Wayne said without hesitation.

"Very well." Then Chandler turned his attention to me, "We'll go around the room. Marcus?"

"Chandler Grayson," I said, giving us our forty-seven.

"Kelly Maddox," Hiro said directly on my heels without waiting for Chandler to call on him.

The bottom of my stomach fell out.

I couldn't help looking at Tanaka, but he wouldn't meet my gaze. He simply stared at Chandler with that stoic expression I'd seen throughout the meeting. I stared even harder, hoping to bore holes into his face with a simple look. We had a deal. I'd offered him another portion of the company in exchange for his vote. What happened?

"Just... one more time to make sure we're clear," Chandler said, sounding how I felt.

"Kelly Maddox for CEO," Hiro repeated calmly. He turned his gaze to Maddox, still avoiding looking in my direction. Kelly wasn't interested in looking at anyone else besides Chandler and me, a smug smile dominating her features.

"Son of a bitch," Wayne cursed over the phone.

"That's... what I thought you said," Chandler muttered-it was impossible to disguise the defeat in his voice. I glanced at Amber, but she was busy typing notes on a tablet connected to a keyboard. It was almost like she had no interest in what was happening in the meeting. Kelly was reacting enough for the both of them, savoring our despair like a fine meal, judging by the way she was leering at Chandler and me.

God dammit, Hiro! We had a fucking deal! Why the fuck didn't you keep up your end!?

Gus Hathaway went next; he voted for Maddox.

I started doing the math, trying to remember what everyone had. Tanaka had seven percent. Gus had three....

I only needed three percent more to win this. My mind started. racing as I looked from one person to another-none of them had any reason to back my play. They didn't know me, and if Kelly had them convinced she could do a better job, they certainly wouldn't be swayed by Chandler.

But... there was Astrid. She admitted to preferring Maddox, but I felt like we'd made a connection in the break room. If I could convince her...