Going to Bid

"Are you even my brother? I'm so upset right now. You know Nick was coming and still you didn't tell me." 

"I'm sooo.." Stella started ranting on her brother.

"Stella, you know it was not just me and Nick."

"As if I never met your buddies! puff" Stella said pouting trying to show Jacob that she is angry with him.

"Stella, my dear sweet sister, I know you like Nick. But you need to understand that he is not into you. He treats you well because you are my sis, darling. Please try to understand. "

"You are the one who needs to understand me. Why can't you pursuade your friend to atleast date me for sometime. He could just try if we are compatible and still if he feels we are no match then he could reject me"

"Do you think I never told him that? If you keep behaving like a spoiled princess, no one will like you."

"Dad, I think its time for us to get Stella familiarized with the business"

"No, no what are you talking brother. Coming to company is going to kill me"

"No way, you have to experience the workings of a company. If I'm drowning with work at the company, I'll make sure to drag you with me. Otherwise you think I don't have any work and ask me to be your match maker."

"Jacob, shut up. How can you talk to your sister like that. "

"I know Dad is the best!" Stella said with a prideful expression mocking Jacob.

"Now my baby girl, tell me what are you busy with these days?"

"Mmmm...dad about that, I have a few get togethers lined up with my friends and I need to shop for those events"

"Shopping is quite exhausting. I understand. Last time your mom dragged me for her shopping, I ended up with a splitting headache. But your mom was very energetic even after hours of shopping."

"Dad that's because you went shopping with Mom and Mom would try a 100 dresses and come out with a few."

"She just likes to spend time shopping. Its her stressbuster"

"Yeah, and it is a stress builder for me"

"But dear, you can't do anything about it. I know you love me" chimed in Stella's mom kissing her husband on the cheek.

"Oh, god. Can both of you stop showing off your love in front of us!!" shouted Jacob and Stella at once.

And thus the family of four had all smiles and had their dinner peacefully.

Next morning, Stella was called by her father.

"Stella, your brother is right this time. I want you to understand the workings of a company. It'll help you with your persona building"

"But.."

Stella was cut-off by her father again before she could protest.

"Listen to me Stella. I know you like Nick very much and our families have been friends for a long time. But that can't be the only reason he should be marrying you. You should prove how capable you are. If all you do is spend and behave like a no brainer, how will you catch his attention?"

"That da.."

"Please Stella, think carefully. Its not just about getting Nick's attention. It is about you. You know, me and your brother will always protect you. But if there comes a day, you should be able to stand by yourself without relying on anyone. You should be equally capable of running this company just like Jacob."

"Think about it. You don't have to start immediately. I'm thinking you should have a good vacation with your friends and then comeback next month ready to start your career. What do you say?"

"I..I need a bit more time to think about it dad. I'll let you know my plans soon" 

......................

Back to Asher Group

"Sir, we have a bidding scheduled for today evening. Mr.Richard is handling the bidding. He will be leaving for the venue in a few minutes." Mira reported to Nick.

"What is my schedule today?"

"Your calendar is free today, sir. Would you like me to push up the dinner plan with Morris group for today?"

"No, let Ryan know that I'll be going to the bid today." Mira suddenly lifted her head and looked at Nick in surprise. But nodded finally.

"Yes,sir. I'll let Mr. Richard know about it." With that she left the President's office and informed Ryan and had everything prepared for Nick and Ryan to go for the bidding event.

When the time is up, Nick came out of his office and went to Mira's desk and knocked on her desk with his fist.

Mira looked at him with surprise written all over her face and was about to ask Nick, what he was doing here.

But Nick beat her to it. "Are you waiting for a special invitation? You have one job and that is to follow me everywhere. Why are you lazing at desk?"

"No, no sir. I'm ready. I was just arranging few documents before leaving. I'll come right away." 

With that Mira got up from her desk and followed Nick to the elevator, all the way cursing Nick inside her head.

After half an hour, the group finally reached at the bidding venue. All the other groups were shocked to see that Nick has personally attended this bidding. They were almost sure that they lost this bid today.

Nick was unbothered with their gazes, he went to his designated area and sat down like a king, with Mira and Ryan on either side.

After few minutes, the host took the stage and the room became silent again.

"Welcome everybody and thank you for your participation in the bidding today. We have a slight change of the process this time and each company is expected to make a presentation for their bidding before the final winner is chosen. And we have selected a three tenders and one of them will be the final winner."

With that the room started to get lively again. Usually, the tenders are selected by the committee beforehand and results are directly announced at the event. But now there is a change. Although all the teams are ready with the presentations, still these is unexpected, which means there is something wrong with the tenders submitted. And now, everyone is waiting for the host to announce the 3 groups.

Seeing that he had given enough time for people to sync in with the idea, the host cleared his throat and started the announcement again, grabbing all the attention in the room.

"The first group that will be presenting is Team Ecoguardians, followed by team UpscaleLife and finally team Aster"

Hearing the result, Mira was shocked beyond words. She turned to Nick quickly and stared at him for sometime before getting the courage to speak up.

"Sir, Do you think there is something wrong with the results announced. Our team is not there on their list. Does that mean we lost our bid today?"

"What do you think?" Nick questioned her in a serious tone, that sent shiver down her spine.

"I..I don't know."

"Oh, you don't know? Aren't you the one who submitted our tender?"

"I...I sent the tender, but it..I'm not sure why we are not picked either. I'm confident that we did a good proposal."

Meanwhile, the teams started their presentation and now the UpscaleLife team is doing theirs.

Hearing the proposal, Mira was shocked beyond words. Why does it sound exactly like the one that we sent? With that she turned to Nick trying to read his thoughts. Is this the reason why he wanted to come to the bidding today? Does that mean Nick already knows that our proposal is compromised? Why did he stay silent if so?

Too many thoughts were running in her head that she didn't realize that he she had been staring at him for quite sometime now.

"Have you seen enough?"

While Nick's words successfully brought her back to human world, she was still not able to speak and good for her, the host took over the stage again.

"Now that we have seen all the presentations, let's break out for 10mins and then we'll see who bagged this tender successfully."

With that everyone stood up and so did Nick. Leaving Ryan to see the final result, Nick pulled Mira to the car to bring her back to office.

****