"The meetings can be a lot of fun or they can be frustrating."
-Bob Weir-
***
“This man is Ezra Stuart. He is the person who will be assisting you in the business. He used to work for your late husband when he was alive. Now he will work for you. You can trust him. He is one of the most reliable man in the business.” It was what the lawyer told her but meeting the man in person gave her an entirely different perception.
This man was as cold as an ice cube. He wore one of those posh square glasses and dressed in a gray suit that did not really suit his warm complexion. It was not the worst part.
There was something about his gaze that made Victoria felt uncomfortable when she saw him for the first time. He looked intimidating. He couldn’t intimidate her, of course.
Her previous life before she met Wilfred had allowed her to meet all kind of people, even the difficult ones. She was a pianist. She dealt with music but she also needed connections to broadcast her talent. Not all those who loved what she loved were her kind of people.
The moment she saw Ezra, she was not sure if the two of them would be getting along well.
“Mrs. Darlington. My name is Ezra Stuart. I am sorry for your loss. Wilfred was an amazing, competent boss and leader to me. Having him gone is a tragedy both for you and this company" He paused, pretending to be sad.
"Now he left this empire in your care. Hopefully you know what you are supposed to do.” He introduced himself, gave his condolences while threatening her at the same time. Yes, definitely a difficult man to deal with.
“I heard my husband left you to assist me with the business. I am looking forward to working with you.” She reached out her hand and the man took it, but with a disguised displeased face.
“Have you ever had any experience running a business before, Mrs. Darlington?”
“No, I’ve never had. But I’m sure I can learn and I am a fast learner. You just need to teach me once and I will be on my way.” She replied back with a firm voice.
“Great, that would surely assure me.” He made a sarcastic remark.
“Patience, Victoria. This is only the beginning. You’ll be fine.” She reminded herself. Soon after, they all went to the meeting room where she will be meeting several important people related to the business.
Victoria was not sure what to expect. She already had a brief earlier with Ezra and he explained everything about these people. Yet, meeting them in person would be an entirely different story.
The room was opened and five men entered the room. She was the only woman there. Victoria was not used to this kind of environment but she was trying her best at the moment.
She greeted each one of them before starting the meeting. It was during this time when she noticed one of the seat was empty. She turned to Ezra, asking him why there was six chairs instead of five.
The man did not answer and just stared at her for a few seconds until she decided to drop it off. It was better for her to figure things out herself than relying on this man.
“As you know, my former husband, Wilfred Darlington has passed away. As his wife and upon his request, I will be in charge of the business now. I know all of you, but I also know none of you know me yet. That’s why, I would like you to give me a chance to prove myself and maintain good relationship within our business.” She stated.
“Wilfred was a great man. He was one of the best magnate I have ever dealt with. Can you do the business like he does, Mrs. Darlington?” One of them raised question.
“No. I won’t do the business like him. I will do it better than him. If you would just give me some time to navigate everything within the company. You will not be disappointed.” She declared. It was a rather bold claim and the men exchanged gazes with each other as if they were thinking the same thing.
“Since this is our first meeting, I would like to give each of you a little gift.” A man walked into the room and handed each one of them a box.
“Now, please open it.” She told them. The men were curious of what was actually inside and when they did, they saw a watch on each box. Each of them could easily cost around ten thousand dollars.
They were startled by this move. It wasn’t something they expected. Not even Ezra was aware of this. She had taken money out of her own pocket for this business meeting since first impression was everything.
If Wilfred wanted her to meet these five people, they must be important and she wanted to be in a good term with them as much as possible.
“Consider it a small gift from my side. As long as you give me your help, I promise there will be more money coming to the company, which means increased share for all of you.” Her method was unconventional and unexpected coming from a female leader.
It scared them a little because they had previously thought she was just a good for nothing, spoilt trophy wife of Wilfred. Each of them nodded as they closed the box.
“I think I’m starting to like you, Mrs. Darlington. I have huge faith for the business now that’s it in your hand. Hopefully you won’t disappoint.” Another man spoke.
“It should be the same on your end, gentleman. So, are we good?” It was probably the shortest meeting they ever attended.
It was expected since it was just a meeting to introduce her as the new head of the company. She did not prepare any toast since she was still in the mourning period.
Besides, she wanted to remain sober during the meeting. She thought of ending it sooner since they no longer had anything to mention besides the report which will be handled later. However, as she was about to dismiss the group, the door suddenly burst open.
“Pardon me for being late. It seems like I have missed all the important part.” A familiar face walked inside the room and Victoria’s eyes widened in surprise.
It was none other than Octavian Carlson. The man she had met at his funeral.
“What is he doing here?” Victoria asked Ezra and this time she used a more intimidating tone. Ezra finally answered.
“One of the invitation given was to Mr. Carlson and I cannot give you his data in advance because I cannot find much information about him. However, I know he was working with Wilfred and he’s one of the six people he wanted you to meet.” Somehow, he sounded a bit more nervous than before.
“Mrs. Darlington. It is a pleasure to see you again.” Ian held out his hand for a handshake and Victoria had to took it even though she was a bit hesitant. His hold was firm and she could tell he was quite a confident man.
“Mr. Carlson. I wasn’t expecting you to be here but I guess since you’re here, might as well have a seat.”
She gestured at the empty seat and he took a seat. Ian took a moment to observe his surrounding and saw the watch in the men’s hands.
“Oh, I see you have prepared a little gift for the gentlemen here.”
“I didn’t know you were coming, so I didn’t prepare one for you. I’m sorry.” She apologized. Ian shook his head.
“No, no. There is no need for you to apologize. I am the man here. You should be the one receiving the gifts. In fact, I do have a little something for you. Consider it a gift for our newfound partnership.”
He pulled out a box from his bag and it was a watch. Only this time, it was not a ten-thousand dollars watch, It was worth forty thousand dollars.
“Who would have thought we would be moving in the same frequency, Mrs. Darlington. You have these men watches and I give you one. What a coincidence.” He remarked.
“Gentlemen. Thank you for coming here. If you don’t mind, I would like to have a private conversation with Mr. Carlson right here.” The men stared at each other again before rising from their seat and excused themselves. It was finally just Victoria, Ezra and him.
“Who are you, Mr. Carlson and what exactly are you doing here?”
"You can't measure what's inside a man's heart."-Joe Rogan-***Ian was amused by this woman. Her expression seemed so serious as she gazed right through him. This woman did not beat around the bush and went straight to the point. He thought he should do the same if he did not want to get on her bad side.“I have told you before. I am a friend of Wilfred and he asked me to take care of you. So, here I am. You should also know that I am a business partner of his and I got an invitation to be here.” She was speechless. He did not lie about it, after all.“Don’t worry, let’s consider us good. Now, should we talk about business. I will explain everything that you need to know about my role here and your assistant right there could confirm it if he wants to.” He turned his gaze to Ezra, who stared back at him with a displeased gaze.“Okay, let’s talk business.” Victoria agreed. The two of them ended up having a conversation for nearly half an hour. It turned out he owned a considerable am
"The very ingredients that nurture love, mutuality, reciprocity, protection, worry, responsibility for the other are sometimes the very ingredients that stifle desire."-Esther Perel-***That Sunday morning, Victoria woke up with sore muscle and mild headache. All the business related stuff had taken quite a toll on her, mentally and physically. She knew she would eventually adjust to it after some time.Fifteen minutes after she woke up, she heard a knock on the door. It was Darius. She opened the door and saw him standing there with his casual attire.“Madame, breakfast is ready. I will be taking my day off today if you don’t mind.”“Sure, Darius. Thank you for your work.” She thanked him and was about to close the door before he spoke again.“Before I go, is there anything you would like me to do first?” He asked.“Then, if you don’t mind, can you call the massage parlor I often visit and ask them to send someone over. I need a massage so bad today, my whole body is aching.” She t
"You can't break the rules until you know how to play the game."-Rickie Lee Jones-***“The tracker is off. She seemed to notice it. Do you want me to do anything about it?” Ian was smoking his cigar in the living room when he heard the news.“You noticed it a little too late. I’ve seen it this morning. It’s connected to my device, after all.” Ian replied before blowing off the smoke. Lucas wondered why his boss seemed so calm about it. Perhaps he had expected more reaction out of him.“This woman, Victoria. She doesn’t seem to be as stupid as we thought.” A smirk appeared on Ian’s face. He put the tracker inside of the watch just to monitor her move. Having it off did not mean a lot to him, so there was no need for him to make any drastic move.“But boss, I don’t think it was her who did it. That woman doesn’t seem that smart and cautious to know that you put a tracker in the gift. Maybe she has someone else. Someone who’s more cautious than her.” He reasoned. Ian leaned forward and
"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."-Wayne LaPierre-***“Shall we dance?” Ian reached out his hand to her as an invitation to dance. Victoria was not a skilled dancer and felt a little bit shy with her ability.“I’m not too sure about it.” She replied.“Oh, don’t worry. I will take the lead. You just have to follow my steps and everything will be fine.” He reassured. After a few seconds. She took his hand and he led her to the middle of the room where several others had paired up to start dancing as well.The music started and he led the moves. She was feeling a bit nervous at first, but after a few minutes, she started to loosen up a little and followed his move.Fortunately for Victoria, she was born a fast learner. It did not take long for her to pick up on the rhythm and they started dancing. One of his hand was on her
"A great wind is blowing and that either gives you imagination or a headache."-Catherine The Great-***As soon as Victoria got back home, she quickly headed over to the restroom to throw up. The image of what happened was still fresh on her mind.She might not grow up in the most peaceful, harmonious environment, but it was the first time she had ever seen something so violent in her life.It was too much. The sight of blood was enough to turn her stomach upside down. However, what Ian did, killing another man so easily. It frightened her.“What in the world did I just see?” She murmured to herself. She spent quite sometime in the bathroom, trying to pull herself together. Before, she was too shocked to even react. When her mind cleared up a bit, she took a deep breath and wondered what she should do.Ian was right, she couldn’t go to the police and told them what just happened. She was in
"Pretending the past doesn't exist is as bad as living in it."-Nora Roberts-***Ian looked particularly bothered that evening. He was cleaning his gun with a displeased expression on his face. Lucas who had just returned back from checking their shipment approached him and noticed something wasn’t quite right with his friend.“What’s wrong? You look quite bothered. Did something happen yesterday during the party?” He asked. Ian shook his head and answered.“No, it wasn’t during the party. It was after the party. Someone was targeting me while I was driving with Victoria. I couldn’t find out who it was just yet since I had to quickly leave since Victoria was there.”“Do you want me to go there right now to clean it up?” He asked.“No, it’s too late. The police must have noticed it. It’s best if we lay low right now and forget about
"The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life."-Richard Bach-***“Andreas, my goodness. What are you doing here?” Victoria smiled brightly as she saw the curly haired man. The man stretched out his arms, asking for a hug.“Torry, I miss you little sister!” He hugged her and Ezra was starting to feel highly uncomfortable with the amount of emotional moment in the room. He thought he should just leave before he puked and the siblings were left on her own.“Stop calling me, Torry! I’m not a child anymore. Each time I hear that name I get flashbacks from childhood and that’s not exactly what I want at this stage of my life.” She declared with a slightly annoyed expression.“Geez, seems like what happened in the recent years has changed my little sister, a lot. I heard what happened to your husband. I’m
"All seasons have something to offer."-Jeannette Walls-***“Where are you going, madame?” Darius asked as he walked into the living room.“Oh, Darius, you’re still here? It’s Sunday, I thought you’re going to take a day off.” She placed her hand on her chest, slightly startled by his sudden appearance.“Forgive me for startling you, madame. There are a few things I need to take care around the house so I think I will be here all day. No need to pay me overtime, it’s my own decision.” He replied back with a warm smile.“Okay then, do what you want. To answer your question, I’m going to meet my business partner, Octavian.” She said as she put on her shoes. Upon hearing his name, Darius eyes darkened slightly, but Victoria was too busy to notice it.“Will Jasper drive you there, or?”“No, no. He is taking a d