We stepped into the conference room with as much confidence as we could muster, or….I think I was the one who was really lacking in confidence at the moment. But at this point there was no need to give myself any charge or a pep talk, I was already here.
There were six members amongst the board of directors, and if you include me, that would be seven. My father looked smart, and there was a smile to bright to be normal on his face. I took a seat at the head of the long conference table, Penny took another seat besides me while Nanny Florence took Ron with her and went out of the conference room. This was a battle that I had to face on my own….well with Penny anyway.
"alright you old farts, I don't have time for any sort small talk, so I'll get straight down to business. Aaron here has agreed to take a position within the company, and also get an assistant from one of your executives. I understand that the assistant who would help him run the company has been chosen yes?" Penny asked, taking charge and not mincing words with them.
"Yes of course, little girl. My daughter Kira was chosen by young Aaron, she would help make his transition into the company as smooth as possible. And in time, he would be able to work together with us to make the Imperium industries reach greater heights unknown." An Asian man in his mid fifties answered.
"Work together with you? Please correct yourself Mr. Lee. You're the board of directors, and the board of directors answer to the chairman of the company. And since the last chairman has passed away, the person with the principal shares, and the recognized heir of the Imperium industries will become the next chairman. You do not work together with him, Mr. Lee, you work for him!"
I was so shocked I almost fell of my chair, what the fuck is she doing! What chairman. I'm just here for an executive position, what made her think she could just go ahead and spring the idea of me being chairman to this people, they wouldn't accept it.
"Young Penny I think you have it all mistaken, Aaron agreed to take an executive position, that's what we discussed." My dad said to her as the smile on his face disappeared.
"Mr. Wade we're in an office space, please address me with the proper title. You can address me as Attorney Jones or Miss Penelope. Also this discussion that you say you had with my client, he never made any mention of it to me, and I don't think you have said agreement documented to make it valid for this meeting. And as such, that agreement was made without a binding document and has no weight in this discussion."
My father had his mouth opened wide in indignation and anger, almost like a fish out of water. He looked from Penny's face to mine, and back again looking so shocked it was as if he was going to catch a stroke. But I was not so sure my expression was a little better than his.
I knew what sort of person Penny was, ultimately she was just a tomboy with a good heart. However she was wild, reckless and very vindictive. And obviously somebody here had pissed her off. But while this caught me off guard, I had no choice but to go with it. I couldn't contradict my own lawyer, not when she was fighting for my own benefit.
"Listen to me Penny, we can't make Aaron the chairman of the company, while you're right that the position is his to occupy, it's obvious that he's not ready, and some of his decisions might impact the way the company is run. We have to be careful about this sort of thing."
My father said, but it did not sound like he was making a statement or refusing. It was more like he was pleading, or trying to convince Penny not pursue her current course of actions.
But Penny had smelled blood, she had already dank her teeth into their flesh, and there was no way in hell she was going to let go until she got what she came here for and more.
"but isn't that why you decided to get him an assistant. At the very least he wouldn't make too much of a blunder seeing as the assistant chosen is someone already familiar with the workings of the company." Penny said to them as she flicked imaginary dirt out of her immaculately painted nails.
"What assistant! There was never any written agreement about us agreeing to letting him have an assistant. He's not fit to be chairman and that's the end of it." Sharman Farouk the Indian member of the board spoke out with a little sting in his words.
Obviously he was trying to use Penny's own schemes against her, without a provided written agreement that there would be an assistant helping me, we're all back to square one, with me having nothing and them still being in danger of loosing everything. To be honest I didn't see this coming, and too many shit was happening at too fast a pace for me to keep up with.
"Well Mr. Sharman, it's good to see that you're a part of the discussion. I was hoping to ask, how's your illegal weapons factory in Bangladesh, or that brothel you own in new York. I've been meaning to pay a visit to those establishments of yours, especially since the FBI are currently investigating them. But that's besides the point, I mean it can't as bad as Mr. Lee's off world drug operations. But I have a recording here of Mr. Lee and the rest of you confirming that A Miss Kira is the chosen assistant of Aaron. But if you all think what I'm saying is bullshit, we could just as easily take this court and have ourselves a nice grand battle. I can say for sure that some sensitive information won't leak out, and by that time some of you might actually go to jail." Kira said to them with a smile.
I was so shocked I was left speechless with my jaw hanging unhinged from my mouth. She was actually blackmailing them! Fuck what the hell is going on here! She was playing their game, and she wasn't just winning, she was kicking the hell out of their butts. And as if to prove her point she even played the recording of Lee confirming that his daughter was the one who had been chosen to become my assistant.
"Gentlemen and lady of the board, the ball is in your court. Or do you really want to go to war with me and my client. Believe it would be more fun for me, but an entire army of lawyers won't save you. I'll break every single one of you, until all that's left is a pack of sniveling, spineless cowards. Give us what belongs to us and we'll get out of your hair. So what would it be?"
I only had one word to describe Penny at the moment, and that word was badass! And badass….maybe that's two words, or the same word repeated twice. However I had never experienced a tongue lashing like this before, the respect I had for her was at an all time high.
Eventually Kira's father spoke up with a rather straight and bland look on his face.
"I think if you all ponder on the option laid in front of us properly, ignoring the threats from miss Penelope here, having Aaron become the chairman of the board and the company is not a bad idea. He's the heir to the company, and that position belongs to him, also he would be learning from an assistant that has an in depth knowledge from the company. And with us to give a little guidance and advice, I believe this would be a good move on our part. It would also restore the faith of the public back in our company."
That was bullshit, it just that Lee had seen a way to gain more power over the company. After all it's his daughter that would become my assistant, and working from that angle, he might be able to influence a whole lot of my decisions, especially if said daughter ends up in my bed.
That's guaranteed to happen no matter what schemes might be put into play, but at the very least this works well for me. I did not have to fight to get to the top, I just had to find a way to stomp on the snakes nipping at my heels. Penny had pulled a miracle, and to be honest I had no way to thank her. Of course now I had a big bloody target painted on my back.
"Well I think this is a good decision. Which father wouldn't want to see his son excel. This is his birthright, let's welcome him with open arms!" my father said with a forced smile on his face as he got up to clap his hands.
The rest of the board members joined him, but they all looked like they had shit shoved into their mouth. They would rather be dead than to be here, but life works in mysterious ways, and they had no choice but to give way and let me sit on a throne that had been unceremoniously given to me after my Baba's death.
"Good, I see that the agreement to make Aaron the chairman of the board and Imperium industries is unanimous. I've prepared the documents that would signify the occupancy of the position and your explicit agreement to have him take the position. Thank you for your vote, now all of you come sign this, so that we can go home, and you guys can go cry into your pillows."
Penny was brutal as usual, and she left them no face or dignity, nothing at all. But when all is said and done, she had come through for me, and here I am standing, shocked, the new Chairman of Imperium Industries. This would look good on my resume, a little too good.