There were only ten minutes left until the shareholders meeting was supposed to start. The formerly empty room was now almost completely full.
The attending shareholders were from a diverse mix of businesses and trades. Given the wide variety of publications that Lovewell Publishing put out, this was to be expected.
What was not expected, at least not by Chance, was the diversity he observed in the appearances of the shareholders themselves. Many styles were represented in the room. There was everything from standard businessmen to casually dressed young adults to some rather eccentric individuals in outfits that could almost be considered costumes.
The sight only distracted Chance for so long. At this point, he was starting to worry about Fait's whereabouts since she had not yet returned.
He wasn't questioning her ability to take care of herself but he couldn't help but wonder if everything was going smoothly on her end.
Just as he was getting ready to call her, she strode into the room with Chairman Fischer's secretary following closely behind her.
He put his phone away and watched as the two women made their way over to the table.
"Welcome back, ladies." The chairman greeted them after they sat down.
"Thank you, Mr. Fischer. I apologize for the inconvenience that I have caused both you and Miss Linn."
To the chairman's ears, Fait's apology sounded robotic instead of sincere. But since the chairman never had much interaction with her before, he couldn't be sure if she was being sincere or not. Plus, he had already accepted Chance's apology so he forced himself to believe, for appearance's sake, that was just how she was.
He nodded to Fait before he turned his full attention to his own secretary. A quick once over proved that Greta really was safe and unharmed.
Mostly, he was relieved that she was alright. When he had asked for ideas from his staff that would shake up the new CEO, seduction was the most popular suggestion. Greta had volunteered herself as a sort of sacrifice so he let her give it her best try.
Unfortunately, it would seem that Greta was no match for Fait and he was slightly disappointed to see she was in more conservative attire. This trick of his really had failed. At least for now anyway.
The chairman sighed and then looked over at Chance. He had just stood up to make his way over to the podium.
"Good luck, Mr. CEO."
"Thank you, Mr. Chairman." Chance smiled and walked over to stand behind the podium. He tapped on the microphone a few times to get the attention of the people in the room. They quickly went silent and stared at the unfamiliar face.
Chance never was one to enjoy public speaking. He hated it which was why he had someone else do it for him. These kinds of speaking engagements were especially awful since most of the speech consisted of inflating people's egos through pandering and boot licking.
He let out a small nervous laugh and continued to smile, hoping no one would notice how fake he felt at that moment.
'Well, here goes nothing.' He took a deep breath and started delivering his speech.
"Good evening, folks. I'm sure you are all wondering something along the lines of 'who the heck is this guy?'" He paused for a brief moment to try to feel out how the audience was going to react. Since there was only silence, he went ahead and continued.
"My name is Chance Addison and I am the newly appointed CEO of Lovewell Publishing." He stopped again but this time it was to accommodate the loud murmur that erupted in the crowd.
When the noise died down he once again continued.
"Thank you all for coming this evening. It is a pleasure and an honor to have your interest in this wonderful company..."
Even though his speech lasted maybe five minutes, those five minute felt like an eternity and then some. He was relieved when he finally ended with "and now I am going to turn the floor over to Chairman Fischer and he will conduct the business portion of this meeting."
Chance thanked the audience and stepped back from the podium so the chairman could step forward. After a quick mutual nod, he headed back to his seat.
For the rest of the meeting, Fait and Greta diligently paid attention and were busy taking notes for their bosses and for themselves.
Chance tried to pay attention, he really did but he kept feeling the stares of other people in the room.
He stifled a groan that was forming in his throat before it could be heard. Not only did he have to speak in front of all of them, now the more zealous and aggressive ones were making plans to seek him out once the meeting ended.
How did he know this?
He could see it in the way they looked at him and whispered with those around them. Occasionally they would gesture towards him when they thought he wasn't looking.
When it sounded like the chairman was reaching the end of the agenda, Chance sent a quick text to Fait and hoped she would read it before the meeting ended.
She frowned when she heard her phone buzz and was going to ignore it. He nudged her elbow so she would look at him.
Her frown deepened in annoyance and she raised her eyebrows to ask 'What?'
Chance opened his messages and slid his phone over in front of her so she could read what he had sent.
[Exit strategy?]