The chairman scoffed again and thought, 'How young is this whipper snapper? He is as green as they come! How much experience could he possibly have?'
To him, it was completely obvious that Koty had been hired as a favor to someone. The kid wouldn't be able to deal with any real threats.
Despite the chairman having not directly told anything about the threat that Chance was facing, he had heard bits and pieces via his own connections.
From what he had gathered, it shouldn't be too serious. Or at least it shouldn't be too different from what most executives were facing.
But that was still not an acceptable reason for hiring some random guy that couldn't even get the job done.
That simply wouldn't do.
The board and shareholders had just been introduced to this new CEO and they needed reassurance and stability. If something happened to Chance now, it would shake up the whole company.
"Mr. Addison, let me recommend some more experienced candidates to you. I believe you'll find them to be far more suitable." The chairman's words suggested sincere concern but his tone was very much condescending.
Chance's expression darkened. This old man really was not improving Chance's impression of him at all.
He had so arrogantly dismissed Koty without even acknowledging that the young man was sitting right in front of them and could hear every word that he said.
Chance took a deep breath before he flatly rejected him.
"No thank you, Mr. Chairman. I have to decline your offer. Koty, that is Mr. Flynn, is as highly recommended as they come. And to me, he is irreplaceable."
"Hmph, play with your life then." The chairman crossed his arms, looked out the window, and didn't say another word for the rest of the car ride.
Meanwhile, poor Koty was grateful that the sun had already set and that it was fairly dark inside the car.
No one could tell that his face was horribly flushed. At first it was out of anger and the indignity he had to suffer. But at Chance's defense, its source had shifted to different kind of indignity.
'Idiot,' Koty complained at his boss inwardly, 'you could have just said I was capable or trustworthy or something.'
Even though that is what he was thinking, he couldn't deny that he was grateful for those words.
He fought the urge to hide his face in his hands.
To distract himself he looked out of the passenger window and happened to glance in the side mirror.
He noticed that there was a vehicle behind them with a headlight out and without thinking he mumbled under his breath, "padiddle."
Since everyone had been completely silent up to this point, the other occupants of the vehicle all knew he made some kind of noise.
Since Lola was the only one who was not feeling uncomfortable, he went ahead and asked. "Did you say something, Mr. Flynn?"
"Hmm? Oh, uh, no. I just thought of something. It's nothing important."
Lola just nodded and let it go.
The chairman, who was still staring out into the night, just rolled his eyes and returned to mocking the young man in his head. 'If you don't have anything valuable to say, don't call attention to yourself.'
Koty continued to watch the car behind them. At first it seemed to be following them but it turned off when they were about six blocks from their destination.
He still made a mental note when he saw the side profile of the car. It was just a typical generic looking sedan. It was a four door and it had a dent that reflected the streetlights when it turned off.
It was very common for cars in the city to have dents and scrapes just from being in the city. More often than not you could expect to lose a side mirror or at least trade some paint with another car.
Not everyone was a good driver after all.
Koty quickly came back from his thoughts when he felt their car come to a stop.
He let Chance and the chairman out of the car and then escorted them into the restaurant.
Chance let the chairman go ahead of him before giving a meaningful look to Koty.
"Yes?" Koty would normally just ask 'what' but he was concerned the chairman was still in earshot and he didn't want to stir up any more trouble.
Chance frowned at the change in Koty's manner and decided he could just talk to him later.
"For now, stick with Lola. You two should go grab something to eat too. I'll let Lola know when to come back."
"Yes, sir." Koty nodded and then returned to the car.
Chance continued to frown and watch Koty's retreating figure until it was out of sight.
That kid was like a younger brother to Chance, a rebellious one at that. Koty was only Koty when he spoke his mind.
To see him leave so passively was frustrating.
What was even more frustrating was that Chance knew that he was limited in what he could do to protect Koty and the others around him.