"There is nothing quite like the feeling of having dozens of pairs of eyes, of some of the most influential and affluent members of the business circles, staring at you. Huge. Main. Character. Energy. Trust me, I know from experience. It is customary for people to stand whenever the CEO enters the room as s sign of respect to the person that owns and runs the entire company. That's not just boardroom etiquette, that's just common decency.
Like I say, much of boardroom etiquette stems from common sense, some from old-world etiquette and mostly from the mutual respect that even rivals should have for each other in the cutthroat world of business because as much as we say we hate each other; without our rivals, we would be nothing. Without our rivals, we would be confused and honestly probably more lost than I care to admit."
Selena Yingyue Zhao, a normally demure and quite non-aggressive person was a little shocked at just how fast she had managed to turn on her boss b*tch mode and honestly quite proud of herself. Having stalked all the way into the outer office of the boardroom that the board were currently in, discussing the liquidity figures, Selena collapsed onto one of the couches and pulled Adrian with her see that he also collapsed in an undignified heap beside her.
"I will not collapse, I will not collapse, I will not collapse, I will not collapse..." she chanted this mantra to herself as if whether the truth in the words she was saying was solely dependent on how many times she could say those words.
"If you haven't eaten yet, it's already almost noon, I suggest swiping a couple of biscuits from the cart and a coffee, it'll do you good." He nodded at the cart, piled high with refreshments, all types of biscuits, a cutting cake and gallons upon gallons of tea, coffee, water and even fruit squash.
Selena tried to protest and made to pull her hand away from his wrist but somehow, while she had been preoccupied chanting her mantra, trying to manifest it into reality, his fingers had twisted themselves out of her grasp and around her own wrist. 'No, absolutely not. I'm not having you faint on me twice today."
"I didn't faint, I collapsed. I was fully conscious the whole time." Selena retorted, trying her very best to resist the urge to stick her tongue out at the man in front of her like a child.
"Collapsing is hardly any better than fainting, neither is going to help you be a good or better CEO, it's going to make you look like a child who can't look after herself." Adrian retorted while picking up a dessert plate and starting to pick a random pile of assorted sweets before handing it to her. "Orange or blackcurrant?"
"What?" Selena looked at the pile of biscuits that had suddenly appeared in front of her.
"Orange or blackcurrant squash?"
"I don't want squash, and Mr Lee, I am certainly capable of looking after myself, I am, after all, a grown woman."
"I beg to differ, considering your lightheadedness in the lift, you need a sugar rush, not more caffeine. I will not be responsible for your inevitable crash in the middle of a board meeting."
There was a long pause.
"Orange. The blackcurrant always tastes sour."
Adrian shoved a glass into her hand and she started drinking it slowly at first but when her brain reconfigured and realised that it was sugary and something her body desperately needed, it seemed that rational Selena was no longer in charge but her ravenous, primal self had taken over and downed the juice in a few gulps.
"How did you?" Selena asked, the half-formed sentence dying before it had even gotten halfway out of her mouth. Adrian had taken the time that she had spent downing the squash to fix his appearance, straightening his hair and adjusting his shirt and tie as best as he could.
"How did I what?"
"Why do you care so much? I do not believe that it is any of your concern Mr Lee. " Selena's voice was so quiet that he needed to lean in to catch her words.
"Diabetes Type 1 runs in the family." His reply was short and they fell into a comfortable silence while Selena finished her biscuit. "Ready?"
"You know that's not what I meant. We're rivals, Mr Lee, why are you helping me?" Selena asked tugging at his arm.
"Call me Adrian, Mr Lee is much too formal. That's not a conversation for now."
He swiped his key card and keyed in a code from the keypad that revealed itself after he had swiped his keys. There was an audible click, Adrian opened the door and the steady stream of muttering from the board trickled onto oblivion. Elise Faulkner, the acting provisional CEO of Zhao Hai Industries, stood at the front of the room and quietly started to pack up the presentation that she had finished with just moments before.
"Well, I must say, Adrian, you've always had a knack for excellent timing." One of the younger men in the room smirked. He was dressed much like the other gentlemen in the room, a dark, well-cut suit made from fine material and tie as well as dark trousers to match.
"At least my timing skills do translate into other areas in my life, Elias, whereas yours just seem to extend to the door of the boardroom." Adrian bit back quickly and that shut the man up effectively.
While this tense exchange was happening, Selena took the time to quickly profile the room. She was pleasantly surprised that the male to female ratio in the room was in fact not completely skewed towards the men as they were in the reading of the will meeting from the previous week. There were three women besides herself and Elise standing at the head of the table. One seemed to be another assistant or secretary of sorts as she sat next to one of the more elderly gentleman and was studiously taking notes of, what Selena could only presume o be whatever the board had been discussing before the entrance of herself and Adrian Lee, and the other two women sat at opposite ends of the table and could not have looked any more different. The one who sat next to the door looked as if she was dressed more appropriately for a social season garden party, in a floral sundress and floppy hat. The other woman who sat opposite garden party girl was, to put it plainly, the polar opposite. She was dressed in full black, with silver and green accents. She had heavy eye makeup and a leather jacket which looked like it was from Selena's club outfit side of her wardrobe, instead of the business side.
Selena cleared her throat, "Good morning everyone, thank you for coming, I apologise for the delay ion my arrival and hope that it has not caused too much of an inconvenience."
One of the more elder men stood up, "this is your first board meeting so we will not hold this against you, however, I am sure that you have been brought up with punctuality being synonymous with the level of respect that you have for the person or people who agree to meet. That is, after all, boardroom etiquette. "
"Thank you, sir," Selena offered a weak smile and took her seat at the head of the table next to Elise. "Shall we begin?"