"A design that would make people feel the importance of having warmth and of family, the importance of love and comfort; I wanted to highlight these things in my presentation. As you know—"
The person who was in front making a presentation closed his mouth when he saw their President raise her right hand to stop him from speaking further.
He knew that his idea was already rejected and he could only look at his department head with a nervous expression. The Department head signaled him to leave immediately because they didn't want to waste time and give way to the next presenter but then everyone froze when a voice rang across the meeting room.
"Wait."
Everybody turned their heads towards their President who was looking at the written report in her hands before speaking.
"So you mean to tell me that your design will make the people feel the love and warmth... What do you think is it's relevance? I can see that the foundations are a bit...." she trailed off before meeting the presenter's eyes. "lacking..."
The presenter cast down his head, he hid his trembling hands by clasping them together but everyone knew how great the tension he was feeling. Some of the Department heads and designers were also stiff as they sat on their seats.
They had to admit that his presentation was the best so far. They started to feel restless. If his presentation was still 'lacking' as the president said, then what about theirs? It would be worse than lacking, they were afraid to hear the word useless.
Their President wasn't the type to babble a lot when she found some mishaps with the presentation. She would either raise her hand to reject it or ask a few questions. If she found the presentation satisfactory she would speak until it was finished.
She wasn't the type to shout or get angry. She will just ask questions in a blank face, expressionless the whole time. However it still gave them a lot of pressure. Ever since she took over the company at the age of 18, there hadn't been any major afflictions regarding the company's performance including the subsidiary companies under the enterprise. Instead, it was surprisingly excellent and stable for the past 9 years.
Having such an excellent and capable president, it is expected that the employees especially are high performing as well. So the employees and everyone are doing their best to keep up with the image. Besides, it was totally unfair for them to be given such high salaries if they were performing poorly. It meant that anyone on the street had the qualifications of being an employee in the company.
However, there was one problem with their CEO President. She didn't dare have any relationships with her subordinates and employees. She wouldn't even spare a glance at someone unless that person had to say something important related to the company. She was extremely cold and unapproachable.
Only her secretary could talk to her. But he was another problem. It seems as if he was influenced by her coldness, he was also intimidating.
The people inside were anxious because the presenter was still standing there. Reluctance could be seen in his eyes, it had been seconds but she still didn't tell him to leave. He was looking at his Department head from time to time hesitating whether he should stop presenting. His department head only shook his head because he wasn't sure either.
"And will it be able to meet the standards of Rayisse Enterprises? "she asked as a follow up.
The presenter didn't know how to answer that question. If he said yes, then that would mean he was getting ahead of himself and completely disregarded the president's judgement but he said no... Then that would mean goodbye to the design he made.
He chose silence as the answer because he knew that the president wouldn't get angry at him. It was best to stay in the safe zone and let her review his proposal again later.
Seconds later, the president raised her hand, signalling the next designer. The presenter instantly tidied up his things and took his flash drive. He felt a bit sad about his design.
Though he knew that the president never really liked these types of concepts, the design was actually very beautiful. The truth was he wasn't the one who entirely designed the presentation he made. He was actually helped by his friend, who was much younger than him but was quite talented in designing. When they talked about the designs, the young man presented him the idea of designing and changing the concept that way.
He was really amazed. The young man was very professional and keen on explaining the design. The young man was still in college, if he wasn't he would refer him to his workplace. He would definitely be hired on the spot after all, he was majoring in design and even had a scholarship overseas. It was a shame he didn't continue his studies and came back home due to personal reasons. If he did then he would no-doubt be a renowned architectural designer in the future.
When the presenter moved to the side, his department head immediately went to his side to console him. He tapped him in the shoulder and smiled reassuringly to his employees.
"It's alright Will. I'm sure the president might consider your design." his department head said. "I personally think that it was good enough. It's just a shame that our president thinks otherwise."
"Yeah... thanks Mr. Walters " Will said reassuringly.
An hour and a half passed and finally all the designers were done with their presentation. The employees and some of the department representatives stood up to fix their things and exit the room when they were once again startled by their president's clearing of her throat.
"About the designs. I would like Proposal no.17 to step up." she said.
Will, hearing the number of his presentation, extracted himself from the crowd of employees and turned to face the president before lowering his head.
"I-I am no. 17... President" he stuttered.
He thought that he was finally free from her scrutiny but it seems that she won't be letting him go just yet.
"Mr...?"
"I am Mr. Herbert... Ms. President"
"Yes, Mr. Herbert... About your proposal." she said. "I want you to revise it for the next ten days and present it to me... Immediately."
After she said those words, she stood up and left the conference room leaving everyone speechless, especially Will.
Will couldn't help but exclaim in his mind, 'So, she liked it?!'