Benjamin with a grim face entered his room. So many crops are damaged for no reason, storage warehouses whose air temperature suddenly does not match those that have been set and make a lot of ready-to-ship materials damaged and unfit for sale. Plus the main production engine suddenly shuts down and the tecnichion can't even get it to start again. Even more surprising, it was found that in some parts of the machine it turned out to be porous. "How did this escape QC of maintenance?" asked Benjamin angrily.
The chief engineer replied, "We always get a small budget for machine maintenance." he answered.
"Impossible." Benjamin shook his head in disbelief. "Maintenance budget is big. This is definitely not right." Upset. He immediately left the peppers section for production and walked to the other building where his office was.
Crossing his secretary's desk Benjamin stopped in his tracks, and asked, "Where's Lucy?" Benjamin asked his secretary.
"Mss. Lucy hasn't come in three days." said Marissa with a pale face.
"Take all the financial statements on her desk and put them on mine." said Benjamin.
Benjamin checked the monthly financial statements for the past year plus the annual reports for the last three years and everything seemed normal. Someone must have tricked him for personal gain. He or they might just corrupt the company's money for themselves and that would infuriate Benjamin.
But finding out who the culprit is will only be a waste of time, while he needs all the instant solutions to the problems he is currently facing. And the only instant solution was fresh funds to be able to fix the machines, pay the employees and keep production going while he slowly tried to fix the problems within his company.
Because Benjamin Duncan had so many problems today, it made him forget his promise to pick up Queenerra at Aunt Clara's tavern. Let alone thinking about other people, Benjamin even skipped his own lunch. He was busy checking the locations on the plantations that had failed crops. Faulty production machines coupled with chaotic financial reports. Why can everything be turned upside down in less than one night?
The big question echoed in Benjamin Duncan's head. It's not that he never checked the financial statements. So far the financial reports he received from his staff looked good, but it turned out that after he checked again, there was a lot of waste, especially in the production department. The maintenance cost of the machine has also doubled but the condition of the machine has not improved but has worsened.
Benjamin was sitting in his study, he was holding his head in his hands. He has twice checked the financial statements and also contacted the bank where he kept the money, be it company money or personal money. Even if the contents of the two accounts were combined, the amount would still be very less to buy a replacement for the main engine that was broken.
Benjamin took a deep breath, and wait for a moment until he took out his cell phone then called his cousin, Gertrude. He waited a while until his call was received by his cousin.
"Benjamin." Gertrude greeted him.
Benjamin immediately replied, "I need your help." Say it frankly. As he always did, Benjamin was a man who did not like to beat around the bush in anything, including the business world he was involved in.
"I happened to be on my way home and was passing through the street not far from your house," Gertrude said.
"I'm still at the factory," Benjamin replied, as soon as he thought of Queenerra, he promised to pick up his wife.
"I'll stop by your house, I'll wait for you at home," Gertrude said.
"Ok. Can you wait a little longer?" Persuade Benjamin. "I have to do something before back home," Benjamin explained.
"Of course. I guess your maid has already made dinner anyway, so I won't be starving while waiting there." Gertrude closed the conversation.
"Okay." Benjamin ended the call and immediately grabbed his car keys. He left his office and rushed to the parking area to pick up his vehicle which was parked there while there was no other vehicle other than the factory operational vehicle that his employees had left home.
Benjamin started his car engine and immediately turned his vehicle across the very dark street. He headed towards Aunt Clara's coffee shop. His journey took him about thirty minutes, and when he arrived, the tavern was already dark. Benjamin got out of his car and checked whether there was still anyone in the shop or not. Benjamin knocked on the tavern door but there was no answer.
Suddenly a man walked by and said, "That shop closes early." he said.
"Ouh, thank you." Benjamin smiled as he answered the man. He decided to get back in the car and call Queenerra via her cell phone, but Queenerra didn't answer the call.
Meanwhile, at Benjamin's house, Gertrude seemed to have just parked his vehicle and walked towards Benjamin's door. He knocked twice and stood there waiting for someone to open the door from inside.
"Hi ..." Gertrude smiled as a woman opened the door for him.
"Are you looking for Mr. Duncan?" asked the woman, who was not Queenerra.
"Yes, I'm Gertrude, his cousin," Gertrude replied kindly.
"Mr. Duncan is not home," Queenera replied politely. She didn't want to startle any member of the Duncan family by claiming that she was Benjamin Duncan's wife.
"He asked me to wait at his house while he had some business before coming home," Gertrude said. Although initially not so sure, but Queenerra still invited her husband's cousin to enter the house.
It wasn't long before a call came into Gertrude's cell phone, "Ben." Gertrude received a call from Benjamin.
"Gertrude," Benjamin answered in a panicked voice. "Are you already at my house?" asked Benjamin. He thought about asking Gertrude not to wait for him because he still had to find the whereabouts of his wife who had mysteriously disappeared and didn't even receive his call.
"Yes, a beautiful woman just opened the door for me," Gertrude replied jokingly. Benjamin's brows furrowed after hearing what Gertrude said just now.
"Beautiful woman, what's her name?" Benjamin asked curiously.
Gertrude laughed, and that made Queen stop in her tracks and turn to Gertrude who was following her into the living room. "What's your name miss, I think your master even had amnesia to the point of forgetting the name of his beautiful housemaid," Gertrude asked still trying to stop his laughter.
"Queenera." replied Queenerra softly.
"Her name is Queenerra. How can you have a maid with such a good name and you forgot her name?" Gertrude was still joking. On the other hand, Benjamin could breathe a sigh of relief, "I'll be home soon." Benjamin replied. At least he knew where his wife was now.