Charles POV
Shit!
I ran into the tall glass building called trans cop Hilton. I was late.
Everyone had a point in their life that felt like that great something. Well, my great something was about to be screwed up.
Royally.
What could I possibly tell them that wouldn't sound cheesy or make me look incompetent? That I would have to figure out.
I gripped my polished leather briefcase tightly and hurried toward the elevator. The fact that the meeting was to be held on the top floor of the building wasn't helping my situation at all. I needed to be in that meeting like right now.
The elevator opened and I stepped in. As the elevator dinged close and began to move up, I noticed two corporately dressed ladies having a heated conversation beside me. The moment they noticed me staring at them, they froze up, their eyes boring into me intensely.
Smiling, I turned my face away from them and towards the elevator, completely ignoring them. I didn't give two bucks about their issues. All I wanted was to get to that meeting and prove to myself that I was worth something.
The elevator reached my floor and I breathed a sigh of relief and hurried into the corridor. Only to notice from the corner of my eyes that they also stepped out with me. I turned around, intending to ask them if they were lost but they were already heading towards the area that was labelled kitchen.
My brows knotted. Those ladies didn't look like kitchen staff at all. This didn't feel right. My mind went to the receptionist I met earlier today. The moment I was done with this, she was the next project on my mind. I needed to find out how she got that tattoo.
After a second, I took in a deep breath, gathered my thoughts and walked into the suite where the meeting with the tech investors was to be held. As I entered the room, mean faces greeted me with nothing short of shivery. Three men were seated on a round table with one empty chair in place waiting for me.
To my left was Mr Chang, and to my right was a dark-skinned guy, with a grey suit and shiny black hair. Just across me was a guy in a black fitted suit. His eyes were fixed on me, and so were the others.
Putting on an apologetic smile, I worked briskly to the empty table waiting for me, and dropped my briefcase beside the chair. Taking out my laptop, proposal and writing materials, I set them on the table.
"Good morning, Gentlemen. I apologize greatly for my lateness. It was very unprofessional of me," I said calmly, my voice emulating confidence.
I was replied with dead silence. The tension in the room was as thick as a fog. But I stood there boldly, refusing to break as they fixed their stony gaze at me. Finally, Mr Chang spoke up.
"What in God's name could have made you keep us in here for ten minutes?"
Chang was a tall, light-skinned, and amazingly thin man. When I first made contact with the company, I met Mr Chang as their liaison officer.
My face remained passive as I replied, "I drove all night to get here because my flight was cancelled last minute." Of course, I couldn't explain the truth about the ordeal. They wouldn't believe me anyway.
"Really?" The guy with the grey suit and dark brown hair questioned. Like he was trying to discern whether I was speaking the truth or not. I turned my gaze to him in other to assess his question and my answer to said question.
"I am so sorry this lateness had to occur, but it couldn't be avoided," I replied as his icy blue eyes clashed with mine.
I smirked, and he growled in response.
Directing my question to him, I asked, "Please can we begin the presentation Mr....?"
"Robert Huge." Mr grey suit, whose name had just been confirmed Robert, replied. I smirked again. I knew it was beginning to irritate him but I didn't give a damn. He attacked first.
Moving around the table, I distributed my proposal booklet to each man, placing it in front of them. As I rounded back to the front of my desk, I faced them, took in a calm deep breath, and began to speak.
"First of all, I would like to introduce myself. My name is Charles Harrell and I am the CEO of technicals," I said, determined to wipe that smug, bored expression off their faces. Setting my gaze on the only man in the room that hadn't said a word, I asked, "Could you introduce yourself, sir?"
He looked like he wasn't in the mood for questioning. And that got me thinking about who the hell he was.
"I am the CEO of British Invest Ltd."
No wonder he was acting all brooding and silent. I wasn't expecting him to be here. He wasn't supposed to be here considering-- Well, considering where he was yesterday.
I hadn't recognized him immediately because his pictures were never on the papers or any social outlet. I knew because I did my homework. My PI confirmed he wasn't in the country last night. Except he was dead wrong. And that, we would have to talk about.
"That makes you Rum Ronald. Nice to meet you, sir."
"You are welcome, Charles."He replied, "Can we be done with the formalities and skip to the main deal?"
"Yes of course," I muttered lightly.
He smirked.
"Carry on." He urged, and I did.
"Tecficial is a technology company which deals with the creation of traffic lights."
Walking toward my computer, I clicked on a page with a traffic light on it, projecting the pictures on the screen.
"Before now, traffic was created using algorithms. But now, we are creating traffic lights that would be dependent on both algorithm and artificial intelligence."
Making sure to make eye contact with each of them, I continued, "This is how it works; Every traffic light is meant to give you red, yellow and green, based on algorithms, but that has caused a little bit of inconvenience."
I could practically see the awe on their faces.
"In other words, a traffic light is on the green when there are no cars to pass. But based on our sensor that has a 10 miles radius detecting ability, it will switch to red. Then it'll trigger another traffic light in the same perimeter that has tons of cars in front of it, to green. Creating a very safe driving experience."
Rum leaned over and whispered something into Chang's ear. I could have given a leg and an arm to know what that was. I clicked on the next page, projecting the prototype of the lights.
"This is the prototype I created."
Rum tilled his head to the side, watching me intensely as he asked, "How much?"
"Yeah, how much are we talking about here?" Robert grumbled, looking between me and his partners.
"Two million dollars."
"Brilliant pitch Charles, but we will have to get back to you," Robert said.
"It's a considerable price, Charles. I am looking forward to working with you." Mr Rum finalised.
"Thank you Mr Rum, it was a great pleasure meeting you," I replied with a smile.
Mr Rum stood up quickly and walked out of the room, done with the meeting. Rising from their chairs, both Chang and Robert gathered their briefcase and turned toward me.
"That was a brilliant pitch Charles because you came in late and unprepared," Chang said, smiling encouragingly at me.
I was about to respond when Robert stepped closer to me and whispered, "How is daddy?"
What the fuck?
He continued, "I don't understand why you fight so hard. You have a company waiting for you to inherit and a father wealthy enough to fund your projects and company. Is there trouble at home daddy's boy?" He asked, sending me an annoying smirk.
Okay, he did his homework. But that didn't give him the right to talk to me like that. I was so going to kill him. I slowly turned to him.
"First of all, I am a man of my own decisions and choices. I don't need anyone fighting my battles for me." It was taking everything in me not to strangle Roberts's neck. I really wanted to, and I knew I would greatly enjoy it.
"Don't you ever mention my father and me in the same sentence again? You won't want to know the outcome, I promise you." My voice was very calm but the look in my eyes was murderous and it sent Robert a step back.
He raised his hands to the air in surrender.
"Well, I hope to never see you again Charles," and with a fake smile plastered on his annoying face, he walked out of the room.
I turned towards Chang, who was silently watching the scene before him.
"What was that about?" I asked, raising my eyebrows in confusion and anger.
Chang just shrugged his shoulders.
Taking in a deep breath, I focused my mind on the situation at hand. "Do I stand a chance in this Chang?" I asked, looking straight into his eyes.
"I don't know Charles, Robert has a lot of influence on Rum and for some reason, he just seems to dislike you."
"What about Rum himself?"
Chang just nodded his head. "Well, Rum has a mind of his own. I'll also see what I can do in terms of influence."
Although the man irritated me, he was still an ally.
"Thanks, Chang. I appreciate you," I replied, giving him a firm handshake.
"You are welcome, Charles. See you when I see you, okay? We'll be in touch."
With that, he stepped out of the room and left me alone in the empty penthouse suite. I sat on the chair with a sigh. Why was I so bothered? I had gotten a very good reaction from them. So why was I feeling this way?
Standing to my feet, I gathered my things into my briefcase and stepped out of the suite into the elevator. Whenever I felt like this, it usually meant unexpected things were about to unfold, or I was very, very tired.
I opted for the latter.
Maybe what I needed was a little rumble in the hay. It had been a while after all. I was confident that if I took care of my libido, my emotions would fall in line.
Stepping out of the hotel, I entered into my car and started for Bolten White. Maybe I'll have some fun with that receptionist before torturing her for information. That was sure to do the trick.