Smith, knowing what that means immediately realized he had made a big slip. He hastily thought of how to redeem the situation.
"Don't worry mother, you have a bad choice when it comes to that mother. I have someone fixed for that", he assured her
His mother looked all excited, grinning from ear to ear
"Really? Wow! I can't wait to meet her. Whose daughter is she? How prominent is her family?..." Catherine bombarded J.B with series of questions regarding his supposed date for the event.
J.B realized he just did more harm than good and it's high time this discussion is brought to an end, he thought.
"Oh! You know what mum? Let's put a check on this later. I'm due for my next appointment in ten", he said, rising to his feet.
Catherine checked her wrist watch. It was half past five.
"By this time!", She exclaimed.
"Yes, mother. By this time", J.B repeated, urging her to her feet.
Catherine rose to her feet, giving her son a slap on his arm.
"Don't think you can fool me", she said with humor
Smith only smiled as she gave him a bear hug and made to leave. He walked her to the elevator, waited till the car began descending before he walked back to his office.
Mike walked up to his boss on sighting him.
"Sir, as regards the business dinner you are having with Fox industry tonight. Would you like me to get you anything to prepare for it?"
"No, Mike. It's fine. I'll let you know otherwise. Inform Anna I want her to be in attendance. Also, send a mail to Bugle. I want him present at the dinner".
"Alright, sir. I'll get right to it", he said, walking back to his desk.
Smith took a stride back to his office. He began contemplating on what best approach he would deploy with Fred. It's one of the reasons he wants Bugle, his best friend and legal advisor to be in attendance. Fred is the owner of Fox industry. He's not only an adversary. He has a despicable personality which he kept hidden. The only reason Smith had agreed to honor his dinner invitation is to keep him close, as he reveal his true identity to the world. That way, he would be using a stone to kill two birds.
The business dinner is set for 7pm. He would freshen up and leave from here. That's why he keeps some clothes in the office for such occasions. He looked at the time, saw that he had some time to kill. He decided to do a bit of paperwork before retiring for the day. He picked up one of the files on his desk; he read through its contents before appending his signature on it. He went through the rest of the files, signing across some of them until it was time for him to prepare for his outing.
He quickly had his bathe, changed into a blue striped shirt, tucked in a black trousers that moulded his perfectly shaped thighs. It's a 30 minutes drive from his office to Fred's hotel, where he would be hosting him. He stepped out of his office at 6:40pm, satisfied with his look. He met Mike and Anna, his financial officer already waiting at the reception area. They all entered the elevator to the ground floor. When they stepped out of it, heading towards his black limousine, which was neatly parked outside the building, he dismissed Mike to be on his way home.
"Mike, that would be all today. You may leave"
"Alright sir, enjoy your dinner", Mike replied politely as he headed for the parking lot.
Smith proceeded to enter his limo. His driver, James, had already opened the door for him, while Anna went in through the other door. He brought out his phone to read through his mails. Fifty mails from Juliet in less than 24hours! His sister would not stop flooding his mail.. Same reason he had to send her calls to voicemail. Her insistent cry for attention, at the expense of his own extremely tight schedule. He knew he had indulged her too much. Now, his e-mail is taking the punch for it. He would invite her over the next time she comes home for vacation. He really need to have a serious discussion with her on this. He went through the rest of his mails, replied the important ones, then slid his phone back to his pocket before directing his attention to Anna.
"Anna, how is your analysis coming along for the last quarter?"
Anna, looked up and smiled brightly at him. She's always excited to talk about her work.
"Oh, I'm almost done with it sir. We just have a bit of some huge expenses to cover. One of it was a case of health hazard and safety violation with an ex-employee". She paused, looking at her boss face for any indication to continue.
Smith signaled for her to continue, his face contorted with fury.
"According to the report I read, the case was issued about six months ago but it was recently brought to my notice when a bill was submitted to my desk for approval. I believe the managing director has been managing the case", she explained further.
Smith was unhappy with the news. He remembered reading a similar report on the newspaper. He had asked Ken, his managing director, about it but he had dismissed it saying it was a minor case of a disgruntled ex-employee that was sacked for her incompetency. He had assured him the media and publicity team were already on it. So, how on earth did such case get to this stage without being informed. Someone's got a lot of explaining to do.
"I want a copy of everything given to you regarding that story, first thing tomorrow morning", he said harshly.
"Okay sir", Anna replied
James pulled the car over. They had arrived at the hotel for their business dinner. James got out to open the car door for Smith to step out. Anna walked around the car to meet him. Bugle had texted earlier that he was already at the hotel. He sighted both Smith and Anna just as they entered the reception area.
"Hey, big man!", Bugle called excitedly walking towards Smith.