More weeks have passed and Claire was alone, with Rosa occasionally coming over for a random visit which often included a warm dinner. And then there were her new employees and boss. Being a known workaholic, it was her only way of coping with loneliness.
"Elise, take over at the dinner tonight." Christopher asked her after yet another long meeting as he walked Claire back to her office. Although her role was new and had unexpected challenges, Claire grew her department gradually, putting new ideas and product solutions forward.
Claire looked at Christopher. It was clear that he was on a slippery slope himself. Even with a gallon of cologne he couldn't conceal the fact that he was hangover. Claire knew the signs of someone who was drinking nightly to drown their sorrows. She used to be there. There was nothing she could do to console him.
"Where at?" She asked, trying to bury her own thoughts and concerns for her boss.
"Horton Club, London." Christopher replied shortly. He was nice to Claire, perhaps because Emilia liked her, or because he sensed her own pain.
Regardless of how nice Christopher was, Claire still flinched at the name of the club.
"Who thought that it was a good place?" Claire asked. Moving away was a good way for her to distance herself, but in the end, somehow that place came back to haunt her.
"Rich bastards from the financial district." Christopher shrugged as he crashed in the chair opposite Claire's desk. Claire looked at him feeling pity for his state.
"Like yourself?" She asked teasingly. It was her strategy, her way of distracting others from their pain.
"We're not in the financial district nor am I a bastard." Christopher smiled weakly. "I'm just rich."
Claire scoffed at him as she started packing her handbag.
"Who is it?"
"Investment Management reps for our biggest shareholder."
"And what am I to do with them?"
"Make sure that they keep those shares."
"That's it?"
"Yeah."
"Aspirin?" Claire offered as she dug out a pack of the tablets from her desk.
"Highly appreciated." Christopher said in defeated tone. "Also, you're a chief sustainability officer now."
"Excuse me?" Claire paused.
"In case they ask, your role is a chief sustainability officer."
"So, you want me to pretend to be more important than I am?"
"I mean, it is your new role, just thought it might be useful for you to use it to your advantage."
"I am pretty sure that there are better ways of telling me."
"Emilia really vouched for you when you were hired. That role was designed for you when you joined so it was the matter of time."
"Good to know that my job depends on your ex." Claire scoffed again.
"Everything depends on Emilia."
"Jesus, just go to her. You obviously have some unresolved issues." Claire rolled her eyes.
"She didn't want me." Christopher admitted.
"That sucks."
"Dinner is at 18:00. Take the company car. You can drive, right?"
"Yeah."
"Good."
Claire looked at her watch. It was already 16:00 and the drive was at least 1.5 hours without much traffic.
"You could've let me know earlier than this." She grumbled one more time as she left the office along with Christopher who dragged himself towards his own office.
Claire disliked going back to the city in the recent days. She hasn't been back since her previous client's dinner. She felt a pit in her stomach as she parked up and walked towards the Horton Club. It was so easy to enter it now that she had some fancy membership card which was given to her as part of her employment, just like before at Diamond Corporate once she reached the level of the head of the department.
The place was particularly busy but it was expected as of a Friday night. She walked up to the waiter who quickly led her to one of the private rooms upstairs. It was much more peaceful there.
Soon Claire was joined by the rep from the investment management company who was quite keen to speak of Crimson Tech's new sustainability strategy and how that increased a long term resilience of the company.
Claire was engaged in the conversation when someone else walked into the room. Claire looked up automatically and her smile vanished.
Gabriel gave them a nod before uttering "good evening" to the rep and taking a place beside Claire. Her body responded instantly by tensing up. She tried her hardest not to look over.
"As you're aware, Gold Investment Limited is a shareholder in both of your companies. We recently came to the conclusion that it might be more beneficial for us to have those shares in a bigger bulk in one of the companies instead as it is becoming challenging to manage the smaller percentages of shares." The rep explained, at which Claire felt a tug in her stomach. She felt nauseous solely at the fact that she was sat next to Gabriel, never mind that she was going to fight against him to retain the shareholder. Her hands were shaking as she felt like she was betraying him. "Mr Moore, have you met Miss Elise Cooper, the Chief Sustainability Officer at Crimson Tech?" The man realised that he omitted the introductions.
"The Chief Sustainability Officer?" Gabriel asked in surprise as he looked at Claire's profile. Claire felt his burning gaze and bit her lip to stop it from quivering. His eyes on her made her entire body react. To Gabriel, she didn't seem much better than before. He noticed her hands clenching onto her skirt as she tried to conceal them shaking and her nervousness. He saw her in a different light than before. She was neatly dressed but it didn't hide the fact that she wasn't doing brilliantly. "I have met Miss Cooper before." Gabriel admitted to the rep. His tone of voice momentarily seemed to soften but Claire told herself off for thinking that, because why would it?
"That should make this conversation easier." The rep smiled.
"I am not certain what is the expectation here." Claire spoke up. "Do you expect us to make that decision for you? Make the sales pitch? Or perhaps, we should fight it out?" Claire put on a smile making it seem like a bit of a joke. But that smile didn't fully hide her irritation. Her lips tightened into a thin line once she finished speaking.
"Well." The rep chuckled. "I appreciate your eagerness. Truthfully, I was hoping to go through the list of our requirements to see which one of the companies more closely aligned with our needs."
"I can tell you straight away all that you need to know." Claire steadied her hands and placed them on the table, clasping them together without interlacing her fingers. Gabriel watched it with interest. Claire must've been self-aware enough to fake confidence. "Crimson Tech is heaps and bounds ahead in their sustainability and gradual growth, with a stronger long term resilience plan. With three customer markets, it has sufficient market share to not be presently concerned of the emerging competition. Now, in comparison, Diamond Corporate has lesser market share and it generates profit by targeting individual customers who provide higher financial yield. It is up to the Gold Investment Limited to decide if their money is going to be more wisely placed in the long term shares with a company with consistent and continuous growth, or rather with company that has a regular higher rate of growth and decline, and is much more reliant on political, social, and market changes. Not to say that Crimson Tech is resistant to those influences, but our stock value doesn't vary with such intensity as Diamond Corporate. The main thing working against us is that our company is valued at a lesser value. This is at present and it is expected to change in the years to come. Our financial forecasts expects to overcome X6 Group in the next two years leaving us in the second place to Diamond Corporate. If the trends continue the way they did over the last decade, we will exceed the value of Diamond Corporate by 2035."
Gabriel's mouth dropped open and he stared at Claire speechless. She perfectly undermined his company's stability by being truthful. She was eloquent and composed. And most interestingly, she tapped into the investor's interests and insecurities to play the cards in her own advantage. For the first time, Gabriel realised how good she was and what asset she must be to her company.
"Mr Moore, is there anything you'd like to add?" The rep turned to him. Gabriel closed his mouth and looked at the man.
"No." He replied shortly, still taken aback by the suddenness of Claire's words. He struggled to compose a thought that didn't revolve around her.
"I will consider your words very carefully, Miss Cooper. Thank you to you both for your presence today. I should come back with an outcome by the morning." The rep shook their hands and left.