Leo was glad for the hangover drugs Chris gave him. He leaned back on his executive chair and felt relieved as the headache he was having earlier has now reduced. Now it's sure he would go into the meeting with a clear head.
His intercom rang, and he answered it to hear his secretary inform him that Paul, his Assistant has arrived. Paul walked into the room and sat in front of Leo's desk...
"Good morning boss!"
"Good morning Paul. So any new development?"
"Yes... I already forwarded the report to your email, I guess you've not seen it yet...
So there was a petition written against you to the board members, signed by most of the shareholders. The petition called their attention to your supposed mismanagement of company affairs, which has now led the chairman to give notice for an emergency board meeting coming up tomorrow, Friday.
"I've not checked my mail. You should call me whenever there's an emergency Paul, please."
'I wouldn't consider that an emergency since we have ways to defend your actions, otherwise I would have made sure you're aware of it"
"Thank you, Paul. Don't know what I would have done without you...
I was with Emma after I left here yesterday and... I kinda end up at the club with Chris getting drunk..."
Leo told Paul who was more of a family member than an employee. He was even closer to Paul than he was to his own uncle.
Paul chuckled. "She's here though"
"Who's here?... Emma?" Leo asked with surprise.
"Paul nodded with a smile."
"What's she doing here!?" Leo asked and chuckled again
"Well, she works here or have you forgotten?"
Leo chuckled
"Oh no, I haven't. I was just surprised to hear she resumed work when she refused to pick up my calls this morning... Where's she?"
Paul exhaled
"I know you already said you don't want her involved with the company issues but she's the solution we need in putting all the mess with the shareholders and board members to rest permanently..."
"What did you make her do?" The smile on Leo's face slowly changed to a frown as he interrupted Paul.
"I didn't make her do anything other than what she was employed to do, which is her job, so relax... I asked the accounting department to set up a temporary office for her in their conference room. The aim is for her to work under their surveillance and..."
"No! I don't like this, Paul!... The first time I visited that department, I literally felt a cold chilling sensation run down my spine
"I know but it's necessary. The people inciting this are angry because you didn't allow the human resources department which they have a clutch on to select the interns. They wanted to have total control over all the staff after they'd successfully removed all of the chairman's trusted staff. They know we're onto their plan, now they're grasping at straws, desperate to kick you out.
The petition the shareholders signed accused you of mismanagement of company affairs. Letting them see her solve problems that the people they had there couldn't solve would mean you know what you're doing by putting her in such a position. After she has solved the problem, I'm going to have her defend it in front of the executives and the video would be made available to the board members, let them be the judge."
There was silence between them for some seconds before Leo reluctantly replied...
"Okay, just keep an eye on her, please. I don't trust those people."
"She's going to be fine, relax! I already asked Nick to take her to the cafeteria for breakfast..."
"Wait, who's Nick?" Leo asked with a raised brow.
"He's one of our accountants. Not one of the new people they just employed so don't worry about it"
"Why didn't you ask Debby to help get her breakfast? Or you could have just taken her yourself or better still wait for me to take her myself."
Paul looked at Leo in amazement and couldn't help but laugh. "Stop being emotional about this Leo! If I was not the one that appointed her as the executive accountant I would have accused you of being biased myself. These people are watching us! We don't know who they are right now but they're watching, do you understand that!?
Treating her in some special kind of way would mean they are right about their accusation about you so please be guided. You cannot mix business with pleasure!"
Leo knew Paul was right about what he said, just that he couldn't help himself. After Paul left, he found himself unable to stop thinking about the fact that she was having breakfast with another man. He tried so much not to but he just couldn't. Maybe if Paul hadn't told him about her being with a man he would have been able to concentrate
So instead of working, he picked up his phone and sent her what he called an official text message. He was her boss after all.
[Miss Da-Silva please report to the CEO's office right now!]
He waited for some time by pretending to be working when he knew quite well his mind was not on what he was doing. When he saw she didn't reply to him, he sent the same message format to Paul
[Paul, please have Miss Da-Silva report to my office right now!] She would ignore him because of the relationship between them but she wouldn't dare ignore Paul, he knew that for a fact
Paul laughed when he saw the ridiculous message that Leo sent and immediately call him back with his personal phone number
[I know what you're doing Leo]
[What am I doing?]
[I've been in this male and female game long before you so I know what you're doing.]
[I'm not doing anything wrong or am I?]
[I'm not saying you're doing anything wrong, I just want you to let her concentrate on work. She needs to finish on time and you also need to do what you have to do before the meeting.]
[Well, I'm sorry but I have to see her and I hope you will understand that...] Leo said and paused for a while before he continued.
[The reason why I ended up getting drunk was that I acted stupid and now she has refused to talk to me. I've been calling her so I could apologize, but she wouldn't answer my calls... I've sent messages that have been left unread... Now as much as I tried to, I find it difficult to concentrate at work "
[Young love! I perfectly understand how you're feeling Leo, believe me." Paul said and sighed
[Okay I'll tell her to come to you but you have just ten minutes to talk! You both have work to do, especially her.
What she's doing has to be ready before the executive meeting comes to an end. It would be advantageous for us if she's able to explain the problem and how she solved it in front of the executives, do you understand my point?]
[Yes, I understand! Ten minutes is fine by me Paul, thank you.]