Emilia looked at the room full of men. Mostly men. There was one female in there beside her. It was a very typical corporate setting that could be found in so many more places.
She spotted a chair in the corner of the room, away from the table, and she was about to head towards it, happy to sit in the shadows, hoping to draw the least amount of attention.
"Please, sit down." Christopher pointed at the chair beside him instead.
"Are you sure?" Emilia whispered and blushed in embarrassment. Christopher's action drew the attention of everyone in the room and they were looking at Emilia equally as much if not more than at Christopher. "I wouldn't have thought that Mr Cosby would have taken a place next to you." Emilia mumbled nervously as she placed a cup of coffee on the table.
"You're not my assistant." Christopher grumbled as he pulled the chair out for her. This only made Emilia's cheeks blush in deeper red. She took a place at the table and felt a burning gazes on her. She was the only person sitting right beside Christopher who sat at the end of the long table. For some reason, two places were empty opposite her, and one was empty on her left.
"This meeting is solely for the directors and executives." One person announced their displeasure at Emilia's presence which only reassured Emilia of how much out of place she was between those people.
"And a managing partner must be a part of it." Christopher's smile vanished as he spoke sharply to the man, reminding Emilia and everyone else in the room of his position and power. His face was stern and unemotional when he didn't smile. "This is Dr Emilia Vincent-Hayden." he introduced her with something resembling pride in his voice. Emilia would have never guessed that indeed, he was proud of her and wanted to show her off. "Emilia is currently acting as my business partner."
Murmur went through the room which made Emilia feel uneasy, but even then she looked at Christopher with astonishment. When he said that she was to be a partner at work, she thought that it meant that she was going to be his assistant but she wasn't expected to slave away. Not even once did she consider a possibility of being a business partner to someone like Christopher Hayden at Crimson Tech.
"Emilia has doctorates in science and engineering and extensive experience in research industry. Recently Emilia's portfolio looked into sustainability in business. And she's completing yet another qualification, an MBA. She is our new asset in the company for the next few days, or weeks, if we're lucky. She will be supporting me in the day-to-day tasks and she will be advising the operations. I believe that at some point she will be taking a look at some of our departments. But today, she is a part of our board of directors."
"Did I hear the name right?"
"Dr Emilia Anna Vincent-Hayden." Christopher repeated.
Another wave of whispers sounded across the table.
"Any more questions or doubts?" Christopher's tone was challenging, provocative but no one dared to speak up. "Emilia, would you like to introduce yourself?"
"Well, as Christopher has said, I am Emilia Vincent-Hayden. I will be sticking around for a couple of weeks for now. I think Christopher did give a very comprehensive overview of my background so I am not going to repeat that. However, I would like to add that I am very open to a conversation outside of this room and a chat, if anyone would like to ask me any more questions." Emilia stood up as she spoke. She learnt a long time ago how to hide her nervousness and no one noticed just how fast her heart was beating right now and how sweaty the palms of her hands have become.
"Splendid." Christopher smiled again.
Emilia sat back down feeling faint from the sudden surge of stress.
Someone slowly raised a hand.
"Yes?" Christopher sounded impatient.
"It is very rare that the new member of the board of directors joins without proper announcement."
"Emilia has been announced with plenty of notice." Christopher picked up a pen and started tapping it. "She owns half of this company and she can easily decide to bring it down to ruin if she wishes to."
"Sir?" The man seemed confused.
"And if she chooses to do so, it is unlikely that I would stand in her way. So, I would be careful with how you proceed."
Emilia widened her eyes as she looked at Christopher. She didn't hear that sharpness in his thunderous voice before. She never expected those words to leave his lips. She gulped at the threaded threat in that information, trying to decipher the lies in it.
Maybe it was because she saw him land on his ass in a muddy puddle a night before that his business demeanour shocked her so much. Or it was that he so publicly told everyone that she owned half of what he does which basically announced to them that she was his wife, even if it was pretend, fake.
No one said anything else and they've resumed the meeting.