"This way, please."
The company staff personally escorted me to the conference room.
Professional and aristocratic.
I liked how the interior was designed and the organized disciplined staff smelled like professionalism. Not only the company name was ROYALS, but it does also feel like entering some aristocratic royal palace rather than an office building, once you stepped foot into the company.
They had it going pretty marvelously, I can give them that even being my eyes closed.
I prepared myself for today for a good reason, as I never fail to fix my composure in any kind of situation. My ego was way prideful for any failure which I did not face in my life ever. Failure is a foreign word for me and a minor issue like meeting the person I would rather avoid is nothing compared to the challenges I faced in the past.
Well, my preparation was for nothing when I came to know the CEO had some urgent matter to handle in the branch of another province. Either way, it was a piece of good news for me. I would rather tame the board of directors than tame the CEO.
I found myself a seat as the staff told me to wait for some directors who are yet to come as my secretary stood behind me. Yes, I hired a new one which I can trust for now until my grandmother corrupts her too. She is good at bribing people to keep a tail on me, which was absolutely annoying and considered a violation of privacy. But I knew she never cared about my opinion about anything, let alone my own life. So, all I can do is stop them from keeping a tail on me for a temporary time at most.
I often thought about running away but paying my grandmother, the chairman of KIV, was the only thing that kept me from running. People might delude themselves that I feel indebted to her for bringing me up, but that was the opposite: i looked at my new male secretary, Jack, who was scanning the whole room. He looked more like a bodyguard than a secretary. As soon as he noticed my gaze on him, he bent and opened his mouth, "Is there something you want, Miss?"
I could not reply to his question, as it was interrupted by careful calculative footsteps entering the conference room. The temperature of the room seemed to drop a few degrees. I did not know a man could give a threatening yet majestic aura at the same time to this extent.
He entered the room with the remaining team and a lady. And to my surprise, I found that lady familiar. Is that woman his secretary?
I took a breath and stayed put in my seat. All the other directors stood up as if they felt kind of obliged to do so. I could not help but like this culture.
His majestic aura suited well with his gray attire and a gold watch, made me feel as if I was witnessing a wax doll getting life and moving like a real human.
Too perfect.
His eyes locked with mine, and I could feel those oceanic blue eyes dance a little with unknown unfathomable emotions and then it was all gone just after lingering upon my secretary for one single second who was still bent behind my seat. I did not remember myself praising God's creation so immensely in my mind before, but I could not help but admire the natural assets that man had by birth.
A perfectly built figure, fitted with a perfect vigorous soul.
"Considering the value of this deal, CEO Lee finished his work from another branch and rushed here. I hope we all can co-operate for a better outcome today," his secretary directed the sentence to me, as I could feel how badly Geovanni screwed this almost done deal.
I have never been in a shoe of a person who is screwed, but alas, I have to take it as an exception unexpectedly occurring in my life.
That woman looked just like before, perfectly energetic from the outside but a soul eaten away by fatigue from the inside. I liked how I could feel their soul saying different stories.
"Shall we begin?" I offered a smile, not especially directing to anyone but for a fresh beginning.
Greenland Project.
ROYALS were working on it for quite a long time now. A land which are they planning to use products for the elite residents of the city. It was a pretty beneficial project and they wanted to make a commercial for the publicity person.
Of course, they need a professional model as well as an actor for this small part of the project, but the problem was they demanded the most popular model of Greenland. The person was none other than Shelly, showbiz's never dying hot topic. Her schedule is already pretty messed up but ROYALS are determined to only hire her for the commercial.
I do not know why Geovanni decided to convince the ROYALS for choosing another celebrity or model instead of fixing Shelly's schedule, but it ended up making them displeased and rethinking the whole deal altogether. And right now, I am here to make them take back Shelly into the contract again as well as offer something else as compensation.
"Previously, I would like to sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and unfortunate situation Mr. Lee had to face in our company. I am gravely ashamed after knowing about the situation and so I came to discuss further about solving the problem which happened to occur as a Chief of HR of KIV."
I tried to sound as humble as possible as I knew this was purely business. Somehow, it was harder for me to keep my emotions in check but I would rather try harder than give up just at the beginning.
Mr. Lee placed his hand upon the table and a 'tack' sound was heard because of his watch touching the glass table slightly.
Maybe it was a way of telepathy, but his secretary understood his intentions.
"You can continue, Miss Bennett," her business smile overlapped mine.
Others were taking this deal as a goner, as Vincent Lee is apparently known for his cruelty and cunning nature in business. But I gladly I am not someone who came here not being confident to win this deal back. This is another thing my grandmother like about me. I am capable of fixing broken things, and it always worked out whenever I put my hands on it. Not going to lie, I do have the confidence of winning this one hell of a deal back too.
"As you can see KIV has vast reach in the entertainment industry including all its affiliate branches. Well, tell me to make myself clear here, we all heard about Fleur-de-lys brand, and some of us even using products from that fashion brand right now," I took a breath, internationally locking my eyes with the CEO again to find myself that specific logo on his gold watch.
Yes, I could not help but be more amused when he entered the room wearing that watch I thought he would be wearing. Indeed, I took that as bait but anyway, it worked out. The logo which I made can never escape my eyes, especially the recent design we launched just a month ago. Somehow, that one felt like it found its owner.
How perfectly it suited his aura.
His lips curled a little, as my plastic smile found a little bit of amusement.
Clever move, isn't it?
"What are you proposing, Miss Bennett?" his lips finally parted, and the voice had a hint of glee.
"I was hoping we can be the one to provide the clothing for the commercial too, as the representative of the CEO of one of the affiliates of KIV."
Genuinely, this was supposed to be information kept within the hierarchy as we never publicly announced the birth and origin of the fashion brand KIV owned secretly. The brand wholly was designed by only one figure of the company whose identity was yet to reveal.
My secretary looked a little restless, as he observed my expressions. I knew he was probably confused about why I did lie about the half but at the same time was worried that Chairman will not like the idea of a sudden reveal.
"Is that really true?"
"Wow, weren't we actually thinking about signing a contract with that fashion brand? Who knew that was affiliated with KIV?"
All the other directors were both shocked and pleased to know this new piece of information and all of them shifted to give the positive vibe yet again.
"If it's true that fleur-de-lis is affiliated with KIV, what was the reason for being undercover all this time?" one of the directors spoke up.
"That's merely a business strategy as the CEO of fleur-de-lis one-handedly handling the fashion brand for the aesthetic purpose. When we do not know who the creator is, we seem to have more attraction for the creation of that unknown creator."