The boardroom was a beautiful room where one didn't need to be told that money ruled. There was a palpable air of modern sophistication, and the room was adorned with sleek polished surfaces and exquisite furnitures.
A long glossy conference table stood at the middle of the room, surrounded by high backed leather chairs. At the head of the table, Colin, the CEO of quantum innovations sat, his handsome features masked by the dark look on his face. On the sides of the conference table, some of his employees sat, watching him anxiously, wondering what had gone wrong this time that had prompted him to summon an urgent meeting.
The silence in the room was so heavy that it seemed no one was breathing, and all of them were watching him with bated breaths. After staring at nothing in particular on the conference table, he slowly leaned forward and intertwined his slim delicate hands, then rested his chin on it.
"As you're all aware, we're on the brink of a launch, one of the biggest, actually, and yet, our flagship product is facing serious issues."
He passed to let that sink in. Worried and surprised looks appeared on the employee's face as they looked at each other, murmuring.
He continued. "The feedback from the final phase of the testing is alarming, and I won't deny it...I'm anxious. The interface is less than stellar, and we need to address this head-on."
Alexa, the head of engineering and development department spoke up, her voice faltering a little. "I really don't understand what went wrong, sir We tested it thoroughly."
Colin tapped on a tablet, displaying on the projector that hung behind him, graphs illustrating the product's decline in user interface. The room fell silent.
He swivelled his chair back to face the room. "As you can all see, there's a problem with QuantumSphereX. Testing revealed significant performance issues, including crashes during operations and data corruption. The timing couldn't be worse. I won't sugarcoat it. This setback is not acceptable. We need solutions, and we need them fast."
He paused again, and he noticed them taking notes and talking in low tones, presumably making suggestions and nodding in agreement to what some team members said.
Encouraged, he went on. "I want a detailed analysis, please. Find the cause. Was it a flaw in the design, a glitch in the software, or something else? I need answers. I need solutions."
They nodded in unison, taking more notes.
Realizing he was being too stiff in addressing the issue, Colin softened his tone and said, placatively. " We've worked so hard to get this far. We've sacrificed so much to gain the reputation we have today. This isn't just about the product; it's also about the trust our clients have in us. We can't afford to let them down. I need all hands on deck. I need your utmost commitment to resolving these issues swiftly. We're in this together, and failure is not an option."
Alexa nodded determinedly. "We got this, sir. We'll do all we can to troubleshoot the problem. The launch will be successful, I assure you."
He smiled across at her and nodded. "I'm glad to hear that, Alexa. This is our chance to show resilience. We've overcome challenges before, and we'll do it again. We owe it to our users and ourselves as well to deliver excellence, as always. Let's brainstorm, collaborate, and get this right. Our reputation depends on it. Whatever you need to solve this problem, I'm just a knock away."
The team nodded in acknowledgement and Colin drew the meeting to a close. He had wanted to disclose that he had invited experts to discuss on possible ways to solve the problem but he decided against it, thinking it would weaken their resolve to put in their best while at it.
He thanked them for their time and hardwork, and strode out of the conference room to his office, his nerves on edge.
***
Colin walked briskly into his office after the meeting, with Angela, his personal assistant, on his wake.
He looked agitated and stressed and he sat on his swivel chair and raised a questioning brow at her. He was tired, and all on edge and the last thing he needed right now was this newly appointed PA who was trying too hard and too obviously to catch his attention.
She must think I don't notice, he thought irritably, as he watched her quietly, how the papers are always falling when she's in my office. How her necklines are always so low. How her clothes are always so tight.
Like he'd predicted, she suddenly lost hold of some papers she was holding and they went flying all around the office floor.
"I'm so sorry sir.." she gushed innocently and, like he had already got used to seeing, she bent down and started picking the papers up, advertently exposing as much skin as the low neckline could allow.
Feeling disgusted, he took his attention from her and began working on his computer, completely ignoring her. When she was done with her silly games, she straightened up, her face flushed and he asked sharply. "What is it, Angela?"
Feeling slighted by his tone and his total indifference towards her, yet desperately wanting to get even so much as an affectionate look or smile, said in her coy, overly earnest and seductively smooth voice. "I'm sorry about the interruption sir. Just that the experts you invited for a meeting with regards to the technical issue sent in a mail this afternoon, requesting a reschedule of the meeting..."
Colin suddenly looked up, surprised. "Reschedule? How could they? Do they have any idea how close our launch date is?" He thundered angrily and she simply shrugged. Her glaring nonchalance towards a general concern infuriated him further and he set his lips in a grim line and returned to work on his PC.
"Leave. I'll ring for you later." He said dismissively and she almost rolled her eyes before answering. "Okay sir." and proceeded to leave the office, in slow steps.
"And I don't want any visitors till three pm. Appointment or not!" He called out and he didn't hear her answer him before she closed the door and he wondered if she had heard.
God help her if she let's anyone in, claiming she didn't hear my order, He thought angrily and his eyes moved rapidly across the room, as though the solution to his problems lay hidden somewhere in the office. He let out an exasperated sigh and leaned back in his plush leather swivel chair, hand on forehead, and got lost in thoughts.
Colin Anderson was thirty four years old. He had a heart shaped face, full dark eyebrows, piercing blue eyes that always made ladies go weak at their knees. He had long lashes, thin straight pointed nose and a small mouth Angela and many other female employees had wondered too many times what it would be like to kiss. His high cheek bones accentuated his chiseled features, and his tall well muscled towering physique added to his charm, giving him a commanding aura wherever he went. He had an undeniably striking look which sent whispers and looks of admiration circulating among his female employees whom he tried as much as possible to ignore. Tempting as it might be to flirt around and do as he liked, Colin was intent on being loyal to his wife even though she, on the other hand, was intent on pushing him into the arms of the endless women desperate for his attention. Or so it seemed.
His company, Quantum Innovations, was an advanced tech company that specialized in quantum computing solutions. Their products leveraged on quantum computing power to revolutionize data processing, encryption, and problem-solving capabilities.
The company's primary focus was initially on QuantumSphere, a quantum computing device that harnessed the power of qubits for unprecedented computational speed.
QuantumSphere was designed to tackle complex problems in specialized fields like cryptography, optimization, and simulations, which made it exceptional in the tech industry as far as New York city was concerned.
Their latest product, QuantumSphere X, had even greater advancements, with enhanced processing speed and improved user interface. It was aimed to make quantum computing more accessible to a broader audience.
The flaws detected during the final phase of the product testing had dampened Colin's mood and cast dark shadows over what he had been hoping and thinking would be a smooth and outstanding event.
In his anxiety, he had invited some renowned experts to come have a look and possibly, collaborate on rectifying the problem as early as possible. This was the reason why their rescheduling annoyed him greatly, coupled with Angela's lackadaisical attitude towards an issue that was supposed to be a cause for concern to all staffs of quantum Innovations, who truly had the interests of the company at heart. Colin crossed his fingers and hoped everything would happen in his favour.
In that moment, he realized he hadn't asked Angela what the new time they had fixed was. He rung her and she confirmed that they had moved the meeting two days ahead. He sounded unhappy as he ended the call. It was approximately one week to the official launch of QuantumSphereX. He wanted everything to be in order by tomorrow. He decided he would bank on his team and see what they could come up with. They looked so determined to make sure everything went well. He hoped they wouldn't disappoint him.
Colin went back to work on his PC, and was interrupted shortly after by Angela's knock on the door. He frowned before calling out. "What is it? I told you I wanted no disturbance!"
"My apologies, sir. It's just the coffee your ordered for earlier." Her voice came through and he relaxed then said "Come in"
She walked in with a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and a bouquet in the other. He eyed the flowers curiously as she placed the cup of coffee on his desk.
"What's that? Yet another anonymous delivery?" He asked incredulously and she nodded. Tutting, he took a sip from the coffee, then looked at her. "I guess by now I no longer need to tell you to trash these, Angela. I'm a married man and I'm not interested in whatever this is."
She shrugged. "Well sir, what if they're from your wife? Just to make you happy? Who knows..."
He stopped. And slowly looked up at her. It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her his wife was a cold fish who had never so much as told him she loved him throughout their three years of marriage, and that she was the last person who could possibly be anonymously making bouquet deliveries to him every week, with notes expressing her love for him, but instead, he stared at her wordlessly then returned his attention to his screen.
"You can keep it, if you want. But this should be the last time you actually bring this thing into my office." He said mildly and she regarded him strangely before answering, "Noted, sir." Then strode out of the office, wondering why he was so stiff and hard to please over a wife whom she'd once seen on a magazine cover from the previous launch and rated as an average beauty, who didn't deserve the attention and loyalty of a hot embodiment of perfection like Colin Anderson. She gleefully dropped the bouquet in the trash can, as she had been doing for months, relieved that she wasn't the only one Colin Anderson was cold and unyielding to.
The bouquet incidence was no new thing to Colin as he was used to getting endless unsolicited attention, love confessions and even gifts from too many ladies around him. The anonymous delivery of bouquets started some months ago, in which the secret admirer, whoever she was, diligently sent the delivery man to Quantum innovations, every Monday, explicitly expressing her undying love for Colin in scented notes.
At first, Colin had dismissed it with a laugh but at this point, the occurrence was eliciting feelings of pity and anger from him. Pity at whoever it was, and her steadfastness in a quest so obviously futile, then anger, at himself, for ignoring someone like this who seemed to love and care for him, for a wife who could rightly be labeled as the worst wife in the world.
It's all because you love her, Colin. His subconscious reminded him and he smiled sardonically. We're all fools in love, aren't we? The bouquet girl is a fool for me. And I am a fool for Elaine. He thought sadly and, with great effort, pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind and continued working.
At four pm, he strode out of the exquisite ten story building that was his company and walked to the driveway, where a sleek customized Bentley continental GT was waiting for him. The chaffeur stepped out quickly and held the backseat door open for him. He entered the car and the drive back to the cold loveless haven he called home, began.