"Mrs. Sharon, hi," a man who seemed to be in his forties greeted them immediately as they stepped into the conference room. He looked like one of those men who preferred younger ladies but she didn't want to be one of those people who judged a book by its cover so she didn't bother dwelling on it but she killed the thought when she saw he wore a wedding band. He was off limits and so were the other men in the room, except one who stared at her, not that she noticed his stare since she was busy smiling at the other secretaries and trying to make friends.
"Hi, I'm Eliza and you must be the new hire. Nancy had many things to say about you." Eliza said to her. Maya wondered who Nancy was, and was about to ask when Eliza saved her, "Nancy was the one who introduced you. She was the temp keeping your seat warm."
"Oh," Maya went, embarrassed she didn't even know the name of the one who gave her the ropes of her new job. She made sure to put in her mind to say thank you and apologize for not remembering her name. That made her feel more nervous, guess it was the nerves that made her lose her memory for a second or two.
"Enough chat, let's get this business done. Some of us have some clients we need to meet after." A voice suddenly said from the other side of the room. She looked up and found the owner of the voice staring hard at her with a weird smile on his face. "He must be a player," she thought as she sat down and placed her notepad on her thighs to jot things down.
"So, Brian, what is going on with the deal we have with the cannon enterprise?" a man with a mustache asked when they all sat down. Brian looked at the man and Maya could see him work his jaw like he was trying to hold in his anger. "William," Brian started, "I remember the last time we met on the issue of Cannon Enterprise, I informed you that it was and would be a done deal if all you could do was drop your client, Urk." Brian continued looking at William. They played a game of who would first drop their eyes or look away but Brian was ready for him.
He looked at him and stared. William, who was starting to get pissed, gripped the sheets in front of him tight and said with a loud and angry voice, "There is no way in hell I would drop Urk enterprise because of your client's or your selfish interest. Urk Enterprise has been mine and the firm's client way before you dreamt of joining this firm. You already know this would breach the agreement and a conflict of interest. It is not…" William was about to continue with his outburst when Brian cut him short,
"Are you saying I should drop a client to whom I gave my word and contributed 45% of revenue to the firm all because of a long-term relationship? It is starting to look to me, Mr. Brian that you are the conflict of interest and you are allowing your relationship to mess with your brain." Brian paused and opened a couple of files in his front, brought out a couple of sheets of paper, stood up, walked around the table, and came to where Maya sat. "Newbie, share this out." He said to Maya arrogantly with a smirk. To Maya, it seemed all he was doing was trying to look for her trouble and he was going to get it but she knew at that moment, she had to obey. Everybody watched the exchange and said they knew better than to talk.
William was starting to fume with anger and embarrassment but he waited patiently for what Maya was sharing and when it finally landed on his hands, he was shocked. Not only was Cannon Enterprises doing all that Brian said but they also had plans of the firm representing more of their enterprise, one that seemed to cause a conflict of interest with a few other of William's clients. Brian finally was showing his claws and was ready to come for William's throat.
Seeing the tension in the room rise, Mrs. Sharon cleared her throat loudly and called the attention of everyone to her. "William," she started to say, "I understand you - we have a relationship with most of your clients, and the firm has been representing them for a long time. Perhaps it is time we all start looking and forming new bonds. Now, I am not saying you have to drop them, but if there are ways to work around it, I would love to hear your plans." She said with a smile. Then she turned to Brian and said "Brian, nice job but I will need to speak to you after. Now, let's move on to the next." Mrs. Sharon in an attempt to diffuse the tension in the room changed the topic and moved on to other matters.
Maya kept note of all that was spoken about and made her jottings. She made sure all Mrs. Sharon said was written down and all responses were carefully outlined. If Mrs. Sharon was anything like her previous boss, then she would want her to know how the firm is being run and also know what goes on in and out of her office.
The meeting ended and Maya got ready to leave the room when she got called back by Brian. "You must be new. Hi, I'm Brian." He greeted with his hands stretched out for a handshake. Maya, not wanting to be rude, shook his hand but the shake was short-lived; a high high-pitched voice interrupted them, "O Brian," the voice called out. Brian cursed out loud and a frown was etched on his face.
He turned to the woman and was about to scold her when the woman looking at Maya asked, "Who is this bitch?"