Chapter 8

From the list, Josh already knew that Alicia will be among them and he was ready to face her. He was never going to allow her to bully him ever again. The event that happened in the shop the other day was just a tip of the ice.

He woke up early, dressed in a very expensive suit to go to work bearing in mind that it’s the day that they will be hosting an event in the evening to officially introduce him to the company business associates and then award contract to the best company.

He had analyzed the contract applications and was ready with the winner.

In the evening, James and Dan arrived in Josh’s office early to prepare for the event.

 “Hi grandson, hope you are doing good at work. Hope you are ready with the winner of the contract”

“Sure, we can go through them again if you wish.” Josh told his grandfather.

“No… I trust your judgment”. James assured him knowing that she had to give him space to make his own decisions. It was only that way that he could learn faster.

They all left for the event early because they needed to get there on time being that they were the host.

On the other hand, Alicia, Ann and Nick were on their way. They also needed to get there on time because the contract was very important for Wilson Corporation, Alicia’s company since the company depended on that contract for its survival.

“Hey, what do you think? Are we going to win the contract tonight?” Alicia asked for the opinion of Nick and Ann.

“Of course, there is no way that the most beautiful CEO like you can lose a contract. If need be, I will pull a few strings for you in order to get it. Don’t worry, I have got you covered, baby.” Nick replied with good sentiments.

“Thank you honey, you have given me a lot of courage now and I have to win the contract at all cost” Alicia said with a smile.

“Yes, we have confidence that we are going to get the contract otherwise the event will come to a halt”. Ann joked and all of them laughed.

The event was hosted in one of the biggest clubs in the city with a spacious room and expensive decoration both interior and exterior. The trio alighted from their car and stood still admiring the surrounding.

As they were still looking at the beautiful deco of the club, a big black car arrived.

 “Wow! What a flashy car, the most expensive in the city” Ann shouted.

All their attention were now focused on the car. They wanted to know who owns such an expensive car. “It must be Mr. James Johnson. He is the only one who can afford such a car” Alicia was sure.

They saw three men expensively dressed alighting from the car. They seemed like they had power and authority because they had bodyguards apart from them attracting the people’s attention.

“Is that Josh with Mr. Johnson? What the hell is he doing beside the wealthiest man in the country? ” Alicia was surprised.

“Yes this is now confusing, how comes the other day he was given VIP treatment at the mall because of the Johnson’s family and now he is dressed expensively walking besides Mr. James? ” Ann wondered.

As people were seated waiting for the event to begin, Alicia took the opportunity to go talk to Josh

“Hey, how did you get to change your status all over sudden? Do you by any chance happen to know the new CEO we are waiting for?” Alicia asked Josh with humility.

Josh boldly advised her” If I were you, I would only be worried about winning the contract and not asking irrelevant questions.  Anyway, how can a lowly idiot like me know such kind of a man?” Josh said sarcastically leaving Alicia more confused than she had already been.

Alicia wondered why Josh is now talking with courage. She had to go back to her seat disappointed.

The event kicked off and it started by Mr. James introducing the new CEO. He stood up on the podium and everybody was silent in order to listen to him.

“My dear ladies and gentlemen, I thank all of you for attending this wonderful event. May I introduce to you the new CEO of this company. He is a wonderful young man who I happen to have met recently. I trust that he will be the most suited man to steer this company ahead after my retirement. Everybody, please welcome my grandson, Josh Brando” 

Josh stood up with his head high, greeted people and went back to his seat to let James finish his speech until he officially invites him to the podium.

“He will be the one running the company and today he will be making a selection of the winning contract. I trust his judgement and I request all of you to cooperation with him” Mr. James continued with his speech.

Everybody was surprised, they never expected this, only Dan and James Johnson knew this. Even Mark was not expecting a stranger to take the position he has been eying for years. Mark is the step brother to Josh. He came to the event expecting to be named the CEO but had to walk away since he could not take the disappointment.

At this point, Alicia could not talk, she was socked beyond what you could imagine. It’s like she stopped breathing. Nick and Ann were surprised too and had nothing they could cheer her with at that time.

Alicia had to go take a fresh air outside where Ann and Nick followed her. She then broke the silence, “Can you people tell me I am dreaming” Alicia asked them. “I wish it is a dream too but it is a reality, siz.” Ann replied.

“Don’t get me wrong baby but it’s a fact that Josh we know won’t consider your contract due the way you treated him before” Nick told Alicia.

Alicia felt the truth in what Nick told her but she couldn’t give up on the contract since she depended on it to boost her company. So, they went back to listen to what Josh wanted to say on his speech.