Declining on her Terms

"Alright, thank you Mr. Freeman, bye." Jade dropped the receiver, reclining back in the executive seat to stare at the most recent picture in her office with pride, a gigantic portrait of her in a business suit.

Who would have thought she could achieve this within three years? She wondered, closing her eyes to inhale breaths of satisfaction. 

When she had decided to take over the company from the claws of her father whose existence she didn't even want to think about, started working as a model to generate funds while working as a secretary, she hadn't imagined that she would soar this high.

The call had gone well, and if Mr. Freeman didn't change his mind again, she would be embarking on another huge project soon with the money she would generate from him.

Recalling how far she had come in the business world while maintaining anonymity from the press and the previous day's events involving a certain young man, she chuckled quietly. The look of astonishment on Ricky's face at the realisation that J.K. Raymonds was a woman was unforgettable in her memory.

She was used to scenarios like this, but there had been something fulfilling about the previous day. It was the same expression people had when they discovered what she did by the side, yet this had been spectacular...

The intercom buzzed, and Annabelle began, her voice ringing out. "Ma'am, your eleven o'clock appointment is here, the representative from Mears corporation."

Jade's heart skipped a beat, frantically and unexpectedly. Annabelle had informed her that she had received an email and scheduled an appointment, but she still felt as though she were hearing it for the first time.

She didn't want to deal with Ricky Mears right now; she had enough of the brief but lingering memory of him in her mind and didn't want to start thinking of him all day.

Making a brief wish for the person to be anyone but the arrogant man himself, Jade replied, "Alright" and adjusted her white suit, pushing the documents on her standing desk aside.

The door was pushed open slowly, within which she was filled with sudden anxiety, wishing with her heart that Ricky wouldn't come himself.

However, when a bespectacled young man in cream coloured suit came into view, disappointment replaced the feelings of anxiety, much to her surprise. No, she hadn't been expecting him, she convinced herself again and again.

   "Ma'am?" 

   Fixing a polite smile on her face, she stood to shake hands with him, and walked over to the couch where she usually had meetings with the visitors. 

  "Make yourself comfortable please." She said, sitting and crossing her legs. Her smoothly shaved straight legs were graced with the red stilettos that covered her feet. He seemed nervous, constantly adjusting his spectacles, although it suited his face perfectly and didn't need any adjustment.

 "Thank you, ma'am." He replied, perching himself to the edge of the seat in a way that made Jade imagine how he would fall if she made a move that would unnerve him.

Annabelle knocked and came in as soon as they sat down bearing a white tray containing a cup of coffee. As she was about to place it on the table, the young man shook his head twice, an unrelaxed smile on his face.

"Should she get a drink instead? Wine?" Jade offered, but he declined and maintained that nervousness usually messed with his appetite, feigning a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

Jade nodded in understanding, and Annabelle dutifully carried the tray out with her.

  "So, your boss sent you?" Jade began, and then suddenly wondered why she had asked the obvious. Could he have come of his own accord to perhaps sell his company secret for some pieces of silver?

  

  "Yes ma. Erhm, it is concerning the recent deal that was stolen... I mean taken from our company. The board of directors negotiated and decided to make you another offer, if you agree to give us that deal." He was pulling out a file as he spoke, opening and flipping through the pages.

  "What offer?" Jade asked, pretending she hadn't heard his choice of words that suggested she had stolen what she wasn't supposed to.

 "This ma'am, to partner with the Mears corporation in production of body steamers, including..." 

   Jade listened to him with keen interest, quite impressed with the way he expressed himself and explained the merger deal proposition to her. When he at last stopped speaking and laid the file on the table, she uncrossed her legs and spoke smoothly, her voice cool. "Tell them I reject the offer."

  "What!" It came out harsher than intended, but the situation the young man found himself in made him unable to think of an apology at the moment. For Pete's sake, Mr. Mears would fire him as soon as he opened his mouth to throw up that he had not succeeded.

Had he missed something while explaining to her? Something like perhaps, the revenue she would get, the publicity along with it, or maybe how her business could be expanded to South-Africa too?

Had he missed telling her that she could supply her recently launched make up products for black women which hadn't sold so well in Europe to Nigeria, Tanzania and Gabon? Where had he gone wrong?

  As though sensing his thoughts, Jade added with a shrug, "I'm okay with the way my corporation is progressing now, and I want nothing to do with the attention of the press, we aren't lacking money either so, I beg to decline." 

  "But ma'am, can't you think it through and..."

  "No, young man. My apologies, what is your name?"

  "James Carter ma'am."

  "Good. Carter, there is nothing to think through. I am not interested, no need wasting your time."

  Defeated, Carter stood, his shoulders slumped in sadness. He was about giving his pleasantries for the sake of politeness when Jade added.

"And do tell Mr. Mears that the Hungarian investors contacted me last night, and I accepted their offer. I already know this is his ploy to kill two birds with a stone. I will partner with the Mears corporation because I said yes to the investors, not because of the opportunities you have memorised and recited out so well to me. And, he can forget about getting back the Michael Kors deal now. It's been signed already."

   "Yes ...ma'am" Carter stuttered, wondering if he could remember all she had just said and if he had succeeded or not.

  "Tell him that his company should contact my secretary to know when I would start attending the meetings. That will be all." She shook hands with him, and he suddenly felt disappointed when her moist hands left his. 

  "Thank you, ma'am" 

  Smiling, Jade replied. "It's Jade Kimberly by the way."

  "Ma'am?" Carter was obviously confused.

  "If we meet outside, you can call me by my name. The whole ma'am thing makes me feel old." 

Carter laughed uncontrollably, although she had said nothing funny, showing the gap between his teeth. 

  "Thank you then." 

When the doors finally closed, Jade stared at it, wondering if she had made the right decision accepting to work with Ricky. Suddenly chiding herself, she walked to her table and rang Annabelle "You know that document I told you to go through? I need it now, don't worry about reviewing it, I will do it myself." 

  If work was going to take her mind off him, then work she must.