CHAPTER 5:THE MEETING

“Drive straight to the office. I have a meeting in twenty minutes” Nelson said to Henry, his driver.

“Yes sir” Henry replied, starting the engine and zooming out of the compound, driving straight to the office.

Nelson is the most eligible bachelor in the whole of Toronto, and of course the CEO of Rodriguez Autos. He is always so busy with work, you would rarely see him go for events, if it’s not a business dinner or a production he’d rather pass. Asides from the tough aura he always has to put on, he is a very emotional and caring person. Growing up, he has always been very affectionate. His dad used to domestically abuse his mom for years until he passed away on Nelson’s twenty-second birthday. Anytime his dad beats his mum, Nelson would always be the one to pet his little brother Andrew and most times have to clean his mother's wounds. This always broke his heart but he couldn’t confront his dad until this very day when Nelson had walked off his guests after the party was over. Upon entering the house, he heard his dad shouting at his mum because his mum had found out that his dad was cheating with his secretary. The argument was so heated and before Nelson knew what was happening, he heard his mum scream out in pain. This made him rush upstairs to see what was going on. Getting into the room, Nelson saw his dad strangling his mum on the couch that sat at the corner of their room, and out of defence, Nelson took the nearest vase and hit it on his dad’s head. His dad bled out due to the hard impact of the vase on his head and this was what caused the death of his father, because by the time he was rushed to the clinic, he already lost too much blood, and was pronounced dead on arrival.

When the police came to interrogate the family, they all stuck to the same alliby, saying his dad was going to have his bath when he slipped and hit his head on the vase close to the bathroom door. His dad was buried and from then onward, he became the CEO of Rodriguez Autos and this is part of the reasons why he doesn’t want to get involved with any woman. He has always feared that he could turn out like his dad and he didn't want his kids to hate him or his wife to fear him just like his mum feared his dad till the day he died.

“We’re here sir” Henry said, opening the door for his boss.

“Thank you Henry. I’ll be in the meeting for two hours, so if you want, you can go see a movie or do something to pass away time” Nelson said to his driver.

“Alright sir, thank you sir” Henry said happily closing the door of the car.

“If you need money, just let me know and I’ll transfer it to you” Nelson said before making his way into the building, heading straight for the conference room on the twentieth floor.

As Nelson kept walking past, his staffs were all bowing to greet him as he is known to be very strict and principled so no one would want to get on his bad side. Taking his private elevator, he pressed the twentieth floor button and relaxed, waiting for the elevator to take him to his destination. Getting out of the elevator he made his way to the conference room where everyone was already seated waiting for his arrival.

“Good morning everyone, I’m thankful we’re all on time. Please proceed with the meeting” Nelson said as he sunk into his seat, bracing himself for the next two hours of heated deliberation.

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Taking a cab, Amie headed straight to the saloon first to curl her hair as

she was already having undergrowth and since her hair is very long she

decided to curl it so as to look presentable when she starts her new job.

“ Anything to impress the new boss” she thought to herself.

“We’re here miss “ The driver said, bringing her out of her thoughts.

“ Thank you so much Mister, here’s your money” Amie said to driver before

getting her things and coming out of the car.

She walked into the saloon and greeted the hair stylist and told her she was here to curl her hair. She was told to wait twenty minutes before it gets to her turn as there were customers who had arrived before her. While waiting, she brought out her novel and decided to continue from where she stopped the night before, when she started thinking of the possibility that her obsessed ex could be back to cause more trouble for her.

Christian seemed to be the perfect guy for her three years ago. He was so caring, attentive, and loving. They had met at the mall one day when Amelia took her younger sister, Bridget to buy few clothes for her birthday shoot, and from there they started talking, getting close and as time went on, they began to date. Things went so well throughout their first year together, until Christian started to get possessive and very toxic into the second year of their relationship. He started to monitor her every moment, even started to stalk the people she moves with or talks to. It started to get very concerning when Christian would always go and threaten them to never be seen with her again. When they started to have issues, was when he started trying to separate Dianna and Amelia, telling Dianna that he was going to take her far away if she doesn’t stay away from his girlfriend. On their, second year anniversary, Amelia was running late because there was a disaster with her dress, when all of a suddenly she got a call from Dianna telling her she was in trouble. Apparently, Christian had thought Amelia was running late because Dianna was keeping her so he went over to her house, standing outside with a knife in his hands shouting and banging the door for Dianna to bring out his girlfriend. Dianna called the police while Amelia rushed over to her house. By the time Amie got to Dianna’s house, the police already seized Christian and at that point, Amie ended the relationship. Since then she hadn’t heard anything until a year ago, when he started to tail her siblings and immediately she reported to the police, Christian had disappeared again.

”So why exactly is he back now?” Amie thought to herself, when someone tapped her to tell her it was her turn to style her hair.

“Please, sit here so I can work on your hair ma’am” said Sally, the owner of the

saloon.

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”Well, that was a successful meeting. After all the deliberations, I had even started to give up on the contract” Nelson said to Esther, his secretary and personal assistant. Esther has been a very hardworking staff since she started working with Nelson, but she is resigning because she is getting married and after her wedding, she’d be relocating with her husband. This is why, she got him another Secretary before she leaves.

“Yes sir, it was a successful meeting” Esther replied, walking behind her boss carrying the files of the newly signed contract and the salary budget for the new employees.

“Well, please drop the files on my desk, I’ll review and append my signature when I get back from the cafeteria. I need to grab something to eat” Nelson said, walking towards the elevator.

“Meanwhile, you don’t have to wait for me to get back, your job here is done. Thank you for a job well done, I wish you marital bliss and happiness” Nelson concluded before stepping into the elevator.

“ Thank you so much sir” Esther replied before the elevator doors closed. She made her way to his office, dropped the files on his table. Taking one last look at the office she’s been in and out of for the past two years, she smiled before exiting and closing the door behind her.

It took thirty minutes for Nelson to finish his lunchat the cafeteria, he paid for the food and took his private elevator back to his office. Nelson has always been one who loved perfection and diligence and this was one character he always looks out for in his staffs, which is why anytime he’s about to hire a new staff he places them on one month probation to watch how effective they would be when they finally start the main job.

“I hope this new secretary would not give me problems because I do not have time to start teaching someone how to do her job” He thought as he stepped out of the elevator and walked to his office.

Walking into his office, he sat across from his table on the sofa sitting elegantly on the left corner of his office, after picking the Salary Budget file to endorse his signature on the amount of money to be paid as salary for the new incoming secretary and a couple of newly hired staffs in other departments.

“From her profile, she looks like she’s going to be hardworking. I mean, she was working at a coffee shop for three years, that should have been tasking enough” He said out loud, looking at Amelia’s working profile.

“I’ll consider raising the salary amount since she’d be working in two different positions” He said, before putting his signature on the piece of paper.

“We’ll see on Monday, how good she is at working under pressure”He added before standing up to leave his office. On his way out he dropped the file on his secretary table, before taking the elevator, going to the parking lot to meet his driver who already brought the car up front to meet his boss.

“Drive me home Henry, I need to get some sleep before tonight’s dinner” Nelson said after getting into the car.

“Yes boss” Henry replied, starting the engine and zooming out of the building.

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”All done ma’am, you’re free to go” Sally said to Amie, after taking one more look at her handiwork.

“How do you like it” She further asked Amie who was busy staring at the mirror, wondering if that was truly her.

“I love it. I look very beautiful and different from the regular Amie. Thank you so much” Amie said smiling from ear to ear.

“ You’re welcome. Please do well to keep coming back” Sally said collecting the money Amie was pointing to her and smiling.

“Time to go shopping” Amie said to herself as she walked out of the saloon, hauling a cab to the mall to buy herself new office wears.