The Love Of Money - Episode 244
08-08-25 (16:05)
"Well," Chandler said. "It's not the first time I've dealt
with psychopaths in boardrooms. The business
-environment seems to attract them." His smile became
a lot more genuine... more Chandler. "Not to worry. Not
much she can do besides take away your company and
all." With that, he slipped out the door and closed it
behind him.
"Fuck, Marcus," Erin breathed.
"I know," I said, ashamed of how I'd reacted. After the
exchange with Chandler and the building doubt
whispering in the back of my mind, I hated myself for
not being the cool guy who could walk into a room,
look the villain in the eye, and pretend I wasn't shaken.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fly off the handle like that. I
just saw her face and I didn't have the words to finish
the sentence, so I mimed an explosion.
"No." Erin said, touching my arm, her dark eyes shining
and her eyebrows canted in worry. "I mean... I'm sorry.
This meeting was nerve-wracking enough. Then you
had to go and run into her?"
"Oh," said, relieved that she wasn't going to berate me.
"Thanks."
She slid against my side, wrapping her slender arms
around my waist to squeeze me tight. Her cheek was
pressed against my chest as she continued to look up
at me with her big doe eyes.
"What do you want to do?"
I thought about it for several moments. Now that I'd
taken a few minutes to process it, I felt like I'd actually
be able to sit in the same room with that woman... at
least long enough to cast a vote. If Amber was the one
who'd interrogated me-quit saying if, Marcus... It was
definitely her-it wasn't like she could do anything in the
middle of a business meeting. Besides being too public
of a setting, John was with me. Chloe was already
doing everything she could to find proof, and I was
confident enough in her skills that we'd have some
way to press charges against her by the time we'd
made Chandler CEO.
"I'm gonna attend a business meeting."
"You sure?" Erin asked.
"It doesn't sound like I have a choice," I said. "You
heard Chandler"
"Okay" Erin said. She slid one hand behind my head
and pulled me down so that she could press her lips to
mine for a heated kiss that caused my blood to rush.
Her tongue slid past my mouth and that caused my
blood to rush. Her tongue slid past my mouth and into
mine, and I heard a faint whimper as we made out in
the small meeting room inside VistaVision. I felt her
other hand drop from my waist to my ass, and she
tried to grab as much of one cheek as her dainty hand
would allow. We spent the next few moments making
out, and I couldn't help but wonder what i'd deserved
to have such an empathetic, beautiful, loyal angel by
my side- someone so capable in business but a hellcat
in the bedroom.
We parted, but she kept our faces close as she looked
up at me with her large, expressive eyes and said, "I'm
fucking the shit out of you tonight."
Less than ten minutes later, we cleaned up the mess
we'd made of Erin's makeup and returned to the board
room, everyone still had their eyes on me. Helen was
staring at me with her cold, blue, unreadable gaze, Hiro
was looking at me like a disappointed father, and Carla
was doing her best to hide an amused smile. That
bothered me more than anything else. Why the fuck
was she even here? Did Hiro really need his emotional
support Barbie to attend a simple board meeting?
A few new faces had arrived in my absence. I
recognized a few of them as -executive officers of the
company-I recognized Yancy McLane, the Chief Financial
Officer, and Thandi Nkosi, VistaVision's Information
Officer. There was also a man who looked in his early
thirties with advanced male pattern baldness. His suit
looked like it cost as much as my old car, and his watch
could have covered a few months' rent in my old
apartment. He was Michael Ross, my siblings' legal
representation.
The other person was a woman about my sister's
height but as slender as Erin. The only word I could
think of to describe her was graceful. She had a heart-
shaped face, high cheekbones, a slender nose, and lips
that were just a touch on the thin side. Her white
blonde hair was fine as silk, parted down the middle,
and was loosely kept out of her face with a couple of
simple hair pins; it fell down to the middle of her back.
Her bangs were swooped to the side, framing a pair of
striking blue-green eyes. She wore a tight-fitting cream
blouse that buttoned all the way up to the hollow of
her throat and a pair of dress pants. Her whole outfit
was conservative compared to what I was used to
seeing my assistant in, but it hugged her perfectly,
showing off the gentle curves of her willowy form.
"Ah, good timing, Marcus," Chandler said, pulling my
attention away from the beauty sitting to his left. "I
was just telling the board about the dreadful experience
you had last week and that I was sure they could
understand the toll such an encounter would take on
any of us. Better men would not have recovered so
quickly."
"With that in mind," he continued, "Miss Bell's striking
resemblance to someone else startled you. I've assured
everyone you're fine and offered my sincerest
apologies. We're ready to press on if you are
I dared to glance at Amber, but, unlike everyone else,
her attention was on the meeting's agenda as she
furiously wrote in the margins. She barely seemed
aware of what was happening around her.
The moment I opened my mouth to tell Chandler I was
fine, she spoke up. "Yes. An unfortunate coincidence. I
apologize if my likeness to this person upset you." She
halted her pen mid-stroke, looked up at me, and said, "I
can assure you. No offense was taken. In fact, I would
even venture to say it was..." Her eyes went glassy,
and she suddenly looked as if she was looking through
me while trying to find the right words to finish her
sentence. "Very effective in helping me maintain a state
of alertness."
"I'm... glad I could help," I said. Erin and I glanced at
each other, and I could tell she was thinking the same
thing this woman seemed off somehow... like she had
some sort of social disorder. However, with that
business out of the way, I took my seat on Chandler's
right. Erin took the empty spot between Hiro and me.
"Glad all the drama's worked out," a voice said from a
speakerphone. Wayne Pruden, my other ally, hadn't
been able to make it in person, but he was here in
spirit. "Now, if everyone's around the campfire, can we
start singing Kumbaya?"
Chandler ensured everyone was ready and then
started. "As you can see, I've provided a package for
each of you. In it, you'll find detailed records of the
operations as well as the financial..."
Over the next fifteen minutes, Chandler regaled us with
a tale of corporate success and how the last six
quarters had taken the company to new heights of
financial gains and development. Despite having gone
over the meeting several times with Chandler, I was
pleasantly surprised by his performance and the
presentation's content. He was thorough and
knowledgeable, and by the time he finished, I was
convinced all over again that he was the man for the
job.
At his conclusion, a handful of people clapped-Karl
Yunger, Carla At his conclusion, a handful of people
clapped-Karl Yunger, Carla Tanaka, and the woman
with the white blonde hair among them. "Well, that
was damn convincing. I know where' I'm casting my
vote," Wayne groused.
Kelly stood up and looked around the room at
everyone, taking a longer moment to stare at me, then
Chandler. Then she said, "That's a nice narrative you put
together, but I'm here to set the record straight." She
pointed a small remote at the wall behind Chandler,
and a white backdrop slowly descended, accompanied
by a faint hum.
"It's true, this company has done relatively well in
recent years, but growth has slowed considerably
compared to what it did five years ago." A PowerPoint
presentation appeared on the backdrop, and she began
comparing monthly revenue, key performance
Indicators, and a host of other metrics on a higher level
than Chandler. She talked about the company's
performance during her time at the company, pointing
out that growth had slowed significantly since her
departure.
It lasted roughly ten minutes before she concluded her
speech, saying, "What I'm suggesting is that this
company has missed me. Milestones have been kicked
down the road for the past several years, and overall
profit has fallen nearly twenty percent in the last six
months. We saw record growth while I served as Vice
President of Development. Imagine what I could do at
the helm. Thank you."
The same few that had clapped for Chandler did the
same for Kelly, with the addition of the man with the
swarthy complexion and bold nose. I made it a point to
not join in. I had to admit that Chandler did a great job
communicating the company's recent successes and
plans for the future. However, Kelly did at least as good
of a job painting a picture that muted the brightness of
Chandler's optimism. She spoke with a level of
expertise and authority that was hard to ignore and
attacked Chandler's more rosy outlook with facts, logic,
and scathing conclusions.
"Alright," Chandler said, looking a little pale around the
eyes. "We'll open up the floor for questions and
discussion."
The next half hour was spent discussing numbers and
figures. Kelly immediately went on the offensive,
pointing out several key indicators that had flagged
significantly in the past year. The dark- skinned man
jumped on the attack, pointing out that his shares had
decreased in value by two percent over the last
quarter. All the while, Chandler did a terrific job of
parrying all the attacks thrown while, Chandler did a
terrific job of parrying all the attacks thrown at him. Don't forget to leave a Comment 
