Day 2 of the ultimatum.
Time:10:00a.m

'Cat Got Your Tongue?'

With brisk strides, Mr. Adam, Beatrice and I walked into Nicholas Corporation.

We entered an elevator and headed to the second floor where the conference room was located.

Stacy spotted us as soon as we got off the elevator, and made confident steps towards us. My eyes travelled all over her outfit; a carefully ironed white shirt tucked into a black pencil skirt and a pair of black stilettos on her feet.

"Come this way please..." Came her firm voice. She regarded me contemptuously before shifting her gaze to Mr. Adam.

"Call me Stacy, I'm Mr. Ross' secretary." She chirped in as we followed her. Her speech for the benefit of the persons walking beside me.

We stopped walking when we came to a large tiled space where other men and women were waiting for the meeting to commence. Stacy turned to eye Beatrice maliciously and Beatrice managed a smirk.

"Ah, Florence, it's you..." Stacy said impudently like she was seeing me for the first time . I pursed my lips, fiddling with the folder in my hand. Mr Adam turned to a man standing beside him  and held a little discussion  with him.

"Always tagging along, you'll never change." Stacy twisted her lips wickedly, making Beatrice turn to me in annoyance, probably wondering why I didn't talk back.

"That's the head of Amanda Empire you're talking to." Beatrice spat, making Stacy blink and gape at me with her lips parted.

Cat got your tongue?

Beatrice's statement was true in a way, but I wasn't the head of Amanda Empire, my mom still is. Despite my thoughts, I gave Stacy the most charming smile I could afford, making her move her legs in discomfort.

"If that's the case.. then, I...I." She spoke in a shaky voice,  recovering from her initial shocked state..

"I hope you'll refrain from running your  mouth near her again." Beatrice snapped, making Stacy purse her lips and lower her head in utter humiliation. I tactfully gripped Beatrice's hand to force back the imminent outpour of hate-filled words.

Stacy stealthily crept away from us, to converse with other people around us.  Mr. Adam's conversation with the stranger ended and he carefully rotated on his feet to face Beatrice and I.

"The meeting will start..." He paused to look at his phone held in between his fingers.

"The meeting will commence  in a few minutes, you may  all proceed to the conference room."  Stacy spoke in a  high-pitched voice which caused  all eyes to fall on her, just like she always wanted. 

After her short talk ended, the gentleman and ladies together with us made unhurried steps to the conference room where we sat on different swivel chairs at the large U-shaped conference table.

Subsequent to our entry into the room which was properly  illuminated and sufficiently aired,  the owner of Nicholas Corporation walked in together with his dad, Gabriel and their bodyguards trailing behind them,  bearing those ear-thingies on their ears.  All of them were extremely handsome,  wearing flawless suits and shining shoes.  My eyes trained on Philip who whispered some words into Gabriel's ear and I shamelessly captured the movement of his lips in slow motion and fell into a satisfying trance.

It was extremely difficult for me to believe that  Philip was the same person that spent a considerable amount of time at the orphanage with me, playing with the kids like his life depended on it.

Seeing the authority his presence carried greatly impressed me, he had numerous multi-billion-dollar companies around the world , was in charge of millions of people working under him, yet he stooped to play with the adorable kids at the orphanage. He had many sides to his personality,  I had seen his arrogant and self-centered side and his altruistic side, what other side haven't I seen yet?

Placing a bridle on my thoughts, I journeyed back to the present. Fortunately for me, Beatrice didn't catch me daydreaming (at least she pretended not to), or I wouldn't have seen the end of her mockery.  The meeting was just beginning and I pried the upper lid of the laptop I recently acquired, open.  It was a simple HP laptop. What? were you expecting something different Like an Apple laptop?

My attention was shifted from my laptop's power button to Beatrice who was fully equipped with writing materials; a silver-coloured retractable pen  that had the Amanda Empire logo - an outline of Tamara, and a wide-paged note pad. Finding her satisfactorily equipped, I pressed the  black. tiny power button and waited for the Windows icon to come up on the screen, before transferring my gaze to Philip who cleared his throat after deeming the time he gave us to prepare our writing materials, long enough. I wished I could hold his eyes, but he wasn't planning on looking at me yet.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, I'm honoured to welcome to our 15th meeting for this year. Without squandering time, I'll go straight to the first reason for this meeting."

While he spoke about different urgent issues that needed attention, I gazed at the men and women seated around me.

I noticed Stephan, Philip's arch-enemy who had a scowl plastered on his face, but nevertheless listened with utmost concentration, probably seeking pitfalls in Philip's speech. Next to him, a man in his mid-thirties listened out of sheer duty, he reclined in his chair and watched the scenario indifferently. Stacy was seated next to Mr. Adam doing her job, Gabriel, Philip's father sat directly opposite me and a smile appeared on his lips as his son said something that impressed him.

"We have to device strategies to guarantee the continuous satisfaction of our customers and employees. Doing that will not only help maximize our profits, it will ensure the society is positively affected."

"Personally, I plan on setting up a fair for the benefit of the public, hoping that it'll go a long way in assuring them that I care about them. It isn't really necessary that you organize a fair, you may set up something else that can put your companies in good light."

"Any questions available can be addressed to me..."

He gave everyone a charming smile which made some of the ladies blush, earning a smirk from me.

The men and women whispered among themselves and Philip waited patiently for them to end their deliberations. Mr. Indifferent and Stephan were the only persons left out, both of them stroked their clean-shaved chins in an annoying manner.

Stephan smartly stood up and everyone's white and differently coloured balls (I meant eyes, sorry,  I can be extremely exaggerative in descriptions) turned to him. Mr. Philip effortlessly retained the smile on his face despite its attempt to fade out.

"I was  wondering how these so-called 'charity' events will be of benefit to us." He gestured at everyone seated.

His question or statement wasn't bad at all, but the traces of sarcasm in his words filled me with the urge to plant a thunderous slap on his face, accompanied with lighting bolts. I would gladly require Beatrice's services for that purpose.

"Mr. Smithville," Philip began with an amused smile, making me wonder what it was that  he found funny.

"Like i said, organising a charity event or however you tag it is absolutely optional. The society plays a crucial role to us surviving in the business world. Failure to consistently keep them happy will mean the impending doom of our companies..."

"...that's for those who do not have clever strategies. A businessman or woman should be ruthless in dealing with the society or else, they'll bend you in whatever direction that suits them, take for example, the orphans..." Stephan mocked with a glint in his eyes and I immediately perceived that he knew something about Philip that I didn't know.

My eyes flicked to Philip whose fists clenched on the flat surface of the podium and his knuckles turned white. I knew an outburst was certain if someone doesn't interfere. Without thinking, I rose to my feet and all heads turned in my direction.

"Mr. Smithville, I don't think this calls for an uncivilized comment, it doesn't also call for dragging your personal issues here. It was only a suggestion, no one's compelling you to do anything. If you aren't content, you can politely remonstrate and by not making an unnecessary reference to the less privileged."

Stephan narrowed  his eyes at me before dropping into his seat in defeat. Mr. Indifferent still had his fingers on his chin, but this time around, he had a little smile on his lips. I balanced my frame in my seat and glanced at Philip who looked extremely pleased with me.

"Are there any other civil questions?" Everyone laughed in a controlled manner, but no one made to stand up.

"Very well, we can move to other issues on our agenda." He spoke with his eyes firmly planted on mine. I sensed something other than gratitude in his eyes and they remained fixed on mine till the closure of the meeting.

☜☜☜

Guys, i sincerely apologize for my late update, I've been occupied with a lot of things, household chores, school work and all that. Am I forgiven?

This chapter wasn't eventful, I know, but that's how it's meant to be.

Thank you to my dear supporters, the silent readers too, and even those who have been checking out on me.

I love you all,
Tris❤❤❤❤

Dedicated to just one person,
Candice_Is_Crazy