Why did he make her nervous and why was she thirsting over him in her head. That was very unprofessional of her lol.

This is totally unlike her. She is not even into fine boys normally. She has never dated a fine boy because she could not stand most of them.
But, this one took her by surprise! This is why she wanted to information on him beforehand.

Yes, he is handsome! Like...she is not blind but is that why she'll almost loose her composure. Also, there's a 90% chance that he is married. She didn't look at his ring finger; most of these married men do not wear their rings these days afterall and that's not her mission.

How could she even slip like that in this cutthroat industry? She is supposed to be Chief's eyes and ears here, yet within a second of locking eyes with the guy she forgot her mandate.
She almost embarassed herself there o.

As she composed the email he requested for she remembered he addressed her formally by her first name. NO ONE calls her that, everyone calls her Sofi but he chose to address her formally to let her know that he would not be getting friendly  with her eh. Okay!

She attached the report and hit the send button, she kept the email super formal and direct. He responded with an acknowledgement in less than 30 seconds. Chief would usually respond to emails hours later with a call lol.

Mr. Richards is lucky she got Chief to sign the report last week, Mr. Richard does not usually prepare the quarterly reports on time because Chief does not really use them since he was both Chairman of the Board and CEO. But when she heard Chief was taking some time off she pressured him to prepare it because of the Board.

She went on to create the meeting notice on the company scheduler then attended to some tasks, disbursed some payments before she went to the HR Manager to get the tea she has been waiting for.

However, she was met with disappointed because he did not fill the employee HR forms. Turns out that he has a service contract and not and an employment contract like the rest of them. He doesnt need to fill employee forms. His taxes and pension will be sorted by his own private Accountants. Every other business of his will be sorted at the board level.

"Not even for medicals or emergency contact?" Sofi whined.

"My dear, he said we should call his  driver for emergencies and he has private medical insurance," The HR Manager Kola said visibly frustrated too lol. Looks like everyone wanted tea on this new CEO but he seems to be a super private person. He even turned down the Company driver that was assigned to him, he came with his own personal driver.

4:30pm

Mr. Obaze arrived around 3:30pm just in time for their meeting, everything went smoothly. She wanted to close early today because her best friend, Toyin lost her watch at the club they went to last Friday so she wanted to branch the club and speak to the manager.

"Sofi" Ada popped into her office again, "They need you in the meeting!"

Arrrhh! these meetings with Mr. Richards and Mr. Obaze can drag on for hours o. Usually whenever Chief  holds these meetings with them, she stays back till they finish because Chief or Mr. Obaze will always need some information or help from her.

"Mr Obaze needs some data on the gas projects" Ada gave her the heads up so she will come prepared.

She grabbed her laptop and headed to the meeting room. Ada was also there taking notes, she was sitting just beside Mr. Madaki.

The meeting room was brighter so she could see his face clearly. Seriously he is distractingly attractive. She wondered how Ada was coping sitting calm right next to him like that.

As the meeting progressed, he was just dishing out orders to Mr. Obaze and Mr. Richards. At a point he got into a heated argument with Mr. Richards (Who is obviously way more older than him and has 25 years' experience o!) over some accounting standard issue, things were getting tense but poor Mr. Richards backed down on his opinion probably out of respect to the new Oga.

Mr. Madaki then ordered him to prepare the same reports again but with the new International Reporting Standard within a week! Mr. Richard just nodded politely and promised to deliver it. Hmmm see maturity.

She was so mad on behalf of Mr. Richards, how can he talk to him like that. Mr. Richards is the third in command here even Chief talks to him with utmost respect what is his problem?

The meeting continued, he did some restructuring in some departments then mentioned something about revising the contractors list and Sofi's heart dropped.
That is her area she was the one who screened and vetted all the epc contractors on their roster.

Chief has always delegated that role to her because he trusts her judgment and her picks were always the best for the Company. Wait, why does it feel like he is coming for her too?

"That Reminds me Mr. Richard" The CEO said just as they were about to wrap up the meeting.

"Why is 80% of the funds earmarked for charity allocated to celebrity endorsement?" He pointed at the screen where the numbers were displayed but his eyes were fixed on Mr. Richards again.

Mr. Richards looked nervous and uncomfortable under the CEO's glare; he shrugged then looked to Sofi for help.

She cleared her throat and spoke directly to him for the first time since she joined the meeting

"It is part of the Company's Corporate Social Responsibility Initiatives," She sounded much more confident this time unlike the other time when it was just him and her in his office. See! It was definitely that intimidating office décor that made her nervous earlier.

He chuckled scornfully at what she just said. "Purchasing SUVs for celebrities is your idea of CSR?" He turned to her, disbelief written all over his face.

"You approved this?" He asked Mr. Richards and Mr. Richards shrugged again, implying he had no say in the matter.

"Part of our CSR policy is to support infant industries in Nigeria with high potential" She added, this time her voice was louder. She is not going to let him silence her or disrespect her. She is not Mr. Richards he should not try her.

He looked at her as if she just said the dumbest thing he has ever heard in his life. This pissed her off but she kept her cool. This will help her understand his leadership style. From this meeting alone and from their exchange in his office she could tell that intimidation is part of his tactics.

She refused to take the bait so she continued and stood her ground.

"The entertainment industry has so much potential and could create millions of jobs for young people but piracy, weak copyright laws and poor funding are some challenges that hinders its growth. This is why the Company supports these artistes.

He frowned this time, he looked very angry. She thought he was going to fire her.

"So it was your idea to spend 800 million naira on celebrities while spending only N100m on the communities we operate in? Does that even make sense to you Ms. Ireti?" He asked.

It was not her idea! It was Chief's decision. Why was he pinning it on her and making her look bad right now. She opened her mouth to say something but she didn't know what to say again.

"What does CSR mean to you?" He asked her calmly, putting her on the spot. Ada and Mr. Richard looked scared for her but Mr. Obaze just smiled. He was the only one staying calm in this meeting.

"it is the Integration of social and environmental concerns in our business operations and interactions with all stakeholders" She answered looking him in the eye. Does he think she is an olodo? she is the one that composes all the company's policy statements.

He looked almost disappointed that she got the answer right but he didn't stop there. "Okay good, now please enlighten me, how does gifting popular and successful celebrities cash and SUVs fit into that definition"

Shit! Think Sofi, think!

"The endorsement deals are also part of our public relations and brand building strategy too"

"Have you ever seen an advertisement for crude oil?" He asked her. Okay she has had enough of his BS he should go ahead and finish her.

"No Sir" she sighed.

"We have ONE customer, our product is a commodity in a regulated market with fixed price we don't need any bloody marketing or PR the only stakeholders that need our public relations are the indigenes of the communities we operate in" He said furiously.

He is right but this is not her fault. It was all Chief's idea. He has always supported celebrities and the entertainment industry for years now. He is a huge fan of these celebrities. In fact, she heard this is how he met Banky's mother some 20 years ago when he sponsored a beauty contest where she emerged as second runner up. The woman has even retired from modelling O, but she is still receiving cheques for endorsements deals from the Company, lol.

But she couldn't say that in the meeting that is informal information and it would be unprofessional. So she just keep quiet and collected the dragging in peace.

After he finished his rant, he looked at Ada signaling her to note his next points.

"Cancel all the celebrity endorsement deals with immediate effect, retain one ambassador, the ambassador should be from the Niger delta region. Henceforth, we will no longer sponsor any album launch, movie premieres, concerts, or sporting events.

Silence....

"Create a healthcare, education, and SME aid fund for the indigenes of the community we operate in. I want a report on that in 48 hours." He said, then turned his gaze to her.
She looked back at him wildly in confusion was he giving her that order, she couldn't tell if he was talking to her or Ada.

"Did you get that?"

She looked at Ada then at him again.

"Yes Sir" she answered. Oh that was for her.

"Drop the 'Sir' honorific; you can call me Mr. Madaki, i am not a Knight" He said with slight irritation.

It seemed he had already said that before she joined the meeting because Ada and Mr. Obaze were holding back their laugh.

As everyone started packing up to leave she realised that they've all been pronouncing his name wrong.

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