Chapter 4
1142 Words
Michael was done preparing for work and went downstairs to eat breakfast. He greeted and had a seat in the dinning.
Mabel dished the food for him and his parents. They prayed and began eating.
After some time , Michael was done eating and checked the time on his watch.
" Gosh ! I'm late for work" He said in shock.
His parents turned to him . " Aren't you the boss, so why are you worried " His father said.
" Yes but, I have a meeting today. I forgot. s**t ! "
He took his briefcase from the sitting room and left for work.
As he entered the group company, his staffs greeted him and one carried his briefcase.
His personal assistant , Chuks followed him to his office. " You came late Sir " He said. " They're waiting for you at the Food Corp sir."
Aside from being Michael's PA , Chuks had a close relationship with Michael. They were like brothers.
Lots of people often mistake them to be brothers cause he was always by his side, whether in a conference, during meetings or dinner parties . During office hours they were formal.
" How many minutes before the meeting starts? "
" one hour thirty minutes sir " He answered.
" Have you contacted the law firm? Is any of their representatives around? "
" I have contacted them sir. Mrs Mary is on her way. She will soon get there " .
Michael sighed " Okay "
Few minutes later , Mary arrived at the Food Corp When the staff knew she had arrived, they went back to their respective positions and tidy their surroundings.
She entered, and they all stood up to greet her.
She entered, looked around , Checking for mistakes.
"You!" She pointed at the cleaning lady. " What's your problem, didn't you know that you missed a spot. Look at how dirty here is . "
The Cleaner went to her and apologized to her.
" I don't need your apology, just do your job well." She looked at her with disgust and went up to join the meeting.
" This Woman is so pathetic and miserable." Mr Godwin, from Customer service said. He was a middle aged man who had worked in the company for over ten years. He was fair with a round face.
He despised Mary so much and claims not to be afraid of her.
He was the head of the customer service department.
" She wasn't actually like this before" Desola Said back at him. She was the ground floor receptionist. Tall with a skinny body.
" She's really miserable . She treats people like trash when she herself is trash "
" She's at your back " One of the staffs said and giggled .
" I'm sorry ma " He said in fear and turned to check but she wasn't there and felt annoyed.
The staffs where all laughing at him.
" You think I didn't know you were lying.... I'm not scared of her" He said in annoyance.
They all sighed, knowing he was lying.
" The fact that she changed so much is unbelievable. " Chioma said. She was the 3rd floor receptionist.
" Yes ! She was sweet, kind and playful, buh now She's literally the devil's Advocate..........See what I did there?" Joseph from Marketing department said and laughed.
" Hmmm....The devil's advocate as in lawyer " Mr Godwin laughed.
" Only God knows what happened between her and the CEO that made her change " Chioma said as she stroke her chin.
" She'll be fine " Said Desola
" I pray so. " Chioma paused " I really pray so"
Everyone was waiting for Michael at the board meeting. The meeting was between Crown Food Corp. and Tasty delights to discuss about a partnership to co-produce and distribute a healthy snack called NUTRI DELIGHT made from plantain , coconut and moringa.
This was the final meeting to review partnership terms, intellectual property rights, production responsibilities, distribution, and regulatory compliance.
" I've been waiting for almost an hour, where's Mr. Michael. " Mr. Marcus,the CEO of Tasty Delights said in annoyance. He was a short dark bald man with a pot belly. He was in his late fifties.
Tasty Delights was one of the leading Food company in the country . Their products were all over Africa and some countries in Europe.
" I'm sorry Mr. Marcus , He'll soon be here he was held up in traffic. " Mary said to calm him down. The others were to tense to talk. She continued to distract him before Michael would arrive
Few minutes later, Michael arrived. He apologized for being late. Then the meeting began.
" Thanks for coming, everyone. We’re excited about launching NutriDelight together. Let’s finalize the terms today. Legal teams, we’ll need your guidance to make sure this is a solid deal.” Michael looked at Mary.
"Yes Sir" Mary replied.
"Before we sign off, we need clarity on Intellectual property. The recipe and name NutriDelight were developed by Crown Food Corp. " Mary picked up a paper from the table.
"We propose that our company retains trademark and recipe ownership, while Tasty Delights gets exclusive rights to distribute internationally for five years.”
"We’re comfortable with that, provided our branding is co-featured and we have first refusal rights on any expansion into Europe." Barrister Chisom replied back.
She was the Legal Advisor for Tasty Delights . She was a fair skinned lady, very busty and was a little chubby with big cheeks. She looked like someone in her early thirties and also wore glasses.
The two began their legal expertise and were talking about better ways to make the partnership profitable for both companies.
Michael and Mr. Marcus began to talk more deeply about the business partnership .
“Thank you. The Legal team has helped make this airtight. We’ll finalize the agreement this week and prepare for production.” Michael said as the meeting was about wrapping up.
“Great work. Our legal teams made this smoother than expected.”
"Nice doing business with you Mr. Marcus". Michael stretched his hand out for a handshake.
Mr. Marcus laughed and shook him. " Nice doing business with you too. I'm happy about this partnership. " He said and took his leave.
The meeting had ended and Mary was packing some of the documents from the table , When Michael went to her.
" Thank you for today. They told me how you help stall Mr. Marcus till I came. I really appreciate."
She looked at him and rolled her eyes.
" Hmmmm...... I did it for the company " she carried the documents and walked out.
Michael was annoyed and regretted having apologized to her .
- Writer
