CHAPTER ONE
1122 Words
Isabella sat in a fully air conditioned office but she had beads of sweat running down her cheeks and no matter how many times she had swiped them away, there was more from where that came from. Her phones and the land lines have been ringing non stop all morning. The company was on fire. Well Hypothetically.
Over the weekend, a very damaging rumor arose like the stench from a refuse dump. It’s been said that the Ferras conglomerate was about to go bankrupt. She has had clients and customers breathing down her neck in the last 10 hrs. She had begged and cried and barked and screamed. None worked.
She ran her hand over her wavy locks, making it more of a mess, than it was before. Isabella saw herself as a fighter. She always pulled through her many troubles. From the death of her mother, to her father’s new wife, and to long lasting years of fighting and bullying from her step sister.
This should be a piece of cake but it clearly wasn’t.
She searched through her bag and took out a pack of tissues. She had exhausted the one in the office. Just then the door to her office swung open.
“Miss Isabella, the vice president, is on the other call,” the secretary said. Her eyes were wide and she had some stress marks underneath her eyes. Yana has been working tirelessly for Isabella for the past 3 years but since this month, the pressure was getting intense. This morning while in the shower, Yana thought of handing over her resignation letter but she had no savings to fall back on, hence why she is standing in front of Isabella.
“Thank you Yana” Isabella gave her a small smile and Yana exited the office. Isabella took in a deep breath, pushed her hair to the side and grabbed the phone.
“Good morning, your excellency” she kept her voice calm even though there was a volcano erupting inside of her.
“Miss Ferras, please tell me they are all lying?” the vice president’s voice boomed from the other end. She didn’t respond immediately as it might give an impression that she had something to hide.
“Yes your Excellency. That was just a rumor from one of our rivals, please don’t let their words sway you too” she said standing to look through her window. A gigantic beautiful view of the city. She ended the call with more positive talks.
“Pheew, that went well” she muttered when placing the phone down on her desk. She stared at her computer. The logo of the Ferras Company was dancing all over the screen.
The Ferras Company was the 3rd biggest company in the United States. They dealt in the shipping of everything you can think of. Everyone loved them because they were good and reliable. So when the vice president decided to become a shareholder in the company, Isabella and her father, the CEO, were ecstatic. That deal was like the tip of the iceberg to the other deals that came flooding in. It took only 5 months, Ferras conglomerate went majorly global. They were as big as Maersk. So when the rumor that they were going bankrupt began, everyone went on a frenzy.
So when you are a big person, your problems are nothing but big problems. For the past few months, Edward Ferras had been getting dozens of emails. These emails were from a person who he had borrowed some money from, to fund this business. Then there was news that the person had died. Edward saw that as an opportunity to flee but then life always had plans to bring him to his knees, in the nearest future.
The threats from the person got worse, when he informed Edward that the money was from a bank. Then the bank began to go after him. Last week, they had gotten hold of their goods that were about to be shipped to customers. Edward paid through his nose to be free from that scandal. Now it is getting worse. They not only threatened his life, they threatened to report him to the police, and as you know, that will not be good for the business. He spoke to his daughter regarding it and she decided to go see good old Charles, a young billionaire friend of hers.
“Miss Isabella!!!” Isabella spun around to find Yana burst in through the door, like a broken dam.
“They are about to have a shareholder’s meeting!”
“What!” she marched out of her office to the board room? Shewas shocked to her bones. It was true.
“What is going on here?” she asked.
“Isabella, kind of you to join us” Mr. Madrigal said. The Sarcasm in his voice was so obvious, even to the deaf.
“Hello Mr. Madrigal” she said quietly.
“We have been trying to reach your father, where is he?” the two of them gave her a pointed stare. Isabella opened her mouth but closed it. Just then her phone began to ring. She checked the screen.
“Oh see it’s my dad” she waved the phone in front of them smiling. “Please excuse me” she walked away from them.
“Dad!” she whispered harshly as she looked from side to side“Where are you? They are about to have a shareholder’s meeting. I think they want reassurance”
Within a minute the rest of the call was over but she got one statement clear. Stall them and come meet me.
Isabella managed to make the shareholders keep the meeting waiting for the next 3 hours, with a little sweet talk. Immediately that was certain, she dashed out of the office to meet her father.
She went to an auction event, as directed by her father.
“What the hell is he doing here “she muttered as she went through the crowd, to find him.
“Isabella” she turned around and her dad grabbed her hands.
“We sit here,” he said.
She had a big question mark on her head. What was her dad doing here during such a crucial time? She opened her mouth to bombard him with questions, when she heard a voice. She stilled.
Her heart clenched, she thought her mind was playing tricks on her. She told herself that many people sounded familiar and it couldn’t possibly be him. She followed the voice, there was no denying the identity of the man seated at the end of the table.
It was him.
It was Lukas Parakis.
- Writer
