Reborn in 1994: Internet Empire

59 Sharpen Co.

       Finally, the day of the meeting with Sharpen co. came. Max and the rest of XMC walked into the imposing skyscraper of a building that towered over them, after being promptly dropped off by Travis. He waved them off before calling out to them again and wishing them luck. They waved as he drove off before finally heading into the intimidating building that housed what could possibly be one of the companies that boost their name into the stratosphere. All that mattered now was for them to pull off the pitch of a lifetime. For now, Max decided that he would be doing the pitch with both Jules and Charlie. Trae and Lina would wait in the restaurant on the ground floor, which looked like one of those holes in the wall jewels which would probably cost the average person a fortune. Nevermind the building, even the people inside exuded an aura of professionalism and no-nonsense. The nerves began to pile up in the group as they split ways on the ground floor.

       “Knock it out of the park man,” Trae said to Max. “All of you too,” he then said to the others.

       “Of course. We will totally bag this partnership,” Max said with a confident grin.

       With a final fist bump exchanged between the two, Max, Charlie, and Jules finally made their way to the elevator. The instructions given to them was to take the elevator to the fourth floor, and then find their way to a separate elevator that had two guards posted there. This separate elevator would take them straight to the penthouse which housed the panel that they would be convening with.

       “It’s kind of nerve-wracking, isn’t it? We even have to get into a special elevator. It’s just like in the movies,” said Jules.

       Max held her hand as they walked over to the elevator and could feel it tremble slightly. He squeezed her hand reassuringly.

       “Don’t worry about it. You, me, and Charlie will crush this interview,” Max said with the utmost determination.

       Charlie looked at both of them with similar confidence.

       “Yeah. If anything happens, we can always fall back on our advanced technology. No argument can be continued in the face of overwhelming technological advancements after all,” said Charlie.

       Jules giggled.

       “Thanks, Charlie, that’s sweet of you to say! Alright! We got this!” she said, almost a little too loudly.

       “Definitely!” Max said in the same tone.

       “We’re making a scene!” Charlie added, ironically in the same tone as well.

       They looked at each other and laughed before finally approaching the intimidating elevator. As expected, two very bulky guards stood by the desk which sat a lone secretary. She was busy typing for a moment until she realized that she had company.

       “Oh, pardon me. I didn’t realize that anyone was in front of me,” she said in a very professional tone.

       They could tell that in terms of business experience, she was just as capable as any of the people that walked the halls of this building. To her, they must have looked like tadpoles.

       “It’s alright. We are here from XeMillion and Co.” Max said, trying to match her tone of voice.

       She looked all of them up and down, before giving a soft smile.

       “I guess, I must be getting old. Some of the up and comers are incredibly young, I see,” she said with a kind giggle.

       “What? You don’t look a day over 21 ma’am,” Max said trying to flatter her. “And besides, we started while we were in university. So we are just really young compared to everyone else.”

       Jules pinched him in the back as if trying to tell him to hold back his flirting. He flinched a little but was able to maintain his character. The secretary couldn’t tell but she smiled at the sentiment.

       “What a sweet boy you are,” she said as if she was purring. “Just let me confirm with my superiors that you are here. Protocol you see.”

       “Oh, of course,” Max replied. “Take your time.”

       She gave him a quick smile before going back to her computer.

       “A day over twenty? Friendly don’t you think?” Jules whispered with a somewhat hostile smile.

       Max laughed it off and squeezed her hand again.

       “Don’t worry, you’re the only one I can ever look at,” he whispered back at her.

       She immediately mellowed down and softened at his words. Charlie butted in the whispering as well.

       “Get a room, you two.”

       Charlie straightened up again.

       “We gotta focus on the task at hand,” he added.

       Max and Jules immediately straightened up as well, knowing full well what was about to happen. After what seemed like an eternity, the secretary finally got back to them.

       “Maximilian Burner, Julia Thompson, and Charles Landers,” she said to each of them. “I have confirmed with my superiors that you are here, and they are ready to have you all. Please take this elevator to the penthouse. Don’t worry about getting lost, there’s only one room at the top,” she said giving them a quick wink. “I hope you all do well!”

       “Thank you! We will do our best,” Max said before approaching the elevator.

       The guards gave him a welcoming smile and stepped aside as his group stepped up to the elevator. They all hopped on and finally the doors in front of them closed. Behind them through the clear glass, they could see just how high they were going. The lobby looked like it was filled with ants, before their view was blocked by the tunnel that shot straight up to the penthouse.

       Nobody talked while the elevator was ascending. They were all trying to remember their lines and cues. Jules clutched the usb that held their presentation in it and fiddled with it nervously. Before long, a ding from the elevator sealed their fates. There was no backing out now.

       Once they stepped off of the elevator, they were greeted by maroon carpets and wonderful furnishings along the walls. Several art pieces adorned the lone hallway that they stepped into. The secretary was right when she said that they wouldn’t get lost. There was only one hallway that led from the elevator to what looked like a massive room, with huge windows behind it. They could see through the windows along the hallway that the room stretched further than the walls in front of them would have them think. It was truly going to be a massive event in the life of XMC.

       “I think I’m going to throw up,” Max said as the nerves start to set in.

       “Not on this carpet you don’t… Though, I know how you feel,” Charlie added as he started to gag from the anxiety.

       “You guys we gotta do this! This is the chance that we were waiting for,” Jules said, as she stepped in front of the two boys. “There’s no way we can show weakness! We got here through our hard work. They will surely see that!”

       “You’d be more believable if your knees weren’t trembling like that,” Charlie said as he pointed to her knees which were clearly shaking.

       She turned around flustered and cut him off.

       “Well! Either way, whatever it is. We have a reason to be here. We are XMC and we are the leaders in technology. Self proclaimed or not, I know it to be true! And with Sharpen on our side, that claim will become irrefutable!” Jules added.

       The two boys behind her looked at her and smiled.

       “Well we can’t be shown up by the only girl here can we, Max?” Charlie asked.

       “Indeed, we cannot. We are a team. And we will blow them away together. And with Trae and Lina cheering us on from a distance, we are unstoppable!” Max said with conviction.

       With a final boost of confidence, the trio stepped up to the imposing doors, and opened it. The light from the room blinded them as the windows in the room were just as massive as they thought they would be. When their eyes had adjusted, they saw several professional looking people standing and talking just by the table that was shaped like a semi-circle. All of them were dressed to kill. Their suits were so sharp, they could cut a person if they looked. With a slight delay to the opening of the door, the youngest looking one, who seemed to be in his late twenties, jogged over to the trio. He had messy blonde hair and a slight 5 o’clock shadow. His suit was light grey, with a white shirt underneath it.

They were amazed he had to jog, but remembered that with the size of the room, it would happen from time to time. Once he reached them, he looked at all of them with a smile.

“You must be Maxemilian, Julia, and Charles! From XeMillion?” said the person in front of them.

“Yes, sir. But you can call me Max. That is Jules. And this is Charlie.”

“Awesome. Max, Jules, and Charlie. Welcome to Sharpen co! My name is Andre Riese. And I am the acting CEO!” he said.

Their eyes widened as they realized that the CEO had to jog over to them to be able to greet them properly. Inside, Max was kicking himself because it would have been less of an effort for Andre if he had been approached.

“Oh! But since you lot were nice enough to give me your nicknames, I’ll give you mine! You can all call me Andy.”

“Thank you Mr. Andy,” Max said.

“Just Andy,” Andy said with a smile.

“Ah ok.. Andy.”

Andy nodded with satisfaction.

“Are you sure it would be appropriate for us to use your nickname in an interview like this?” Max asked innocently.

Andy laughed heartily in response, which made the three wonder if Max said anything wrong. After his laugh, however, he turned back to Max.

“I think it would be better for you if you called me by Andy during the interview. Just so everyone gets familiar with you all. Besides, if this ends up working out, you never know. We might end up working for a long while,” he said with a wink as he walked off. “Alright everyone, XeMillion, and Co. is present! Let’s get this show on the road!” he yelled out to his associates.

As if they were machines, they quickly walked to their positions on the table, with Andy sitting in the center.

“Alright, so XeMillion and Co. You lot have ten minutes to prepare your slides. I and my associates will review the documents about your company that you have so kindly provided. After ten minutes, we shall begin the meeting. Show me what you’ve got!”