The CEOs Possession

Veil stared dumbstruck at Anders’ retreating figure, tears pricking at the corner of her eyes. She knew she should have just left the damn iPad back at home even if that meant appearing so incompetent. But at least, she would have gotten to the office early enough and in turn, would have avoided Anders’ wrath.

But then again, she had a strong inkling that it was more than her coming late. It wasn’t the first time Anders’ had gotten upset over his reaching the office before her, but it was never this intense.

Something else was wrong, and she wasn’t sure she was interested in finding out what it was.

“What is the saying again?” she said in her head as she made the short journey back to her office. “Oblivion is sometimes bliss.”

This oblivion couldn’t be blissful in any way, and that would have only been if it had agreed to remain undiscovered.

***

Anders walked in through the glass doors, barely noticing the people who bowed low in greeting as he walked briskly past them. This meeting was supposed to be with the Executive Director of the Pharmaceutical department, but he wanted more.

And he had all intentions of getting it, one way or another.

The conference room was located on the second floor of the building, so it took less than a minute to arrive in there. Everyone got on their feet to welcome him, and Anders mumbled a greeting as he plopped down on the seat right beside the head of the conference table.

The Executive Director, Mr. Wang, commenced the meeting almost immediately after Anders arrived, starting with a PowerPoint presentation to bring everyone up to speed on the action that had been taken.

But abruptly, Anders raised a hand, halting the presentation. “Where is the President of JK Corporations?”

Everyone passed a look amongst themselves, obviously surprised at the strange nature of the question. That wasn’t the first meeting they’d had with Kingston Group, yet it was the first time Anders had asked for the President.

“Mr. Roderiguez,” Mr. Wang started after getting over the initial surprise. “Uhm… Our President doesn’t usually…”

“Am I a joke to you all?”This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.

“Can I please ask where all of this is coming from?” Mr. Wang was so confused that he looked like he has been asked to race around the building twice without an explanation.

Anders scoffed, then got on his feet, the chair scrapping on the ground noisily. “When you all decide you’re ready to continue this project, inform Orleans De Acosta that I will not come all the way here for a meeting if he isn’t going to attend as well.”

“Mr. Roderiguez, I…”

“Have a nice day.”

Anders stretched himself to his full gait and confidently strolled out of the conference room. The female employees peeped through the covers of their computers to take a look at the popular dashing CEO who appeared like he had the whole world in one palm.

When he reached the first floor, his bodyguards fell in step with him, holding the glass doors ajar for him as he walked through. But before he got to the steps leading down to the foyer, the glass doors behind them opened again, and Orleans stepped through it.

“Mr. Rodriguez,” he called out in a baritone. “I heard you asked for me.”

Anders halted in his tracks, then took a deep breath before turning around. Although he already knew what to expect, he was still taken aback by the person standing in front of him.

How had he missed it?

Anders had heard that the son of Harriet De Acosta was back in Mexico and had taken over the company from his mother, but he had no clue that it was the same person Veil had been laughing so freely with outside his building.

The mere thought of it brought a sour taste to Anders’ mouth but he masked it perfectly with a smirk.

“When I heard you were back in town, I didn’t know what to expect, but it sure wasn’t you.”

“Really?” Orleans flashed a smile at Anders, unaffected by his words. “Come on. Humor me. What did you expect?”

Anders knew what Orleans wanted, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to take the bait. “I don’t know if your mother properly instructed you on how running a conglomerate goes, but you should know that when a major meeting takes place such as this, the President must be in attendance.”

“Hmmm,” Orleans took a step closer to Anders. “What then is the essence of being the President if I cannot make new rules?”

Shaking his head, Anders closed the remaining distance with two strides, and in a second, he was looking Orleans in the eyes.

“Like l told Mr. Wang, I will not be returning if you do not deem it proper to attend the meeting. The ball, Mr. De Acosta, is in your court. Or should I say “master”? That’s what they call you, isn’t it?”

“One more thing.” Anders wasn’t done yet. He busied his hands with adjusting a crooked part of Orleans’ tie as he continued. “It is also proper to go to an auction with your own date, rather than steal a date in the middle of the party. It is not only unprofessional but puts the job of the other party on the line.”

Releasing the tie, Anders turned to leave, his men falling into step with him again.

“Send my regards to Veil,” Orleans called after Anders with a sheepish grin. “She was such a great host last night.”

Anders tried to tell himself that whatever happened was none of his business, but in truth, he couldn’t wait to yank off his tie as it suddenly felt like it was choking him. Not responding to Orleans or his request, he rounded off the corner and waited for his driver to get the car around.

Looking back just for a second wasn’t a good idea for Anders, because if he had, there might just be a terrible headline on the papers the next morning.