Chapter 2
21:00 - Lineages Corporate
"Haven't you left yet?" A young man strode into the room, throwing open the sliding glass door “How long do you intend to analyze these documents? It's not enough to have spent the night at the company yesterday, do you want to repeat the dose today? ” He says grumpy, approaching the table in the opposite corner of the room where a certain businessman was leaning over his computer in the darkness of the room.
With furrowed eyebrows and eyes fixed on the screen while taking turns between typing quickly and writing small notes in a notebook without even looking at the paper, the man with black hair and extremely white skin, which highlighted his deep dark circles under his eyes, was irritated and too tired to answer the friend.
Sighing, the young man came around the table and looked over the other's shoulder to see the screen. Although he was concerned, it isn´t as if demonstrating this would cause any reaction from the other part, they had known each other longer than he could remember and knew how hard the oldest was when doing or deciding something.
He saw several tables and excel spreadsheets, graphs, lists, and mainly transaction records. Thousands of open tabs and programs running.
This is crazy! How can anyone find something like that? He thought as he scratched his head with a confused face and returned to the front of the table, and decided to ask the worst possible question for those who are overwhelmed. "Aren’t you done yet?"
The fingers stopped typing. Inhale. Expires. Eyes closed to calm the mind and neither throw the other through the glass wall behind them for a fall of 24 floors nor allow despair to take over again. He tried to respond calmly, making a mental list of what he still had ahead of him.
“I haven't finished checking these records yet. There are many disconnected things, missing information, altered data ... I never thought that a single person could do such great damage to the company and that he didn't even occupy a position in the top hierarchy. It will take a long time to resolve the faults and even longer to regain public confidence. If the result of the internal audit hadn't been leaked, the situation wouldn't have been so bad, but now the only thing we can do is chase the loss ... ”
A tired sigh took the room that had fallen silent for a few moments.
It had only been three weeks since the annual audit found divergences in the reports presented by the company, which led to the discovery of a large diversion of money made by one of the employees in the accounting sector. Millions were stolen not only from the company itself and from investors but also from customers and associated partners. And even before the culprit was found or a solution was sought, the information was leaked on the internet, leading to a huge drop in lawsuits and attempts at prosecution.
If the public relations team and management had not acted quickly, the catastrophe would have been much greater. Speaking to the press in a transparent manner, contacting all those affected, explaining the situation, and committing to resolve it in the next two months. If it weren't for that, the company would probably be in such a great decline that it would not support another year.
They had the support of investors and because of the transparent and trustworthy image that they have tried to maintain over the years, the public still believes in them and their services, what saved us was purely and simply the quality of service and customer service.
But three months?! Are they aware of what it takes to undo the damage? Find errors, compare data, follow the money trail to the victims and the purpose of the deviation, infer the damage, seek solutions, evaluate its application, gather resources. There are many processes manipulated, many details, and few trained and reliable personnel to have contact with such important data. A desperate situation was what the elder thought as he massaged his temples with his fingers to lessen the migraine.
He should stop spending so much time on the computer in the dark. He was going to end his sight.
“But if you fall, who will guide the team? Nobody in here has as much knowledge in this area as you, after all, you was one of the founders and is the only one who is here now, and has been managing it with all your strength”
"If I had really managed it as it should have, this wouldn't have happened for that long." His tiredness was visible. The hoarse and half-broken voice from talking to the employees who were assisting him in the analysis during the day, the sunken and drooping eyes of someone who had already spent several sleepless nights or dozed off for a few hours, his whole face was downcast, his face was so scarred with worry lines that it looked as if it had really aged.
The youngest knew, if he were a normal person, he would surely be in the process of burnout. Even though he is stronger, he shouldn't gamble with luck and bet his health as a prize. He was also flesh and blood after all.
“There's no point in blaming yourself, Dmitri. There is no way to know everything that goes on inside. You are not that powerful. ” Francis's sarcasm managed to overcome the words that seemed to be consoling, causing a smile to lighten Dmitri's expression a little. "So what? Are you going to leave this room alone or do I need to drag you?” He said walking around the table again with his arms outstretched in an attempt to pull him out of the chair.
When he was about to touch him, the air changed, making the other man freeze for an instant while watching his friend's black eyes go dark and almost lose light. "When was the last time you ate?" His tone was serious. He had never seen Dmitri in such an unstable situation that it would change his aura.
Supporting his hands on the table, Dmitri stood up slowly, looking away from the other and walking across the table towards the door without saying a word. A glimpse of guilt and shame at being caught in that form was seen on his face as he walked fast, almost running away.
Feeling a great outburst of anger, the youngest crossed the room in a second almost passing over the long conference table and still knocking over one of the chairs in the process.
He held Dmitri's arm tightly, forcing him to stop. "How long?! Answer me!" He shouts out, feeling his blood boil when he saw the real situation in which the other was.
Dmitri turned sharply, facing the other. His eyes had returned to normal, but his countenance was still dark and deep. “I don't owe you any satisfaction. I know my limits and I don't need you telling me how to act.” His tone was low and menacing. Even knowing that the other acted out of concern, he wouldn't let anyone intimidate him or make light of his will.
"Are you going to let me take you?"
"Not necessary."
"Do you know what could happen if you lost control?"
"It wouldn't happen"
"It wasn't what it looked like now"
They stared at each other for a long time. The determination in Dmitri's eyes fighting anger and disapproval from his friend.
There were few moments of clashes between them, and never in a situation like this. He understood the reasons for Dmitri's actions and how important that company was to him, after all he had built it from scratch and had several problems to make it grow and become internationally recognized for scientific and technological development in addition to laboratory services. But to change his actions, usually cautious, to the point of making him make dangerous decisions, which could harm not only him, but everyone around him... that had never happened.
Even so, Dmitri showed no signs of backing down, and the youngest just thought ‘This decided hollow head will still be destroyed, and take me in the process!’ Giving up trying to convince the other, he finally looks away and heads for the door, stopping just before crossing the portal. "Do as you like, but don't complain when the problem arises and have to ask for my help." Then he left with his footsteps resounding through the empty building.
"It's not like I have a choice." He whispered between tired sighs and returned to his table again. “Despite everything, he is right. I won't last much longer if I continue. And hunger is killing me…”
“It is only five blocks to the condo. I must hold on until then and take advantage of the cold to calm my mind” Looking for strength in those words, which echoed in the empty environment, he started to organize the documents on his desk and computer to leave.