C6
Maya stirred briefly upon hearing his footsteps as she lay curled up on her bed, resting comfortably with a pillow supporting her chin and cheek. The sight of her made him smile as she yawned widely while stretching out her arms and legs in a slow manner – reminding him of a kitten waking up after a long night's sleep. With her eyes still closed tightly, she moved her lips as if she was trying to say something but stopped once she realized that she had drifted off again. As soon as her head hit the pillow again, she immediately rolled over onto her side in order to stretch out fully. Then she raised both arms above her head as if she was preparing to perform some yoga poses... This only lasted for a second before she collapsed back onto her back again, groaning softly as she reached for the blanket under her pillow to cover her naked body from prying eyes...
A minute later, he walked back into their bedroom to pick up the clothes that they had thrown onto the couch earlier that afternoon... Then he stepped back into the hallway to put on his pants and shirt and tie his shoes... Only after doing so could he step out of their apartment to return home... It took him almost half an hour to drive back to work, since traffic was horrible and he kept having to stop at red lights... His daily commute took so long because of all the congestion around Wall Street; yet, it didn't bother him much since it afforded him the opportunity to listen to music uninterrupted. He preferred listening to classical melodies in general since it helped calm him down. It also enabled him to think clearly when he had a lot of ideas swimming around in his mind... On rare occasions, he listened to jazz tunes; however, it often provoked him to sing along with the melody which irritated his co-workers since he was considered quite a terrible singer.
However, he didn't let the opinions of others get to him. He understood that everyone had their own preferences when it came to musical tastes; but it irked him greatly when someone ridiculed him just because they found it difficult to appreciate his taste in music. That was why he tried his best not to let anyone influence his opinion or discourage him from following whatever he believed would benefit him in the long run. In other words, he knew that the more open minded he became, the greater his chances were at achieving success in life – at least according to some famous author whose name escaped him at the moment... But that book would remain in the memory bank of his brain forever thanks to its valuable insights...
Nevertheless, he didn't need to read a self help manual in order to learn how to be tolerant towards other people and avoid getting offended by them unnecessarily. In fact, that advice should have been common sense for anyone – especially for those who worked closely together every single day without any apparent conflict... Yet, that wasn't necessarily true. There were plenty of instances when colleagues argued and disagreed with one another simply because they didn't understand each other... Or because they lacked patience when dealing with issues that had nothing to do with work. That was why it was important for companies to encourage employees to communicate effectively and openly with each other. They needed to find ways to resolve conflicts before they escalated into arguments and heated debates. Otherwise, workplace relations wouldn't improve; and productivity levels wouldn't rise either.
Once he arrived at his office, he locked the door and headed towards his desk where he sat down to check his e-mail for any new messages. Most of the messages required no response since they had already been addressed and resolved months ago. However, a few remained unresolved and he had been working on them diligently ever since he received them. After all, he had a reputation for resolving complicated situations in a timely fashion. Therefore, it never surprised him that clients continued coming back to him even after they had moved on to another company... Which meant that he had a proven track record as an expert negotiator as well as a master problem solver... All of which resulted in additional income for him. He smiled wryly as he thought about how much money he would earn this month alone as a result of completing those projects... More importantly, he knew that they would make a significant impact on the profitability of his company. If he could complete all of those tasks on time, then there would be a chance that he might become a millionaire by the end of the year... It was possible that some very wealthy individuals would invest in his business and provide him with lucrative deals that would allow him to increase profits even further in the future.
The prospect of making millions made his heart skip several beats before resuming normal function. Then again, he didn't want to rush into things too hastily; therefore, he decided to take everything at his own pace instead. No matter what he ended up deciding, it was obvious to him now that he was going to achieve something remarkable by the time the next decade passed by. The only thing that worried him was whether or not he could convince his wife to agree to move to another country. He doubted if she'd be willing to leave behind her friends and family members in Canada... And that was understandable since they were all part of her life story. Nevertheless, it was clear to him by now that it was time for them to go somewhere different with their lives so that they wouldn't stagnate and grow old in their current environment.
He sighed heavily when he recalled their conversation over dinner last weekend. It still hurt whenever he thought about it – partly because of how she reacted when he first told her how serious he intended on taking their relationship – yet, mostly because she refused to consider moving anywhere else despite how much he begged her for it... She was adamant about staying there and refusing to relocate elsewhere, regardless of the benefits of relocating to a foreign nation. He knew it would be difficult for him to keep up with their daughter while she attended school there; which meant that he couldn't expect her to live there permanently without him... She would eventually realize the truth once she grew older, but it would still damage their marriage. Not to mention the fact that it would break his daughter's heart if she lost both parents due to divorce...
As if fate conspired against him at the worst moment possible, his phone rang and startled him out of his thoughts. Glancing at the screen, he saw that the caller was his boss, Mr. Jameson, whom he spoke to on occasion since they worked closely together. Since he rarely called him unless there was an urgent situation, he assumed that this was probably something he shouldn't ignore. "Hello?" he asked nervously when he picked up his mobile device and pressed the button to answer the call.
"Mr. Maxwell! I hope you're doing fine today," his boss greeted him cheerfully, sounding as energetic and upbeat as usual.
Daniel nodded slowly since the man sounded genuinely happy to hear from him. "I'm sorry if I disturbed your day."
His boss chuckled loudly at the understatement in question. "You always seem to get distracted from my calls!" he teased playfully before sighing and shaking his head sadly. "But seriously, I wanted to inform you that we've decided to postpone our meeting for tomorrow morning at ten o'clock sharp. Apparently, the CEO has to fly overseas tonight since some sort of emergency came up..."
That news caught him completely off guard, prompting him to frown. "Is anything wrong? Shouldn't the Board of Directors handle these kinds of emergencies? What's the nature of the problem if I may ask?"
His boss cleared his throat before continuing to speak. "Apparently, a group of investors who are interested in purchasing shares of the corporation from us contacted them for information. Our board is scheduled to meet with them in a few days for discussions regarding an offer that they plan on placing before them..."
Daniel frowned in confusion as he shook his head slowly. "Why do I feel like that sounds familiar...? Did someone approach them already about buying shares in their company or something similar? How did the board members know about it so soon... Isn't it supposed to take longer than two weeks for potential buyers to contact them directly and make a proposal..."
"Yes, you're right... It normally takes months for them to decide on a deal... But apparently, they got a tip a few hours ago about some very influential and affluent people who wish to buy their stock..."
The way he explained it left him feeling confused. Why would anyone be interested in investing their money in his company? They already owned a number of businesses throughout the world and made billions of dollars every year through them... There must have been more to this story than he originally thought; otherwise, they would have informed him sooner about such a large-scale transaction involving them. However, they hadn't said anything about that until they called him to postpone their meeting for another time... Which implied that they had something up their sleeve that they wished to discuss with him privately when they met tomorrow morning...