Chapter 1
The weather was pleasant, but the same couldn't be said for Emily's appearance. She cursed as she highlighted from her car and almost ran into her father's company building. She waited patiently till she heard the ding of the elevator. Rushing in, she quickly pressed the button that would open up her office.
Immediately the doors of the elevator opened up, she marched into her office floor completely ignoring the greetings of all the staff that saw her. She walked briskly towards her secretary's desk and slammed her hand on her table.
"Good afternoon ma'am," The young lady stuttered as she looked into the gleaming eyes of her boss who was not looking happy.
"Sandra, what meeting did I have today?"
"Ummm. Ma, which one are you referring to?"
Could she be serious?
"Which one am I talking about? The one I'm just coming back from. Which meeting was that?"
Sandra looked down from Emily's face and scrambled the papers on her table, looking for her boss's itinerary for the day.
"Umm, that would be a meeting with Mr. Richard, about the merging of raw materials to sell to the consumers market ma."
"Oh, I am so happy that at least, you know what the meeting was for. Now, care to explain to me why you didn't include the signing documents of the merger in the file you gave to me?"
"Fuck!" Sandra whispered under her breath.
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" Emily leaned into Sandra.
"I said I'm sorry ma. I thought I had included the document."
"Do you know what you've cost me, Sandra? Do you know what this merger would have done for this company? We would have cut down 25% of our cost of production if we were able to seal this deal and you go ahead and forget to include the most important document in the stupid file you gave to me!" She threw the documents at Sandra and walked away into her office.
Sandra bent to pick up the papers that were scattered on the floor. A tear fell from her eyes because she knew she was back in the labor market.
Emily threw her bag on the table, collapsed into her chair, and spun herself around the room. She needed to think, needed to come up with a solution to her stupid secretary's mistake. Sandra wasn't a completely terrible secretary. She knew what time she loved her coffee, she knew how she loved it, she knew how to arrange her schedules in a way that won't overwhelm her, she knew how to deal with annoying clients that Emily did not want to see, but she didn't know how to recheck her work and make sure that it is perfect.
Getting a new secretary would have been the simpler solution, but with the number of work she had to do, she did not have the time to conduct an interview for a new secretary.
Nevertheless, she had to get Mr. Richard to sign those documents. She had been so good at convincing him. Showing clients the reasons they should agree to work with them has always been one of Emily's favorite thing to do. She was confident, firm, and decisive. She was so good at her job, that she could do it with her eyes closed. But she needed her father's approval more than anything else.
Her dream was to be the owner of the company one day and for this to be accomplished, she had to get her father to see her worth.
Her father, Mr. Keller.
Mr. Keller wasn't a bad man, he was just a strict one. He didn't believe in shortcuts, didn't believe in excuses. All he cared about was results and Emily had delivered perfectly good ones since she started working for the company, she couldn't manage to stop now.
She felt her phone buzzing. picking it up, she saw the caller ID and grunted. Silencing the phone, she placed it on the table and turned on her laptop. A few minutes later, her phone was buzzing again. She picked it up and it was the same person calling her. She ignored the call again. Emily was not ready to explain to her father how she had lost such a good deal.
She was sure that he must have heard of it by now. It was his company after all. He knew everything that happened in it. How he did, Emily had no idea.
She was going through Mr. Richard's company again, looking for a loophole, something she can hold her hands on and use to convince him to agree to merge with her. She was halfway through it when she saw a shivering Sandra standing inside her office.
"Excuse me ma."
Could this woman just talk without stuttering?
"What is it, Sandra?" Emily was not in the mood for a useless business deal and she made it clear to Sandra by still looking at her laptop instead of her face.
"I'm really sorry about what I did ma. Please don't fire me."
Emily finally looked up at her. "Is that all you came to say?"
"No ma. Your father is outside."
"Actually, your father is inside," Mr. Keller said as he walked into her office. Sandra stood frozen on her spot. She wasn't scared of Mr. Keller, of a fact, she admired the man. But apart from Emily, he was the next person that had the power to fire her.
"Sandra darling, mind getting me a cup of coffee, please? No sugar and no cream."
"Right away sir." Sandra left the room in a hurry, scared that if she stayed a little bit longer she may lose her job.
"Hello, daddy."
Mr. Keller stood, domineering the room he had once occupied till he left it in the hands of his daughter.
Emily Keller.
She was a fighter and everything he had ever wanted in a son. There were days he was grateful he didn't have one. No one could be as good at his little girl in what she does.
He walked towards the seat opposite Emily and Emily sat up straight on her seat.
"Mr. Richard called me." Was the first thing he said after a few seconds of staring intently at a terrified-looking Emily.
"Dad, I'm so sorry."
"Don't apologize little girl. Just tell me what happened."
"Sandra forgot to put the signing documents in the file, but I promise you, dad, I am working on getting Mr. Richard to sign the papers."
"I'm not worried about that. I know you will get the job done. What I'm worried about is the dead weight that you are carrying around in the name of secretary."
Emily sighed. "Oh dad, not this again." She was tired of her father constantly telling her to get rid of her secretary. Just because she wasn't good at everything didn't mean that she is completely useless.
"Don't you give me that tone, young lady. I started this company from absolutely nothing. I built it into what it is right now and I did not accomplish all that by allowing petty feelings come into the way of me making a tough yet very important decision."
"I am not getting derailed because of petty feelings, dad. Sandra is an impeccable secretary. Yes, she has her days but so does everyone. Should I blame her for it?"
"She has her days?" Mr. Keller said as he stood up and walked towards Emily. "Her having her days would be if she gave you water instead of coffee, if she didn't ensure that your office was sparkling clean before you got in, and not her messing you a million-dollar contract!"
"Can you please just stop dad?! I am trying everything I can to rectify this problem. I will get Mr. Richard to sign that document even if it's the last thing I do, but I won't be able to do that with you breathing down my neck."
"Watch the way you talk to me, young lady, in as much as I am the owner of this company, I am still your father."
"And that is why you've gotta trust me. Dad, firing Sandra is not the way to solve this problem."
"Really and what is?"
"For starters, you leaving so that I can find a way to fix this."
Mr. Keller breathed out. It was always pointless fighting with her daughter, she would always find a way of winning, no matter how hard or firm he tried to be with his decision. But he couldn't let this one slide. Emily needed to learn the art of making tough decisions and also feel the pain that comes with it. If she didn't, she may not be able to run the company perfectly.
He walked towards her and pulled her up from her seat, he took his time to study her facial features. She was as beautiful as her mother with her round face and her cat eyes. She was as strong as she was beautiful but he needed her to be stronger.
"If you don't do something about your secretary, I might have to do something about appointing you as the CEO of this company next year."