Win Them Over

Fait waited to receive the board members while Chance walked back to his office to wait.

While the meeting had to start on time, he didn't need to be the first one in the room.

Call it ego or pride or whatever, he kind of wanted to be the last one to walk in.

This way he could show that he was, in fact, rather busy and that they were actually interrupting his work day.

Chance's main objective for this board meeting was not to give them a show of strength but instead one of competence. He wanted to gain their acceptance and, if possible, their trust.

Hopefully he could win them over to his side.

He knew that in the long run, it would do him no good to start a fight with the board. But, he also had no intention of letting them walk all over him.

The way they had easily banded together against him hinted that they were preparing for a clash themselves.

And yet, for the first time in years, he was looking forward to interacting with a board of directors.

Chance checked the time again. There were now five minutes until the start of the meeting.

'All of the board members should be enjoying their coffee right about now.'

Almost as if she could sense his thoughts, Fait sent him a text message to let him know that all of their guests had arrived.

A wave of excitement and anticipation rippled through his body.

He quickly composed himself, put on an indifferent expression, and made his way unhurriedly back to the conference room.

His steps slowed further as he strode through the door. A dozen sets of eyes immediately locked onto him and studied him without restraint.

They were indeed all present and accounted for.

Chance nodded at the group of directors and went to his seat at the head of the table. Fait sat in a chair off to the side to take notes.

He glanced up at the clock on the adjacent wall. It was just then, exactly ten o'clock, the time they had set for the meeting.

"Good morning everyone."

The group returned with a rather unenthusiastic mumble, "Good morning."

"For those of you who may not know, my name is Chance Addison and I am Mr. Lovewell's successor. It is a pleasure to meet with you all today and I look forward to working with you to continue to grow this wonderful company."

He gestured to the agendas in front of them. All of the board members looked skeptically at the sheets of paper in front of them.

"Now, we have a number of items to address this morning. If there are no emergent or pressing matters the require immediate attention, I'd like to stick to the agenda."

Chance turned his attention to a middle aged woman a few seats to his left.

"Director Katzen, I believe at the end of the meeting last quarter you were tasked with investigating the feasibility of branching out into online subscription based services for publication. Are you prepared to share what you have found?"

The woman seemed a bit dazed by how quickly things were progressing. It was almost as if Mr. Lovewell was still there and carrying on business as usual.

"Y-yes, Mr. Addison." She passed a hard copy of the report to his end of the table and began explaining what she'd found.

As the meeting progressed, all of the directors began to relax and follow along with the various reports. All, that is, but one.

An elderly gentleman, seated directly opposite from Chance, listened attentively but remained unmoved.

Though the others were quickly swept up into Chance's pace, he kept his guard up and held tightly to the results of his prior investigation.

He knew that this younger man was a cretin who had run his own company into the ground. Why would Lovewell choose such a blatant fool, a failure?

It didn't make sense.

As he was contemplating these things, the meeting had progressed smoothly through the set agenda items.

The new CEO was reviewing the outstanding items that would be brought up again at the next meeting and asking for new items.

Just like that, two very productive hours had passed smoothly and the meeting adjourned.

Chance waited for the board members to file out and Fait saw them to the elevator.

The elderly man however, didn't leave. He instead waited a few minutes and then went to Chance's office.

Koty, not perceiving the old man to be a threat, just watched in amusement as he knocked once on the door and entered without waiting to be acknowledged.

Chance and Fait, who had started discussing the meeting notes, watched the old man walk in to the room like he owned it. Neither one showed even a hint of surprise.

"Chairman Fischer, how can I help you?" Chance asked as he stood to greet the elder.

"I don't think you can." He pretended to think over the question seriously before he added, "Not unless you plan to step down of course."

"I'm afraid I can't do that."

"Can't or won't?" The chairman glared fiercely at Chance.

"Can't." He answered firmly, refusing to be intimidated.