CHAPTER 3

Brian sat quietly as Marcus parked at the designated space kept specifically for him at the company's parking garage and they both highlighted from the car and walked to the entrance of the company where a beautiful tall, curvy brunette lady stood awaiting their arrival.

"Good morning Brian, Marcus" Rhea greeted nodding towards Marcus,

"good morning Rhea" both Brian and Marcus responded in unison.

"I hope you had a lovely night, Brian" Rhea added explicitly,

"Have our guests arrived?" Brian asked, waving off Rhea's question.

"Sadly, I was only alerted about the meeting just this morning by my brilliant business partner," he added as he walked towards his office with Rhea and Marcus following in behind, while his workers all attempted to catch his attention with their greetings while shuffling around pretending to be doing serious work.

"They are yet to arrive sir, and I'm sorry that you got the notification late sir" she knew well to stay on her lane when Brian is in his feisty mood, and even though they had shared an amazing night together in the past, it definitely didn't change anything for Brian as he still only looks at her as his PA. Brian stopped abruptly and without warning, she collided into him as he turned to face her.

"I'm sorry" she said slightly, bowing her head in apology.

"I pay you to keep me informed about my schedules at work and to alert me ahead of time on any meeting such as this one, but I can't help but notice you've been complacent lately." Brian said angrily,

"go and make sure the boardroom is ready" he added in a commanding tone and Rhea hurriedly left to go do as she had been told.

Brian got to his office and sat down going through all the necessary files and documents needed for the meeting, the Simpsons were one of his top clients, and he doesn't want to lose them over someone's incompetence. He prides his company in offering the best services to their client's and that is why they have been able to be head and neck above their competitors. The Simpsons owned one of the largest real estate companies in the state, and they have been one of his company's most frequent clients as they provide financing for construction projects or mortgage lending, enabling the development of residential or commercial properties, thereby making lots of profits from interest after the repayment loans and the Simpsons always stuck to the terms and conditions outlined during the agreement.

"I can't lose them," he thought to himself. There was a gentle knock on his door,

"come in" he answered. Marcus opened the door and walked in,

"they are here B, it's time"

"Okay, I hope Rhea has led them to the boardroom" Brian inquired.

"I fear that won't be necessary as they requested an audience with you here at your office, and they seem pissed B" Marcus responded.

"Please go usher them in, Marcus, let's handle this as best as we can" Brian requested and Marcus obliged as he went and escorted the Simpsons into Brian's office.

"Hello Mr and Mrs Simpson" Brian greeted as gleefully as he could manage.

"Welcome to my office, please have your seats."

"Thank you" replied Mr Simpson

After everyone was seated, including Marcus, Brian proceeded to ask for the commencement of the meeting.

"So, I was informed of your demand to meet me today, I hope all is fine?"

"Well depending on your definition of fine" Mrs Simpson said sternly

"What seems to be the problem? Did anything go wrong?" Marcus inquired.

"It seems there may be a breach to our agreement" Mr Simpson said

"What? What are you on about, Mr Simpson?" Brian demanded

"We have been in business for over 5 years now, and never has this been done. I dare to ask if it's because we were a day late in the repayment of the previous loan that you decided to act in such a manner?" Mrs Simpson demanded irritably,

"We don't understand, what are you talking about?" Marcus asked, confused, and Brian shared the same confused look on his face.

"Please can you explain to us what is wrong because clearly we are clueless on whatever it is that is bothering you" Brian added.

"We received our copies of all the documents signed by us symbolizing our agreement but after carefully going through them again, my wife discovered that the 'Assurance of Financing' document was missing from the file sent…." Mr Simpson explained,

"…and we've heard of such deeds being done by financial institutions all over the country using this strategy to sue their clients on the basis of fraud or forgery, and we are not going to allow you to do that" Mr Simpson concluded.

"That has never been our intention, and we will never do something of that sort" Marcus said.

Brian remained quiet, fuming inside as he tried to figure out where everything went wrong.

"Then, how do you explain this?" Mrs Simpson demanded, throwing a file with documents on the table.

"We are so sorry for the inconvenience, and we assure you that we will look into the matter and I will personally make sure to send the complete documents to you" Brian said apologetically.

"Yes, we deeply apologize for the incompetence of our business analyst" Marcus added regrettably, "we didn't notice this in our own copies" he concluded.

"From the look of things, you both are truly not aware of this mistake and so on that note we would be expecting you to act on this immediately for our agreement to still stand" Mr Simpson said standing up to leave with his wife.

Brian and Marcus stood up and shook hands with the Simpsons before they left the office, leaving Brian and Marcus staring at the file on the table. Brian immediately picked up his landline telephone, punched the dial button and as Rhea responded from the order end Brian said

"Send the business analyst to my office now" and he dropped the landline telephone.

The business analyst walked into Brian's office led by Rhea,

"here is the business analyst sir" Rhea announced upon their entrance.

"Thanks Rhea, now leave us" Brian commanded.

"Okay sir" Rhea said then turned and left the office.

"I have only one question, did you draft and file the documents for the business deal involving the Simpsons?" Brian asked

"Yes sir I did" the man answered shakily

"Are you aware that you omitted the 'Assurance of Financing' document in the file?" Brian demanded as Marcus handed over the file to the man to go through it.

"No sir, pardon my mistake, I didn't realize it wasn't included in these documents" the man said after going through the documents.

"That isn't a mistake, it's incompetence" Brian retorted abruptly

"I'm sorry sir I – "

"You're fired with effect immediately now get out of my sight" Brian said dismissively.

Marcus sharply turned to look at Brian as the man left the office, looking dejected.

"Don't you think that was too hasty a decision to make?" Marcus questioned.

"That was his first mistake, and he is one of the best at what he does" Marcus continued

"Please Marcus, I don't need you questioning my decision, you witnessed the humiliation we had to face from the Simpsons. He deserved the sack" Brian reiterated.

"So, who is going to handle the position now that he's been sacked?" Marcus demanded

"Rhea will make herself more useful in that role while we put out a notice that we are looking to hire a new business analyst."

"Yes boss" Marcus said in a sarcastic manner as he saluted Brian mockingly before walking out of the office.

Brian decided to go take a stroll like he normally does whenever he needed to clear his head, so he decided to walk down to the jittery store and grab himself an ice cream. He has always been a sucker for sugar as he always claims he's got a sweet tooth. He decided to take the long way back to the office to allow him to gather his thoughts on everything going on in his life. How would he convince his father that he doesn't need a wife? How can he find the best man for his sister? How can he expand his company and stay ahead of his competitors? He was so deep in thought he wasn't aware of his surroundings until he clattered into her.