CHAPTER (VI)

Kian landed at exactly 8:00am on Thursday the following week from Washington, as the engines of the private jet powered down, its door opened and there he was with his briefcase in hand. Below him was his chauffeur in a black suit standing next to the Benz. There was a smile on his face as Kian approached him.

"Welcome back sir. I hope your trip was successful." He started as he extended his hand to Kian who shook it.

"Thank you, Johnathan, it feels good to be back." Kian answered, deliberately leaving out details of the trip. It hadn't gone to plan, he had seen it coming and had done everything he could to make it a success but it still didn't work out.

Johnathan, his driver for the last four years, took the briefcase, opened the back-left door for Kian and gently pushed it shut. He oversaw the loading of the suitcase in the trunk of the car then took his place behind the wheel.

"Traffic should be light, we'll be at the office in no time." Johnathan said as he smoothly navigated out of the airport and into the city.

Kian relaxed at the back of the Benz, taking a few minutes to go through all his emails that had accumulated, he would occasionally glance outside at the all too familiar city scenery.

The Benz came to a gentle stop at the entrance to his company's building, Johnathan wanted to step out and get the door but Kian beat him to it. The automated glass doors slid open and let him in to the towering glass façade. Inside, Cathy stood with a warm smile, looking sharp in a dark blue skirt suit and a white blouse. "Welcome back," she told him as a warm smile started to form on her face.

"How is everything going?" He asked as they stepped into the elevator.

"Everything is running as it should, there's a lot to be discussed but something worth pointing out is we received communication from our contact in Asia."

"Well that's great news!" He exclaimed, his eyes bright with joy. "What did he say?"

"He is preparing a full report that should be in by next Wednesday."

Inside his office, he stopped behind the floor to ceiling windows for a minute, admiring the all too common New York skyline. He had seen it a million times but it always felt like he was seeing it for the first time.

After he sat, Cathy handed him a blue folder as she walked to his side of the desk to go through all the details with him.

"The production team just completed the new software update that is set to be released next week, they did all the tests and they are confident it's ready to be released. They uploaded it to your system and they await your response." She explained as his eyes read through the document.

"Set up a meeting with them for some time tomorrow, I'll have gone through it by then." He instructed.

She noted that down on her tablet before proceeding with the briefing. "This is the report you had requested from the finance team," she said turning the page on the folder. "I went through it and everything is on track."

She went on with the brief for a full twenty minutes, updating him on the progress of all the departments, bringing to his attention important matters that needed his immediate attention.

"This is excellent Cathy," he praised closing the folder and pushing it to the left side of the desk.

"Thank you." She replied with a smile handing him other documents. "These are from the marketing and HR team, you need to approve them before close of business tomorrow."

There was a lot to do, he was fully aware of what awaited him. His vision for the company was to make it a cutting-edge tech company that stood out from the rest, that was very demanding and he understood that.

"You have a meeting with the board at three thirty, they need a brief on the DC investor." She told him going to the other side of the desk. "What are you going to tell them?" She looked concerned and maybe that was because she really was concerned.

He had called her from DC and told her how things had gone down. He had always been candid with her about everything. He failed to convince the guy that his company was worth him investing in, of course he felt bad about it, considering that it would have been the big investment to the company but there was nothing he could do about it.

"I don't know Cathy, I'll just have to be honest with them. It's not the end of the world, we will have other investors in the future." He said confidently.

"I just hope they see it that way."

Cathy left him and he took a minute to collect his thoughts then reviewed all the documents Cathy had handed him. He spent the better part of the day in his office, trying to clear up as much backlog as he could before his meeting.

***

"They are ready for you. Boardroom two." His other secretary informed him via the office telephone.

"Thank you." He gently placed the receiver back into the telephone and took a deep breath.

The board was of nine members, six men and three ladies, all old enough to be his parents. He never allowed himself to be intimidated by that fact, to do that, he commanded that board very assertively.

He had opted to come clean with the DC situation. "I had a number of meetings with the DC investor, I explained to him our vision, expansion plans and all the potential benefits of our partnership would bring. Despite all that, I failed to get him to invest with us." He broke the news.

He could see the disappointments in their faces, they had put their faith in him to secure the deal and he had failed them, he wasn't in a position to blame them. He maintained his composure as he watched them murmur among themselves.

"What happened?" One of them asked as everyone present turned to face him at the head of the table.

He took a moment before answering, try to figure out the best way to break it to them, and in the end, he decided to be frank with them. He steadied himself on the chair before he spoke, "He raised his concern about my age. He isn't very confident in putting so much money in a company run by someone so young."

No one was in a rush to say anything, the members exchanged glances before the spokesperson broke the silence. "Do you think he is wrong?"

That question caught Kian off guard. It only meant one thing, his board shared the same concerns with the investor. He was bitter with them for that.

"Do I think I am too young to run my own company?" He asked looking her straight in the eye. "No, I don't think so."

"Kian listen," another board member started, "whatever you have done with this company is very impressive but the market is rapidly changing and we are afraid that you…" he paused, trying to find the best word to use but couldn't find any. "We are afraid you are too inexperienced to keep up. You are only twenty ei-" Kian didn't let him finish.

"I am well aware of my age mister Gonzalo," he shot at him. "My age has never been an issue, I don't get where all this is coming from."

The spokesperson took in a deep breath then spoke. "We have always feared a day would come that the age factor will come to haunt us, we lost an investment worth millions of dollars because of that, what is to stop that from happening again?" She wanted to know.

"You all share the same concern?" Kian asked. No one really answered, they just shrugged and in doing so, they had answered him. He swore to himself to prove that he was the best CEO that company could ever have.

"I disagree with that, I started this company with only five employees, in less than five years I have over two hundred and fifty employees, in my books that is progress." He said softly, struggling very hard to control his temper. Cathy, who had been standing next to him, could tell he was very angry.

"No one is disputing that, and that's why I said whatever you have done is very impressive but we can not turn a blind eye to the change in market trends. It is not what it was once, two or three years ago. Besides, back then you had your father to-" Kian sharply cut in.

"Don't bring my father into this!" He warned with a fierce stare.

The board member exhaled audibly then went on. "We feel like this company needs someone with a little more experience in the industry as CEO if we want to stay ahead of our competitors. We don't doubt your ability to run this company, we just feel like you still have some learning to do." He finished.

Stanley Callahan, a board member and longtime family friend, had been silent all through. "I think it's best if we adjourn the meeting. Give everyone time to ponder over this."

They agreed, the air had grown too tense for any rational thinking to take place. Everyone left, leaving Kian, Cathy and Mr. Callahan in the room, with its doors open.

Kian shot up and pushed one of the chairs with so much rage that it made a crack on the glass walls. Cathy had jumped, she had never seen him that angry.

"You need to calm down." Stanley told him as he stood up.

"Can you believe them?" Kian threw at him, his eyes red.

"Kian, I need you to calm down." Stanley repeated.

"How can I calm down? Huh?!" He asked. "You and that stupid board want to take away my company!" He was almost shouting.

"No one wants to take your company Kian, what they are simply saying-"

"So you agree with them?!" Kian interrupted. Disbelief all over his face. "That's unbelievable, I thought you were my friend. You're just like the rest of them, fucki-"

"Watch your tongue young man!" Stanley shot back. "I will not allow you to speak to me like that."

Stanley was his godfather, they had spent so so much time together as Kian was growing up, Stanley took him as his own son, and if Kian was being honest, Stanley had been more of a father to him than his dad had been.

A few employees had taken interest in whatever was happening inside boardroom two.

"That is no way for a CEO to speak," Stanley said quietly, seeing the employees from the corner of his eye. "We'll talk about this when you're calm." He added.

Kian didn't respond, he stormed out of the room, taking long furious strides towards his office, Cathy struggled to keep up, having to take many tiny steps because of her high heels, she was almost running.

The few employees that shared the floor with him went completely mute, it was evident that the boss was upset and no one wanted to test him.

"They are unbelievable." He said to Cathy once inside his office. He poured himself a drink that he emptied in a gulp.

Cathy had been shaken, she never thought he was the type to get that angry, but she could understand him, if someone had threatened to dethrone her from her throne, she would definitely be angry. He took a whole bottle then sat.

"I don't think anyone would run this company better than you." She told him, in efforts to calm him.

"Tell that to them!" He shot pouring another glass, then another.

"Okay," She drawled taking the bottle from him. "That's enough."

He didn't fight her, yes, he was angry, but he couldn't be angry at her. After all she was the only one who had shown confidence in him.

"Deep breaths, deep breaths," She insisted.

She managed to convince him to got home and sleep it off. "Tell Johnathan to have the car ready."

"Sure thing." She confirmed and stepped out of the office.