Roadblocks

The next day I went to the company rather early and informed Amanda about Sarah Foster with the instructions to send her straight to my office upon her arrival. Then I went into my office and started looking through files about the current projects of the company and its future plans. An hour or so later Amanda arrived with a professionally dressed and gorgeous-looking Sarah.

"Ms. Foster, I was waiting for you, please sit. Thank you Amanda that will be all." I greeted Sarah first and then dismissed Amanda.

Amanda left the room with me and Sarah sitting facing each other.

"I am surprised that you look clean and proper like a real businessman Mr. Stone." Instead of greeting me, these were the first words Sarah spoke to me. Although her tone was professional but her words were filled with sarcasm.

"Well thank you for your praise Ms. Foster but I remember someone saying that we will behave like strangers in the office. I reckon that you don't usually speak to strangers in such a way much less your future boss." I replied to her with a sly smile on my face and her expression froze on my words.

'Oh, I am so going to enjoy this.' It is so much fun when you use someone's words against them. The expression on their faces after that is worth dying for.

"I don't think you called me to your office for a chat. We should focus on more important matters Mr. Stone." She glared at me and changed the topic.

"Of course Ms. Foster, I called you here for an important discussion about your new position and responsibilities." I let her change the topic otherwise if she decided to leave I will be screwed.

I passed her the files in my hand and while she read those files I answered the questions she had with as much detail as I could provide. We continued our discussion till Sarah had a firm grasp on the company operations.

I called for a meeting after we were finished with our discussion and entered the conference room with Sarah. I introduced Sarah to everyone and informed everyone present about the change of President. I first thought that there would be some opposition from some people regarding my decision but no one spoke anything against it, not even Owen who was demoted to Managing Director spoke a word.

Since no one spoke we proceeded with the meeting. It wasn't as detailed as the previous meeting, we just discussed some minor details and I commended everybody for their hard work in the last three days in stabilizing the company. When you are managing a company some lip service can go a long way. I concluded the meeting and left the conference room with Sarah.

"You are doing much better than I thought in managing the company." Sarah spoke to me when we were back in my office. She seemed a little impressed.

"People just didn't recognize my talent before and if only this much impressed you then you are in for a surprise." I boasted without an ounce of shame.

"We will see about that in time and for your information I was not impressed, just surprised." She rolled her eyes at my response and refuted me without hesitation.

"Yeah sure let's go with that."

"Anyway, I should get going and focus on the mess in this company. I have my work cut out for me." Sarah replied to me and walked out of the room.

"Ms. Foster?" Just when she was about to leave my office I called her name.

"Yes"

"I really appreciate your help." I said to her in a very serious tone.

"You don't need to thank me, I am just doing a favor to Benjamin." She replied with an indifferent tone.

"Whatever the reason, you are helping me so thank you."

She didn't grace me with an answer and walked out of the room. I didn't dwell on it either because previous Alex hadn't left much room for reconciliation in this for me. It was enough that she was helping me and I don't expect her to forget everything and become my friend.

Sarah really proved to be a blessing for me. In just two weeks she brought the company back on track and reduced my workload to a bare minimum. The company was still facing some difficulties but we were making some headway. I was so happy that I even called Jonathan and thanked him for his amazing idea. I was gloating of course because he didn't think I would manage to convince Sarah to help me.

Since everything was almost back on track I decided that it was time for my little experiment. With the script in my hand, I was walking towards the office of our new and pretty president while humming a tone. I entered her room without knocking on the door just to annoy her a little.

"Mr. Stone, when will you stop entering my office without knocking? It is extremely rude behavior." She looked up from the files looking very annoyed.

"It is my company Ms. Foster and I don't have to knock on any door before entering." I replied to her adding further fuel to the fire.

"I know that this is your company and I don't mind leaving it to you if you do not stop this behavior." She threatened me.

"You don't have to be so petty." I muttered.

"I am petty what are you going to do about it?" she questioned with a menacing glare daring me to continue.

"No need to be so angry, I was just kidding. Have I told you that you look extremely gorgeous today Ms. Foster?" I backed out not because I was scared but because it's beneath a gentleman to argue with women.

"What do you want Mr. Stone?" She asked.

"This" I handed her the script I had written and sat down in front of her.

"What is this?" she asked while taking the file from my hand.

"It's a script for a movie and I want to produce it." I answered her straightforwardly.

"I can see that but right now we don't have the resources for this." She replied after taking a cursory glance at the script.

"With this, the resource problems can be solved." I handed her the cheque I got from Cyrus.

"Where did you get this from?"

"It's a loan from daddy dearest, it was part of the deal."

"Uncle Cyrus gave you 10 million dollars and you didn't tell me that we had so many funds available." She looked a little angry about it.

"I just forgot about it and I always meant to use it in new projects such as this." I answered her hurriedly before she could get madder at me.

"Sure I believe you but this is not the only resource problem. We don't have a director to partner with for any new projects." She didn't sound convinced but let the matter go.

"We can partner with a new and upcoming director without much experience. This script does not require much from the director anyway."

"That is not the problem Mr. Stone. Directors with experience in making low-budget movies are refusing to work with us and those who want to work with us either don't have any experience in movie making or their demands are something we cannot agree to." She informed me about the situation.

"But we are offering the best deal in the market?" I asked her back in confusion.

"I suspect that someone is intentionally targeting us."

"Owen?" I asked her but I was sure of my guess.

"And Nicholas Clark who left the company. They have the necessary connections to create this kind of situation. Moreover, your previous image is quite colorful and doesn't inspire much confidence in our company. Hollywood is after all an industry where personal image matters a lot."

"So you are saying that it is my fault." I asked bewildered at the accusation.

"Exactly" She didn't even hesitate before replying brutally.

"So what are our options?" I ignored the accusation and asked her.

"We can either agree to partner with those without any movie-making experience or make heavily unfavorable deals with those who have the experience. No matter what we choose we will be at the losing end."

'She means that we don't have any option other than waiting for someone to take our deal.' I understood her underlying meaning.

"Let's leave this problem later, in time we will find someone. You should read the script and tell me your thoughts." I was truly curious about her opinion.

"I will read it tomorrow and let you know."

"Why not read it right now? It's not a very big script."

"I have some personal issues I need to deal with so I don't have time." She replied making me curious.

"What personal issues?" I asked with an expression of interest.

"Why would I need to tell you my personal matters?" Her reply was very aggressive.

"I was just asking if maybe I could help." I said in a very aggrieved tone.

"I don't need your help, Mr. Stone."

"No need to be so aggressive. I just wanted to help you since you are doing me favor."

"I need to find a place to stay since the place where I currently live is really far from here, it is inconvenient traveling daily." She relented and answered me in a bland tone

"You should have told me this sooner Sarah. Here you are helping me so much, the least I could do is help you settle down." I was surprised at her answer and it made me feel guilty.

"I don't want your help it will just take a few days to find a place. I have already talked with a real estate agent about it." She replied in a matter-of-fact tone.

"So where are you going to stay in the meantime?" I asked.

"There are many hotels in Los Angeles." She replied to me.

"You are seriously telling me that you will live at a hotel." I was astonished at her answer.

"Yes"

"Look Sarah you are making me feel like an asshole by doing this. I have a spare bedroom in my home and you can live in my house until you find a place for yourself." I offered her because I really felt bad that she has to stay in a hotel to help me.

"You are an asshole Mr. Stone and why would I want to stay at your place. Need I remind you that you and I have no other relation than employer and employee?" She didn't spare my feelings on the asshole comment while declining my offer

'I mean I agree with her but she didn't have to say it to my face.' It's one thing to be an asshole and another when someone calls you one to your face without caring about your non-existent feelings.

"You don't need to remind me of this but Benjamin will have my skin if he were to find out that I let you stay at a hotel while you are here helping me." I said to her because it is the truth, Benjamin really cares about her like his sister. He even gave the previous Alexander a beating for the first time because he cheated on Sarah.

"I don't see how that's my problem, Mr. Stone." She answered me fully agreeing with my statement.

"But I will also feel guilty about it. How about this, you come to my house and see for yourself if it is satisfactory and I can promise you that I won't disturb you in any manner for the duration of your stay."

"This promise changes nothing, Mr. Stone." She said.

"I can promise you that I will be on my best behavior during your stay and if you find anything out of line you can leave the company immediately." I promised her again.

"I don't think that it's a good idea." She was relenting so I decided to push further.

"Think of it as one more favor you are doing me by protecting me from Ben's wrath." I made it feel like she will be helping me and not the other way around.

"….Ok, but I will first visit your home and make sure that it's not a garbage dump and you will not talk to me unless it's necessary. Also, I will pay rent." She finally conceded.

"Whatever you want Ms. Foster. So shall we proceed to my garbage dump?"

"Let me get my things." She collected her things and we walked out of the company together towards my home. I had a feeling that it was definitely going to be an interesting experience.