Endings: Book One

Overdue

You are either right or deathly wrong. There is no in between.

-Anonymous.

Four years ago.

The large boardroom was brightly lit. The luminance nature it radiated blurred his vision slightly making him uncomfortable . He was squinting a little and he eventually opted to shrug it off, it wasn't the time for it anyway. He sat at the far end of the table with pairs of board members from his left and right...to the final one at the very head of the table.

The one whose gaze never left him.
He just hoped they didn't notice how unnerved he was.

All the board members are here. Today's the day.

"Cadillan enterprises has had its share of lows. But this is as low as it can get. And we're all overlooking it. Why?" Martin's voice could be heard loud and clear throughout the room. And even the tensed shareholders were getting tired. This had gone on long enough.

"With the shutting down of major production factories in our European branches and the failure of the Middle east oil pipeline project the company has incurred losses like never before considering how much investment was put into them" He spoke without catching a breath, leaving his audience more afraid than awestruck. They were being outplayed by kids. Their own kids.

Lara took her cue and joined the drama. "We have reason to believe that more than 8.5 billion dollars have been lost into such projects without validation or accountability as to where they went and to what they were used for instead" She held out copies to her assistant who swiftly handed them out.
"Neither the board nor the managerial body has accepted responsibility for this crisis. Hence there is only one viable solution left" she paused to let the words sink in before she delivered the biggest shock of all.

"A succession. And it is well overdue."

The room erupted wildy. Chaos engraving the entire meeting. She had not only pointed out that they were incapable of handling the situation as well as saying they were fraudsters. She had also had the nerve to propose that they step down. It was outrageous in the very least for it was nothing like they had ever anticipated.

"The matter at hand is not the succession overdue, it's just a couple of ungrateful brats who have the audacity to think they can take over a company that we've worked so desperately to build just because they think they've grown up now" said Julian Desmov, the Russian investor for the company, head of Desmov hotels and Constructions. A grumpy forty year old man and a prime shareholder.

He wasn't happy either.

"These ungrateful brats as you would call them are the lifeline and pride of this company" said the familiar voice of Emilia Vasquez, the Spaniard clearly agitated as well.

"We must consider the fact that their social image is still a cause of unwanted attention. It is considered to be a dragging weight to the company's name" said a voice that Adrian couldn't recognise. He'd known this would have come out sooner or later. They're only weapon against him was that he was reckless and the whole world knew it.

"And we don't want to be led by people whose entire lives have been considered a spectacle to the public. Who keep entertaining the media platforms with their lifestyles. Especially if all they do is involve themselves in scandalous events" said another one. Adrian didn't even bother to look. His head remained down, transfixed on the balance sheet laid in front of him. The numbers were bad...really bad.