The Bachelors Deal: Ashton & Ryan

42. Alarm Bells

A/N: This song is how Ashton feels after that meeting hehehe! Ring the Alarm by Beyoncé

Ashton was not in favor of the difficult position that the board members were putting him through and the fact that they kept on insisting on hiring and funding an investor that they had little to no background search done. Their useless bickering was not part of the curriculum, nor was it engaging or essential enough that Ashton had to cease his previous engagement with his fiancé to listen to them go back and forth.

He individually voted to silence all their unprofessional and unproductive spiel because he was over this silly meeting that he wasted time on.  Ashton sighed and rolled his eyes. "Enough!" Everyone jolted and whipped around on their respective screens to look at their head chairman. "Since nobody can settle on one decisive factor, it seems we have arrived at an impasse. I've heard everyone's scattered thoughts and unconvincing oppositions. As The Head of the board, I'm exercising my right to veto all power of voting on the subject of hiring an investor that had a less than excellent history, with little to no investigation into his background completed, and ceasing any further conversation, discussions, board meetings and or random chats," he emphasized on the last words, "about the potential of hiring this man, Mr. Jarrod Turner as a business associate meant to bring brand new ideas to the company for any improvements." Ashton took a second to breathe. "I am therefore terminating the conceptual contract with this investor." The stunned faces of each board member he overruled were a bit satisfying. They had tried to speak over him, but he had stopped their childish quarrel with a simple glare in their direction.

Chairman Peebles tried to speak, "but—"

Ashton rose a hand to cut him off. "No." He shut his eyes, "I don't want to hear it. I've squandered nearly forty minutes of my time listening to this spiel, and I rather not waste anymore. I have guests at my residence to tend to, and this meeting is going nowhere. Everyone is dismissed, and we will not be returning to this topic. Do have a good day." Ashton stood with his files in hand and ended the meeting. He groaned, forty minutes down the drain. He was happy that he was the conductor for the Zoom call; otherwise, those old farts would have cut him out and done something sneaky. These video chats were a better means of cutting short, long board meetings that did nothing to help productivity.

Ashton removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. He had too much patience with them, and they took advantage of it. At least he could finally dissolve the ridiculous investment deal they tried desperately to push. "Hmm," Ashton was scanning through the terms of the mock contract sent to him earlier and did not like the wording he discovered. Maybe this was a Ponzi scheme... which would mean that the trust has been broken somewhere within his company and or the board. Somebody was attempting something sly under his nose. "Urgh, father should have noticed this too," Ashton muttered, running a hand back through his hair. He needed to call his father for a discussion. The worrisome information couldn’t be left to fester anymore. There was a nagging feeling of something further going on. He shot Tia a text to ask her if she was busy, and she responded right away.

"Not at all, Ash. I'm in my room."

Ashton grabbed his tablet and documents and left the office. This was very sketchy.

Ashton knocked on Tia's room door, not waiting long to hear a response from her.

"Hey, come in," Tia said, opening the door. She walked back over to her desk on the left of her room, noticing something off already. "What is it, Ash?"

"I think we have a serious issue in the company."

"Have a seat," Tia said, pulling the black folding chair open for him. "Ready."