Forbidden Fruit

Chapter 7

Diana raced through the swarm of bodies that littered the office hall, she was late and knew big trouble was to follow if she didn't make it to the meeting on time. She had already spilled Ross' morning coffee all over an unsuspecting staff member, apologising profusely at his screams of pain as the hot liquid soaked through his suit. Without his first cup of the day, his crankiness would be at an all time high.

Smoothing down her hair with the palm of her hands, she then hastily attempted to comb her fingers through the tangling forest. Neglecting to greet a waving Iris, she quickly entered her office, threw her coat off and grabbed all that was needed for the upcoming meeting.

"Shit, shit, shit." She swore under her breath, the sound of the clock as it neared the nine o'clock start beckoned her to hurry her pace.

"Why me? Why me?" She began to chanr to herself, a habit she has whenever under pressure. Completely forgetting to lock the door behind her, she ran as fast as her block-heeled ankle boots would allow her and barged into Ross' office. It was a routine they had that whenever a meeting was to begin she would meet him in his office and they would walk together.

He was nowhere in sight. Diana put a tired palm to her face and began to knock her head gently against the wall. "Just bloody great." She groaned, grudgingly making the walk she knew would either leave her fired or at the very top of her boss' hate list.

"Good morning Diana, how nice of you to join us." Sarcasm laced his tone, the hidden annoyance in his eyes was enough to tell her she was in deep trouble.

"Ladies and gentlemen, my personal assistant, Diana." He introduced, she looked down and made her way to her allocated seat besides Ross.

Eventually finding the courage to look around the room, every muscle in her cheeks worked in unison to produce a smile that wouldn't be thought to be a constipated grimace.

He didn't bother briefing her on what they had been discussing before she arrived, expecting her to catch up on her own and make an active contribution.

Diana noticed that the accounting and marketing team were the ones who were predominately called to the meeting, whenever these two areas collided it was never a good thing.

"Sir the profit margin has decreased by 2.1% in the last three years, we're losing customers and from my calculations we are on track to lose alot more." Edmund spoke, his finger pointed at the downward slope on his chart.

"Where's the hardest hit?" Ross' stern expression gave nothing away. Diana observed the death like grip he had on his pencil and winced as his knuckles turned a sickening pale.

"Washington sir, customer attraction is steadily falling and if we don't do something quickly we will also lose contractors in that area." Diana's hands worked on their own accord, like a machine she rapidly jotted down vital details Ross would require later.

"And what do we do about it?" Ross did not have the same enthusiasm during meetings as he usually possessed, his company was still a afloat however he didn't know how long it would continue to flourish with these decreasing revenues.

"Well I think we need to refocus our target market." Adam chipped in, he was part of their marketing team.

"To?"

He adjusted his glasses before speaking again. "The population here in America is growing, meaning more families exist than ever before. Instead of trying to appeal to old businessmen. I think we should try a new direction, families. Specifically children."

Ross ran a fustrated hand through his hair, further ruffling the tousled mess. "What do you think Diana?" He glanced at his personal assistant who was still neck deep in her note taking, jotting down furiously on the flash card styled paper.