RUBY |Completed|

|Chapter Twenty Six|

Ruby

     It's been a year and a month since I joined MBCF and I was happy with my job. I had succeeded in closing my mind off in thinking about he-whose-name-ought-not-to-be-mentioned and I had no trouble fending off other guys.

Dad, Mum and Chloe visited me regularly and I also visit home anytime I was free. Also Julie comes to see me once in a while and is now a friend of Chloe so we have a girls day out or girls sleepover when she is around and sometimes it was just the two of us.

I have been anticipating a business talk programme since two months now, I already bought my ticket and the peogramme was this Saturday, I have been thinking of starting my own little online business.

So on Saturday, around 11:00 am, I set out of my apartment, I kickstart my car which I had paid an handyman to wash earlier and I drove out. The drive to the venue was forty five minutes, I parked my car among the rows of car already there. I picked my bag from the passenger seat and I got out and locked the car doors.

I proceeded to the hall and tendered my ticket to the guards checking people in and I was cleared then I went in. The hall was beautifully decorated and people have arrived. An usher helped me locate my seat which was on my ticket slip, Number 239. The hall is evidently a 500-seater capacity. By the time I was shown to my seat, the hall was almost full 'cept for a few empty seats here and there.

The air-conditioner was working at its peak and everywhere looked and smelled of wealth, affluence and orderliness. The programme started at exactly 12:30pm and the recognition started then the talks. The euphoria I am feeling right now can not be rivaled, everything the speakers were saying is just a confirmation and a go-ahead for me to start my online business.

At 02:00pm, we were given a 15-minutes break to talk to our neighbors, the person sitting next to you, to discuss and at the same time we were served a glass of wine, a cold bottle water and wrapped package of small chops. The person next to me is a lady.
As we ate our snack and sipped our wine, I engaged her in a conversation and we ended up exchanging cards. She is into architecture. Before we knew it, our fifteen minutes break was up and we turned our attention back to the emcee who called on the next speaker. The Number Five Youngest CEO Billionaire in USA.

Waoh, this is huge! I thought as I applauded the young man whose back was turned to us. The man walked up to the stage and went to stand by the podium, taking his time to place down his laptop and phones. Lo and behold, Ethan King stood straight right in front of us to talk. I rubbed my face so as to see if I was hallucinating or dreaming but it's actually him.

Then he started talking,

"Good afternoon Ladies and Gentlemen. I am Ethan King and by God's grace, the CEO of Royal Hotels and Suites as well as Kings Restaurants and Swift Gas. As most of you know, Royal Hotels and Suites has been in my family for quite a while, specifically two decades ago and since I resumed the office, we have been able to establish five hotels in different countries. My other businesses came into full gear a little more than a year ago.

"Now let's leave my boring achievements aside and focus on the main deal. Not everyone, I repeat, not everyone is going to be a CEO. Shocked? Don't be, that's just the way the world works.

"You will agree with me that some people work better when they are working for someone yet there is nobody that can't be a CEO.

"Now I want you to get your notepads and pens to get down all the points. I will be talking about the strategy to finding your own place in the business world and how to catch your customer's attention." He moved to the podium and tapped somethings on his tablet and signaled to the projector crew. The first slide came on.

This man is good. Is there anything this man can not do? I asked myself as I listened on. I liked the fact he started with the acknowledgement of God and somehow, with all the business language, he still included the Supreme Being making it clear that he is a Christian Enterpreneur. As he continued, I jot down points and wrote stuffs that caught my attention.

An hour later, he was rounding off on all his points and I so wanted to pee. I stood up and I stepped on the guy on my left accidentally. As I apologized and walked out, I could still hear Ethan's booming voice. I entered the side entrance at the back of the hall, did my business in the Ladies and then I walked out.

I tried to keep my head down but I had to look up to get the row where my seat is located and that moment i decided to look up, Ethan looked right at me. Our eyes met and he paused for a few seconds then looked down on his gadget and I used that time to find my seat. Trust me to announce myself.

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Hello Sweethearts,

What do you think will happen now?

I can feel the excitement building up in my bones.

Read on!