Ash and Smoke

Chapter 1

"I'm retiring." There was light applause and some gasps of shock as the current Head of Finance announced his retirement in front of the board of directors. Only days ago these words had been spoken to me in private, as I was told that I would be the next head of finance for the company. "And, as I'm sure many of you already know, the individual who will be filling my spot, the next CFO for Ash Furniture, Bobby Kristal!" I stood to the sound of deafening applause.
"Thank you Mr. Perkinson," I said as I moved to the front of the room. "I promise I'll do my best to help this companies finances run as smooth as they have for the past 25 years." Applause filled the room again as I scanned the faces in the room. I can do this I thought, as I looked around the room. And then I made eye contact with him. Lazarus Finch, the CEO of Ash Furniture. He had been a thorn in my side practically since day one.
Sure, he was good looking, tall dark and handsome like in stories, but he was self-righteous, and only cared about his money and his power. No one else. That much he had made evident in previous conversation. He had a girlfriend once, some famous model something-or-other, but he dumped her after his father died and he took over. The tabloids say she was after his money, which is absurd, because she has her own money. The truth is, no one really knows.
Mentally, I did a facepalm. Ug, now I have to work with him. I've been avoiding him for eight years and now I report directly to him. On the bright side, now everyone has to report to me! I was interrupted from my thoughts when someone clapped me on the back. The next several minutes were a blur of handshakes, congratulations, and offers for lunch. A girl could get used to this.
"Congratulations Ms. Kristal," I heard a voice speak from behind me. I turned around and gave my best, gleaming smile.
"Thank you Mr. Finch. I'm glad to have the position."
"As you should be," he said, shaking my hand. "I understand from your predecessor you've worked very hard for this." Wait. Was he being nice to me? "I want to treat you to dinner this Saturday evening, so that I may learn more about you."
"Of course Sir. What time?"
"I'll email you the details." He was smiling now.
Oh no. I went from smiling wide to hardly smiling at all.
He leaned in close to my ear. "I look forward to working very closely with you." And with that, he turned on his heel and walked away.
And there it was. The threat. I mentally facepalmed myself again for accepting his invitation to dinner. I only had two days to come up with a good excuse. I tapped my chin in thought as I walked to my office.
Dinner with my boyfriend? No. Social media records are available to the CEO, so he could check. Family death? No again. Same reason as before, plus he has access to my file, which states that I was disowned over 10 years ago. I resisted the urge to band my head against a wall. I groaned as a came to the realisation I had been trying to avoid. I would, unfortunately, have to go to this dinner.
"Uh, Ma'am?" I turned around.
"Yes?" Oh. I had gone to my old office. "Sorry, sorry. I just, forgot some stuff in here." I spotted a box by the door containing all my stuff. "Yep, this is it."
"Alrighty Ma'am."
"Please. Ms. Kristal will be just fine."
"Of course Ms. Kristal. I'm Sandra Garling. I'm new."
"Well nice to meet you. Ash Furniture is a fine company to work with. You can call me Bobby."
"Bobby. Wait, Bobby Kristal? You're the-"
I threw her a wink as I walked away.

I sighed as I pushed back from my desk. I had been reviewing old financial records all day, noting what had worked, and what didn't. I made a note in my calendar about a meeting with the production team Monday, then stood and walked over to the window. I had a great view of the city skyline, and the setting sun just added to the view. I smiled a little, then sighed again, as I remembered what lay in store for me tomorrow. I grabbed my bags, and left my office, locking the door.
"Ms. Kristal! Ms. Kristal!" I turned around as I heard my name being yelled.
"Ah Mrs. Garling. How can I help you? And please, call me Bobby."
"There's been a problem with multiple computers on our floor."
"Indeed," I said puzzled. "I'll call IT, and be there soon." A quick call to IT and a short walk down the hall later, and I arrived at the main office area. True to Sandra's statement, many computers were down, an error message flashing across the screen. The IT person behind me set to work immediately. A few commands later, the issue was fixed.
"Thank you Mr.-"
"Hubble."
"Thank you Mr. Hubble. I don't know what we'd do without you."
"It's no problem CFO Kristal. But you need to come with me."
"Okay?" I said confused, as I followed after. After we got in an elevator I turned to Mr. Hubble. "Care to explain what's going on?"
"The issue was malware. Someone hacked the financing computers."
"But, that's not possible. We have the best security software."
"Exactly. We're going to the CEO, and I'm going to call up my director. This is a problem."
"Indeed." Ash Furniture computers, especially the financing ones, had top of the line security. The need for the on the financing one was especially great, being that they held the majority of the companies financial data.
My thoughts were interrupted by the sound of an "Okay." as the elevator dinged. "Director Alex will be up shortly. She's informed CEO Finch that we are on our way.
I mentally face palmed. I should have thought to inform him. But it is an IT issue. We walked briskly down the hall to the CEO's office. "He's expecting us," I said to his PA as we approached.
"I heard," she replied. "Go on in." Mr. Hubble pushed open the door and we entered the office. It was a spacious area, with his desk in the middle, facing away from the sun. There was an ashtray on the desk. Filing cabinets and shelves line the walls, filled to the brim with papers and documents. It was very organized, meticulously so.
"Mr. Hubble. I received your directors call. She did not inform me Ms. Kristal would be present."
"I am sorry Sir. The error was in the financing computers, and the CFO was already present, so I thought it best to bring her up. The Director was informed of this."
"Of course."
I heard the door open. "Alright so here's the deal," a short woman said as she walked into the room. I recognized her instantly as Director Tania Alex, head of IT. "Someone put a virus on the Finance computers. Had it not been so poorly designed and set off the security we have in place, it would have been able to steal data off the computers, and transmit it to an unknown location."
"Ms. Kristal, would you care to remind us what is on those computers?" I heard the CEO speak.
"Of course. Those computers have company financial data. If someone got their hands on it, they could use it against us, or steal money from the company."
"Then it's a good thing we caught it when we did. There are many who would love that information, and they would ruin us with it."
"But who would-"
"Anyone, Ms. Kristal. Companies I've bought, ones I'm set to take over. A growing company is a threat to any other company in the same business."
"There's one more thing Sir."
"Yes Director?"
The director closed her eyes, sighed, then opened them again. "Our security is strong enough that the virus couldn't have been place remotely." I heard Mr. Hubble gasp as Mr. Finch narrowed his eyes. "In other words, someone in this building put the virus in the computers. And it could be anyone."

Hey all. I'm back and I have a new story. This is about Bobby Kristal, the stubborn and intelligent new CFO of Ash Furniture, and Lazarus Finch, the equally stubborn and successful CEO. When they have to start working together what will happen? What happens when a company retreat goes wrong? Read on to find out.
See you next chapter.