DAD WOULD RETIRE soon.
Well, if you could call it retiring.
He would retire from his position as CEO but he would still overlook everything that happened in the business. GD Enterprises is the most precious thing to him, he would not be quick to give it up.
Instead, somebody would take the position of CEO and would do the major meetings. Basically, there would be a new face to the company, a fresh face, and that was supposed to be me.
At least, that is what is what he had been hinting at ever since I started at the company two years ago.
I knew that it would be probably be met with protest, after all two days was not that much and there were people here who had worked here their whole life. But, I was the one working until the late hours of the night and woke up at the early hours in the morning.
I wanted the promotion, and I had worked for it.
This was probably something none of them would understand. But ever since I was born I practically breathed GD Enterprises. And in that way, our years of work kind of matched up.
Even when my mother was alive we still spent quite a lot of time there. Part of the reason was because my mother never really liked the long hours he worked and missed him. It was something I admired in their relationship.
My mother would be busy with her career a few months a year and when she wasn't, she wanted to spend the time with her son and her husband. Not like she had a choice anyway, my father practically forced to come with me.
As soon as I was able to remember things, I began to take in everything that I heard. I was a child as was often in the meeting rooms during important meetings and I picked up a few things. It was the same way children of mechanics learnt the ropes, for me it was just in the corporate world.
But I didn't care. I liked sitting in the rooms with a pen and paper. Sometimes I would draw but as I got older I began to take a few notes.
Until she passed away.
Things changed but I still spent an ample amount of time there. Just, not receiving the same treatment I used to from him. Instead, everybody else welcomed me.
When I turned eighteen my father told me that I would eventually take over the company. And I may have been young but he began to teach me about the business. More internal things, who everybody was and their contribution.
Knowing who everybody was and what they did was one of the most important parts about being a CEO. A leader needed to know everybody that would stand behind them and since I would be a very young CEO I needed to ensure that nobody would try and, well, overthrow me.
Only when I was almost finished studying my degree did he teach me exactly how the company worked and how telecommunications worked. He had originally been interested in telecommunications because of my mother.
He was always up for new ways to talk to her.
And now, the time was approaching for me to officially become the CEO. There was quite an increase in my salary, and I already received a generous amount that allowed for my luxurious lifestyle.
I had grown up surrounded by wealth and, when I started to make my own, the lifestyle was instilled in me. I had been with my father to a few fittings and new exactly what a businessman should look like.
When I really think about it, I am my father.
I lived like him, I obviously looked like him, I thought like him, I spoke like him, I dressed like him and I enjoyed the same things in life as him. Considering his achievements, it was not something to be ashamed of.
"Normal time Mr Hernandez?" Greg asks me.
"I may be celebrating, I will call you," I tell him and he nods.
He gets back into the sleek black car and it drives off. I take a deep breath and look up. I was not scared, but the large, tall building looked daunting today. There were at least two dozens floors in the building.
The first few had the new staff, they were lined with cubicles but that didn't stop them from chatting the entire day. These were the noisiest floors as there was no real pressure yet.
Further up, you had lower level management. They mainly took part in staff matters. There was less chatter, it was mostly hushed whispers. They reported to middle level management.
They were among the busiest and most loyal staff members. They had been there for a long time and had earned their way up, and earned their salary that ensured their pockets were never half full.
And then you got to the higher level management. The Board, which is where I found myself and ten other people, and ultimately at my father at the very top. He had the final say in all decisions and he worked incredibly hard.
Time is money, the most important motto in his life.
I walked in and was greeted by Mr Stone. He always had a sombre look on his face but somehow when outside businessman and investors came in, he was suddenly a ball of sunshine. Today, however, he greeted me with that smile and I was so taken aback that I did not respond.
I got in the elevator and waited until it reached the higher floors. Today, my father would announce that I would be CEO. The day I had been waiting for, for as long as I could remember.
As I arrived my secretary told me to make my way to the meeting room immediately. I made him check my suit once more before leaving my briefcase with him and swiftly walking to the room.
I entered with the rest of the Board and a few other members on this floor that I recognised, namely Federico and Mikael.
"Good Morning everyone and thank you for arriving early. I thought it would be best to get this done early so that we can have more time to discuss it during the day if there are any questions and such." Everybody nods and they sit down.
I take my usual seat, the seat closest to him on the adjacent side of the table. He continues to stand. He clears his throat, his way of making sure that he has everybody's undivided attention.
"As you know, I am nearing the age of retirement. Or rather, early retirement. I think it is time that this company has a new face leading it, a new person that they can associate communication with.
"After long and hard thought, I have narrowed it down...to two people,"
And just like that, my heart stops.
HOW COULD HE?
How dare he?
After all the preparation and not-so-subtle hints (there is nothing subtle about him directly telling me that I will be the CEO), he may give the job to Federico Paccini? Him?
Not only did I have a more attractive face for the company, I had earned it. I deserved it. I had worked so hard for it and my whole life had been devoted to this godforsaken company.
And now there may be a different CEO?
The meeting disbanded and I wait for Federico to leave (it takes a while because he thanks him an annoying amount of times) and then finally it is just the two of us.
"Go ahead," He says, motioning his hands.
"Why? Why set me up all this time only to snatch it away from me at the last moment?" I ask and he pinches the bridge of his nose.
It was a Gregorio Hernandez signature move.
"I could not just hand it over to you. I had to make it seem like it was not written in stone and that you were not being spoonfed everything," He tells me, his voice was already strained. Usually I would care more.
"But you know that I have worked hard for everything. You know," I say to him with a narrowed gaze.
"But do they?"
"Well they fucking should," I say and he rolls his eyes.
"Diego, Federico is just as good a candidate for this position as you are and if you really want it then you will work hard for it. You will have to swallow your pride and fight for the job,"
The last ounce of humanity that I thought my father still possessed, it vanished in my eyes right then. It was not that he chose work over me, that I was used to, but he chose Federico over me. Could I ever get over that?
I felt betrayed and robbed, even though I knew that the position was never formally mine. But it still hurt.
But most of all, I felt angry.
And at this moment, it seemed he had forgotten about my short temper and the tendencies that seemed to come with it.
He seemed to not care.
My blood boiled and I continuously clenched and unclenched my fingers. If I bit down on my tongue any harder I would draw blood. I could feel my temper rising.
Fine then, he wanted me to swallow my pride.
Well, I would certainly be swallowing something.
So, context to why he got drunk. Well, more context. I hope that through these chapters you're getting a better feel of Diego's character.
I miscounted how many chapters I had, so you get 15 and an epilogue! Thankfully, my plans for the final one make a good epilogue.
I hope you enjoyed the chapter!
Thanks for reading 🙈 Sorry for any errors 💚
~Lexy 😈