Richmond Headquarters
Emma's POV
I kept looking at Jake, my eyes drew to his face after every passing minute, but his never left the projector screen. He did not look in my direction again.
I gathered myself and focused hard to follow the screen, trying to make sense of the quotations projected by BLK. Everyone took notes and kept up with the pace of the meeting.
Next up the projector was the proposal prepared by me. The Legal team from BLK took serious interest and were discussing something internally as the proposal slides advanced.
The proposal was interjected by one of the spokespersons from BLK.
"Mr. Jacob, your team's risk assessment numbers are way higher than what we projected in our calculation" A man in his mid-forties said while looking at his laptop screen.
"We really could use some explanation to verify the authenticity of your projected numbers". He finished in a serious tone. I felt a knot in the pit of my stomach. This was my work, and my credibility was at stake.
He was now slowly talking to his other colleagues, not very audible to the larger group. After few minutes, Mr. Ben Muriel, CEO of BLK, the company acquired by Jake, continued, "I think we will have to regroup on the risk assessment Mr. Richmond, as clearly we do not have consensus on the projections here. These revisions might even take a couple of week's time."
Jake did not look pleased by their request at all, he replied sternly, "Let's circle back for a minute Mr. Muriel, I am sure my legal department has valid explanations for your questions."
Jake gave a go-ahead nod to Mark, and he inmediately stood up to handle the questions. He headed to the white board, and gave quite convincing explanations for a brief one-hour walkthrough that I provided him this morning. This only showed how good he was at his work.
However, he got cross-questioned again on one of the parameters that he didn't cover.
There was pin drop silence in the room, piercing gazes stuck on Mark, who was looking into the proposal file figuring the best explanation. Soft whispers filled the room and it appeared as if Richmond Corp was losing face.
Jake was giving deadly stares to Mark, and I am not sure if it was the adrenaline rush or the bout of nervousness that abruptly transformed into boldness, I stood up from my seat, and offered Mark to take it forward from where he left.
I confidently walked towards Mark, and took the marker from his hand. I turned around and introduced myself.
"I am Emma Carter from S&M, we are Richmond Corp's legal partners and I would be the right person to provide you the basis of our projected numbers here." I started in a stern loud voice, these calculations were on the back of my hand as I prepared them less than eight hours ago.
My eyes did not leave the white board for a second, however, I could feel my back pierced by Jake's serious stares. I dare not look back at him even once during my presentation, as I was sure the strength I had unexpectedly summoned would fall in splits the moment my eyes would meet his.
I forced myself to maintain calm and continued writing down the numbers for everyone's benefit. Once I was done, I felt satisfied by my explanation. I did a thorough research and was positive that this could not go wrong.
The BLK Spokesperson looked a little agitated yet still nodded in agreement.
"Alright Ms. Carter, we agree with your calculations here, however, for our record keeping, we will need the explanation sent as a separate attachment?" Mr. Muriel said in a bossily tone.
"You will have them faxed to you by nine am tomorrow Mr. Muriel". Before I could reply, Jake cut me out and responded in a firm tone.
"Good, we will look forward to receive it then."
Mr. Muriel said while getting up from his chair and shaking Jake's hand. I stood there, silently observing each one of the members from BLK leave the room.
There was a deafening silence in the room again, only present was Richmond Corp's legal team, myself and the big boss himself along with his secretary.
Jake finally turned around in my direction, and our eyes met for the first time after months. For split of a second, I forgot how to breathe.
His expressions were cold and blank, I tried searching his eyes to get a glimpse of what he was thinking, but I got nothing. He stood there, I could see a lump forming in his throat too.
He started at me for few seconds more, and then turned to Mark.
"Mark please provide Ms. Carter all the required resources for the paperwork. I would be looking at the final proposal in detail over night and will have it sent to BLK before 9 am tomorrow". Mark nodded and with that Jake stormed out.
The minute Jake left the conference room, Mark and his team walked in my direction and stood next to me.
"You were great Emma. Well done." Mark smiled at me, as his other team members stepped forward to shake my hand.
"Thank You." I muttered with a small smile while shaking their hands in return.
I was numb and did not know what to think. It felt my heart and spirit left the room with Jake. All words falling on my ears were like faded whispers. I was lost in my thoughts while Mark was briefing the team.
Once finished, Mark offered to escort me out of the office. He behaved like a true gentleman and was constantly appreciating me for my work.
Once he left, I almost burst into tears. I was not even sure why I was crying. I did a great job today and we had this acquisition well under control, that too on our terms. I pulled off what I had promised Benjamin and today's meeting would definitely lead to a strong foundation between Richmond's and S&M.
I saw Jake after seven months, something that I always desired in my heart and yet I wasn't happy.
The moment he stormed out as if I was non-existent and just another employee who worked for his mighty company, I felt so small.
He was one of the most powerful business men of today's time and a girl like me would make no difference in his high end life.
Obviously, what would I mean to someone like Jacob Richmond? Why would he waste his precious time acknowledging me?
***
"You mean the Jake you kissed in Corsica is actually a big shot CEO of this huge organisation - Richmond Corp?"
"Yes" I barely muttered.
I was so restless that I decided to take a short detour and planned on meeting Niki for a quick lunch before I headed back to my office. She immediately agreed to see me and soon we were seated in an upstate Italian restaurant two blocks away from my office.
"The sole beneficiary of the vast empire that his father left him, and he owns more than half of the oil and refinery industry?"
"Yup, it's him."
"So, he is the new guy who has set daily headlines on fire in the past month with his business maneuvers?"
She repeated all those questions in complete state of shock and aww.
"Yes, and he is one of my company's biggest client". I sighed reflecting upon the irony of the situation, "and worse is he doesn't seem to recognize me or know me. As if the kiss that made a big deal in my head, meant nothing to him."
I tried holding back my tears, and took a deep breathe. Niki was listening to me with empathy and compassion. She was sitting patiently allowing me to pour myself out.
"I don't know what was I expecting Niki? I wish he could have been just a simple guy who happened to kiss an ordinary girl in that beautiful beach in Corsica. Now, I can't even dream about that memory again. He suddenly became this far fetched reality that was forbidden to touch."
"Relax Emma. All this is not worth your worry. Just let it go. Try and have a high-level perspective, at the end of the day it was one random kiss, and like it or not, it really isn't a very big deal for a lot of people."
From across the table, Niki got up and hugged me after sitting next to me. She was rubbing my arms calmly.
"You deserve to be loved Emma and you deserve a lot more than mere attention from somebody. When the time is right, you will fall in love again, and you will get your happily ever after. I promise". She said sincerely.
I just could nod at her encouraging words. She was my rock, and I was grateful to have a friend like her in my life. We both finished our food in silence after that, and I headed back to my office. Benjamin was still out of office. I decided to drop him a text on today's updates.
I got to work and finished around six pm. With a heavy heart and an extremely tired body, I dragged myself to my apartment. I just wanted this eventful day to end.