Ruby Red 3 - A Romance for All Time (Complete)

Chapter 38

Where was Sam?

A room full of shareholders regarded her, all full of expectation, all waiting for Ali to speak.

High on coffee because she'd stayed up until the wee hours of the morning practicing her pitch, Ali forced her hand to stop shaking as she loaded up her presentation. Last night her mother was her audience as she obsessed over each point, paced the strategy for maximum effect. By the time she crawled into bed, she didn't need to reference her notes anymore–she knew it all by heart. Ready to take back her family's company.

Her eyes drifted to the door, willing it to open. Sam was late. He'd texted from the limo, a backlog at the airport kept his plane stuck in the crush of those trying to land. On his way now, his car sped towards her. She hoped he would be here, see her present to the board, watch her win this final battle against Jack. But she couldn't delay any longer.

With a steadying breath, she surveyed the Stinson Studios boardroom. Every seat around the giant mahogany table occupied, the spare ones along two long walls as well, each shareholder of the company assessing her. At the head of the table sat Spencer in his position of chairman of the meeting. Her mother on his right, both giving her looks of encouragement. Jack, who had just finished presenting his pitch to the group, sat on Spencer's other side, the power position.

Spencer cleared his throat. "Next up, Ms. Stinson will present her vision of the future of Stinson Studios."

Ali had to admit Jack would be a hard act to follow, his strategy impressive. Her ex-husband took nothing for granted today, bringing his a-game and a sleek plan for increasing the profits of the people in this room. And Ali wasn't fool enough to be believe profits weren't the number one concern of this group. Sure, everyone raved about the long-standing tradition of Stinson Studios, the fine craftmanship, the weight the blue-blooded name brought to the marketplace. But make no mistake, if it hurt their bottom line, these people would cut the company down without a second thought.

"Is there a deck for this one too?" squawked the metal grey speaker in the middle of the desk.

Jack took control, jumping in. "Yes. It's the other attachment in the email Spencer sent. Do you see it?"

Jack's vision for her family's company focused on cutting costs at the expense of the product. By swapping expensive materials, including the very wood Stinson Studios prided itself on using, for cheaper options like plastic, they could eventually turn the furniture out in a quicker assembly-line approach. Eventually staff would be reduced as the individuals with the largest salaries, the artists, were no longer required, their skill of no use. Profits would rise with fewer people and a reduced cost of doing business.

Ali watched the shareholders eat up his presentation, practically salivate at the projected profits Jack flashed in big, bold numbers on the wide-screen TV behind him. For a moment butterflies swirled in her stomach, doubting her plan had enough to offer these money-obsessed people. At that moment, she would have liked Sam's hand to hold, to feel the surety of his presence. Then Jack broke the one hitch in his plan. All this change wouldn't happen overnight. Profits would take a while to be realized. Even worse, the strategy required an initial influx of cash to buy and set up machinery to replace the hand-tooled process currently in place.

This caused a rumble to roll through the room of stakeholders. They didn't like having to pony up money, preferring to rake it in.

The speaker on the phone piped up again, "Oh, I see it. Thanks."

Time for her to shine. To prove an alternative existed to Jack's bold modernization, offer a way forward for the company, which included fresh ideas but retain the ideals the company had upheld for a century.