My Senator

Prologue

With screeching tires, Gregorio Araneta speeded down the narrow driveway to parking level 1 with his black Ford Mustang. He was late, not the first time this week. But this time, his wife, the most respectable and honorable Irene Marcos Araneta was going to give him hell. Now more than ever.

Today was their monthly Jour-Fixe meeting she convened to discuss the state of their company. A meeting that also served as some sort of leadership brainstorming for expansion and innovation. Obviously, his wife took these meetings very seriously. And tardiness as a personal affront. Especially, if the person in question was her husband.

After the last sharp bend, Greggy jammed on the brakes and let out a rude curse when he saw Irene's red Porsche 911 that was parked in the middle of both CEO parking lots reserved for the two of them.

"For crying out loud! Damn it, woman, where did you learn to park!", he shouted angrily and drove around the next corner to search for a free employee parking lot.

"ang swerte mo lang talaga at asawa ko kita!" he added.

To his annoyance, he only found one on the second parking level and lost some more precious minutes. After he had parked his car, Greggy hurried to the elevator that unfortunately stopped on almost every floor of the building to let people in or out and added to his growing frustration. He impatiently kept glancing at his watch, but no matter how often he checked the time, the fact that he was twenty minutes too late was out of the question.

Finally, the door to the management floor of Ara-Cos - The Araneta Security opened and he rushed down the hall, past Irene's secretary, and breathlessly tore open the door to the executive board meeting room.

Five pairs of eyes immediately focused on the newcomer. One of them shot poisonous arrows in his direction.

"How lovely that you could arrange it as well, Greggy," his wife said instead of a greeting and the icy undertone that clung to her words didn't escape those present. 

The arctic winter was nothing against an angry Irene Marcos Araneta. Greggy just grunted in irritation and poured himself a cup of coffee instead of giving her a reply. He wasn't up for a dispute without prior caffeine intake.

"I love you!" He replied and give his wife a wink.

Irene gestured for David Romualdez, their personnel manager, to continue with his report. Greggy only listened with one ear. His wife took care of all personnel matters and they admittedly didn't interest him. What mattered to him was the continuous development of their products and their fight against their competitors to hold their ground as a global market leader.
And their competitors did not sleep but put forward new innovations in the internet security segment. They all knew that they could only grow by opening new doors in the area of security and surveillance technology in the long run.

Should Irene be responsible for their staff and their finances? As long as the business was going well and she did not interfere in his section of the development, he would let her have carte blanche at full length. Because no matter how capricious, temperamental and stubborn his wife maybe, she was a cunning businesswoman with a keen intuition for the right investments and one of the most intelligent senators in the Philippines.

Their son Alfonso was sitting next to his mother, eagerly absorbing each detail of David's report. Now and then he lowered his blond head to take some notes. The boy had turned 21 just a few weeks ago and Irene had insisted that he was now old enough to become part of their management team step by step. And his boy was doing well. Maybe he still acted out a little bit hesitant but he had inherited his parent's sense of business. He met his growing obligations quite eagerly and with great care. Given time and with more experience, they would be able to entrust Alfonso with the junior management of their company.