Sway Along The Waves (Bellariva Series #1)

Chapter 32

"No one's joking here, Ms. Beaves. Except that I think that you're trying to clown around." Mabilis kong inalis ang atensyon sa kanya. I don't want to have a long argument with her. "Is there anyone else who has something to suggest? If none, let's now proceed with discussing things."

Isang sulyap ang muli kong iginawad kay Ms. Beaves. Nang malingunan ako'y tinaasan niya ako ng isang kilay. Nag-iwas na lang ako ng tingin sa kanya.

"Well, I have thought of revising the company's business plan. I think, our target market is a big factor that affects our sales. I added the middle class to our market. We will adjust our vehicles too. Instead of producing lots of high-quality cars, let's for now focus on creating something lower than that and aligning it with a reasonable price that the middle class will afford."

I gestured for Mr. Raclin to distribute the copies of the project proposal I did last night. Pinanood ko ang mga reaksyon sa mukha ng board. Only Mr. Guillermo seems to agree with me. Ang iba ay nakakunot ang noo habang ang iba ay naiiling na lang.

"Ms. Chairwoman, I think you don't really understand how this company runs." Mrs. Deanne Morana, the vice president for finance, gave me a sarcastic laugh. "Bellariva cars are expensive for a reason. That's how we established our brand. Being expensive is our brand. Besides, everyone is our market, but not all of them are our target. Bellariva cars are not for the middle class."

Isinara niya ang folder ng project proposal ko. Sinadya niya iyong pabagsak na inilapag sa lamesa. Naging maugong pa ang bulungan ng ibang sumasang-ayon sa kanya.

Another member of the board spoke, which caught my attention. "Let's say your proposal is possible, but this will only ruin the company's brand."

Ms. Beaves fakes a scoff to shift the attention towards her. "Bellariva's should be innovating over time, yet now, in light of its low rate, you still want to produce low-quality cars just for the masses to afford them? People will only think that we have become cheap because the company has no sales."

"How can you say so? Do you have better suggestions than mine?" Hindi ko napigilan ang magtaas ng kilay. Ms. Beaves and the other two members of the board became silent because of what I said. "And it's true po. Bellariva has had no sales at all considering the small numbers of vehicles sold in the previous months."

Saglit na katahimikan ang nangyari sa lamesa. Mr. Raclin leaned down toward me just to whisper. He told me there was no need for me to answer all of their questions. Aware naman ako doon. Sadyang hindi ko lang mapigilan.

"I just wanted to say that no one seems to like your proposal. It's obviously made by a high school student," says Ms. Beaves. "Ms. Chairwoman, you better go and study more. Business is more than what you think it is."

"Thank you for your honesty, Miss. No one seems to care about your opinion too."

Napaubo si Mr. Raclin sa gilid ko dahil sa sinabi kong iyon. I can't really hold back my irritation. Kaninang hinihingi ko ang mga suggestions nila, walang nagsasalita. Ngayong ako ang naglalapag ng ideas ko, saka sila maraming nasasabi, pero wala namang maisagot kung ano pa ang iba pang paraan na pwedeng gawin.

"My God! Nasa'n na ba kasi si Kier?" Ms. Beaves rolled her eyes at me.

Hindi ko siya pinansin. "I will schedule a visit to our plant to check if we still have enough manpower for this project. Is there anyone I can count on to support me with this?"

I looked around at the members of the board. Only Mr. Guillermo and the vice president for marketing have their hands up in the air. The others just shook their heads at me.

I smiled at them. "I understand that for professionals like you, someone who has been long in the business industry, it's hard to trust me for something that is hard to risk. Therefore, because no one presented any other ideas regarding this matter, I will be continuing my project proposal. Don't worry, I will still keep you updated on this," I said. "Let's just schedule another meeting again. Thank you, everyone."

Agad akong tumayo pagkatapos no'n. Sumunod sa akin si Mr. Raclin palabas ng conference room. Bumalik ako sa floor ng office ko. Hindi ko na hinayaang sumunod pa sa akin si Mr. Raclin. I told him I needed some alone time for now.

Pagpasok ko sa loob ng office. Padapa kong ibinagsak ang sarili ko sa malaking sofang naroon. I let myself scream everything I had in my head that I hadn't had the courage to say earlier. Nagpapapadyak ako sa sobrang kahihiyan. Hindi ko alam kung kaya ko pa bang humarap ulit sa board sa pangalawang pagkakataon.

What if Kier found out how rude I was toward them? For sure, magrereport si Mr. Raclin sa kanya!

Sa sobrang occupied ko sa pagmumukmok, hindi ko na napansin ang pumasok sa office ko. When I pulled my gaze up to see who it was, all my dignity started to crumple down again.

"What's wrong with you?" Natatawang tanong ng kapapasok lang na si Aries.

Nilagpasan niya ang nakakunot ang noong si Devin habang nakatingin sa akin gano'n din si Mr. Raclin na nakaiwas ng tingin. Mabilis akong umupo para ayusin ang sarili. I rolled my eyes at my brothers, feeling more irritated now.

"What happened to that meeting, huh? You're... getting weird," hirit pa ni Aries.

"Stop it!" Naiinis na saway ko sa kanya.

Pumwesto ako sa swivel chair ko. I let Aries and Devin sit on the visitor's chair in front of my table.

"I'll pretend I didn't see anything," Devin said. He's wearing a black suit, probably; he just came straight here from his office. "How's the board meeting? I heard from Raclin that you got in a hot seat."

"It's fine. I thought you were busy?" I asked him, trying so hard to escape from that embarrassment.

"I told him you need help so..." Aries trailed off.

"Tell me what happened to the meeting? Ano ang mga napag-usapan?"

Mr. Raclin was the one who told everything that happened to Devin. I can sense from him that he's also contemplating whether he should agree or not to my ideas, while Aries told me it was just fine.

"You'll be risking the company's brand for this," Devin says. There's no hint of disapproval in his tone, but I'm sure he doesn't like this either. "Nevertheless, it's still better to try this than do nothing."

"Meron pa naman akong ibang idea bukod diyan. What if mag-open ako ng car rental for Bellariva cars? Sure, ako magiging patok 'yon!"

Devin's brows knitted. Tumingin siya sa akin na para bang hinihintay akong sabihin na binibiro ko siya. "That would be riskier. Hindi para sa mga ganoon ang mga sasakyan natin. Our cars might get stolen. Besides, the price of our car rental is already equivalent to half the price of a brand new one. Do you think a client will first choose to use the money for rental instead of a downpayment?"

Napatango-tango na lang ako sa kanya. He has all the points for that. What else can I say?

"Prepare a PowerPoint presentation for your project proposal. I'll attend the next conference with the board. You'll going to present it there," he said.

Wala akong naging reklamo sa sinabi niya. I think it's better if he's at the next board meeting. At least, I have someone on my side just in case. Although I don't really think that Devin will support my project.

I have an schedule dress-fitting the next day. Kasama ko si Emman sa pagsusukat ng mga damit na isusuot namin sa graduation kahit na matatakpan din naman iyon ng toga. We went to a boutique in a nearby mall. Kami lang ang tanging customers doon at ang lahat ng mga staffs ay inaasikaso kami.

"I want an above-the-knee dress. Iyong hindi makikita sa toga. Kahit simple lang ang design." Ibinalik ko ang mga naisukat ko ng dresses. Magaganda ang mga iyon, pero halos revealing naman o 'di kaya'y over the knee and length.

"Give her all the most expensive and elegant dresses you have. Just above-the-knee length, like what she says," utos ni Emman sa staff na inutusan ko. Nagpabalik-balik sa amin ang tingin no'n bago rin siya tinanguan. Sunod akong binalingan ni Emman. "Pababalikin ka ni Kuya rito kapag ganoong klase ng dress lang ang kukunin mo."

Hinayaan ko ang kapatid kong mamili para sa akin. Napatagal ang pagsusukat ko sa dress dahil wala akong mapili kahit magaganda naman ang lahat. Tingin ko, hindi lang talaga bagay sa akin ang iba. Kalauna'y limang magkakaibang designer dress na ang kinuha ko.

Next week Tuesday na ang graduation namin. Ang susunod na meeting ko ay nitong darating na weekend na. Kier will definitely be back on the day of my graduation. Wala pa akong nagagawang, kahit ano para sa kumpanya. Mukhang made-delay pa ata ang flight ko, or baka hindi pa ako matuloy.

I spend all my free hours researching marketing strategies and, at the same time, doing my PowerPoint presentation. Si Aries ang kino-consult ko kapag may bagay akong 'di sigurado. I felt nervous, thinking that I would have to face the board for another time. It causes a distraction from what I am doing each time I think of it.

"Ms. Chairwoman, the board, including President Bellariva, is now heading in here." Tuloy-tuloy sa pagpasok si Mr. Raclin sa conference room.

Pabalik-balik ako ng lakad sa harap ng lamesa. Mine-memorize ko ang mga sasabihin ko sa presentation. Mr. Raclin still has to call me twice before I finally come back to my senses.

"Better if you don't memorize anything. Mas maguguluhan ka lang," Mr. Raclin advised when he saw how nervous I was. "Just go with the flow of the presentation. You can do it."

His encouraging words somehow made me feel relieved. I took deep breaths while waiting for the board. Nang mag-umpisang magsidatingan ang ilan ay mas dumagundong ang nerbyos ko.

"Good luck with your presentation, hija."

Nginitian ko lang si Mr. Guillermo nang dumaan siya sa harap ko. Si Devin ang pinakahuling dumating kasama si Ms. Beaves. I noticed that Ms. Beaves is closed to my brothers. Base pa lang sa kung paano niya i-address si Kier at ngayon na kasama niya pa si Devin.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen," tumikhim ako nang muntik na akong mautal.

Pinasadahan ko ng tingin ang lahat ng nakaupo roon bago ako nag-umpisa sa pagp-present. Hindi ko magawang salubungin ang tingin ng ibang board sa akin kung kaya't madalas na nasa kapatid ko ang tingin ko. He's sitting on the centerpiece of the long table. Iyon ang inupuan ko noong nakaraan. Sa gilid niya nakatayo roon si Mr. Raclin.

"Online advertising is the best way to promote my proposed vehicle. Since nowadays, almost everyone is drowning in social media usage," I said.

"What a common idea!" Rinig kong sabi ng isa sa mga board.

"So even in promotion, we're going to focus only on your so-called proposed vehicle?" Tanong ni Mr. Reyes.

Inilingan ko siya. "No, sir. Thank you for asking that question. As for our current car models, I wanted our marketing team to work together to get a review from our previous customers. For example, asking about their experiences as Bellariva car users. We can use these satisfied customer reviews on our websites and in other paid social media ads. We can engage a lot of people through this."

Mrs. Morana raised her hand. I nodded at her to let her speak. "Mostly teenager ang mga nasa platform ng social media. What's the sense of that? Hindi naman sila kasali sa market natin."

"Well, the main purpose of this advertisement is to reach more people. I stand to be corrected, but if I'm not mistaken, as you told me from our last meeting, everyone can be our market, but not everyone is our target. Let's just say that these teenagers aren't our target yet, but they're still part of our market. Am I right, Mrs. Morana?"

Tumikhim ang matanda sa akin, hindi na nag-abalang sumagot pa, pero nakataas pa rin ang kilay.

"Going back to my proposed vehicle, I have here a virtual car model and its reference."

I played a slide show of a 3D car model on the screen. Ini-sketch ko lang iyon at 'di ko akalaing mas mapapaganda pa ni Chino kapag nailipat sa 3D. Halos kapareho lang iyon sa kopya ng mga current models namin. May ilang details lang akong inibahan kasama na ang mas murang raw materials.

"KDN, KNJ, KJE, KDV, KNDA, and KR are the names of our car models, which are derived from the names of my brothers. For this new model, I decided to call it "V."

I repeated the slideshow for them to review it better.

"Do you think this car is easier to market?How can you be so sure that they will like this car more compared to our current models?" Nagulat ako sa magkasunod na tanong ni Devin.

Masungit ang reaksyon ng kanyang mukha nang lingunin ko. He's surely trying to make me feel intimidated towards him.

"This car isn't in competition with our current models," I answered. "This is just a way for our prospects to choose us even if there are still more convenient and more affordable cars out there. At dahil na rin big brand of cars ang Bellariva, mas mape-persuade silang bumili ng bagong model na 'to dahil sa mababa nitong presyo."

"If that's the case, then the other car models will be left out," Devin says. "Prospects will prefer the new model because it is cheaper considering how big the brand name Bellariva is."

"I'll make sure that won't happen." I change the slide to flash the prices of our cars. "I'm planning to add another promotional period such as holiday sales, summer sales, and rainy day sales. We can also offer a discount for new car buyers. As you can see here on the screen, the prices of our car are very stable. Tingin ko, mas mawiwili ang mga tao sa ganitong paraan lalo na kung limited time lang itong io-offer ng Bellariva."

Nakita ko ang dahan-dahang pagkurba ng ngisi sa labi ni Devin. He got that proud brother look on his face while looking at me. Isang beses siyang umiling bago iyon napalitan ng sunod-sunod na tango.

"Congratulations. Your proposal is approved."