CEO??

Chapter 14

"Yes?" I said as I answered the door.

"Mr. Parker?" a slim young man with platinum blond hair, pale skin, and icy blue eyes asked. "I was requested for a contract?"

I smiled kindly. "Mr. Taylor! Come in, we were just discussing a project for later, but the sooner this contract is over with the sooner we can start. Let me introduce you to my assistant, Darren Brady, and my friend and colleague, Princess Shuri."

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Brady and your majesty," he greeted.

Shuri laughed. "Call me, Shuri, Mr. Taylor."

"Please, have a seat and we'll get started," I said, offering him a chair at the official meeting table. Shuri and Darren moved over as well.

We began the contract, working out the small details and getting everything in order. Carl was making notes as we spoke and soon pulled out a laptop and began building the contract.

"This may take a while," he informed us. "Everything needs to be stated just right with no loopholes for either side, just as you requested, Mr. Parker. I should have it done by the end of the week, however."

"I understand," I said, slightly impressed. Most lawyers I had worked with would take a month to get it done. Hopefully, the quality will be the same. "Would you prefer to work here for today or go back to your own workspace?"

He looked at his notes that were scattered across the table. "Here for today, if that is okay, Sir. I am all set up and moving might delay the process."

I nodded and locked a few drawers that held confidential information. "Work here for as long as you like, Mr. Taylor. Let Friday know if you need anything."

"Thank you, Sir," he said, not looking back up as he worked.

"You're very welcome. Shuri, Mr. Brady, why don't we go to the labs and let Mr. Taylor work without interruptions?"

We left and I took us to the guest floor to pick up the group. I let them use one of my high-tech labs that had no confidential information, telling them to each build or design something to impress me while Shuri and I began work on the new phones in my personal lab, which was connected, but private.

Darren was given a workstation to do whatever he wants with. He quickly turned it into a mini office. He had sticky notes, extra pencils and pens, an electric pencil sharpener, a calendar, a notepad or two, his laptop (which was stored in a locked drawer when he was not using it), and other office supplies. He also set up a snack drawer, which Shuri and I thought was brilliant, so we did the same.

Anyway, while he worked on his schoolwork, we were working on the blueprints for the phones and were really into the zone when I had a brilliant idea. "We should totally make a tablet too!" I said. "Not with all the features, but with a linked calendar, unhackable, tracker, an AI, and a translator!"

She tilted her head slightly. "Why?"

I smiled, glancing at Darren, who had been the inspiration for the idea. "For confidential stuff, like the work I do as a CEO. I don't want anything to be leaked and a linked calendar and the other features would come in handy as well."

"Peter, you speak at least fifteen languages and you pick them up as easily as you breathe," she pointed out.

"If I get an assistant at any point in time, they might need the translator. Besides, it could come in handy if I don't know the language yet, and need to still be able to read it."

"Does it need to be indestructible?" she asked, starting to like the idea.

"No, but that would be nice. I work in the labs a lot, and things blow up."

"Plus, you're clumsy," she added. "You'll likely find a way to drop it in a lake, meaning it should be waterproof as well. Alright, phones then tablets. How many tablets would you say?"

"I'll need two. One for me and one for my assistant. You can make however many you might want." I shrugged.

We were distracted already, so we ended up working on the new arm for Dad and jotting down ideas for other projects. We finished the arm soon enough and began working on the phones again.

By the end of the day, we were ready for a break.

"Shall we go see what our dear new friends have made?" I asked Shuri quietly, gesturing to the door to the conjoined lab. I didn't want to bother Darren, who had fallen asleep. We had moved him to a cot we had for late nights in the lab.

She nodded and we entered the next room. It was a wondrous sight to behold.

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Thoughts?