A Lifetime of Adventure

Chapter 1

Shantelle's POV

A new day means another day of staying in the office. Sometimes I wonder if its really a good idea to be the CEO of a family business because it requires investing a lot of time and effort to train and guide the management team into achieving my vision for the company. And of course, hindi mawawala dito ang makukulit na department managers na ayaw sumunod sa new strategies kasi komportable na sila sa mga ginagawa nila ngayon. 

I often get jealous on how they manage their work-life balance because they could do their hobbies and relax after working hours. Meanwhile, here I am spending around 12 hours everyday in the office managing operational and financial affairs and almost 4 hours outside meeting and coordinating overseas suppliers for the pending raw material importations. 

I am currently driving my SUV to the office and is wearing a smart casual attire that is composed of light blue long sleeve blouse paired with beige slacks and white sneakers. Nearing the office building, I can now see a 10-floor office building that has a modern design and is covered in tinted glass with a big revolving door as its main entrance. 

After parking my car in the slot exclusively reserved for me, I am now walking towards the elevator to go up to my office located in the 10th floor. While waiting for the elevator to arrive, several employees who also parked their cars nearby greeted me. 

Reaching the 6th floor, most employees who entered the elevator with me have already left, except two, who is working in the finance department on the 9th floor as stated in their lanyards. While going up to the next floor, I suddenly decided to visit the finance department to be updated of their status. To lock in the decision, I reached my hand out to the controls of the elevator and unclicked the button with a number 10. 

Exiting the elevator, I was greeted by security doors that requires keycard access or pin before entering. My hand reached out to the front pocket of my handbag to get the master keycard that was issued to me and tapped the card to the card reader on the right. Imediately heard a click, which signaled me that the door is already unlocked.  

I then headed directly to the office of the finance manager and firmly knocked on the glass doors to signify my presence to Mr. Alvarez, the finance manager. After few seconds have passed, I heard an acknowledgement from the manager and pushed the door open. Upon entering the office, A large stack of papers with a label 'For filing' greeted me. My eyes immediately darted to the person sitting behind the L-shaped office table facing the door. 

Mr. Alvarez is a man in his late 30s. He is previously working as a bank manager in one of the largest banks in the Philippines. I recruited him to work in my company since I needed a reliable and experienced finance department head to manage the company's finances. Plus, he also has many friends in the industry, which can be beneficial for me especially when I needed advice in running the company. 

"Good morning, Mr. Alvarez, kumusta naman ang funds natin this week? Plus funds for salaries on Monday?" I said

"Good morning din po Ma'am, based po sa report na binigay saakin ng team kahapon, sufficient pa po funds natin for the next 2 days. Pero may kulang pa po tayo for Friday at para sa sweldo." Mr. Alvarez said

"Ano pa yung pending collections natin?" I said

"Uhm, may expected collections po tayo and checks dated on Thursday and Friday. Sapat na po yun hanggang sa pang swledo po" He said

"Okay that's good!" I said and smiled "Just go up to my office if we lack any funds ha." I added while walking towards the door to exit the office. 

Mr. Alvarez responded by nodding his head 

Arriving on the 10th floor, I was greeted by Vea, the overall department coordinator. She is a woman in her early 30s. She is a beautiful woman in my eyes, so its no wonder if a lot of guys would try to court her left and right. However, one thing that she made clear for herself is having a stable career first before finding love. Plus, hindi rin kasi tumatagal ang mga past relationships niya just because guys fall out of love with her. For some reason, she looks very stressed this morning. It might be caused by someone in the marketing department pissing her off again. 

"Good morning Vea, how's the implementation of my new strategy for the production department?" I said 

"There are some challenges that were encountered but it was eventually resolved by the employees themselves po Ms. Lee." Vea said

"That's good! Thank goodness we hired experienced production staff although it can be a little more costly" I said "How about the marketing department, what is the status of their progress. May new marketing plans na ba?"

"Hay nako ma'am, nastrestress ako diyan sa marketing department na yan. Bumisita ako sa department kanina at kinausap si Mr. Lucas tungkol sa marketing plan na pinagagawa sa kanya. Alam mo ba kung ano sinagot niya saakin?" Vea said 

"What?" I said

"Sabi niya 'Secret!! malalaman mo nalang yan eventually Vea, have patience. Patience is a virtue.' tinanong ko pa siya kung may initial plans na ba sila, sabi niya 'Maybe, maybe not. kung gusto mo maging inspiration ko, baka mas magandang projects ang mailalabas ko dito' UGHHH" Vea said

I laughed for about a minute because of what she told me and how her expression looks like when she is telling me about her encounter with the marketing department head.

Personally speaking, medyo sira ulo nga talaga si Mr. Lucas, the marketing department manager, pag kinakausap mo pero based sa past performance niya, magaganda and effective yung mga marketing plans na nailalabas ng team niya. So, di ko talaga siya masisi o mapagalitan. 

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