All That She Needs

Part 20 : Aiden

Ryan Miles. Vanessa's fiancé. He was there sitting right in front of me. He never joined my meetings before; he was too junior for that. But today, somehow, he was there.

I just stared and stared at him. Like a creep. I dissected him with my eyes, wondering what Vanessa's saw in him. He was good looking in a preppy boy kind of way, with a cleanly shaved face, sandy blond hair, blue eyes, fake smiles that were all teeth, but he looked stupid. The boy was excited to see me at first, beaming with pride that he got to sit in a meeting with the CEO, then gradually, those fake smiles began to falter, replaced by confusion. He couldn't understand why the CEO, whom he only met once or twice, glared at him with raw hatred in his eyes.

That boy had his hands on my girl. He got to kiss her, to touch her, to make love to her. He had all her smiles, her laughter, and he didn't have to hide it. He got to claim her openly, to shout his love for her to the world. He would marry her, build a life with her, maybe even have children with her. He would go to bed with her and wake up to her beautiful face every morning. He had everything that was supposed to be mine.

I clenched my fists. I was ready to draw blood. My face must have turned crimson with anger, and my eyes went terrifyingly dark. I saw him flinch and recoil, getting confused even more. For a brief moment, I considered firing Ryan, but I quickly dismissed the thought. If I did that, Vanessa would never forgive me.

Sean, ever perceptive and tuned in to everything, always seemed to know what was going on, even when I didn't. How he figured it out, I had no clue, but he knew. He was sitting on my left, his usual spot, which made sense for him to pick up on things. Suddenly, he nudged my elbow and leaned in, whispering, "Stop staring at the guy. You're starting to creep him out."

That snapped me back into focus. I turned and locked eyes with Sean, now the one confused. He sighed, clearly irritated and finally losing his patience. "Lead the meeting. You're the fucking CEO," he mumbled under his breath. "She chose him. Deal with it."

Oh my God. Sean knew!

He reminded me so much of Dennis, Asha's assistant. I had always been envious of how she managed to find someone so efficient, perceptive, smart and intensely loyal. Now that I got one, I wasn't sure I was well equipped to deal with someone like him.

After swallowing hard, I began to turn my attention to the screen, regretting that I wasn't drunk enough to deal with this so early in the morning. My eyes roamed over the presentation I had been neglecting in the last half hour. But the numbers came easily to me. One look at it I already could make my own conclusion. I was always good with numbers. Not as good as Asha who could do complicated math in seconds with her mind alone, but I was way better than the average guy. And I detected a huge mistake immediately.

"Who's the stupid fuck who made this numbers?" My voice boomed throughout the meeting room. In the corner of my eyes, I noticed that Sean was about to warn me again.

Something in my expression must have been frightening enough to silence the entire room. Tension filled the air as everyone went quiet. It made sense—they weren't just staring at their CEO, but the sole owner of the entire company. Besides, outbursts like this were rare. I almost never lost my temper, so I couldn't blame them for being shocked.

A guy named Pierre, who was the head of the communication department, began to speak in a shaky voice. "My team and I prepared the numbers, sir."

Pierre was Ryan's boss. For Ryan to be there, he must contribute a lot to the presentation. "Go back to Bryan's previous presentation." I commanded. Everybody quickly shuffled around their laptops, their papers, and someone clicked back several pages to the total P&L numbers of the company. "There." My hand grabbed the clicker on my desk that had a laser pointer and stabbed the numbers with the red dot. "It didn't fucking match. So which numbers is the correct one?"

Bryan, with his ever calming, soothing voice, spoke. "Pierre. You submitted these numbers to me, and I have checked twice. This is the correct one. You actually reported the right numbers. But I hoped that's only a typo, that made your presented numbers wrong."

Pierre sneaked a heated glance at Ryan who turned beet red.

My patience, already thin, snapped entirely. "Your budget is twenty billion, and by the third quarter, you've already spent seventeen billion. Now you're proposing a plan that needs an additional five billion? That's two billion more than the original budget. Are you out of your mind? You want to ask for more money? How? What you're suggesting is to slash our profits so you can squander billions. Your plan only addresses a third of the sales budget, yet you expect to increase total yearly sales by 30% with this idiotic scheme? It's not substantial enough—not even close to justifying the social buzz you're hoping for, which I still doubt is worthwhile. And you planned for sampling, but Jerry hasn't adjusted his supply forecast. His numbers are unchanged from last time. Do you think he can magically conjure up raw materials? I understand communication is key, but twenty billion is a massive budget for just that. I was expecting a wow moment, and all I got was a fucking disappointment."

Pierre was trembling. Ryan was shaking. Sean shot me a furious look. Bryan seemed at a loss for how to handle the situation. Everyone was tense, but none of them could argue with my point.

"Next time, check your fucking facts. Read your numbers again and again." I took a deep breath, "And don't trust some stupid interns to do your presentation."

I pushed my chair back, stood up, and stormed out of the room with Sean hot on my back.

"What!" I snapped at him when we were both alone in the elevator, which I suspected nobody wanted to be near me and rather waited for the next one.

"That's impressive, boss. I cannot argue with your argument and in fact, I was quite proud of you."

I turned my head to look at him, dumbfounded. "Huh?"

"Yeah, I always thought you were too soft, too understanding. You'd spot a mistake but give them chance after chance. They grew neglectful, undermining the importance of getting it right. But today, you're fierce."

I still didn't get this guy. So, I just shook my head in exasperation, cursing to myself.

"It would be perfect if you could cut back on the swearing, though. Using profanity in a meeting isn't a leadership trait that inspires people."

I sighed. Didn't care to respond to that.

"And I hope this isn't because of Ryan..."

My head quickly snapped towards him. Gritting my teeth, I rumbled. "Explain what you mean. Now."

Sean hesitated, fidgeting nervously before speaking. "I heard some office gossip about you and Vanessa. When she came to the office, the way you looked at her... it was just... sad. So, so sad. Then you moved to the apartment. Then you didn't even bother to shave. You looked haggard and dilapidated unlike your usual immaculate self. You were obviously depressed. And I heard about her engagement to Ryan. It all suddenly makes sense."

I cursed under my breath and shifted my gaze forward. I wasn't about to say anything. But hearing Sean say I looked... sad made me realize I was still struggling to let Vanessa go. I shouldn't hold so much resentment toward Ryan, who was innocent in all this. I'd blown things way out of proportion. It was a big mistake, sure, but that didn't justify the way I lashed out at him. I'd mixed personal feelings with work—and not in a good way.

I sighed. Feeling thoroughly exhausted. I felt like I was at the breaking point

"Anyway..." He mumbled as the door began to open. "Good job boss, the meeting was fucking fantastic!"