Compositional Defiance

Part 3: Don't Let My Cuteness Fool You

I'm back in the boardroom, sitting in Dad's old chair--my new chair--only this time, Nico sits at my side instead of Stirling, an easel with some posters of information on composites manufacturing and Dr. Fischer's plan set up behind him. I've left the old folder of the company's past failures and replaced it with a folder of information and projections Dr. Fischer sent here with Nico. It's time to think about the future of Intrepid Airways, I only hope that the board will be ready to think about it too.

Nico reaches his hand to rest over mine, and my skin tingles at his touch. We haven't spent much time together here in Chicago since arriving--to be fair, we only just got back two days ago--especially since Nico went to GE's to check out some of their projects and get them on board with ours. Apparently, they are more than excited to help out, as are all the worldwide sites, and even made a 3D printed model of what our new engines will look like. I can't tell the difference, but the model is working perfectly as a stress reliever for me as I roll it around between my palms until Nico's hand touches mine. Then I stop.

He pulls back, as if just now realizing how intimate a gesture this might be for two people who, to be fair, barely know each other. It doesn't matter to me that we've only known each other for a few days, though; I already trust Nico to have my best interest in mind, professionally and otherwise. I smile.

"How do you feel?" he asks after seeing me smile. It must not have been my most confident expression.

"Honestly?"

He nods. "Of course."

"I'm scared. I know that our plan is the best thing for the company, I just hope they see it too."

The double doors at the end of the room unlatch open, marking the entrance of the first board members. "I suppose we will see what they think soon," Nico whispers with a crooked smile.

I suppose we will, I think as I push my worries away with one large gulp.

One by one, the board members file into the room. This time it doesn't seem to be one big entrance. This time it doesn't seem as though Stirling got to them before me. Maybe my calling them into session before the week was up caught them all off guard enough to listen to me over him. Or maybe it just made them cranky, because not one of them look like they are in a good mood to be here. That is, except for Debra, who smiles as she comes to the front and takes the seat to my direct left. Now at least I have my two allies on either side of me.

Finally, Stirling comes into the room. He peers around the room after a false start toward his usual seat. The seats have nearly all been taken, leaving only the ones around the back end of the table near where he stands. He pulls a chair from around the side of the table to the head of it, so that he sits directly in front of me, and as if he were made of ice, the whole room chills to a sudden stop when he sits down.

All eyes shift to me. The meeting has started, I guess. I hate that Stirling still has power over that somehow.

"Thank you all for coming back earlier than we had agreed on last time," I start, and I swear I can hear an audible groan from Stirling all the way across the table. I continue anyway: "After our last meeting, I knew that I had to present something huge and amazing to all of you if I were to ever convince you to hold onto my family's company just a little while longer - at least until we all had a better idea of the direction it was going in."

I pause and look to my left, where Debra is sitting, her red hair and silver streaks pulled back so I can see her accepting grin.

"Debra here guided me toward a path that my dad tried to explore earlier, but that he did not have your approval for. At this point in our company's progress, I don't think there is any other option than to further explore that path if we want to survive."