Phoenix

19. The Grand Scheme

War.

Jason swirled his neck and cracked his knuckles, looking as bold and confident as he could. The board meeting had come way sooner than expected and although it was impromptu, it was still expected. There was no mistaking that the Lawrences and Daniel were behind everything that had been going down in the past few days and taken into account the type of business people they were, they were definitely going to speed up their time-table as fast as they could.

It was 12 P.M. and for some unknown reason, Ashley hadn’t shown up to work yet. At first he thought it must had been as a result of jet-lag due to her previous day activities of hanging out with Sienna, so he didn’t bother her by calling her or texting her. But now that it was well past noon and still he hadn’t heard a word from her; after calling her like a gazillion times, he sent his whole detail to scour the city for her.

He was really worried, because now he knew what the Lawrences and the bastard Daniel were capable of.

He hoped fervently that she wasn’t in any way part of their plan.

“Mr. Berlanti, in the past few weeks, Phoenix’s exploits has been disastrous” A voice from the other end of the room blared. “In fact if the business sector was likened to the movie industry, movie-goers would be labeling Phoenix as a box-office flop. Moreso, in the past few years and in all of Phoenix’s history I can’t recall a time where the company was going through such debilitating turmoil”

Jason sat up, hands clasped on the table, a furrow on his fore head, his eyes narrowed at the board member. “You do have a point sir. In fact everyone in this room should share your worries but do believe me and take my word, when I assure you that all is under control and Phoenix would soon return to the buoyance and dominance it once enjoyed”

Jennifer Lawrence sat up with a devious smile, her long nails fiddling with her lips hurtling feelings of spite at Jason. “And why should anyone in this room take your word to heart. Why should we be fully and rest assured when you go on and say something that any normal person in your shoes, or chair as the case calls for; would say under similar circumstances”

Jason sniffed and maintained his posture. “Well can I cast your mind back to the events of the past. Once upon a time, there was a young man who lost his father; the Chairman of a major group. He had no choice than to take over from his father and despite the fact that he had such little grooming in the field, days, weeks later he would go on to acquire behemoths that the group in their wildest dreams, wouldn’t have dreamed of such. I believe that young man is me and I also believe that before my recent exploits; I gave you such assurance and when I say they have come to fruition; a grammarian would beg to differ and scrutinize my blunder, calling it a colossal understatement”

Silence dawned on the room for a bit. It appeared that the group was a bit taken by Jason’s sudden confidence and verbosity. He had told him self multiple times, that he wasn’t going to cower in fear. Every strike, every attack, launched at him; he would dismantle and arbitrate into meager extinct pieces.

Another board member sat up, at the far end right hand corner of the table. “You’re right Mr. Berlanti. But you might want to keep in mind that a good businessman never states his feats as excuses when being critiqued but instead, accepts his blames and move forward. Besides I think when you factor how much profit your recent acquirements have contributed to the group and you compare them with our recent losses, I think that the losses in fact would decimate them”

Jason chuckled slightly, and then released his arms, leaning into his chair. “Don’t let us kid ourselves here. We all know the last thing you all want me to do is to accept my fault and promise you that I would work on my mistakes. Mrs. Whedon you do have a point, but I’m sure I’m speaking on behalf of everyone here that the last thing they would want to hear is my apology. But nevertheless, just like I mentioned in the press conference a day ago, just like a sword, Phoenix is going through its fire but at the end of the day, when it eventually comes out, it would be stronger than ever”