Marriage of convenience

Chapter 43

I admit, I was drunk. I was so petrified at the thought of meeting them all again that I had too much to ease my muscles and now they were jelly. I drunk walked my way to my brother and pulled him by the blazer collar to a side.

"I think we need to leave," I said trying to pull myself together.

"And I think you are drunk. Your face looks flushed," he commented.

"It is all your fault. You shouldn't have brought me here in the first place."

"So you say that being a baby about meeting your friends is alright?" He taunted.

I hated him.

"I can fix my face. We need to fix this deal. I'll freshen up and come and you should do the same too," I said and without another word I made my way to the washroom.

I should be able to pull this off. Ray was not going to ruin this for me. I have worked too hard and I was not going to let it crumble just like that. Anyway, I was going to meet him later so I didn't have to think about him right now. Angela, set your priorities straight. What do you need to do right now?

I was back to my senses after a pep talk to myself. There will always be times when there will be no one available to listen to your petty troubles and give you advice. In these times, it was better to stand for your own self.

Albeit a little drunk, we made it to the hotel conference room and were seated. The meeting started and the terms of the merger were being spoken about. According to Ralph, we were having 50 percent of the shares. The other 50 was under a subsidiary, but the main company was going to take over it.

"The CEO needs to be here, right?" I looked at Ralph skeptically. "Then why the hell is he not?"

"I knew there was something going on," he sighed and interrupted the meeting. "May we know why the CEO is not here yet? We would like the terms to be read in the presence of both the parties."

The meeting came to a sudden stop and people ran around, dialling in their phones, trying to reach him.

"Apologies about the delay. There was a slight inconvenience on the other party's side. We should be having the details soon. Meanwhile, would you like to have something?" The man politely asked and we declined.

"We just want this to be wrapped up quickly," Ralph sighed. He was worried he would miss his models in the house party.

There was an unusual buzz near the entrance and the man responsible for the merger came inside.

"Sorry about all the trouble. We had a few last minute discussions and changes and we thought we could lay it down here in this meeting elaborately so that you can revise your decision. Our main company thought that it would be wise to let another enterprise take care of the other half of the share. So you would be signing up with another party but with the same terms." When Ralph looked visibly upset about the last minute decision, the man laughed. "I am just a middle man, Mr. Marlow. All these decisions are taken by those upstairs and you know better than anyone else."

Ralph looked at me questioningly. What do we do with this?

"As long as the terms remain the same, we should be fine," I voiced out.

"And when should we expect this gentleman to come by?" Ralph asked. He was very upset.

"He is just around the corner. He should be here soon," the man said and the buzz started again. It looked like this gentleman finally decided to show up. I just didn't hope we got this kind of lackadaisical attitude when we work together.