A Silver Lining (#Wattys2018)

CHAPTER 14| The past and the present

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Song: "don't let me down" by chainsmoker.

Dedicated to : onedopegirl

Quote: "Don't let me down!".
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The meeting began at exactly twelve o'clock, in the afternoon. Most of the senior staffs and heads of department were present in the meeting.

Mr Phil stood up, his chair made a screeching sound against the marble floor, as he struggled to maintain his balance. On his forehead, were long lines of stress and worry. I just wish, he would take a break, like we all have been advising him to.

He made a short prayer, and asked mallam Yusuf to make supplications for the meeting.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, I'd very much like to apologize, to all of you, I value my weekends and I know its the same with everyone present, so I apologize".

This was greeted, with nods and murmur of understanding. I did not make any contribution, this was not a compensation for the lazy Saturday that I had in mind, and the truth be told, I knew that most people felt this way, irrespective of the nods and murmurs of understanding.

A big example would be Oge, who was sporting a scowl while writing minutes of the meeting.

Oge, you are not the only person who missed out, on a sweet and relaxing Saturday.

"My purpose for calling this meeting is, no news to us. I had a meeting with our major stockholders today, though we didn't rest heavily on the issue, but we broached it, and my fears are great and many.

There is no denying, that this is a great company, but like every strong person out there, we have our flaws and shortcomings".

The projector turned on, showing a graph. Mr Phil walked to it, and stood by its side.

"If we look carefully at this side" his fingers pointed, "We would see a tiny downward spiral. It isn't very noticeable, it is safe to assume that it is, just a period change in taste, on our consumer's part".

The page swiped up, another came up.

"If we look at this graph, we would notice the same thing, perhaps a bit more noticeable than the first".

He was right, the downward spiral on this page, was noticeable. The page cleared and another was shown.

Before he started examining this one, he sighed and his reason was not hidden, this page showed a large downward spiral.

"This downward spiral, started a couple of years ago" He explained, "and just like I explained earlier it was not that noticeable and that was the root to this massive problem we have now.

If this page is to be cleared, we would only notice, a greater scale version of this downward spiral. The company, is sinking! "

I had known that, the company was experiencing some economic problem, but looking at the graph and all the explanation Mr Phil provided, it looked like we had a major economic recession, knocking on our door.

"I had thought of laying a sizeable amount of staff off" Mr Phil continued after a moment of stunned silence, "the idea is good, since we would eventually not be able to pay too many staff, but you see the eye and head, work together, laying off some staff looks like a major solution but rather it, would choke or cage us, as the workload would per person would increase, and I know nobody wants that".

Any reply to this was cut off. The door opened and revealed a grinning Williams.

William Bassey, was the first son of Mr Phil, he had absolutely no resemblance with his father, except for the button nose. The button nose, was like a heirloom in the family, his second son, Geoffrey, had it.

Williams, had graduated a couple of years ago, though he began working in the company, in his final year in the university. He wasn't 'working' in the real sense, he just popped in, every now and then.

This was the first time, in months that he had joined a board meeting. He had some issues with his father, concerning the company.

"William, glad to have you back, take a seat, we have discussed this" Mr Phil's invitation, lacked a sufficing enthusiasm. But, he sat down anyways, after greeting us.

"In another light" Mr Phil continued, I noticed that he was on his fourth bottle of cold water "this idea was suggested by Williams, and I have brought it, so we either fight strongly by making a necessary evil of laying off some staff or welcome his idea".

"Is there anyone who has a suggestion, concerning everything we have talked about?" He prodded, and returned to his seat.

His question was met with silence. This was after all alot of thinking and brainstorming.

"Williams" he continued, "made a suggestion, a couple of weeks ago. He was of the view, that we needed an economic analyst. An effective and efficient economic analyst".

There was several nods of approval. The suggestion, had so much potentials and brilliance in it.

"I see that most of you, are in support of it. I was going to suggest that we vote, but I don't think there is any need for it".

"We are going to invite a renowned economic analyst, that fits our description. We would be having him for a period of six to eight month, and hopefully it will turn out nicely". Mr Phil added with a smile, I was glad that he too, saw the potentials in this suggestion.

I wasn't ready to lose my job, finding a job, nowadays is almost as rare as finding a diamond.

"The invite will be sent as soon as possible, we should be expecting him, if he honors it, in the next two to three weeks. That's all, thank you!"

The meeting ended, and people literally ran out. I wish, I was among them. It was just my luck, that Mr Phil, called me back as I was exiting the conference room.

Myself and Pamela. Including, Williams the originator of the suggestion.

Sidelines
Hey 👋

Do you think, there would have been a better idea, to tackle the company's economic problem?

What is your opinion of William Bassey and Phil Bassey?

Don't forget to vote 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thank you!!!