Love Fool

Epilogue

Two months later.

"Eva Hansen, welcome to Diamant Energy Services. I would like to introduce you to our CEO, Tariq Ibrahim," my new boss, Eric Voss, announced.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Tariq." I extended my hand to the man I addressed, whose eyes lit up with enthusiasm.

Tariq was Oslo's Elon Musk—a young entrepreneur who hit the jackpot with Diamant Energy Services (DES), an engineering firm that burst out of the woods of Norway and landed straight into the global scene.

DES was also the reason why Hudson Engineering's Oslo office lost business and closed down.

I had just joined one of Hudson's biggest competitors, and the package I received, which included a hefty base salary of six figures plus a generous bonus scheme, was a sweet deal.

I was bathing in sugar, baby, and the sugar was fine.

Fuck the handsome executives in power suits—that's so Wall Street from a bygone decade and I can tell you right now, these guys are a dime a dozen. We don't need Gordon Gecko, because we've got Eva King Hansen, ready to take the bull by its horns!

At DES,  I joined the big players on my own merit, as a rightful equal who would wine and dine in fancy ass restaurants and travel business class.

Do you want to know what real power is?

Getting there by yourself, and knowing that you earned it fair and square.

That's the taste of power and satisfaction.

I must admit that none of this would have happened if I hadn't leaped into the deep end and joined Sven in this amazing adventure.

"So, Eric, this is the woman who you handpicked for the role," Tariq commented. His chin rested on his curled knuckles, and his thumb stroked his jaw.

"She's the best of all the candidates who applied for the role, Tariq," Eric affirmed. He squared his shoulders and stood proudly next to me.

Eric was the company's sales vice-president—he was a seasoned veteran in the energy and petroleum industry, spending most of his time traveling to meet clients.

He also had a scorpion tattoo on his upper left arm—something I noticed below his polo shirt sleeve during the Sunday morning meeting with Tariq.

Tariq's schedule was hectic and he was flying to Houston that afternoon, so he squeezed in the Sunday slot to personally meet me before I started my new role.

"Take a seat, Eva," Tariq encouraged, as he and Eric sat on a comfortable leather sofa in Tariq's spacious office, which boasted shiny glass walls and a panoramic view to Oslo's grand harbor.

"Sure," I replied, sitting on a comfortable but expensive gray swivel chair that was engineered by a famous Scandinavian furniture design company—definitely not IKEA.

"You worked at Hudson Engineering before you moved to Norway," Tariq probed.

"Yes, I worked there," I confirmed.

"You were part of the team that secured the Emder contract. Is that correct?"

"I was a key driver to securing the contract," I answered.

Tariq paused, leaned forward, and stared at me. Eric, on the other hand, stretched back and casually clasped his hands behind his head.

"They were an international client. Our office in Australia tendered for the same project and lost the opportunity because of you," Tariq declared.