"Have you tried turning it off and back on again?"
••
Christian Ivonov, CEO of Ivonov enterprises, had always been the best at fucking things up. Whether it be relationships, or company connections, nothing was too far out of his reach to ruin.
Alex...
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I now understood why the board members had known I existed.
As I looked through our presentation while on break from our next meeting, Christian had made a slight alteration to the slides this morning.
Instead of it reading:
Christian Ivanov Ivanov Corporation
It now read:
Christian Ivanov Alexander Hamilton Ivanov Corporation
He had added my name.
I couldn't stop the largest smile from spreading a crossing my face. I wasn't really used to being acknowledged like this.
Christian was sitting across from me in another lounge chair, focusing intently on his laptop screen as if he was studying the material. His eyebrows furrowed every so often as he remained deep in concentration. We were on a break before our third meeting.
The second one had gone incredibly well, and we weren't due to meet again for another another hour or so.
I felt fucking exhausted, but Christian somehow managed to look even more rejuvenated. He wanted us to attach a few auction events to the slides, but the "us" thing really became more of a "him" thing, seeing as he was the only one doing actual work. I was just staring aimlessly at my computer.
That was when I felt a vibration in my pocket.
I sat up and set the laptop down on one of the circular low coffee tables that surrounded the lounge chairs. When I pulled out my phone to check who the caller ID was, I felt my body grow rigid as my heart dropped to my stomach.
"Where are you heading?" Christian asked when he noticed I had stood.
"I've got to take this call." I sort of mumbled back, passing him to head out of the lounge.
"Don't be long." He said over his shoulder, but I didn't reply to that.
As soon as I made it out of the lounge, and into one of the hallways, I picked up the call. "Hello?"
"Alex?" My mother spoke into the line. "Alex, are you there?"
"I'm here." I spoke softly.
"Hi sweetie. How are you, baby?" She asked. I heard myself inhale sharply.
There it was.
That question again.
The one I knew she always asked but never truly gave a shit about.
"I transferred you money just less than a month ago." I spoke. Those words had come out more harsh than I meant to, but I felt the irritation build up in me. I wasn't sure how much longer I could take this shit.
