"Alright gentlemen, this meeting's agenda is as follows: Mr. Smith will go over this week's sales and budget, followed by a short demonstration from our research and development team of the newest design. After that, we will finally review the candidacy for the board position, concluding in a vote. Any notices this week will follow. Let's get started. Mr. Smith?"
Adelae sat in her seat as Mr. Smith rose and began his presentation.
"As you can see, we've had an increase in..." Mr. Smith droned on. Adelae listened politely. She had been feeling jumpy all morning in the absence of new evidence. Occasionally scanning the others at the table as nonchalantly as possible, her eyes lingered on the face of Mr. Walsh. Displeasure turned down the corners of his mouth, and he checked his watch every few minutes, ignoring Smith.
"...All right, that's all I've got."
Adelae almost missed the conclusion. "Thank you, Mr. Smith." She nodded, rising from her seat. "And who will be presenting from research and development today?"
Two nervous men stood and made their way to the front. The taller of the two carried a white box big enough to hold a TV. The other carried a folder and a small device that looked like a remote. Adelae smiled at them, trying to read their name tags. She only barely recognized one, and in her heightened awareness, she steeled herself for any type of attack.
Her nerves were unnecessarily ruffled, it seemed. After a minute of the presentation, it became obvious they really did work there, and really did want to impress everyone with their new software. So why has this feeling of unease not left me since the meeting started?
After their presentation, the two men took questions and did remarkably well in answering them. When there were no more questions, Adelae initiated applause and rose to address the council again.
"Alright, I have compiled your recommendations for the board position and checked the candidates' skills against the requirements for the position. There are four candidates that meet the requirements on paper. Those four are..." she pulled a page out of her folder.
Adelae stared down, confused. The page has been altered. She didn't pause for long though, and instead pulled her laptop towards her and quickly opened her notes, which she had prepared the day before. "...Mr. Evan Carpenter, Mr. John Michaelson, Mr. Alan Stevenson, and Miss Evelyn Jacobs. I've selected these individuals based on performance reviews from yourselves and their direct supervisors. I've also emailed each of you my findings on these four, and I expect your votes to be hand-written and delivered by tomorrow afternoon, before 3 PM."
The men around the table whispered mutinously at this announcement.
"Excuse me, Miss Newman?" Mr. Walsh stood and didn't wait to be addressed to continue. "I believe many of us here are a bit confused, as we expected a very different list of candidates."
"I'm sure your confusion will pass when you see the credentials for each—"
"Yes, I'm sure you've done your research, Miss Newman." He interrupted angrily. "I'm also sure that the qualifications of the position can be modified—"
Adelae cut back in. "Mr. Walsh, are you suggesting that I change the roles of a position on the board to fit a candidate?"
"Quite frankly there are many roles I'd like to see changed." Mr. Walsh challenged, standing his ground. The other board members stared wide-eyed and unmoving, absolutely silent, waiting for her response.
Adelae gave herself a moment to breathe before she responded. If she showed an ounce of this anger, they would write her off in an instant. I know what I'm doing, she reminded herself quickly.
YOU ARE READING
By Day and by Night
General FictionThrough the darkness, the computer screen illuminated the pale skin of Adelae's face around the black mask. Scrolling through the submitted questions, she came across one that made her smile. "Dear Lady Shade," She read aloud to herself. "Why did yo...
