A BIG Boss - Chapter 37

Mrs. Stalwart was really, really upset about this incident. No one should come into her office without a previous announcement, or knock at the very least. What if they find out about their love?

What if she and Harvey were in the middle of a special moment? She likes to show her love through affectionate touch. What if he was between her arms, what if he was sitting in her lap?What if they were kissing?! How can you explain that?

Anyone could be fired, sure, but if they chose to speak, then there will be suspicion about them. People will have questions, the whole office will try and see if they were doing any of what they said they were doing. She doesn’t need anyone minding their business.

The guy walked in, his emergency was not as urgent as to break into her office, that’s what she said.

“We’ll have an emergency meeting? That’s why you broke into my office?!” She said, towering above this man, with her hands on her hips, making him look insignificant, and feel kind of stupid too.

“I… my boss told me to run here, that it was urgent… that you’ll get mad if you were the last one to find out…” this man, a little above six-feet-tall, was covered by the shadow of the 9´6” giantess.

“So? That’s not an excuse to come in without FUCKING KNOCKING! I want this to be the last time you do this, or I’ll fire your ass so quick you won’t even blink, understood?!” He nodded.

and what was this emergency meeting all about? Well, they were going to start a project with another company, a collaboration, but it seems this other company was thinking of stepping out of it. Apparently, the deal was not as good for them, they would want an extra 20-percent.

They didn’t say that, not exactly, but they were called for a meeting with them. The other information was given to them by someone inside the other company, not quite a snitch, but some sort of informant. Now, they will have their own meeting here to address this and think on a way to fix this problem.

“I’ll be there in twenty-minutes.” Mrs. Stalwart declared.

“Mr. West said you needed to be there ASAP.” The man said, not trying to sound imposing, more like a friendly warning? A heads-up at least.

Mrs. Stalwart bent, now looking at him right in the eye from a few inches away, she said: “And? Twenty minutes is as fast as I will be there, if they don’t like it, shame on them. But I dare him to come here and try to rush me.” This man swallowed.

“I… I’ll tell him you’ll be there in twenty.” And then the man ran away.

Mrs. Stalwart was not scared of this meeting. So what if the other company was not satisfied with the deal? Bad thing they haven’t sign the contract yet, they still had time to think of it, and now, have some additional demands.

“-Mr. West said ASAP- can you believe this guy? Gosh, why are the new interns always so annoying.” Mrs. Stalwart declared.

“Well, it sounds kind of urgent, you know? I mean, aren’t you worried?” Harvey asked.

The amazon smiled as she closed the door. “Aww, my little sugar crumb, don’t be so naive. These people always want more. All of the other companies we work with always want more money, higher percentages, they think about them all the time. Am I scared? Pfft, nothing scares me, you should know that by now.” 

“Yeah, I know. It’s just… it seems important, that guy was kind of… concerned.” Harvey said.

“Concerned or scared of me? What does he know about the deal? He’s just repeating what his boss told him to say. Do you think I’ll do whatever his boss says? That jerk was my assistant a couple years ago. “Mr. West” he says, Jeremy’s a loser who thinks he can boss everyone around only because he got a position at the board. Believe me, everyone will be waiting for me, well… for us.” she said.

“Us?” He asked, a bit nervous.

“Yes, honey. As my assistant, you must take note of all of the important things we discuss there,” she started, walking towards him, and then she bent, and with a sweeter tone, she added: “besides, I want my special man next to me…” she kissed him on the cheek.

That one kiss was enough to make him feel secure, and ironically, to make his legs tremble.

—

To be there to take notes, that’s what he was going to do. It didn’t take them twenty minutes to get there, but they were not there in less than fifteen.

They both walked into a large meeting room, she had to duck to make it past the door frame. “I thought I told them to make this damn door taller…” she said as she walked in.

Harvey followed, with a pen and a leather pad in hand, ready to write down the key points of this meeting. He was immediately embarrassed as everyone else was in the room and it seems they were the only ones missing.

“Look who’s finally here! Hello, Vera.” Came the voice of a man, Mr. West. Who was more than happy to be able to call her by her first name since they were “equals”.

“Hello, everyone.” She paid no attention to his comment. She just walked in and sat in her chair.

How does she know which chair’s hers? Easy, her chair’s the only one meant for a 9´6” woman, actually for a 10´ amazon, just so that she has some extra room in there.

“Wait, who’s that guy?” Mr. West asked.

Harver felt uncomfortable as all eyes were set specifically on him. What should he do? Wave? Greet them? Pretend he’s not there?

“That’s my assistant, he’ll be joining us.” Mrs. Stalwart declared, visibly upset by the unnecessary explanation.

“There’s no room for him at the table, where is he going to sit?” Another guy added.

He was right, this board was made up by ten people, all of the spots were taken by their respective board members. Where was he going to sit? For a second, and he was afraid of this, an idea came to him. Mrs. Stalwart was not going to make him sit in her lap in front of the whole board, right? Wouldn’t that be strange? Suspicious? Humiliating? Yes, but just for him probably.

“He’ll be standing behind me. Now, are we here to talk about my assistant or to discuss the real deal? Come on people, let’s get this over.” She said, and he was relieved by it.

As she said, she’s just his boss when there’s other people around. Of course she couldn’t show any kind of affection.

This meeting was going to be as normal as any other meeting could be. However, how are the meetings supposed to be? Well, he shouldn’t be worried about that, this is not a meeting where he really matters, all he has to do is to pay attention and take notes. 

The names of the people here? Well, they are unimportant, they would make his notes better, but it won’t be the end of the world if he doesn’t write them down. Now, he might know who Mr. West is, he seems to be the annoying man over there, the one who called Mrs. Stalwart by her first name. She paid no attention to him, but it’s obvious to Harvey that his main intention is to be arrogant.

—

Harvey stood there, taking note on all that was said.

This meeting started with everyone complaining about the whole thing. Why was the other company asking for more if they already had a deal? They wouldn’t need to have a meeting if they had gotten them to sign weeks ago, as they should have. A few people were blamed, a few people apologized, but in the end, this was all about what to do next.

They can’t change what has already been done, but they can try and fix it in the most convenient of ways. Convenient for them, at least. They were not the ones who were greedy, there was already a deal, this other company only wants to get a better deal.

They were all arguing on what to do. What was more convenient? To break the deal with them and look for another company? The main reason why the deal was with this company was because of the cost of this, but now they want more.

Another suggestion was to try and get something more out of this deal. But what can they ask for? They can’t give them anything else, this other company’s way too small.

Everyone was wondering what move to make, everyone was making suggestions no one else seemed to like. With three votes in favor and seven against it, nothing really made it past that. They need a solution everyone likes, that everyone approves, maybe he can help?

He was writing everything down, but this was so easy to solve, at least to him. How about meeting in the middle? How about giving them what they were asking for? Not all of it, but something. Maybe the twenty-percent was just aiming high to get the least they could, right?

Harvey wasn’t sure if he should say something, but Mrs. Stalwart told him he had an opinion, and that he was so important to her. Maybe he should speak up?

He waited for a chance, everyone was looking down at the table, trying to think on what to do. Maybe he can make things simple to them? Perhaps, they are overcomplicating things? Too stressed to see such a simple solution?

No one was talking, the whole room was in silence. It’s been how long, a minute? A little more? This was his chance.

“What if… we give them what they are asking for? Not the whole twenty-percent, but… fifteen? It can be… negotiable?” He said it, he took his shot.

Everyone turned at him, they were still quiet, and then, people started frowning. Soon, one of them said: “What’s wrong with you? Why are you even talking?” His heart sank.

“Give them what they want? This is not how we play this game!” Another man asked.

Harvey felt so dumb, so stupid! Why did he say anything? Mrs. Stalwart, back at the office, she told him that was not the best idea, but he thought it could work, somehow? That’s why he said it was negotiable. But it seems there’s nothing to negotiate here.

Then, Mr. West turned to him, with a smirk on his face, he said: “Ha, that must be the most stupid idea I’ve heard!” Everyone laughed.

Harvey felt so dumb, everyone was laughing at him. All of the people there were mad, and now he became a joke? Just to lighten their moods?

It was not nice, in fact, it was even upsetting! Why did this man have to call him stupid? And Mrs. Stalwart didn’t say a thing? She just turned at him and then turned back at the board.

What was this? He just became a joke at the meeting? This didn’t feel right, he was getting mad.

“That’s why we don’t bring assistants to our meetings. Their brains just don’t understand, they can’t picture the real money. Listen,” this was Mr. West, now talking directly to him. “Do you have any idea of how many millions a single percent is? That’s a question.” He said, expecting an answer.

“I… I don’t.” Harvey replied, looking aside.

“Exactly, you don’t know. No one that’s not sitting at this table knows. Now, please do us a favor and the next time you have a stupid idea, just keep it to yourself, ok?” Stupid, there was that word again. Why does he have the need to belittle him? To try and humiliate him?

Harvey was tired of this, this has been the same way his whole life. He stands at 5 '5”, everyone feels superior to him just because they are taller, and this man, it’s obvious he’s arrogant. He didn’t like being talked to that way, this man was a bully, that’s who he was. Harvey was not going to take it.

Why was it? Where did this nerve come from? He felt stronger! He felt superior than that, no one was going to push him over, not this time.

“I´ll be sure to keep my thoughts to myself. But you should be kind when talking to others.” That should teach this man he’s not a weak man, right?

The man frowned, he locked his eyes on his and then, he stood up. This man was way taller than him, way taller than the average man. 6´9”? He was HUGE!

“Excuse me?” Uh oh, was he too assertive? Was he offensive? He was just standing for himself, wasn’t he? Why was this guy so mad?

What did he get himself into?