“I suppose I get Alpha Gordon wanting to marry off Walter; to hopefully keep him away from Helena … but, why the hell is he forcing one the twins to marry him; knowing damn well that it could cause friction between their sibling relationship. … And; you … what the fuck … I would think that even you couldn’t be that big of an asshole towards Helena and the twins.”
Dad furiously snaps, “That’s enough!! I said it’s not open for discussion!! I don’t want to hear another word about this!! You’ll keep your mouths shut, and do as you’re told … that’s final!!”
Dad storms upstairs. Mom slowly follows behind him; not uttering a word to us.
A few days after returning from Washington, the CEO receives the bidding results; and, from the moment seeing them, he recalls the end of their conversation … and, finally understands that ambiguous remark the Luminary Pack member passed that day in the lobby.
“…it doesn’t really matter, one way or the other … because, the Whitmore Corporation is going to win the bid.”
“Really, now … are you sure about that?”
The CEO is livid. He believes there can only be one explanation for this … there has to be a traitorous ‘mole’ in the corporation.
As hard as Casper Whitmore likes to play; he works ten times as hard … and, whether it be the bedroom or the boardroom, he always maintains his Alpha persona; dominantly assuming control over the situation. He hates being bested; and, considers failure to be an unacceptable option.
The CEO arranges for … what he’s calling … an immediate post-bid debriefing meeting with the head managers and lead supervisors of every department at corporate headquarters; under the guise of discussing the mishandling of the recent hotel bidding. However; the real agenda he has in mind … a group ass-chewing.
**Casper’s POV**
In my mind, I’m reminding myself … Whatever you do; don’t break the table … as I furiously pound my fist down upon it; shouting…
“Which imbecilic blockhead made such a boneheaded oversight?! … And, why wasn’t it caught and rectified before submitting the bid?!” I wrench down on the edge of the table and shake my head in disgust. “Seriously … what the hell am I paying all of you these high salaries for, then anyway?”
Trust me when I say that I would’ve loved to have this huge, solid oak table crack apart into two, splintering halves between these seventeen subordinates, that are nervously squirming in their seats; all anxiously awaiting the anticipated repercussion for the so-called blunder. It certainly would have made me come across more intimidating than I already must seem to them. However, it would more than likely draw unwanted suspicion upon myself; having all the non-wolf attendees curiously wondering as to how I could’ve accomplished such a mind-boggling feat of freakish power.
That’s the problem with running a large corporation comprised of a heavily-blended mixture of werewolves and humans … and, which is why pack members working within the company never refer to me as Alpha while at the workplace; calling me either Mr. Whitmore or Mr. CEO … we always have to be sure not to expose our species’ existence to these lowly humans.
It’s true that while they’re in smaller groups, we can easily overtake them physically without even breaking a sweat. However, unfortunately their species significantly outnumbers ours; and admittedly, if they were to put their collective number, minds, and resources to it … they could perhaps possibly eradicate our kind, if they chose to.
Oh well, fuck it; I’m pretty sure I’m getting my point across. I can almost virtually smell their fear permeating throughout the air … in fact; it smells like some of them have already pissed themselves a little. And, everyone one of them … regardless of whether they’re werewolf or human … are trembling; with some of them even now breaking out into a sweat.
“Before leaving for Washington; I distinctly remember sending out a detailed e-mail, to both the Acquisitions and Accounting departments, clearly stating that we were to submit a proposal bid of 12 million dollars per hotel … a total of 48 million for all four hotels.”
I snap my fingers; then, gesture for Phil to give a printed out copy of the sent out e-mail to each manager and supervisor at the table. Once he’s done distributing them; I wait a moment … giving everyone a chance to read it … then, I ask…
“So, why is it … according to the bidding results summary that I received … our company submitted a a bid of a measly 1. 2 million dollars per hotel; totaling 4. 8 million?”
As I look around the table, while glaring at each of them; all I’m seeing is everyone conveying that same old, dumb ‘I dunno’ expression on their faces … which I’m now finding to be irritatingly sickening. I tightly clench my jaw and grit my teeth; as I hear Gilead calling out to me…
“Let me out, so I could take care of these dumb asses … I’ll set them straight, for you.”
While glaring about with seething eyes; I facetiously remark…
“What … do we have to improve our company’s Vision Plan benefits; is that it? Do I need to mandate that everyone receives a comprehensive eye exam to make sure that their eyesight’s up to par … at least enough so that they can differentiate between 12 and 1. 2 million dollars?”
Out of the corner of my eye, I catch a brief glance of Phil amusedly grinning from my comment; as I fiercely pound my fist back down on the table … causing everyone sitting around it to jump in their seats again. I continue in a tirade-like manner…
“Listen here; you wastes of space … if this were a military operation; there would be only one word befitting to describe this messed up outcome … and, that’s FUBAR!!”
I can hear someone at the other end of the table try to inconspicuously ask the person beside them; in an extremely low whisper…
“What’s FUBAR?”
I curtly snap out, “It’s Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition!!” … then, continue to rant…