Sophia’s Point of View
“Welcome Mrs Prescott.” The secretary said with an obviously fake smile before she gestured escorting me towards the board room.
My pantsuit felt tight and restrictive and for some reason, breathing was harder than usual.
I wasn’t sure if it was a continuation of my morning sickness that had suddenly reared its head again this morning rendering me incapable of eating and drinking anything or if it was because I was regretting my decision.
When Mr Prescott had asked for my help at dinner, this was the last thing I had expected.
I had initially been hesitant to answer his question.
Did I still want to end this contract with him after knowing there was nothing going on between him and Daphne East?
Yes. It was the safe option. The one that would prevent me from making the same mistake twice.
“I’ll keep to our contract.” I found myself saying instead.
Mr Prescott seemed to see the indecision in my gaze.
“I don’t want you to change your mind halfway again, Miss Evergreen.”
I shrugged like it was nothing.
“I have no intention of breaking a beneficial arrangement and incurring debt I will feel obliged to pay, Mr Prescott.”
That was the truth at least. I couldn’t let the possibility of catching feelings for Mr Prescott make me incur millions in debt and ruin my unborn child’s chances at a better life.
I needed the money Mr Prescott would pay me after our arrangement ended to change my life for good. Imaginary feelings be damned.
“Good,” Mr Prescott smiled in response. “Because I need your help with something.”
I entered the board room and although most of the seats were occupied, the seat at the head of the table remained vacant.
I took my seat noting the other members of the board present silently cataloging the little information I had been able to glean about them prior to this last minute meeting.
Out of twenty majority shareholders and one representative of the minor shareholders, there were only two women including myself.
Great. A classic boy’s club. Why had I let Mr Prescott get me into this again?
The door opened and the entire room fell into deep silence as Jerry Baxter walked in confidently taking his seat at the helm of the table, his blond locks falling carefreely across his forehead, his suit slightly askew like he had thrown it on in a rush and his blue eyes cataloging the shareholders present.
I saw the moment Jerry Baxter noticed me. His nostrils flared and his jaw tightened with obvious irritation.
Then he looked away from me facing the rest of the board.
“With all the shareholders present, I declare the commencement of this board meeting.” Jerry announced, his voice traveling far in the large space.
I really didn’t know what I was doing at a Baxter board meeting.
When I had gone for my practical experience with Prescott Corporation, I had barely followed what they were talking about and I knew Mr Prescott had noticed it.
Which begged the question, why did he want me here at such an important meeting? Or did Mr Prescott simply want to rattle Jerry?
Looking at Jerry who seemed determined to ignore my existence now, I thought Mr Prescott might have overestimated my importance to Jerry.
But what had been Mr Prescott’s end goal for this distraction? I idly wondered if Daphne East would have known. I also wondered how Mr Prescott had immediately known the ‘her’ I had been referring to when I asked him about his relationship without expressly stating Daphne’s name.
I thought back at what I had seen that day at his office, Daphne’s hands on him, her lips close to his ear. I had been certain none of them had seen me watch them. Or had I been wrong?
It was all games within games with Mr Prescott. Nothing was ever clear with him.
“Our focus is the expandment to the Asia market.” Jerry was saying and I tuned back into the meeting determined to focus.
“Samsung owns the electronic market and they have a more grounded reputation,” Jerry continued. “We have managed to acquire more refined technology at a fraction of production cost, after the initial bulk investment, that is.”
Jerry made a gesture with his hands and a small man with a head of mousy brown stepped forward giving the board a quick bow as Jerry introduced him.
“Mr Henry here is going to give us the break down of the process.”
The passion with which Jerry spoke was somewhat foreign to me.
When we had still been married, he had been curt, condescending and demeaning to me whenever he deigned to talk to me. Other times he simply ignored me.
I glanced at the slides Mr Henry was explaining and Jerry’s palpable excitement, realization hitting me.
This expansion to Asia must be Jerry Baxter’s pet project. Interesting. I paid more attention to Mr Henry’s speech, shelving away my thoughts of Mr Prescott for later.
As I watched the presentation, I couldn’t help but feel a distinct sensation. Like someone was watching me.
I didn’t have to glance at the person to know it was Jerry.
“With this, Baxter Corporation will stand a more than fair competitive chance.” Mr Henry concluded, his words inciting an appreciation round of applause.
All around me, I could see the various board members nodding and smiling as though they could already see their profits. And I couldn’t blame them, if this venture worked, their shares would skyrocket up to quadruple their current worth.
The main thing being if it worked. But all around I could see no one was considering the possibilities of a flop. There was only excitement and greed.
I thought of my conversation with Mr Prescott at the rooftop restaurant when he had clarified that he needed me to stand in for him at the board meeting due to his unexpected work trip that had come up.
“A board meeting?” I’d echoed in shock. “What am I supposed to do there?”
Mr Prescott’s gray eyes twinkled with amusement as he deadpanned.
“Have fun, Miss Evergreen.”
There was no way I could have fun here but maybe I could bring a bit of realism to this over glorified pet project of Jerry Baxter.
“If I may interject, Mr Baxter,” I said as loud as I could project my voice to be and I could feel all the eyes in the room settle on me as I spoke. “As optimistic as the numbers may be, the theory is very different from actualization.”
Jerry raised an eyebrow, that familiar condescending look settling on his face.
“And what would you know about actualization, Mrs Prescott? Everyone on this board table is aware your only qualification to be here is your marriage certificate to Reid Prescott. You are here to be eye candy, not give opinions.”